Native to Philippines Native speakers 75,000 (2011) Glottolog bant1288 | Region Romblon ISO 639-3 bno | |
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Language family Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Philippine
Central Philippine
Visayan
Asi | ||
The Asi language is a regional Visayan language spoken, along with the Romblomanon and Onhan languages, in the province of Romblon, Philippines. Asi originated in the island of Banton, Romblon and spread to the neighboring islands of Sibale, Simara, and in the towns of Odiongan and Calatrava in Tablas Island. Asi speakers in Odiongan is called Odionganon, Calatravanhon in Calatrava, Sibalenhon in Concepcion, Simaranhon in Corcuera, and Bantoanon in Banton.
Specifically, it is spoken on the following islands within Romblon:
Linguist David Zorc notes that Asi speakers may have been the first Visayan speakers in the Romblon region. He also suggests that Asi may have a Cebuan substratum and that many of its words may have been influenced by the later influx of other languages such as Romblomanon.
Sounds
Asi has sixteen consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g, m, n, ng, s, h, w, l, r and y. There are four vowels: a, i/e, and u/o. The vowels i and e are allophones, with i always being used when it is the beginning and sometimes end of a syllable, and e always used when it ends a syllable. The vowels u and o are allophones, with u always being used when it is the beginning and sometimes end of a syllable, and o always used when it ends a syllable. This is one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from [ɾ]-[d] allophone.