Surigaonon language

Surigaonon
Surigaonon
Tandaganon, Surigao
Native to	Philippines
Region	Surigao del Norte, most parts of Surigao del Sur, and some portion of Dinagat Islands, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Davao Oriental
Ethnicity	Surigaonon
Native speakers	500,000 (2009 [needs update])
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Greater Central Philippine Central Philippine Bisayan Southern Bisayan Surigaonon; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by	Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; sgd – Surigaonon; tgn – Tandaganon
Glottolog	suri1274
	Area where Surigaonon is spoken according to Ethnologue

Surigaonon is an Austronesian language spoken by Surigaonon people. As a regional Philippine language, it is spoken in the province of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur, and some portions of Agusan del Norte, especially the towns near Lake Mainit, Agusan del Sur and Davao Oriental. The language, along with Butuanon and Tausug, are the only Visayan languages geographically native to Mindanao.

External relationships

Surigaonon refers to the people and the language of the people of Surigao del Sur and del Norte. It is composed of ethnic languages of Surigao the mix version of Surigao's ethnic language and Cebuano.^[2]^[3] It has been heavily influenced by Cebuano due to the influx of many Cebuanos in the region. However, most Cebuano speakers can hardly understand Surigaonon speakers, except for Cebuanos who have been living in the region for years.

Surigaonon is very closely related to the Tausug language of Sulu and the Butuanon language of Butuan.

Varieties

Tandaganon

Tandaganon^[4] (also called Tinandag, Naturalis, Tagon-on) is a closely related variety spoken in Tandag and central Surigao del Sur municipalities of San Miguel, Tago, Bayabas, Cagwait, Marihatag, San Agustin, and most of Lianga. It can be classified as a separate language or alternatively as a southern variety of Surigaonon. There are about 100,000 speakers.

Surigaonon

Surigaonon (also called Jaun-Jaun, Waya-Waya) itself on the other hand is the northern (Surigao del Norte) variety, with about 400,000 speakers. Surigaonon speakers are distributed throughout Surigao del Norte, northern Surigao del Sur, and northern Agusan del Norte.^[5] Surigaonon and Tandaganon speakers can understand each other well, even if they use their own languages in conversation (similar to the mutual intelligibility between the Boholano dialect and the general Cebuano dialect).

Together, Surigaonon and Tandaganon are spoken in Surigao del Norte and most parts of Surigao del Sur, except in the City of Bislig, municipalities of Barobo, Hinatuan, Lingig, and Tagbina. In the non-Surigaonon-speaking areas of Surigao, most of the inhabitants are descended from Cebuano-speaking migrants, and the rest are natives who speak Kamayo, a Mansakan language.

Phonology

According to Dumanig (2015),^[6] Surigaonon has a similar phonological inventory as its sister Bisayan languages, Cebuano and Boholano.

Vowels

Below is the vowel system of Surigaonon.

Surigaonon vowels^[6]
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Open		a

Consonants

Below is a chart of Surigaonon consonants.

Surigaonon consonants^[6]
		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t		k	ʔ
Plosive	Voiced	b	d		ɡ
Affricate				d͡ʒ
Fricative			s			h
Flap			ɾ
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

Note: [j] is spelled y, [d͡ʒ] is spelled j and [ŋ] is spelled ng.

References

^ Surigaonon at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Tandaganon at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Lobel (2013).
^ Zorc (1977).
^ Hall, Bill (August 25, 2009). "Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF). ISO 639-3 Registration Authority. request number 2009-087. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
^ "Surigaonon". Ethnologue.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dumanig, Francisco Perlas (2015). "Descriptive Analysis of the Surigaonon Language". Polyglossia. 27: 1–10. doi:10.34382/00011430. hdl:10367/6111.