I.

Definition of Language

 It is the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the

use of words in a structured and conventional way.
 It is a system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to
each other.
 It is a system for communication, a medium for thought and a social interaction.

Nature:

1. Language is a combination of sounds.

2. Words have meanings.
3. Language follows a grammatical structure.
4. Language is based on aural and oral system.
5. Language can die and be extinct.

Reasons for the growth and decline of language:

 Changing societal needs
 Erosion of old customs
 Call of elegance

Endangered Language- is a language that is at risk of falling out of use as its

speakers
die out or shift to speaking another language. Language loss occurs when the
language
has no more native speakers, and becomes a “dead language.”

Example:
Ancient Greek slowly evolved into modern Greek, and Latin slowly
evolved into modern Italian.

Extinct Language- is a language that no longer has any speakers, or that is no longer
in
current use.

Dead Languages- are still known and used in special contexts in written form.

6. Language can be diverse.

Characteristics of Language:
1. Language is dynamic.
2. Language has levels.
3. Language is creative and unique.
4. Language is a means of communication.
5. Language identifies culture.
6. Language is arbitrary.

Language, Dialects, and Variations

Language Variation
• No two speakers of a language speak exactly the same way
• No individual speaker speaks the same way all the time.
Dialect
• A language variety, spoken by a speech community, which is characterized by systematic
features (e.g., phonological, lexical, grammatical) that distinguish it from other varieties of
that same language

• Idiolect: the speech variety of an individual

Speaker

Factors that contribute to variation:

• Social situation
• Occupation
• Age
• Geography
• Education
• Gender
• Social status/class
• Ethnicity

2. What is local Language?

Local language refers to the language that a person acquires in early childhood because it is
spoken in the family and/or it is the language of the region where the child lives. Also
known as a mother tongue, first language, or arterial language.
A person who has more than one native language is regarded as bilingual or multilingual.
3. Purpose of Studying Local Language

REASONS TO LEARN (AT LEAST THE BASICS OF) THE LOCAL LANGUAGE

1. English isn’t the official language everywhere.

2. Respect the local culture.
3. Easier to navigate the city/country.
4. Learn more about YOUR native language.
5. Open a new world or perspective.
6. Potential to become bi/multilingual.
7. Impress others.
8. It’s fun!

Benefits

1. Interaction with locals

2. Experience openness
3. You build trust
4. Understand local culture better
5. You gain independence
6. Gain respect

4. Relevance of teaching local language in the classroom

The advantages of issuing instructions in local language:

1. Learners learn better and faster in their mother tongue than in a foreign language.
2. Learners participate fully in class and contribute to the learning activity effectively.

3. Local language can help them improve their academic performance as the fully
understand the materials taught to them by the teachers.

4. Good communication between teachers and pupils due to the language

5. Learners will be learning from known to unknown.

6. Learners able to understand a given instruction faster.

7. Learners have a sense of belonging since it is their language that is being used.

8. Reading becomes easier because they read English easily in their language.

9. Learners can easily remember what they learn in class.

Why we teach (in) the Mother Tongue/Local Language?

• Use of the child’s home language provides the best foundation for development of initial
literacy and learning in the first years of schooling. (Barron, 2012; Kosonen & Young, 2009;
Ocampo, 2006).

• The child’s MT in this context can be assumed to be the strongest language of the
child, or the language that the child knows best and can use most effectively (DepEd, 2013).

• Strong MT skills provide a good foundation for subsequent learning of other languages,
such as the national language Filipino, and English, which can gradually be introduced into
the curriculum in Grades 1 and 2 (Cenoz & Genesee, 1998; Ocampo, 2006).

• The use of the MT as MOI means extensive exposure to the MT as MOI (Skutnabb-Kangas,
2009) and management of the extent to which other languages are used as MOI in the early
years.

The language barrier that exists when learners’ first language is not used in the classroom:
• Results in low intake and high dropout rates
• Makes learning content difficult and thus lowers achievement levels,
• Lacks relevance and interest to learners’ real world experiences and situations.
• Limits learners’ ability in developing their second and third languages because the first
language is not well developed in the classroom.
• Delays understanding by avoiding use of the language they think in.
• Many think that children who are immersed in a second language from the beginning learn
the second language better. They do not.

