The Batanic languages (sometimes also called Bashiic or Ivatanic) are a
dialect cluster of the
Austronesian language family. They are spoken on
Babuyan Island, just north of Luzon; three of the
Batanes Islands
Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...
, between the Philippines and Taiwan; and on
Orchid Island
Orchid Island, also known by other names, is a volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island. The island is part of Taiwan. It is separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is g ...
of southern Taiwan.
The varieties in the Philippines are called Ivatan (also spelled Ibatan), or are named Babuyan, Batan, or Itbayat after their islands, while the variety of Taiwan is called
Yami
Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. The river is also worshipped as a Hindu goddess called Yamuna. Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. In Hindu scr ...
or Tao.
Proto-Batanic has been reconstructed by
Yang
Yang may refer to:
* Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy
* Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902
* YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration ...
(2002).
Classification
Malcolm Ross (2005) and
Roger Blench
Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and work ...
(2015) list four languages:
*
Yami
Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. The river is also worshipped as a Hindu goddess called Yamuna. Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. In Hindu scr ...
(or Tao) on
Orchid Island
Orchid Island, also known by other names, is a volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island. The island is part of Taiwan. It is separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is g ...
**
Imurud dialect
**
Iraralay dialect
**
Iranumilek dialect
*
Itbayat
Itbayat, officially the Municipality of Itbayat, ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Itbayat; tl, Bayan ng Itbayat), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 3,128 people.
Itbay ...
on
Itbayat Island
Itbayat, officially the Municipality of Itbayat, ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Itbayat; tl, Bayan ng Itbayat), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 3,128 people.
Itbayat ...
*
Ivatan
**
Ivasay dialect (= Basco Ivatan) on
Batan
**
Isamurung dialect (=Southern Ivatan) on
Batan (southern part),
Sabtang
*
Ibatan (or Babuyan) on the
Babuyan Islands
Moriguchi (1983) classifies the Batanic languages as follows.
*Proto-Vasayic
**
Itbayaten
**
Vasay
**(branch)
***
Babuyan,
Isamorong
***
Yami
Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. The river is also worshipped as a Hindu goddess called Yamuna. Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. In Hindu scr ...
:
Iraralay,
Imorod
According to
Paul Jen-kuei Li
Paul Li, or Li Jen-kuei (; born 20 September 1936), is a research fellow at the Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of th ...
(2000),
Yami is most closely related to Itbayat. Among the Batanic languages, Iraralay is the most conservative.
The Batanic languages are frequently included with the
Philippine languages
The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (languag ...
. However, there is no full consensus on this, and some consider them a primary branch of the
Malayo-Polynesian languages
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 Southeas ...
.
Blench concludes that Batanic languages have been splitting from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian for a long time and contain many roots which are not standard Austronesian. The relationship between Batanic and
Northern Luzon languages
The Northern Luzon languages (also known as the Cordilleran languages) are one of the few established large groups within Philippine languages. These are mostly located in and around the Cordillera Central of northern Luzon in the Philippines. ...
is still uncertain.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Bashiic languagesat ''
Ethnologue'' (23rd ed., 2020).
{{Austronesian languages
Philippine languages