Bolinao language

Bolinao
Bolinao
Bino-Bolinao, Binubolinao, Binubulinao, Boliano, Bolinao Sambal, Bolinao Zambal, Bulinaw, Sambal Bolinao
Binu-Bolinao
Native to	Philippines
Region	Bolinao and Anda, Pangasinan
Ethnicity	Bolinao people
Native speakers	51,000 (2007 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Luzon Sambalic Bolinao; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin (Filipino alphabet); Historically Baybayin
Official status
Regulated by	Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-3	smk
Glottolog	boli1256
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The Bolinao language or Binubolinao is a Central Luzon language spoken primarily in the municipalities of Bolinao and Anda, Pangasinan in the Philippines. It has approximately 50,000 speakers,^[2] making it the second most widely spoken Sambalic language. Most Bolinao speakers can speak Pangasinan and/or Ilocano. Ethnologue reports 510 monolinguals for this language.^[3]

Phonology

Bolinao has 21 phonemes: 16 consonants and five vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel.

Vowels

Bolinao has five vowels. They are:

/a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English father
/ə/ (written as ⟨e⟩) a mid central vowel pronounced as in English telephone
/i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English machine
/o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English forty
/u/ a close back rounded vowel similar to English flute

There are six main diphthongs: /aɪ/, /əɪ/, /oɪ/, /uɪ/, /aʊ/, and /iʊ/.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Bolinao consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

Bolinao consonants
		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	(ny) /ɲ/	ng /ŋ/
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t		k	’ /ʔ/
Plosive	Voiced	b	d		g
Affricate	Voiceless		(ts)	(ty) /tʃ/
Affricate	Voiced			(dy) /dʒ/
Fricative			s	(sy) /ʃ/		h
Flap			ɾ
Approximant				j	w
Lateral			l	(ly) /ʎ/

Language comparison

A common proverb^[4] from Filipino hero Jose Rizal in English, "He who does not acknowledge his beginnings will not reach his destination," is translated into Bolinao, followed by the provincial language Pangasinan, the regional language Ilocano, and the original in Tagalog for comparison:

Bolinao	Si'ya a kai tanda' nin lumingap sa pinangibwatan na, kai ya makarate' sa keen na.
Pangasinan	Say toon agga onlingao ed pinanlapuan to, agga makasabi'd laen to.
Ilocano	Ti tao nga saan na ammo tumaliaw iti naggapuanna ket saan nga makadanon iti papananna.
Tagalog	Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan.

References

^ Bolinao at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Ethnologue (1990)
^ https://www.ethnologue.com/language/smk (subscription required)
^ "National Philippine Proverb in Various Philippine Languages". Carl Rubino's Homepage.

Persons, Gary. (1978). Bolinao: A Preliminary Phonemic Statement. Summer Institute of Linguistics.

External links

Binubolinao.com, website dedicated to the preservation of the Bolinao language.
bolinao.webonary.org, an online Binubolinao or Bolinao dictionary.

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[e18-1] Bolinao at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Ethnologue (1990)

[3] ttps://www.ethnologue.com/language/smk (subscription required)

[4] "National Philippine Proverb in Various Philippine Languages". Carl Rubino's Homepage.

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