Maguindanao language

Maguindanaon (, Jawi: ), or Magindanawn is an Austronesian language spoken by Maguindanaon people who form majority of the population of eponymous provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur in the Philippines. It is also spoken by sizable minorities in different parts of Mindanao such as the cities of Zamboanga, Davao, General Santos, and Cagayan de Oro, and the provinces of Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Bukidnon as well as Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna. As of 2020, the language is ranked to be the ninth leading language spoken at home in the Philippines with only 365,032 households still speaking the language.

History

The Maguindanaon language is the native language of the Maguindanaon people of the province of Maguindanao located in the west of Mindanao island in the south of the Philippines. It was the language of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, which lasted until near the end of the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century.

The earliest works on the language by a European were carried out by Jacinto Juanmartí, a Catalan priest of the Society of Jesus who worked in the Philippines in the second half of the 19th century. Aside from a number of Christian religious works in the language,Template:Refn Juanmartí also published a Maguindanao–Spanish/Spanish–Maguindanao dictionary and reference grammar in 1892. Shortly after sovereignty over the Philippines was transferred from Spain to the United States in 1898 as a result of the Spanish–American War, the American administration began publishing a number of works on the language in English, such as a brief primer and vocabulary in 1903, and a translation of Juanmartí's reference grammar into English in 1906.

A number of works about and in the language have since been published by Filipino and foreign authors.

File:Maguindanaoseal.png

Maguindanao language in Arabic script on Maguindanao royal seal from the 18th century

Distribution

Maguindanaon has 3 major dialects: Ilud, Laya, and Biwangen.

Maguindanaon dialects are:

• Ilud dialect: is spoken in Cotabato City, municipalities of Sultan Kudarat, Parang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, South Upi, Upi, Kabuntalan, Datu Piang, Datu Unsay, Shariff Aguak, Ampatuan, Mamasapano, Guindulungan, Sultan sa Barongis, Pagalungan, Datu Montawal (Pagagawan), Talitay and Talayan. From the province of Cotabato, the municipalities of Pigcawayan, Libungan, Midsayap, Aleosan, Alamada, Banisilan, Carmen, Pikit, Midsayap, Kabacan, Matalam, Kidapawan and Mlang. Lastly, from the province of Bukidnon, Damulog, and Kadingilan. The speech of the municipalities of Pikit, Matalam, Pagalungan and Datu Montawal (Pagagawan) differs in pronunciation and intonation from the ilud dialect, but is similar in vocabulary.
• Laya dialect: is spoken in municipalities of Buluan, Datu Paglas, General Salipada K. Pendatun, and Paglat, all in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, and Tulunan in the province of Cotabato; the municipalities of Lambayong, Esperanza, Isulan, Senator Ninoy Aquino, Bagumbayan, Tacurong, President Quirino, Columbio and Lutayan, all in the province of Sultan Kudarat; the municipalities of Santo Niño, Surallah, Norala, Banga, Lake Sebu, Koronadal, Tantangan, Polomolok, Tampakan and Tupi, all in the province of South Cotabato as well as some other parts of Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental.
• Biwangen dialect: is spoken in General Santos, Sarangani, the coastal municipalities of Sultan Kudarat (Palimbang, Kalamansig and Lebak), the coastal municipalities of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay, some municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte and in Pagadian.

Phonology

Vowels

Maguindanaon vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Mid	(Template:IPA link)		(Template:IPA link)
Open		Template:IPA link

The vowels and only occur in loanwords from Spanish through Tagalog or Cebuano and from Malay.

Consonants

Maguindanaon consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link
Fricative			Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)			Template:IPA link
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Tap			Template:IPA link
Lateral			Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

The phonemes and only appear in loanwords. The sound also appears an allophonic realization for the sequences (e.g. 'repeat that!') and (only before another vowel before vowel, e.g. 'stockings'); the sound also appears as an allophone of before voiced consonants. can also be trilled Template:IPAblink. Intervocalic is realized as .

and are interchangeable in words which include a written l, and the prevalence by which it is used or is dominant denotes the local dialects of Maguindanaon. may also be heard as a retroflex in intervocalic positions. The Laya (Raya) or lowland dialect of Maguindanaon, spoken in and around Cotabato City, prefers the flapped r over l, while the more conservative upland variety spoken in Datu Piang and inland areas favors l.

Grammar

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

As in the Maranao language, Maguindanaon pronouns can be also free or bound to the word/morpheme before it.

Maguindanaon free and bound pronouns

	Nominative (free)	Nominative (bound)	Genitive/Ergative (bound)	Oblique (free)
I
you (singular)			~
he/she/it
we (dual)
we (including you)
we (excluding you)
you (plural)

Numbers

Maguindanaon numerals:

	Maguindanaon
1	/
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1,000

Colors

English	Maguindanaon
black
white
red
orange
yellow
green
blue
purple
pink
gray
brown

Phrases

English	Maguindanaon	English	Maguindanaon
How are you?		Good morning
Good noon		Good afternoon
Good day		Good evening
I will go now		Until next time
You're so diligent		You're so kind
You're so beautiful		Thanks!
Thank you!		Thank you very much!
You're welcome		Welcome!
Yes		No
None		Not
Who?		What?
Where?		Which?
When?		How?
Why?		This
That		There
Here		In

Writing system

Maguindanao is written with the Latin script, and used to be written with the Jawi script. Among works on the language published by Jacinto Juanmartí, his sacred history contains Maguindanao texts in both Jawi and the Latin script.

Latin

Maguindanaon alphabet – Latin script

Letter	Name	Sound
A	a
B	ba
D	da
E	e
G	ga
H	ha
I	i
J	ja
K	ka
L	la
M	ma
N	na
Ng	nga
P	pa
R	ra
S	sa
T	ta
U	u
W	wa
Y	ya
Z	za

Jawi

Maguindanaon alphabet – Jawi script

Character	Name

See also

• Languages of the Philippines
• Danao languages
• Maranao language
• Iranun language

External links

• Maguindanao at Wiktionary
• Bansa.org Maguindanao Dictionary Template:Webarchive
• SEAlang Library Maguindanao Resources