Ifugao or Batad is a

Malayo-Polynesian language The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...

spoken in the northern valleys of

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is a member of the Northern Luzon subfamily and is closely related to the

Bontoc Bontoc may refer to: * Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines * Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines * Bontoc people, an ethnic group from Central Luzon, Philippines * Bontoc language, spoken by the Bontoc people {{disambig, geo Language and ...

and Kankanaey languages. It is a

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...

, and its four main varieties—such as Tuwali—are sometimes considered separate languages.

Loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

s from other languages, such as Ilokano, are replacing some older terminology.

Dialects

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 ...

'' reports the following locations for each of the four Ifugao languages. *Amganad Ifugao: spoken in Hungduan and Banaue municipalities of Ifugao Province, and into southwestern

Mountain Province Mountain Province (; ; ; ; ; ) is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc while Bauko is the largest municipality. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as Mountain ...

. 27,100 speakers as of 2000. Dialects are Burnay Ifugao and Banaue Ifugao. *Batad Ifugao (Ayangan Ifugao): spoken in central Ifugao Province. There are also some speakers in Isabela Province, on the eastern shore of the Magat reservoir. 10,100 speakers as of 2002. Dialects include Ducligan Ifugao. *Mayoyao Ifugao (Mayaoyaw): spoken in Ifugao Province, (northern Mayoyao, Aguinaldo, and Alfonso Lista municipalities) and

(2 small border areas). 30,000 speakers as of 2007. *Tuwali Ifugao (Gilipanes, Ifugaw, Kiangan Ifugao, Quiangan, Tuwali): spoken in southern Ifugao Province. 30,000 speakers as of 2000. Dialects are Hapao Ifugao, Hungduan Ifugao, and Lagawe Ifugao.

Phonology

Consonants

* Other sounds such as /s/ and /r/ occur in loanwords.

Vowels

* /ʊ/ can also be heard as close-back * /ə/ does not exist in the Tuwali dialect. * /i/ can also be heard as �

Orthography

The unified Ifugao alphabet is as follows: A, B, D, E, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, Ng, O, P, T, U, W, Y. The letters are pronounced differently depending on the dialect of the speaker.
Hay Mahun an Bahaon
A Pre-Primer in Ayangan Ifugao.'' Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1984.

References

External links

* {{Philippine languages South–Central Cordilleran languages Languages of Ifugao