II. IBANAG AS A LOCAL LANGUAGE

The Ibanag language (also Ybanag or Ibanak) is spoken by up to 500,000

speakers (the Ibanag people) in the Philippines, in the northeastern provinces
of Isabela and Cagayan, especially in Tuguegarao City, Solana, Cabagan, and Ilagan and
with overseas immigrants in countries located in the Middle East, UK and the U.S.A.. Most of
the speakers can also speak Ilocano, the lingua franca of Northern Luzon. Ibanag is derived
from bannag 'river'. It is closely related to Gaddang, Itawis, Agta, Atta, Yogad, Isneg and
Malaweg.

Sounds

  Vowels

 A (ah) E (eh) I (ee) O (oh) U (ooh) Y (ee)

  Consonants

 B,C,D,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,N,Ng,P,Q,R,S,T,V,W,X,Z,CH

 Phonology
Ibanag is also one of the Philippine dialects which is excluded from [ɾ]-[d] allophone.
The Ibanag language is distinct in that it features phonemes that are not present in many
other neighboring Philippine languages. It is related to Itawis, Gaddang, Yogad, Malaueg
and others. As an example the "f","v","z" and "j" sounds. innafi - rice, bavi - pig, kanzing -
goat, or madjan - maid.

In addition to this, Ibanag also features doubled consonants. Therefore making the
language sound "hard" or guttural. For example: Gaddua, Pronounced gad-dwa, meaning
half. Mappazzi, Pronounced Map-paz-zi', meaning to squeeze or squeezing.

Lastly, monophthongization is observable in Ibanag. For example, the words umay

(to go), balay (house) or aggaw (day) are sometimes pronounced as ume, bale, and aggo.

 Dialects
Since Ibanag is spoken in various areas of Northeastern Region of the Philippines
(namely within Isabela and Cagayan), there are also minor differences in the way that it is
spoken in these areas. Ibanag spoken in Tuguegarao is known to be the Standard Dialect.
And other native Ibanag speakers usually distinguish if the speaker is from Tuguegarao City
with the variation of their pronunciation and accent. Most who have adapted the
Ibanag dialect from the city have a more formal grammatical structure tend to
have a Hispanic accent.
Tuguegarao City before the Spaniards came spoke Irraya (a seemingly extinct
Gaddang dialect). Spaniards introduced Ibanag to the city from Lal-lo (formerly the city of
Nueva Segovia) and made the language as the lingua franca of the Northeastern Philippines.
But with the introduction of Ilocano settlers, Ilocano has become the new lingua franca
since the late 20th Century.

Cauayan City speakers and Ilagan speakers in Isabela have a hard accent as
opposed to the Tuguegarao Ibanag that sounded Hispanic. But, native speakers of
Northern Cagayan have a harder accent.

For example, Ibanags from towns in Northern Cagayan, which includes Aparri,
Camalaniugan, Pamplona and Lallo, tend to replace their "p's" with more "f's". Also, certain
Ibanag words differ from these areas as opposed to the Tuguegarao and Isabela
Ibanag. Examples:
  Napatu - Nafatu (hot)
 Paggipayan - Faggifayan (a place to put)
 Dupo - Dufo (banana)

Tuguegarao Ibanag may be considered as the standard, however, Northern Cagayan

Ibanag may be the one closest to the ancient Pre-Hispanic Ibanag existent prior to the
spread of the language throughout the province, as Northern Cagayan was the original
Ibanag home territory. On the other hand, Tuguegarao Ibanag, besides having Spanish
influences may have acquired elements from nearby Itawis. At the same time, Isabela
Ibanag may have acquired elements from the original Gaddang language predominant in the
province.

Grammar

Orthography
There are two ways that Ibanag can be written. In older texts, the Spanish style is
often used. This is where "qu's", "c's" take place of "k's" However, this method can make
the language even harder to read. However, since the language is no longer being
maintained. There is no correct standard form of orthography. So, often you will see a
combination of both.
I.E. Quiminac camit tab bavi - We ate pork.

The other way of writing Ibanag is the simpler way that tends to be more phonetic.
I.E. Kiminak kami ta bavi - We ate pork.
ta - is used to refer place (isabela)
example: Minney cami ta tuguegarao - We went to tuguegarao.
tu - is used to refer on things
example: Quiminang cami tu bavi (isabela)- We ate pork.

