Central Luzon languages

Central Luzon
Geographic
distribution		Western parts of Central Luzon near Mount Pinatubo, western Bulacan, southwest Nueva Ecija, the whole Pampanga province, and west Pangasinan; northeast Calabarzon
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Proto-languageProto-Central Luzon
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologcent2080
Geographic extent of Central Luzon languages based on Ethnologue

The Central Luzon languages are a group of languages belonging to the Philippine languages. These are predominantly spoken in the western portions of Central Luzon in the Philippines. One of them, Kapampangan, is the major language of the Pampanga-Mount Pinatubo area. However, despite having three to four million speakers, it is threatened by the diaspora of its speakers after the June 1991 eruption of that volcano. Globalization also threatened the language, with the younger generation more on using and speaking Tagalog and English, but promotion and everyday usage boosted the vitality of Kapampangan.[1] Another Central Luzon language, Sambal or Sambali, experiences same situation, the speakers of the language are decreasing due to the globalization that many of the speakers of younger generation are shifting to Tagalog & Ilocano. The only Central Luzon language spoken outside Central Luzon is Hatang Kayi or Sinauna, located in northeast Calabarzon.

Historical linguistics

The modern Central Luzon languages descended from the hypothetical Proto-Central Luzon language.

Phonology of Proto-Central Luzon

Some consonants were lost in Proto-Central Luzon when it evolved from either Proto-Malayo-Polynesian or Proto-Philippine.[2]

Consonants of Proto-Central Luzon[2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ŋ /ŋ/
Stop p /p/, b /b/ t /t/, d /d/ j /ɡʲ/ k /k/, g /g/ ʔ /ʔ/
Affricate z /ɟ͡ʝ/
Fricative s /s/
Lateral l /l/
Rhotic r /ɾ/
Semivowel w /w/ y /j/

The phonetic values of the consonants above are the ones assumed for Proto-Austronesian[3] except for the glottal stop /ʔ/, which resulted from sound changes into Proto-Central Luzon: *q > *ʔ and *h > Ø followed by Ø > *ʔ/#_.[2]

Vowels of Proto-Central Luzon[2]
Height Front Central Back
Close i /i/ u /u/
Mid e /ə/
Open a /a/

The values of the vowels above are the ones they had in Proto-Malayo Polynesian.[3]

External relationships

Ronald Himes (2012)[2] and Lawrence Reid (2015)[4] suggest that the Northern Mindoro languages may group with the Central Luzon languages. Both branches share the phonological reflex Proto-Austronesian *R > /y/.

Internal classification

References

  1. ^ Banal, Ruston (7 September 2014). "Wear Kapampangan: T-shirt entrepreneurs seek to boost Pampanga's language". Inquirer. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Himes, Ronald S. 2012. “The Central Luzon Group of Languages”. Oceanic Linguistics 51 (2). University of Hawai'i Press: 490–537.
  3. ^ a b Blust, Robert; Australian National University. Asia-Pacific Linguistics (2013). The Austronesian languages (Revised ed.). Asia-Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. ISBN 9781922185075.
  4. ^ Reid, Lawrence. 2015. Re-evaluating the position of Iraya among Philippine languages Archived 2016-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. Presentation at 13-ICAL, 18-23 July, 2015 at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.


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