Itbayat language

Itbayatèn
Ichbayaten
Ichbayaten
Native toPhilippines
RegionItbayat Island
EthnicityIvatan people
Native speakers
(3,500 cited 1996 census)[1]
Austronesian
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologitba1237
Itbayat and the other Batanic languages

The Itbayat language or Itbayaten (also known locally by elders as Ichbayaten) is an Austronesian language, in the Batanic group.[2] It is spoken primarily in Itbayat, a municipality in Batanes, Philippines.

Phonology

Vowels

/a, ɜ, i, o/

Vowels are contrasted between long and short vowels, for example as seen in the words tokod ('support') and tookod ('a kind of yam').[3]

Consonants

Itbayat consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t t͡ʃ k ʔ
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless (f) s h
voiced v ɣ ʁ
Approximant l j w
Trill r
  • /f/ is only used in loanwords but tends to become /p/.[3]

Grammar

Pronouns

The following set of pronouns is found in the Itbayat language.[3]

Itbayat pronouns
Nominative Genitive Locative
free bound free bound
1st
person
singular yaken ako ñaken ko jaken
dual – ta – – –
plural inclusive yaten ta ñaten ta jaten
exclusive yamen kami ñamen namen jamen
2nd
person
singular imo ka nimo mo dimo
plural imiyo kamo nimiyo miyo dimiyo
3rd
person
singular – – niya/ña na dira
plural sira sira nira da dira

References

  1. ^ Ivatan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Itbayat". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ^ a b c Yamada, Yukihiro (2002). Itbayat–English Dictionary (PDF). ELPR Publications Series A3-006. hdl:10108/75457.

Further reading

  • Yamada, Yukihiro (2014). A Grammar of the Itbayat Language of the Philippines. Himeji, Japan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)