Blaan, also known as Bla'an, is an
Austronesian language
The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...
of the southern Philippines spoken by an
indigenous ethnic group of the same name who inhabited many areas of
Soccksargen and
Davao Occidental
Davao Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Davao Occidental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the municipality of Malita, the most populous town in the province. To the east lies ...
.
Classification
Blaan belongs to the Bilic microgroup of the
Philippine language subgroup, along with Giangan
Manobo
The Manobò (sometimes also spelled Menobò, Manuvù , Menuvù , or Minuvù) are an indigenous peoples from Mindanao in the Philippines, whose core lands cover most of the Mindanao island group, from Sarangani island into the Mindanao mainland in ...
,
Tiruray, and
Tboli.
Distribution
There are two major varieties of Blaan: Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad) and Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao).
According to the ''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'', Koronadal Blaan is spoken in:
*eastern
South Cotabato Province
*
Sarangani Province
*
Sultan Kudarat Province
Sultan Kudarat, officially the Province of Sultan Kudarat (; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat'', Jawi: دايرت نو سولتان كودرت; ; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Sultan Kudarat''; ), is a province in the Philippines located ...
(
Lutayan area)
*
Davao Occidental Province
Sarangani Blaan is spoken in:
*almost the entire area of
Sarangani Province
*
South Cotabato Province (
General Santos
General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...
and north)
*
Davao Occidental Province (language area across from
Sarangani Province's northern border)
Phonology
Blaan has fifteen consonant and seven vowel phonemes. Unlike most other Philippine languages and Austronesian languages in general, Blaan (as its related language
Tboli, permits a variety of consonant clusters at the onset of a syllable. This is evident in the name of the language, . This contraction of the original schwa sound exists in other Austronesian languages (such as
Javanese, a major language of
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
), but is rarely seen outside of the
Bilic group within the Philippines.
are also heard as . can also be heard as within syllables.
Syntax
Blaan uses word order to indicate the thematic roles of nominal elements in the sentence.
Similar to other Philippine-type Austronesian languages, Blaan uses verbal morphology to indicate voice (or focus, as it is usually called in the literature).
Here are some examples of voice/focus types in Blaan:
Agent voice/focus (-m-)
Patient voice/focus (-n-)
Vocabulary
References
Languages of South Cotabato
Languages of Sarangani
Languages of Davao Occidental
South Mindanao languages
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