Pangasinan language

Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAN : Pangasinan language

The Pangasinan language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family. Pangasinan is spoken by more than two million people in the province of Pangasinan, in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, and by a significant number of Pangasinan immigrants in the United States. Pangasinan is the primary language in the province of Pangasinan, located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. It is the dominant language in central Pangasinan.

The Pangasinan language is one of the twelve major languages in the Philippines. The total population of the province of Pangasinan is 2,434,086 (National Statistics Office: 2000 Census). The estimated population of the indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language in Pangasinan is 1.5 million.

The Pangasinan language is also called:

Pangasinense, the hispanicized name of Pangasinan.
Pangalatok, a slang term of Pangasinan of doubtful etymology mistakenly used by non-Pangasinans to refer to the Pangasinan language or its native speakers.

Etymology of Pangasinan

Pangasinan, means "land of salt" or "place of salt-making"; it is derived from the root word asin, the word for "salt" in the Pangasinan language.
pangasinan means "container of salt or salted-products"; it refers to the ceramic jar for storage of salt or salted-products or its contents.

Contents

1 History
2 Classification and Related Languages
3 Geographic Distribution
4 Grammar

4.1 Pronouns
4.2 Numbers

5 Swadesh list in English and Pangasinan
6 Dictionaries and References
7 References
8 See also
9 External links
10 Further reading

History

Austronesian Languages

The indigenous speakers of the Austronesian languages settled in the area of island Southeast Asia, South China, and Taiwan during prehistoric times, perhaps more than 5,000 years ago. The indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language are descended from these prehistoric settlers, who were probably part of the prehistoric human migration that is widely believed to have originated from Africa about 100 to 200 thousand years ago.

Ancient Pangasinan Script

Pangasinan had a writing system before the Spanish conquest in 1571. The ancient Pangasinan script is related to the Tagalog Baybayin script and the Javanese Kavi script of Indonesia; it was probably influenced by the Brahmi script and Tamil script of ancient India. The Pangasinan script probably originated from the Sumerian cuneiform script of the ancient land of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia where the first known evidence of writing was found.

Introduction of Latin Alphabet

The Latin alphabet was introduced during the Spanish colonial period. Pangasinan literature, using the Pangasinan script and the Latin alphabet, continued to flourish during the Spanish and American colonial period. Pangasinan acquired many Spanish and English words, and some indigenous words were hispanicized or anglicized. However, the use of the Pangasinan script has declined, and not many of the literature written in the ancient Pangasinan script has survived.

Pangasinan Literature

Only a few Pangasinan journalists, newspaper columnists, authors, and poets continue to write or publish their works in Pangasinan. Many of the older books about Pangasinan or written in Pangasinan are now out-of-print or of limited availability. Today, not many new books, newspapers or magazines are being published in Pangasinan. However, many Christian publications in Pangasinan are widely available.

Most Pangasinans are now multilingual. Many Pangasinans have become proficient in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines; English, a global language; and Ilokano, a neighboring language. However, the spread and influence of the other languages is contributing to the decline of the Pangasinan language. Some Pangasinans are organizing to encourage the use of Pangasinan in the print and broadcast media, internet, local governments, courts, and schools in Pangasinan.

Classification and Related Languages

Pangasinan: An Austronesian Language

The Pangasinan language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family. Pangasinan is similar to the Tagalog and Ilocano languages that are spoken in the Philippines, the Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia, Malay in Malaysia, and Malagasy in Madagascar. The Pangasinan language is very closely related to the Ibaloi language spoken in the neighboring province of Benguet and Baguio City, located north of Pangasinan. The Pangasinan language is classified under the Pangasinic group of languages. The Pangasinic languages are:

Pangasinan
Ibaloi
Karao
I-wak
Kalanguya
Keley-I
Kallahan
Kayapa
Kallahan
Tinoc

The Pangasinic languages are spoken primarily in the provinces of Pangasinan and Benguet, and in some areas of the neighboring provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Ifugao.

Pangasinan is an agglutinative language. Linguistics studies suggest some Pangasinan word correspondences with the ancient Sumerian language, the first known written language. The Sumerian language, which was spoken in the ancient land of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia, is also an agglutinative language like Pangasinan.

Geographic Distribution

Pangasinan Speakers

The Pangasinan language is the primary language in the province or region of Pangasinan in the Philippines, located on the west central are of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. Pangasinan is the dominant language in central Pangasinan. The total population of the province of Pangasinan is 2,343,086 (National Statistics Office: 2000 Census). The estimated population of indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language in Pangasinan is 1.5 million. Pangasinan is spoken in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, mostly in some areas of the neighboring provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Benguet; and by a significant number of Pangasinan immigrants in the United States.

