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Yakan Language

Yakan is a language spoken on Basilan Island in the Philippines by the indigenous Yakan people. It has approximately 110,000 native speakers. While located in the Philippines, Yakan is not closely related to other Philippine languages, but rather is part of the Sama-Bajaw language family, which is ultimately related to languages spoken in Borneo. Yakan has a simple five vowel system and consonant inventory, and includes features such as phonemic vowel length and prenasalized consonants.

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388 views4 pages

Yakan Language

Yakan is a language spoken on Basilan Island in the Philippines by the indigenous Yakan people. It has approximately 110,000 native speakers. While located in the Philippines, Yakan is not closely related to other Philippine languages, but rather is part of the Sama-Bajaw language family, which is ultimately related to languages spoken in Borneo. Yakan has a simple five vowel system and consonant inventory, and includes features such as phonemic vowel length and prenasalized consonants.

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Mau Mau Mau
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Yakan language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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Yakan

Native to Philippines

Region Basilan

Ethnicity Yakan people


Filipinos in Malaysia

Native speakers (110,000 cited 1990 census)[1]

Language family Austronesian

 Malayo-Polynesian
o Greater Barito
 Sama-Bajaw
 Yakan

Official status

Official language in Regional language in the Philippines

Regulated by Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

Language codes

ISO 639-3 yka

Glottolog yaka1277 [2]


Area where Yakan is spoken

Yakan is a language of Basilan Island in the Philippines. It is the native language of Yakan people,
the indigenous as well as the largest ethnic group on the island. It has a total of 110,000 native
speakers. Despite being located in the Philippines, it is not closely related to other Philippine
languages, but rather a member of the Sama-Bajaw languages, which in turn are related to
the Barito languages spoken in southern Borneo, Madagascarand Mayotte.

Contents

 1Phonology
o 1.1Vowels
o 1.2Consonants
 2References
 3Bibliography
 4External links

Phonology[edit]
Vowels[edit]
Yakan has a simple five-vowel system: [a], [e], [i], [o], [u], with phonemic vowel
length: ā [a:], ē [e:], ī [i:], ō [o:], ū [u:].[3]
Consonants[edit]
The following chart lists the consonant phonemes of Yakan.[4]
Palatal/
Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
postalveolar

Nasal m n ŋ

voiceless p t k ʔ
Plosive
voiced b d ɡ

Affricate d͡ʒ

Fricative s h

Semivowel j w

Lateral l

The consonant d is usually realized between vowels as a flap [ɾ], although some speakers use the
stop [d] in all positions.
All consonants except for /d͡ʒ/, /h/, /j/, /w/ and /ʔ/ can occur as lengthened consonants.
The following spelling conventions are used: y /j/, j /d͡ʒ/, ng /ŋ/, ' /ʔ/.[5]

References[edit]
1. ^ Yakan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Yakan". Glottolog 3.0.
Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. ^ Brainard & Behrens 2002, pp. 5–6.
4. ^ Brainard & Behrens 2002, p. 5.
5. ^ Brainard & Behrens 2002, p. 10.

Bibliography[edit]
 Brainard, Sherri; Behrens, Dietlinde (2002). A Grammar of Yakan. Manila: Linguistic Society of the
Philippines. Grammar description accessible via Rosetta Project

External links[edit]
 an online Yakan-English dictionary accessible from SIL Philippines's website

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