Blaan language

Blaan
Native to Philippines
Region Mindanao
Ethnicity Blaan
Native speakers
 240,000 (2000–2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
bpr – Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad)
bps – Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao)
Glottolog blaa1241[2]

Blaan is an Austronesian language of the southern Philippines.

There are two major varieties of Blaan.

  • Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad)
  • Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao)

Distribution

According to the Ethnologue, Koronadal Blaan is spoken in:

Sarangani Blaan is spoken in:

History

Blaan belongs to the Bilic microgroup of the Philippine language subgroup, along with Giangan Manobo, Tiruray, and Tboli.[3]

Phonology

Blaan has fifteen consonant and seven vowel phonemes.[4]

Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive b t d k g ʔ
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative f s h
Lateral l
Approximant w j
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid-high ɛ
Mid ə
Mid-low ɔ
Low a ɑ

Syntax

Blaan uses word order to indicate the thematic roles of nominal elements in the sentence.[5]

Kamfe

AV.catch

kuku

cat

ungeh.

rat

Kamfe kuku ungeh.

AV.catch cat rat

'The cat catches the rat'

Similar to other Philippine-type Austronesian languages, Blaan uses verbal morphology to indicate voice (or focus, as it is usually called in the literature).[6] Here are some examples of voice/focus types in Blaan: Agent voice/focus (-m-)

Magin

AV.accompany

nga

child

do.

me

Magin nga do.

AV.accompany child me

'The child accompanies me.'

Patient voice/focus (-n-)

Nebe

PV.bring

libun

girl

ale.

them

Nebe libun ale.

PV.bring girl them

'The girl brings them.'

Vocabulary[7]

English Blaan
chicken anuk
flower bulek
horse kuda
corn agul
needle dalum
basket been
broom fune
rat unge
money filak
goat uhe
scissors gunting
mat igem
clouds labun
fish nalaf
eye mata
pestle sung
leaf doon
bone tulan
lamp salo
snake ulad
crow wak
foot bli
mother ye
father ma

References

  1. ↑ Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Blaan". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Blust, Robert (1991). "The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. 30 (2): 73–129. doi:10.2307/3623084.
  4. ↑ Dean, J. & Dean, G. (1955). The phonemes of Bilaan. Philippine Journal of Science, 84(3), 311-322.
  5. ↑ McLachlin, B. & Blackburn, B. (1968). Verbal clauses of Sarangani Blaan. Asian Studies, 6(1), 108-128.
  6. ↑ Dean, James C. (1958). Some principal relations in Bilaan. Oceania Linguistic Monographs, Studies in Philippine Linguistics by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (Pacific Branch), University of Sydney, Australia.
  7. ↑ "ABKD" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help).
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