Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines
The Subanen languages (also Subanon and Subanun ) are a group of closely related Austronesian languages belonging to the Greater Central Philippine subgroup .[1] : 303 Subanen languages are spoken in various areas of Zamboanga Peninsula , namely the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay , Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur , and in Misamis Occidental of Northern Mindanao. There is also a sizeable Subanen community in Misamis Oriental . Most speakers of Subanen languages go by the name of Subanen , Subanon or Subanun , while those who adhere to Islam refer to themselves as Kolibugan , "Kalibugan", "Tewlet" or "Telet".
Internal classification
Jason Lobel (2013:308) classifies the Subanen varieties as follows.[1]
Subanen
Western
Nuclear
West Nuclear
Tawlet-Kalibugan Subanen
Salug-Godod Subanen
East Nuclear
Southern Subanen
Central Subanen
Northern Subanen
Eastern Subanen
Lobel (2013:308) lists the following innovations among each of the following subgroups.
Nuclear Subanen: *k > Ø
Western Subanen: *k > /k/
East Nuclear Subanen: *r > /l/
West Nuclear Subanen: *r > /r/
Western Subanen: *r > /l/ (independently took place, likely due to contact with Tausug, Maguindanaon, Butuanon, Cebuano, and/or Ilonggo, which have also undergone the *r > /l/ shift independently of one another)
Proto-Subanen
Proto-Subanen Reconstruction of Subanen languages Reconstructed ancestors
The following phoneme inventory can be reconstructed for Proto-Subanen:[1] [2]
According to Jason Lobel (2013:304-305), the innovations defining Proto-Subanen from Proto-Greater Central Philippine are:
1. *h was lost in all positions in Proto-Subanen.
2. *ʔ was lost word-initially and word-medially, only being retained in word-final position.
3. Reduction of *a to *ə in prepenultimate syllables, as well as in closed penultimate syllables.
4. Addition of a word-initial *g- to all vowel-initlal words following the operation of the previous innovations.
5. Assimilation of consonant clusters into a sequence of either *kC, *gC, or a nasal cluster.
References
External links
* indicates proposed status ? indicates classification dispute † indicates extinct status
Official languages Regional languages Indigenous languages (by region )
Immigrant languages Sign languages Historical languages