Sounds

Features

Grammar

Pronouns

Absolutive Independent Absolutive Enclitic Ergative Oblique
1st person singular siák ak -k(o) ed siak
1st person dual sikatá ita, ta -ta ed sikata
2nd person singular siká ka -m(o) ed sika
3rd person singular sikató - , -a to ed sikato
1st person plural inclusive sikatayó itayo, tayo -tayo ed sikatayo
1st person plural exclusive sikamí kamí mi ed sikami
2nd person plural sikayó kayó yo ed sikayo
3rd person plural sikara ira, ra da ed sikara

	Absolutive Independent	Absolutive Enclitic	Ergative	Oblique
1st person singular	siák	ak	-k(o)	ed siak
1st person dual	sikatá	ita, ta	-ta	ed sikata
2nd person singular	siká	ka	-m(o)	ed sika
3rd person singular	sikató	- , -a	to	ed sikato
1st person plural inclusive	sikatayó	itayo, tayo	-tayo	ed sikatayo
1st person plural exclusive	sikamí	kamí	mi	ed sikami
2nd person plural	sikayó	kayó	yo	ed sikayo
3rd person plural	sikara	ira, ra	da	ed sikara

Numbers

The following lists the numbers from one to ten in English, Tagalog, and Pangasinan.

English Tagalog Pangasinan
one isa sakey, isa
two dalawa duara, dua
three tatlo talora, talo
four apat apatira, apat
five lima limara, lima
six anim anemira, anem
seven pito pitora, pito
eight walo walora, walo
nine siyam siamira, siam
ten sampu samplura, samplu

English	Tagalog	Pangasinan
one	isa	sakey, isa
two	dalawa	duara, dua
three	tatlo	talora, talo
four	apat	apatira, apat
five	lima	limara, lima
six	anim	anemira, anem
seven	pito	pitora, pito
eight	walo	walora, walo
nine	siyam	siamira, siam
ten	sampu	samplura, samplu

Vocabulary

Writing System

Literary Works

Tongtong: Pangasinan Stories

Uliran: Pangasinan Myths and Legends

Togtog: Pangasinan Songs and Music

Diparan: Pangasinan Sayings and Proverbs

Pabitla: Pangasinan Riddles

Malinak lay Labi: A Pangasinan Folk Song

Malinak Lay Labi
The Night is Calm

Malinak lay Labi
The night is calm
Oras la'y mareen
A peaceful moment

Mapalpalna'y dagem
A gentle breeze
Katekep to'y linaew
Rolling with fog

Samit da'y kugip ko
So sweet is my dream
Binangonan kon tampol
Right away I awake

Lapu'd say limgas mo
Because of your beauty
Sikan sika'y amamayoen
You and only you I want to caress

Lalo la bilay
Best of all, my life
No sika la'y nanengneng
When I see you

Napunas lan amin
Gone is all
So ermen ya akbibiten
The sadness I feel inside

No nanonotan
When I remember
Ko la'y samit day ugalim
Your sweet kindness

Ag ta ka nalingwanan
I will not forget you
Angga'd kauyos na bilay
Till life departs

Swadesh list in English and Pangasinan

Dictionaries and References

The following is a list of some dictionaries and references:

Lorenzo Fernandez Cosgaya. Diccionario Pangasinan-Espanol and Vocabulario Hispano-Pangasinan (Colegio de Santo Tomas, 1865). This is available in the Internet at the University of Michigan's Humanities Text Initiative.

Anastacio Austria Macaraeg. Vocabulario Castellano-Pangasinan (1898).

Mariano Pellicer. Arte de la Lengua Pangasinan o Caboloan (1904).

Felixberto B. Viray. The Sounds and Sound Symbols of the Pangasinan Language (1927).

Corporacion de PP. Dominicos. Pasion Na Cataoan Tin JesuChristo (U.S.T. Press, 1951).

Paciencia E. Versoza. Stress and Intonation Difficulties of Pangasinan Learners of English (1961).

Paul Morris Schachter. A Contrastive Analysis of English and Pangasinan (1968).

Richard A. Benton. Pangasinan Dictionary (University of Hawaii Press, 1971).

Richard A. Benton. Pangasinan Reference Grammar (University of Hawaii Press, 1971).

Richard A. Benton. Spoken Pangasinan (University of Hawaii Press, 1971).

Richard A. Benton. Phonotactics of Pangasinan (1972).

Ernesto Constantino. English-Pangasinan Dictionary (1975).

Julio F. Silverio. New English-Pilipino-Pangasinan Dictionary (1976).

Alta Grace Q. Garcia. Morphological Analysis of English and Pangasinan Verbs (1981).

Philippine Bible Society. Say Santa Biblia (Philippine Bible Society, 1982).

Philippine Bible Society. Maung A Balita Para Sayan Panaon Tayo (Philippine Bible Society and United Bible Societies, 1983).

Mario "Guese" Tungol. Modern English-Filipino Dictionary (Merriam Webster, 1993).

Church of Christ. Say Cancanta (Church of Christ, n.d.). Translations of English songs like "Joy to the World," and "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" are included.

A favorite traditional folk song of Pangasinan is Malinak Lay Labi, which is translated "Calm is the Night." An English translation of this song can be found in the Internet along with some Pangasinan poems and literature.

Pangasinan language

History

Classification and Related Languages

Geographic Distribution

Grammar

Pronouns

Numbers

Swadesh list in English and Pangasinan

Dictionaries and References

References

See also

External links

Further reading