Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Bikol languages

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Geographic distribution:
  
Bicol Region

Glottolog:
  
biko1240

ISO 639-2 / 5:
  
bik

Bikol languages

Linguistic classification:
  
Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Bikol

Subdivisions:
  
Coastal Bikol Inland Bikol Pandan Bikol

The Bikol languages are a group of Central Philippine languages spoken mostly on the Bicol Peninsula in the island of Luzon, the neighbouring island province of Catanduanes and the island of Burias of Masbate. There is a dialect continuum between the Visayan languages and the Bikol languages; the two together are called the Bisakol languages.

Contents

Ethnologue

The languages of Bikol grouped according to Ethnologue are:

  • Coastal Bikol (Northern)
  • Isarog Agta language
  • Mount Iraya Agta language
  • Central Bikol language
  • Canaman dialect (standard)
  • Naga City dialect
  • Partido dialect
  • Tabaco-Legazpi-Sorsogon (TLS) dialect
  • Daet dialect
  • Virac dialect
  • Southern Catanduanes Bikol language
  • Inland Bikol (Southern)
  • Mount Iriga Agta language
  • Albay Bikol languages
  • Buhinon language
  • Libon language
  • West Miraya language
  • East Miraya language
  • Rinconada Bikol language
  • Highland / Sinabukid dialect
  • Agta variant
  • Iriga variant (standard)
  • Lowland / Sinaranəw dialect
  • Baao variant
  • Bato variant
  • Bula-Pili variant
  • Nabua-Balatan variant
  • Northern Catanduanes Bikol (Pandan Bikol)

    • McFarland (1974)

    Curtis McFarland gives the following classification for the Bikol languages.

    Lobel (2000)

    While McFarland (1974) splits Bikol into 11 dialects, Lobel (2000) splits Bikol into 12 different dialects (including Partido Bikol, which McFarland does not differentiate) and 4 main branches.

  • Northern Coastal Bikol
    1. Central Standard – Spoken primarily in Naga City. Also recognized (and sometimes understood) in Daet, Camarines Norte and many other areas of Camarines Sur; San Pascual, Masbate on Burias Island; Legazpi City and other cities along the eastern coast of Albay, southwestern coast of Catanduanes, and northeastern Sorsogon.
      1. Daet area variant
      2. Naga City area variant
      3. Eastern Standard Bikol – Spoken in and around Legazpi City, Catanduanes southern town of San Andress and Caramoran and North Sorsogon
    2. Partido – Spoken in the Camarines Sur municipalities of Ocampo, Goa, Tigaon, Lagonoy, Sagñay, and San Jose. This dialect has a mellow intonation and is heavily influenced by Riŋkonāda.
    3. South Catanduanes – Spoken in the southern half of Catanduanes.
      1. Virac area variant
      2. Bato area variant
      3. San Miguel variant (transitional to North Catanduanes)
  • Southern Coastal and Inland Bikol
    1. Riŋkonāda – Spoken primarily in Iriga City, Baao; Bula; Balatan; Baao; and Nabua, Camarines Sur. Also in Ocampo, Buhi and Pili in Camarines Sur and in parts of Polangui, Albay.
      1. Lowland Riŋkonāda dialect (lacks /ə/ vowel)
      2. Highland Riŋkonāda dialect (with /ə/ vowel)
    2. Buhinon – Spoken in Buhi, Camarines Sur. Contains features from both Bikol of Polangui and Bikol of Iriga.
    3. Libon – Spoken in Libon, Albay.
    4. West Miraya – Spoken in Ligao City, Polangui, Oas, and Pio Duran, Albay.
    5. East Miraya – Spoken in Guinobatan; Camalig; Daraga; Jovellar, Albay; Donsol and Pilar, Sorsogon.
      1. Central (Guinobatan)
      2. Far East (Camalig, Daraga)
      3. Southeast (Jovellar, Albay, Donsol, Pilar)
  • Northern Catanduanes (Pandan) – Spoken by about 80,000 people in the Northern Catanduanes towns of Caramoran; Pandan; Bagamanoc; Panganiban, and Viga.
  • Bisakol
    1. Central Sorsogon – Spoken in Sorsogon City; Castilla; Casiguran; and Juban, Sorsogon.
      1. Castilla Sorsogon (mixed with Legazpi Bikol)
      2. Casiguran-Juban variant
    2. Southern Sorsogon also known as Gubat language – Spoken in Gubat; Barcelona; Bulusan; Santa Magdalena; Matnog; Irosin; and Bulan, Sorsogon.
    3. Masbateño – Spoken in Masbate City; Mobo; Uson; Dimasalang; Palanas; Masbate; Aroroy on the island of Masbate, all of Ticao Island, and Claveria on the southern half of Burias Island.
      1. Standard Masbateño
      2. Ticao Island variant

    Some dialects of Southern Bikol have the close central unrounded vowel /ɨ/ as a reflex of Proto-Austronesian *e. However, Proto-Austronesian *e is realized as /o/ in Libon. Two Bikol dialects have unique additional consonants, namely Southern Catanduanes, which has an interdental lateral consonant /l̟/ (also transcribed as l̪͆ ), and Buhi-non, which has the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/.

    References

    Bikol languages Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA