Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Botolan language

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Native to
  
Philippines

ISO 639-3
  
sbl

Native speakers
  
33,000 (2000)

Botolan language

Region
  
some parts of Zambales province, Luzon

Language family
  
Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Luzon Sambalic Botolan

Regulated by
  
Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

Botolan is a [[Samba lic language]] spoken by 32,867 (SIL 2000) Sambal, primarily in the Zambal municipalities of Botolan and Cabangan in the Philippines.

Contents

Varieties

The Ayta people of sitio Villar, Botolan, and sitio Kakilingan, Santa Fe, Cabangan also speak a Botolan dialect with some unique lexical items.

Phonology

Botolan has 20 phonemes: 16 consonants and four vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel.

Vowels

Botolan has four vowels. They are:

  • /a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English ‘father’
  • /e/ an close-mid front unrounded vowel similar to German ‘Elefant’
  • /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English ‘machine’
  • /u/ (written as ‘o’) a close back unrounded vowel similar to English ‘flute’
  • There are five main diphthongs: /aɪ/, /uɪ/, /aʊ/, /ij/, and /iʊ/.

    Consonants

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

    Note: Consonants /d/ and /ɾ/ can sometimes interchange as they were once allophones.

    Stress

    Stress is phonemic in Botolan. Stress on words is very important, they differentiate words with the same spellings, but with different meanings, e.g. hikó (I) and híko (elbow).

    Historical sound changes

    Many words pronounced with /s/ and /ɡ/ in Filipino have /h/ and /j/, respectively, in their cognates in Botolan. Compare hiko and bayo with the Filipino siko and bago.

    Version from Matthew

    Tatay nawen ya anti ha katatag-ayan,
    Hay ngalan mo ay igalang dayi nin kaganawan.
    Andawaten nawen ya tampol kayna dayin mag-arí.
    Mangyari dayi ya kalabayan mo bayri ha babon lotá
    Bilang ombayro ha katatag-ayan.
    Hapa-eg ay biyan mo kayin pamamangan ya
    angka-ilanganen nawen.
    Patawaren mo kayi ha kawkasalanan
    nawen bilang pamatawad nawen ha nakapagkasalanan konnawen.
    Agmo kayi biyan ma-irap ya pagsobok boy
    ipakarayó mo kayi koni Satanas.

    Philippine national proverb

    Below is a translation in Botolan of the Philippine national proverb “He who does not acknowledge his beginnings will not reach his destination,” followed by the original in Filipino.

  • Botolan: “Hay ahe tanda nin nanlek ha pinangibatan, ay ahe makalateng ha lalakwen.
  • Filipino: “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan.
  • References

    Botolan language Wikipedia