Western Subanon language

{{short description|Austronesian language spoken on the Philippines}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Western Subanon

|altname=Siocon Subanon

|nativename=

|states=Philippines

|region=Western Mindanao

|speakers=300,000

|date=2018

|ref=

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Philippine

|fam4=Greater Central Philippine

|fam5=Subanen

|dia1={{bulleted list|Siocon}}

|dia2={{bulleted list|Western Kolibugan}}

|iso3=suc

|glotto=west2811

|glottorefname=Western Subanen

}}

Western Subanon (also known as Siocon Subanon or simply Subanon) is an Austronesian language belonging Subanen branch of the Greater Central Philippine subgroup. It is spoken by c. 300,000 people ({{as of|2018|lc=y}}) in the southwestern part of the Zamboanga Peninsula region of Mindanao.

Distribution and dialects

The Western Subanon speech area includes the villages Malayal, Lintangan, Lanuti, and Limpapa in the municipality of Sibuco, and parts of Siocon, Baliguian, Labason, Surabay, and Ipil, all located in the Zamboanga Peninsula region. The dialects are Siocon and Western Kolibugan (Western Kalibugan).{{Cite web |title=Subanon, Western |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/suc |access-date=2022-05-28 |website=Ethnologue |language=en}}

Phonology

Western Subanon has 15 native consonants.{{cite web|last1=Estioca|first1=Sharon Joy|title=Subanon (Spring 2015)|url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/ldtc/languages/subanon/|website=Language Documentation Training Center|publisher=University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410150158/http://ling.hawaii.edu/ldtc/languages/subanon|archive-date=10 April 2019}}{{cite journal |last=Bulalang |first=Sharon |year=2018 |title=Two Patterns of /a/ and /o/ Alternation in Subanon |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=289–302 |url=https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10177048 |doi=10.1353/ol.2018.0013|s2cid=149975971 }}

=Consonants=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+caption \| Consonant phonemes ! colspan="2" \| !Labial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal
rowspan="2" \|Plosive !voiceless \| {{IPA link\|p}} \| {{IPA link\|t}} \| \| {{IPA link\|k}} \| {{IPA link\|ʔ}}
voiced \| {{IPA link\|b}} \| {{IPA link\|d}} \| \| {{IPA link\|ɡ}} \|
colspan="2" \|Fricative \| \| {{IPA link\|s}} \| \| \| {{IPA link\|h}}
colspan="2" \|Nasal \| {{IPA link\|m}} \| {{IPA link\|n}} \| \| {{IPA link\|ŋ}} \|
colspan="2" \|Lateral \| \| {{IPA link\|l}} \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Semivowel \| \| \| {{IPA link\|j}} \| {{IPA link\|w}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+caption | Consonant phonemes

! colspan="2" |

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

| {{IPA link|p}}

| {{IPA link|t}}

|

| {{IPA link|k}}

| {{IPA link|ʔ}}

voiced

| {{IPA link|b}}

| {{IPA link|d}}

|

| {{IPA link|ɡ}}

|

colspan="2" |Fricative

|

| {{IPA link|s}}

|

| {{IPA link|h}}

colspan="2" |Nasal

| {{IPA link|m}}

| {{IPA link|n}}

|

| {{IPA link|ŋ}}

|

colspan="2" |Lateral

|

| {{IPA link|l}}

|

colspan="2" |Semivowel

|

| {{IPA link|j}}

| {{IPA link|w}}

|

=Vowels=

Western Subanon has five vowels.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+ Monophthongs ! ! Front ! Central ! Back
High \| {{IPA link\|i}} \| \| {{IPA link\|u}}
Mid \| {{IPA link\|e}} \| \| {{IPA link\|o}}
Low \| \| {{IPA link\|a}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+ Monophthongs

!

! Front

! Central

! Back

High

| {{IPA link|i}}

|

| {{IPA link|u}}

Mid

| {{IPA link|e}}

|

| {{IPA link|o}}

Low

|

| {{IPA link|a}}

|

The diphthongs of Western Subanon are {{IPA|/au/}}, {{IPA|/ua/}}, {{IPA|/io/}}, {{IPA|/oi/}}, {{IPA|/ai/}}, and {{IPA|/ia/}}.

Grammar

Western Subanon has a typical Philippine-type voice system. Unlike most other Philippine languages, it only has three voice categories.{{cite journal |last=Hall |first=William C. |year=1969 |title=A Classification of Siocon Subanon Verbs |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=11 |issue=7 |pages=209–215 |jstor=30029228}}{{cite journal |last=Hauk |first=Bryn |title=Functions of the Subanon mo-Prefix: Evidence from Paradigms and Argument Structure |year=2019 |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=257–291 |doi=10.1353/ol.2019.0009}}

rowspan=2\|	colspan=2\| volitional	colspan=2\| non-volitional
class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+caption \| Voice affixes
realis	irrealis	realis	irrealis
Actor voice \| ‹um›‹in› mig- \|\| ‹um› mog- \|\| miko- \|\| moko-
Patient voice \| ‹in› pig- \|\| -on pog- \|\| mi- \|\| mo-
Goal voice \| ‹in› -an pig- -an \|\| -an pog- -an \|\| ki- -an \|\| ko- -an

Sample text

The chorus of the Western Subanon song "{{Lang|suc|Momula ita|italic=no}}" 'Let's plant' is shown.

{{Verse translation|Gumani ita

Gumani ita

Landu’ da’da’an ta

Po’ gumani ita

Gumani ita

Di’ na mobon sinsaan ta

Gumani ita|We will harvest (or, Let's harvest)

We will harvest

Great is our rejoicing

Because we will harvest

We will harvest

Our suffering will not last long

We will harvest|lang=suc}}

rowspan=2\|	colspan=2\| volitional	colspan=2\| non-volitional
class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+caption \| Voice affixes
realis	irrealis	realis	irrealis
Actor voice \| ‹um›‹in› mig- \|\| ‹um› mog- \|\| miko- \|\| moko-
Patient voice \| ‹in› pig- \|\| -on pog- \|\| mi- \|\| mo-
Goal voice \| ‹in› -an pig- -an \|\| -an pog- -an \|\| ki- -an \|\| ko- -an