Agusan language

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Agusan
Native toPhilippines
RegionMindanao
Native speakers
(80,000 cited 1978–2002)[1]
Language family
Austronesian
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
msm – Agusan, Omayamnon
mbd – Dibabawon
mqk – Rajah Kabunsuwan
Glottologeast2478

Agusan is a Manobo language of northeastern Mindanao in the Philippines.

Distribution and dialects[]

Agusan Manobo (consisting of the Umayam, Adgawan, Surigao, and Omayamnon dialects) is spoken in the following areas.[2]

  • Agusan del Sur Province: western area, southeast of Lake Buluan
  • inland areas of Surigao del Sur Province
  • southwest of Lanuza Peninsula to Lianga Bay in Surigao del Sur Province
  • western Agusan del Norte Province
  • Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte provinces: continuous strip along northern borders
  • Surigao del Norte Province: southern tip, inland
  • scattered small border areas of Bukidnon and Davao Oriental provinces

Dibabawon Manobo is spoken in the following areas.[3]

  • northern Compostela Valley Province: upper Agusan River area
  • Davao Oriental Province: Boston and Cateel municipalities
  • Davao del Norte Province: Asuncion municipality (in Manguagan)

Rajah Kabunsuwan Manobo is spoken in the following areas.[4]

  • northern border of Davao Oriental Province
  • southeast corner of Agusan del Sur Province
  • southern Surigao del Sur Province: Lingig (in Rajah Cabungsuan)

The Omayamnon, Dibabawon, and Rajah Kabunsuwan dialects are divergent.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

In Agusan, the stops have unreleased variants when occurring before another consonant, silence, and in syllable final position.[5] The glottal stop /ʔ/ occurs in all consonant positions.[5] Of the continuants, all occur in syllable-initial position and all except /h/ in word-final position. The consonants /d/ and /j/ are used interchangeably.[5]

Agusan Manobo consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d k g ʔ
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative s h
Flap ɾ
Approximant w l j

Vowels[]

Agusan has only five vowels, /i/, /u/, /e/, /æ/, and /a/. Vowels may appear alone, after a consonant, or between consonants in a syllable. All vowels, with the exception of /æ/, may occur "in a sequence of identical vowels separated by a glottal stop". The vowel /e/ never occurs next to the consonant /r/.[5]

Agusan Manobo vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e
Low æ a

References[]

  1. ^ Agusan, Omayamnon at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Dibabawon at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Rajah Kabunsuwan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Ethnologue
  3. ^ Ethnologue
  4. ^ Ethnologue
  5. ^ a b c d Weaver, Daniel H.; Weaver, Marilou (1963). "The phonology of Agusan Manobo (with special reference to æ)". In Wolfenden, Elmer (ed.). Papers on Philippine Languages 1. Manila: Institute for Language Teaching and Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 1–6.


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