 Nouns

  Personal Pronouns

 Independent pronouns
 I - Sakan, So'
 You - Sikau
 He, She, It - Yayya
 We (inclusive) - Sittam
 We (exclusive) - Sikami
 You (plural/polite) - Sikamu
 They - Ira

Possessive
Example of derived
Pronoun pronouns Example of root word
word(s)
forms

First person Sakan, So' (I) -ku, kazzing (goat) kazzingku (my goat)

 -' when subject
ends with a
lima (hand) lima' (my hand)
vowel or
diphthong
Sikami (Exclusive,
librumi (our book), libru
Our), Sittam -mi, -tam libru (book)
tam (our book)
(Inclusive, Our)

mejasmu (your
Second
Sikaw (you, singular) -mu, -m mejas (socks)libru (book) socks)librum (your
person
book)

Sikamu
-nu Bandera (flag) Banderanu (your flag)
(you(plural/polite))

Third manu'na (his, her, its

Yayya (he, she, it) -na manu' (chicken)
person chicken)

Ira (they) -da itubang (chair) itubang da (their chair)

  Sakan/So'

 I/Me: There are many ways to say I or me in Ibanag. The language is agglutinative.
Thus most of the time pronouns are attached to verbs. There are at least 4 ways to
indicate the pronoun "I".
 I am eating - Kumanna' = Kuman (to eat) and na' (I). Sometimes, nga' is used
instead of na'.
 I gave him some food - Neddakku yeyya ta makan. = Neddan (to give) ku (I).
 I will be the one to go - So' laman ngana y ume = So' (I)
 I split it in half - Ginaddwa' = Ginaddwa (to split in half) ' (I) Here the glottal stop on
the sentence indicates "I". Without the glottal stop, the sentence would become
incomplete and would otherwise not make any sense.

  Sikaw

 You: There are also a couple of ways to indicate you.

 (You) go outside - Mallawakka - Mallawan (to go) and ka (you)
 You give - Iddammu - Iddan (to give/to put) and mu (you)

  Yayya

 He/She/It: As with the other pronouns there are a couple of ways to say this, but
usually people use "na".
 He lost it: - Nawawanna (Nawawan) lost (na) he/she/it (NOTE: without the glottal
stop "na" can mean he she or it.)
  Sittam

 We: Often "tam" is attached at the end of the verb or noun. Sittam is We, when you
want to include the person being spoken to.
 Let's go - Tam ngana! or Ume tam!

  Sikami

 We: When we want to exclude the person being spoken to, we use Sikami. In this
case, you only attach "mi" to the end of the verb, adjective or noun.
 Umemi nga innan - We are going to look. Ume (to go) Mi (we)
 Nabattug kami - We are full (as in food). Nabattug (full) kami (we, just us not you)
 Ibanag kami - We are Ibanags

  Sikamu

 You: this is when we refer to more than one person being spoken to. Often "nu" or
"kamu" is used.
 Apannu yayya! - Go get him/her - Apan (to get) nu(you plural)
 Umine kamu tari? - You went there? - Umine (went) kamu (you)

  Ira

 They: Ira. Ira is seldom used unless emphasizing that it is "them". Instead of ira, the
word "da" is used.
 Ginatangda y bale' - They bought my house. Ginatang (bought) da (they)

 Possessive Pronouns
"Kua" is the root word that identifies something as belonging to someone. Often "Ku" is
added before "Kua" to emphasize this. Note that this is only possible with "Mine" and
"Yours" but not with other possessive pronouns.
Kukua' yatun - That IS Mine.

 My, mine - ku, kua', kukua'

 Your, Yours - -m, mu, kuam, kukuam
 His, Her, Its - na, kuana

 Our, ours (inclusive) - tam, kuatam

 Our, ours (exclusive) - mi, kuami
 Your, Yours - nu, kuanu
 Their, Theirs - da, kuada

 My toy - Gaggayam ku
 Your gift - Regalum
 Her earring - Aritu' na
 Our land - Davvuttam
 Our house - Balemi
 Your car - Cochenu
 Their dog - Kituda

 This is mine - Kua' yaw.

  That is yours - Kuam yatun.
 That is hers - Kuana yari.

  Demonstrative Pronouns

 This - Yaw
 That (item by person being spoken to) - Yatun
 That (far from both speaker and person being spoken to) - Yari
 That (sometimes used for objects that are absent or in the past) - Yuri

 This dog - Yaw kitu

 That cat - Yatun kitaw
 That carabao - Yari nuang
 That day - Yuri aggaw

 In order to emphasize or stress the distance or time, the stress on the word falls on
the first syllable except for "yatun".

 I.e. Yatun davvun - That Land!

 Other ways that words are emphasized are by using Locatives.

 THIS house (here) - Yaw bale taw

 That girl there - Yatun babe tatun
 That man over there - Yari lalaki tari
 That old lady a long time ago - Yuri bako' turi*

 with turi the stress on "tu" is often lengthened to emphasize the distance and time
that has passed.

