The Subanen languages (also Subanon and Subanun) are a group of closely related
Austronesian language
The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...
s belonging to the
Greater Central Philippine subgroup.
Subanen languages are spoken in various areas of
Zamboanga Peninsula, namely the
provinces
A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
of
Zamboanga Sibugay,
Zamboanga del Norte
Zamboanga del Norte (Cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Amihanang Zamboanga''; Subanon language, Subanon: ''Utara Sembwangan''; ), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines situated w ...
and
Zamboanga del Sur, and in
Misamis Occidental
Misamis Occidental (; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Sindepan Mis'samis''; ; ), officially the Province of Misamis Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province located in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Northern Mindanao in th ...
of Northern Mindanao. There is also a sizeable Subanen community in
Misamis Oriental
Misamis Oriental (; ; ), officially the Province of Misamis Oriental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province located in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Northern Mindanao in the Philippines. The provincial capital, as well as its ...
. Most speakers of Subanen languages go by the name of
''Subanen'', ''Subanon'' or ''Subanun'', while those who adhere to
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
refer to themselves as ''Kolibugan'', ''Kalibugan'', ''Tewlet'' or ''Telet''.
Internal classification
Jason Lobel (2013:308) classifies the Subanen varieties as follows.
[
*Subanen
**Western
***'' Western Subanon''
***''Western Kolibugan''
**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 or retentions among each of the following subgroups.
*Nuclear Subanen: *k > Ø
*Western Subanen: *k > /k/ (retention)
*East Nuclear Subanen: *r > /l/
*West Nuclear Subanen: *r > /r/ (retention)
*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
The following phoneme inventory can be reconstructed for Proto-Subanen:
References
External links
"Subanon"
at ''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 ...
'' (23rd ed, 2020).
* Audio recordings of Subanon are archived with Kaipuleohone, including a word list, sentences
The ''Sentences'' (. ) is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150. It was the most important religious textbook of the Middle Ages.
Background
The sentence genre emerged from works like Prosper of Aquitaine's ...
, and a traditional song
{{Languages of the Philippines
Greater Central Philippine languages
Languages of Zamboanga del Sur
Languages of Zamboanga del Norte
Languages of Zamboanga Sibugay
Languages of Misamis Occidental