The Kabalian (Cabalian) language, ''Kinabalian'', is spoken in the municipality of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

in the province of

Southern Leyte Southern Leyte ( ceb, Habagatang Leyte; Kabalian: ''Habagatan nga Leyte''; war, Salatan nga Leyte; tl, Timog Leyte), officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capit ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is closely related to Waray-Waray. Native speakers refer to the language as ''Cabalianon'' or ''Kinabalianon''. This language shares certain characteristics with Cebuano, Boholano, and Surigaonon mainly because of the seafaring livelihood of pre-Hispanic inhabitants of Cabalian, documented by Spanish explorers. Waray did not make inroads into the southern portion of Leyte because of the mountains separating the north and south portions of the island. This is coherent under the principle of ''mountains divide; seas unite'' in the spread of Philippine languages. The heaviest influence on Cabalianon is Surigaonon, owing to the contact between Cabalian and Surigao in the early Spanish period. Cabalianons, as well as the natives of Sogod, regularly travelled to Surigao and Butuan to obtain gold, a fact recorded by the Augustinian Friar Agustín María de Castro in the . Kabalian ( la) is spoken in six villages in

(Cabalian) town, Southern Leyte Province. These

barangays A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

are located in the eastern portion of the town. The predominance of Cabalianon in this side of the town is due to the fact that migrants from Cebu and Bohol settled in the western portion of the town, particularly Pong-oy, as well as in Himatagon, the business hub of Saint Bernard, formerly a part of Cabalian, resulting in the gradual disappearance of the language in these parts. Although Kabalian is a Warayan language, it has mixed elements of Boholano, Cebuano and Surigaonon, a similar pattern which is also found in Baybayanon. However, Kabalian is not mutually intelligible with either Waray-Waray, Boholano, Cebuano or Surigaonon. Kabalian speakers do not ethnically or linguistically identify themselves with speakers of either of these languages.

Vocabulary

Interrogatives

* Who? * To whom? * What? * How? (past) * How? (future) * Where? (for person or object) * Where? (for place) * Where? (for directions or origin) * When? * Why? * Really? * How much? , , and mean 'where'. They have distinct uses in Kabalianon. is used when asking about a person or object. * (Where is Papa?) * (Where was the scissor put?) is used when asking about a place. * (Where are we going to?) * (Where are you going?) is used when asking about directions or origin. * (Where is this place?) * (Where are you from?) * (Where were you?)

Phrases and vocabulary

* (Hello) * (Good morning) * (Good noon) * (Good afternoon) * (Good evening or good night) * (Good day) * (Goodbye) * (Take care) * (Thank you) * (Don't) * (Nothing) * (No) * (Yes) * (Maybe) * (I don't know)

Comparison between Cabalianon, Surigaonon, Cebuano, and Waray

References

{{Languages of the Philippines Visayan languages Languages of Southern Leyte