3 Interesting Facts About The Bolinao Language

The Luyag of Pangasinan is usually known that the majority speaks Pangasinan language and second from it speaks Ilocano. However, many outsiders and even some Pangasinenses are not familiar with the third language spoken by a handful of people located in the northwestern tip of Pangasinan. 

Here are 3 interesting facts about the Bolinao language that you may not be aware of:

1. Bolinao is one of the Zambalic languages.

The Bolinao language (also called Bolinao Sambal or Binobolinao) is a member of the Central Luzon Philippine language group and is one of the Zambalic languages. They are members of the Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian language family. The name "Bolinao" was chosen instead of "Binabolinao" because "Binabolinao" carries the connotation of being the old language.

2. The Bolinao language is only spoken on the northwestern tip of Pangasinan.

Bolinao is spoken on the northwestern tip of the province of Pangasinan, in portions of the municipalities of Bolinao and Anda. These municipalities used to be part of the province of Zambales. According to the census, the Bolinao language is spoken by approximately 50,000 people. There is an estimate of 15,000–20,000 speakers that use it as their normal mode of speech. This language is considered as endangered.

3. The Bolinao language is spoken variably in Bolinao and Anda.

There are some minor differences in the way Bolinao is spoken in the Poblacion of Bolinao, on Santiago Island, and in Anda. A few words are divided differently semantically; one difference that is noted by some speakers is the extent to which the original Bolinao r of this language has been replaced by the l in Poblacion, Bolinao. It seems that what is spoken in the Poblacion has been influenced more by the other languages in this respect.

Credits

Caption by: Angel Grace Espiritu

Pubmat by: Chermie Moureen Rilloraza

Original Source: PUP Society of Pangasinan Students

Reposted at: Pangasinan Tourism FB Page

References:

• Blust, Robert. “The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis.” Oceanic Linguistics 30, no. 2 (1991): 73. https://doi.org/10.2307/3623084.
• Himes, Ronald S. “The Central Luzon Group of Languages.” Oceanic Linguistics 51, no. 2 (2012): 490–537. https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2012.0013.
• Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. “Kwf.gov.ph,” n.d. https://kwf.gov.ph/wika/27/.
• Malonzo, Teresita, and Neri Zamora. Taru’man Nin Bolinao (Mga Katutubong Kuwento Sa Bolinao) (Folktale Stories in Bolinao). Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1983.