The Sambalic languages are a part of the
Central Luzon
Central Luzon (; ; ; ; ), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, San Fernando City serving as the re ...
language family spoken by the
Sambals, an
ethnolinguistic group
An ethnolinguistic group (or ethno-linguistic group) is a group that is unified by both a common ethnicity and language. Most ethnic groups share a first language. However, "ethnolinguistic" is often used to emphasise that language is a major bas ...
on the western coastal areas of
Central Luzon
Central Luzon (; ; ; ; ), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, San Fernando City serving as the re ...
and the
Zambales
Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales (; ; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is Iba, Zambales, Iba, which is located in t ...
mountain ranges.
Demographics
The largest Sambalic languages are
Sambal
Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of chillis with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste (terasi), garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an Indonesia ...
,
Bolinao
Bolinao, officially the Municipality of Bolinao ( Bolinao: ''Babali nin Bolinao;'' ; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 83,979 people.
Sea urchins are regula ...
, and
Botolan
Botolan, officially the Municipality of Botolan, is a municipality in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 66,739 people.
The municipality was founded by Spanish Governor-General Juan de S ...
with approximately 200,000, 105,000 and 72,000 speakers, respectively, based on the 2007 population statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). These figures are the combined population of the municipalities where the language is spoken.
For the Sambali or Sambal ethnolinguistic subgrouping, the estimated number of speakers is based on the total population of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Palauig, and Iba municipalities of Zambales. For the Sambal Bolinao subgrouping, a projected number of speakers is taken from the combined populations of Anda and Bolinao municipalities of Pangasinan. The Sambal Botolan subgroup, on the other hand, takes the aggregated population of Botolan and Cabangan municipalities. The rest are smaller languages spoken almost exclusively within various
Aeta
Aeta (Ayta ), Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon islands in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast A ...
communities. In total, there are approximately 390,000 speakers of Sambalic languages. Speakers can also be found in other towns of Zambales not mentioned above:
Olongapo
Olongapo (), officially the City of Olongapo (; ; ; Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Olongapo''), is a highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 260,317 peo ...
City, Bataan, Tarlac, and Metro Manila.
An estimated 6000 speakers can also be found in
Panitian
Quezon, officially the Municipality of Quezon (), is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,283 people.
Quezon is from Puerto Princesa. It is home to the Tabon Caves, whe ...
,
Quezon, Palawan and Puerto Princesa City. The language is also spoken by many Filipino immigrants in the U.S. and Canada.
Internal classification
Roger Stone (2008) classifies the Sambalic languages as follows.
*Ayta
Abellen,
Botolan
Botolan, officially the Municipality of Botolan, is a municipality in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 66,739 people.
The municipality was founded by Spanish Governor-General Juan de S ...
Sambal
*
Tina Sambal,
Bolinao
Bolinao, officially the Municipality of Bolinao ( Bolinao: ''Babali nin Bolinao;'' ; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 83,979 people.
Sea urchins are regula ...
*Ayta
Mag-indi, Ayta
Mag-antsi
*Ayta
Ambala
Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...
Ayta
Magbukun was not included in Stone's (2008) classification.
External relationships
The Sambalic languages, being part of the Central Luzon languages subgroup, are most closely related to
Kapampangan
Kapampangan, Capampañgan or Pampangan may refer to:
*Kapampangan people, of the Philippines
*Kapampangan language
Kapampangan, Capampáñgan, or Pampangan, is an Austronesian language, and one of the eight major languages of the Philippines. ...
and to
Remontado Dumagat spoken in the highlands of
Tanay in the province of
Rizal
Rizal most commonly refers to:
* Rizal (province), a province of the Philippines
* José Rizal, Filipino national hero whom the province is named after
Rizal may also refer to:
People
* Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Malaysian footballer
* Atep Ri ...
. The
NCCA hypothesizes that this means
Sambali speakers whom had once inhabited that area, after being displaced by migrating
Tagalog people
The Tagalog people are an Austronesian Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnic group native to the Philippines, particularly the Metro Manila and Calabarzon regions and Marinduque province of southern Luzon, and comprise the majority in the p ...
, were pushed northward to what is now the province of Zambales, in turn, displacing the
Aetas. In Zambales, Sambal speakers were almost displaced by Tagalog settlers once again who migrated along with
Ilocano settlers to repopulate the less-populated Zambales valley, leading to the assimilation of Sambals to the Tagalog and Ilocano settlers and to the modern decline of Sambal cultural identity & language.
Speakers
Sambal (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
: ''Zambal'') is the common collective name for all Sambalic-language speakers. It is also the term referring to the Sambalic language subgrouping in northern municipalities of Zambales, which comprises the majority of Sambals or more than 50 percent (200,000) of all Sambalic languages speakers (390,000). Sambal may also refer to the inhabitants of Zambales as a whole and the residents of Bolinao and Anda in Pangasinan.
Sample text
Below are translations in Bolinao, Botolan, and Sambal of the Philippine national proverb
"A person who does not look back at where they came from will not get to their destination.", along with the original in
Tagalog.
See also
*
Languages of the Philippines
There are some 130 to 195 languages spoken in the Philippines, depending on the method of classification. Almost all are Malayo-Polynesian languages native to the archipelago. A number of Spanish-influenced creole language, creole varieties ge ...
*
Sambal people
The Sambal people are a Filipino ethnolinguistic group living primarily in the province of Zambales and the Pangasinense municipalities of Bolinao, Anda, and Infanta. The term may also refer to the general inhabitants of Zambales. They were ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
{{ph-negrito-lang
Central Luzon languages