  Locatives

 Here - Taw
 There - Tatun (by person being spoken to)
 There - Tari (far from both)
 There - Turi (absent, past time and/or location)

  Interrogative Words

 What?- Anni?
 Where?- Sitaw?
 When?- Kanni?
 Why?- Ngatta?
 Who?- Sinni?
 How?- Kunnasi?
 How much? - Piga?

 Each of the doubled consonants must be pronounced separately.

 I.E. Anni? - "An ni"

 Anni kuammu? - What are you doing?

  Sitaw tam ume? - Where are we going?
 Kanni ka nallabbe'? - When did you arrive?
 Ngatta nga ari ka kuman? - Why are you not eating?
 Sinni y nanga' ta affefec ku? - Who took my fan?
 Kunnasim lutuan yatun nu awan tu rekadum? - How are you going to cook that if
you don't have the ingredients?
 Piga yaw? Piga yatun? - How much is this? How much is that?

  Verbs

Ibanag verbs are not conjugated in the same manner that most Indo-European languages
are.
They are conjugated based on the tense of the word.
As with many other Malayo-Polynesian languages, there is no verb for "to be". However this
is sometimes compensated by using the verb for "to have".

  Infinitive and Present Tense

Many times, the infinitive form is the same as the present tense.

 Egga - There is/ to have

 Kuman - To eat/ eat
 Minum - To drink/ drink
 Mawag - To need/ need
 Kaya' - To want/ want, To like/ like
 Umay - To go/ go, To come/ com
 Manaki' - To not want/ not want, To not like/ not like

 I am here - Egga na' taw

 Do you eat goat? - Kumakka tu kazzing?
 Drink this - Inumammu yaw.
 Drink water - Minum ka tu danum.
 You need to sleep - Mawag mu makkaturuk.

  Past Tense
There are different ways to form the past tense. Here are a few common ways.

 Nilutu/ Nallutu - cooked

 Ginappo' - cut
 Inusi' - cut (hair)
 Inirayyu - placed far away
 Ginatang - bought

 We cooked dinengdeng - Nallutu kami ta dinengdeng

 We cooked the pig - Nilutu mi yari bavi. (Y become yari assuming the pig itself is not
present since it was already cooked)
 They cut my hair - Inusi' da y vu' ku
 I got my hair cut - Nappa usi' na' ta vu' ku
 They placed him far away - Inirayyu da yayya.
 I bought you this cow - Ginatang ku yaw baka para nikaw.
  Future Tense
Again there are a couple of ways of forming future tense. One is by the use of a helping
word like "to go".
Sometimes the present tense can indicate future depending on the context.

 Ume mi nga apan yayya - We are going to pick him up.

 Gumatang ka sangaw ta lechon - Go buy lechon later.

  Sangaw vs Sangawe

 Sangawe ngana! - Do it right now!

 Sangaw ngana! - Do it later...

  Structure

  Syntax/ Word Order

Ibanag sentence structure often follows the " Verb + Subject + Object " pattern.
I.e. Nelauan ni Andoy y kitu. - Andoy took out the dog.
Adjectives often follow the nouns with a marker attached.
I.e. Dakal nga balay - Big house.
Simple sentences as opposed to descriptive patterns: The house is red - Uzzin y balay The
red house - Uzzin nga balay

  Markers
"Y" and "nga" are the two most commonly used markers in Ibanag. They either link
adjectives to nouns, or indicate the subject of the sentence.
Some examples

 Nagallu nga galo' - Loud laughter. Nagallu indicates loud and the "nga" links it to
laughter.
 Atannang y ana' mu - Your child is tall. With the lack of the verb to be and a
switched syntax, "Y" indicates that "your child" is the subject.

"Tu" is another marker that is used, but is not very simple to explain. Often it is seen in
conjunction with the word "Awan" meaning "nothing or none".
Some examples

 Awan tu makan - Wala nang pagkain - There is nothing to eat. Here, "tu" links awan
(none) and makan (food). tu - it is like "nang" in Tagalog

"Ta" is yet another marker used. ta - is like "sa" in Tagalog

Some examples

 Maggangwa ka ta bagu nga silla - Gagawa ka ng bagong upuan. Make a new chair.
(Here both "nga" and "ta" are used)

Consonant Addition and Replacement

Ibanag verbs that end in "n" lose the last consonant, which is replaced by the first
consonant of the succeeding word. However, when the succeeding word starts with a vowel
or another "n", the last "n" is not affected.
Some examples
  Apan mu yari libru.

Correct = Apam mu yari libru - Go get the book.

 Nasingan ku y yama na.

