Bontoc language

Bontoc (Bontok) /bɒnˈtɒk/[2] (also called Finallig) is the native language of the indigenous Bontoc people of the Mountain Province, in the northern part of the Philippines.

Bontoc
Finallig
Native toPhilippines
RegionMountain Province
Native speakers
41,000 (2007 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bnc – inclusive code
Individual codes:
lbk – Central Bontok
ebk – Eastern Bontok
rbk – Northern Bontok
obk – Southern Bontok
vbk – Southwestern Bontok
Glottologbont1247
Area where Bontoc is spoken according to Ethnologue

Dialects

Ethnologue reports the following locations for each of the five Bontok languages. Speaker populations from the 2007 census, as quoted in Ethnologue.

  • Central Bontok: spoken in Bontoc municipality, Mountain Province (in Bontoc ili, Caluttit, Dalican, Guina-ang, Ma-init, Maligcong, Samoki, and Tocucan villages). 19,600 speakers. Dialects are Khinina-ang, Finontok, Sinamoki, Jinallik, Minaligkhong and Tinokukan. [3]
  • Eastern Bontok: spoken in Barlig municipality, eastern Mountain Province (in Barlig, Kadaklan, and Lias villages). 6,170 speakers. Dialects are Finallig, Kinajakran (Kenachakran) and Liniyas. [4]
  • North Bontok: spoken in Sadanga municipality, northern Mountain Province (in Anabel, Bekigan, Belwang, Betwagan, Demang, Sacasacan, Saclit, and the municipal center of Sadanga Poblacion). There are also some speakers in southern Kalinga Province. 9,700 speakers.
  • Southern Bontok: spoken to the south of Bontoc municipality in Talubin, Bayyo, and Can-eo towns. 2,760 speakers. Dialects are Tinoveng and Kanan-ew. [5]
  • Southwestern Bontok: spoken in Bontoc municipality, Mountain Province (in Alab, Balili, Gonogon, and villages in the Chico River valley, southwest of the municipal capital Bontoc, along Halsema Highway). 2,470 speakers. Dialects are Ina-ab, Binalili and Ginonogon. [6]

Phonology
Consonant phonemes[7]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k ɡ ʔ
Fricative s
Rhotic ɻ~ɺ
Approximant j
  • The archiphoneme /r/ has [l], [ɻ], and [ɺ] as its allophones.[7] The allophone [l] occurs word-initially, adjacent to /i/, as the second member of a consonant cluster consisting of a coronal consonant and /r/, and as the second member of any consonant cluster preceded by /i/. [ɻ] occurs in free variation with [l] word-initially, but otherwise occurs in complementary distribution with it. [ɺ] occurs in free variation with [l] and [ɻ] word-initially, and with [ɻ] elsewhere. These /r/ sounds are even applied to loanwords from Ilokano and Tagalog, and Spanish loanwords from the 2 languages.
  • The plosives /t/, /ɡ/, /b/, and /d/ have, respectively, [t̪] (representing an interdental consonant), [kʰ], [f], and [t͡s] as their syllable-initial allophones.[7]
  • The voiced stop /b/ also has [b̪] and [v] as its allophones.[7] Both of these allophones occur as the first member of a geminate cluster. They are in free variation.
  • The approximant /j/ has one allophone: [ɥ]. [ɥ] occurs after /o/.[7]
Vowel phonemes[7]
Front Back
High i
Mid e o
Close a

/e/ becomes a slightly centralized [e̞] when in a syllable whose coda is /k/.[7] When in the nucleus, /a/ and /o/ are slightly raised and /i/ is lowered. [7]

There are two degrees of stress in Bontoc: primary and secondary. Primary stress is phonemic and secondary stress is predictable. Both types are right-oriented and occur on one of the last three syllables. Stress's effects include higher pitch, louder volume, and lengthening of the syllable nucleus, though these are all subject to certain rules pertaining to word prosody. [7]

Example text

The Lord's Prayer

References
  1. Bontoc at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Central Bontok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Eastern Bontok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Northern Bontok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Southern Bontok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Southwestern Bontok at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  3. Ethnologue, Central Bontok (subscription required)
  4. Ethnologue, Eastern Bontok (subscription required)
  5. Ethnologue, Southern Bontok (subscription required)
  6. Ethnologue, Southwestern Bontok (subscription required)
  7. Reid, Lawrence A. (1963). "The Phonology of Central Bontoc". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 72 (1): 21–26.

Further reading
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