Blaan language

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Blaan
Native to Philippines
Region Mindanao
Ethnicity Blaan
Native speakers
(240,000 cited 2000–2007) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
bpr   Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad)
bps   Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao)
Glottolog blaa1241

Blaan, also known as Bla'an, is an Austronesian language of the southern Philippines spoken by an indigenous ethnic group of the same name who inhabited many areas of Soccksargen and Davao Occidental.

Contents

Classification

Blaan belongs to the Bilic microgroup of the Philippine language subgroup, along with Giangan Manobo, Tiruray, and Tboli. [2]

Distribution

There are two major varieties of Blaan: Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad) and Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao).

According to the Ethnologue ,[ specify ] Koronadal Blaan is spoken in:

Sarangani Blaan is spoken in:

Phonology

Blaan has fifteen consonant and seven vowel phonemes. [3] 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, /bla'an/. This contraction of the original schwa sound exists in other Austronesian languages (such as Javanese, a major language of Java in Indonesia), but is rarely seen outside of the Bilic group within the Philippines.[ citation needed ]

Blaan Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s h
Approximant w l j
Blaan Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Low a ɑ

/i,ɛ/ are also heard as [ɪ,e]. /ə/ can also be heard as [ɨ,ʌ] within syllables.[ citation needed ]

Syntax

Blaan uses word order to indicate the thematic roles of nominal elements in the sentence. [4]

Kamfe

AV.catch

kuku

cat

ungeh.

rat

Kamfe kuku ungeh.

AV.catch cat rat

'The cat catches the rat'

Similar to other Philippine-type Austronesian languages, Blaan uses verbal morphology to indicate voice (or focus, as it is usually called in the literature). [5] Here are some examples of voice/focus types in Blaan:

Agent voice/focus (-m-)

Magin

AV.accompany

nga

child

do.

me

Magin nga do.

AV.accompany child me

'The child accompanies me.'

Patient voice/focus (-n-)

Nebe

PV.bring

libun

girl

ale.

them

Nebe libun ale.

PV.bring girl them

'The girl brings them.'

Vocabulary

Sample words [6]
EnglishBlaan
chickenanuk
flowerbulek
horsekura
cornagul
needledalum
basketbeen
broomfune
ratunge
moneyfilak
goatuhe
scissorsgunting
matigem
cloudslabun
fishnalaf
eyemata
pestlesung
leafdoon
bonetulan
lampsalo
snakeulad
crowwak
footbli
motherye
fatherma

References

  1. Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Blust, Robert (1991). "The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. 30 (2): 73–129. doi:10.2307/3623084. JSTOR   3623084.
  3. Dean, J.; Dean, G. (1955). "The Phonemes of Bilaan" (PDF). Philippine Journal of Science. 84 (3): 311–322.
  4. McLachlin, B.; Blackburn, B. (1968). "Verbal Clauses of Sarangani Blaan" (PDF). Asian Studies. 6 (1): 108–128. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2021.
  5. Dean, James C. (1958). "Some Principal Grammatical Relations in Bilaan". In Healey, Alan (ed.). Studies in Philippine Linguistics by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (Pacific Branch). Oceania Linguistic Monographs, No. 3. Sydney: University of Sydney. pp. 59–64.
  6. "ABKD" (PDF) via sil.org.[ better source needed ]