Correct = Nasingak ku y yama na - I saw his father.

 Kumang Ittam.

Correct = Kumang tam - Let's eat.

The marker "ta" and the preposition "na" (not the pronoun) sometimes, depending also on
the dialect, acquires the first consonant of the succeeding word.

 Ta likug na balay

Tal likug nab balay - at the back of the house

 Ta utun - On top. Notice that "ta" is succeeded by "utun" which starts with a vowel.

Vocabulary

  Loan Words

 Many words in Ibanag are of Spanish origin. The language is infused with Spanish
words that are often not seen or heard in any of the other Philippine languages.

 Eyeglasses - Anchuparra/ Anteojos

 Plants - Masetas
 Store - Chenda (from Tienda)
 Sink - Lababo (lavabo)
 Toilet - Kasilyas

  Simple greetings

 Good morning - Mapia nga umma nikau

 Good afternoon - Mapia nga fugak nikau
 Good evening/night - Mapia nga gabi nikau
 How are you? - Kunnasi ka ngana?
 I'm fine/good and you? - Mapia gapa, sikau?
 I'm just fine, thank God - Mapia gapa, mabbalo' ta dios
 Thank you - Mabbalo'
 Where are you going? - Sitau angayammu?
 I'm going to...- Umay na' ta...
 What are you doing? - Anni kukuammu?
 Oh, Nothing in particular. - Awan, maski anni laman.
 Please come in. - Tullung kamu.
 Long time no see. - Nabinnay taka ari nasingan.
   Numbers

 0-awan
 1-tadday
 2-dua
 3-tallu
 4-appa'
 5-lima
 6-annam
 7-pitu
 8-walu
 9-siyam
 10-mafulu
 100-magattu
 200-dua gattu
 500-limagatu
 1000-marivvu
 2000-dua rivvu

  Sentences
Ibanag Tagalog English

Anni y kinnam mu ganguri? Ano ang kinain mo kanina? What did you eat?

Anni y kinnan nu? Ano ang kinain ninyo? What did you,(all) eat?

Anni y kanakanam mu? Ano ang kinakain mo? What are you eating?

Anni y kankanam mu sangaw? Ano ang kinakain mo ngayon? What are you eating now?

Kuman ittam sangaw nu pallabbe na. Kakain tayo pagdating niya. We will eat when he/she comes.

Maddaguk kami kuman kustu limibbe Kumakain kami nang dumating

We were eating when he came.
yayya. siya.

Nakakak kami nakuan nu limibbe Nakakain sana kami kung We would have eaten I if he had
yayya. dumating siya. arrived.

Natturukí y gattó. Sumirit ang gatas. The milk shot out.

Ari ka ngana kuman. Huwag kang kumain. Don't eat.

kumak ka ngana! Kumain ka na! Eat now!

Kua' yatun! Akin yan! That's mine!

Iddu taka Mahal kita I love you

http://dictionary.sensagent.com/Ibanag%20language/en-en/

A. The Autronesian/Malayo-Polynesian Language (Linguistic Classification)

The Austronesian language family has about 1,200 members, which together are
spoken by some 270 million people. It is arguably the largest existing language family in
terms of the number of its member languages (making up for 20% of the world’s
languages) and it is second in terms of its geographic spread (after the Indo-European
language family). Austronesian languages range from Malagasy (in Madagascar and on the
island of Mayotte) in the western part of the Indian Ocean to Rapanui or Easter Island in the
southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, and from the Formosan languages in Taiwan and
Hawaiian in the northern reaches of the Pacific to Maori in New Zealand. The Philippines,
Brunei, Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia and most of Indonesia and Malaysia are
traditionally Austronesian-speaking, and there are pockets of Austronesian speakers on the
Southeast Asian mainland in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Hainan (People’s
Republic of China). As a result of colonial administration and its aftermath there are also
pockets of Austronesian speakers in Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Malay), South Africa (Malay but
now extinct), Netherlands (Moluccan Malay, Javanese and various Moluccan languages),
Surinam (Javanese), Australia (Malay, various East Timorese languages) and Portugal
(various East Timorese languages).

u
nderwent the following changes: PAn *C and *t _ PMP *t; PAn *S _ PMP *h (a glottal spirant
which kept distinct from PAn *h); PAn *N and *n _ PMP *n
Classification of Austronesian Languages
B. Northern Luzon Languages

1. Cagayan Valley
Iloko
Noun Phrase Structure
2. Northeastern Luzon

Dupaningan Agta
Dialects
Language Endangerment
Borrowing
3. Dicamay Agta
4. Arta Language