Yakan language

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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