Native to Philippines ISO 639-3 itv | Region Cagayan Valley Glottolog itaw1240 (Itawit) | |
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Native speakers (120,000 cited 1990 census) Language family Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Philippine
Northern Luzon
Cagayan Valley
Ibanagic
Itawis | ||
Itawis (also Itawit or Tawit as the endonym) is a Northern Philippine language spoken by the Itawis people and is closely related to the Ibanag and Ilocano. Unlike the rest of Philippine languages, Itawit and its relatives use the consonants /z/, /f/, /v/, and /dʒ/ (spelled ⟨dy⟩). For example, fefeg (fan), madyan (maid), kazzing (goat), and bavi (pig).
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Background
Itawis is spoken by the Itawis people of Northern Luzon who inhabit the province of Cagayan Valley. Their range is from the lower Chico and Matalag rivers. In many towns by these rivers, Itawis are found with Ibanags, and speak Ibanag as well as an example of linguistic adaptation. Speakers of Itawis and Ibanag can easily understand each other because of the close relationship of their languages. The Itawis are linguistically and culturally very closely related to the Ibanag.
The Itawis language is classified as a Malayo-Polynesian language, in the super family of languages called Austronesian. During the pre-Spanish period of the Philippines, words were borrowed from Spanish to stand in place for words that did not exist in the Itawis language. One such word is la mesa which means table, for Ancient Itawis didn't eat on tables which were introduced by the Spanish.
In the town of Rizal, Cagayan, a language called Malaueg is spoken by a group of people of the same name. It is not yet clear whether Malaueg is a distinct language or not because its proximity to Itawis may possibly make it a dialect of the latter.
Examples
Comparison to Ibanag