The Bontoc Igorot

Chapter X

Language

Introduction

The language of the Bontoc Igorot is sufficiently distinct from all others to be classed as a separate dialect. However, it is originally from a parent stock which to-day survives more or less noticeably over probably a much larger part of the surface of the earth than the tongue of any other primitive people.

The language of every group of primitive people in the Philippine Archipelago, except the Negrito, is from that same old tongue. Mr. Homer B. Hulbert41 has recorded vocabularies of ten groups of people in Formosa; and those vocabularies show that the people belong to the same great linguistic family as the Bontoc Igorot. Mr. Hulbert believes that the language of Korea is originally of the same stock as that of Formosa. In concluding his article he says:

We find therefore that out of a vocabulary of fifty words there are fifteen in which a distinct similarity [between Korean and Formosan] can be traced, and in not a few of the fifteen the similarity amounts to practical identity.

The Malay language of Malay Peninsula, Java, and Sumatra is from the same stock language. So are many, perhaps all, the languages of Borneo, Celebes, and New Zealand. This same primitive tongue is spread across the Pacific and shows unmistakably in Fiji, New Hebrides, Samoa, and Hawaii. It is also found in Madagascar.

Alphabet

The Bontoc man has not begun even the simplest form of permanent mechanical record in the line of a written language, and no vocabulary of the language has before been published. page 228

The following alphabet was used in writing Bontoc words in this study:

• 
  a as in far; Spanish ramo
  
• 
  â is in law; as o in French or
  
• 
  ay as in ai in aisle; Spanish hay
  
• 
  ao as ou in out; as au in Spanish auto
  
• 
  b as in bad; Spanish bajar
  
• 
  ch as in check; Spanish chico
  
• 
  d as in dog; Spanish dar
  
• 
  e as in they; Spanish hallé
  
• 
  ĕ as in then; Spanish comen
  
• 
  f as in fight; Spanish firmar
  
• 
  g as in go; Spanish gozar
  
• 
  h as in he; Tagalog bahay
  
• 
  i as in pique; Spanish hijo
  
• 
  ĭ as in pick
  
• 
  k as in keen
  
• 
  l as in lamb; Spanish lente
  
• 
  m as in man; Spanish menos
  
• 
  n as in now; Spanish jabon
  
• 
  ng as in finger; Spanish lengua
  
• 
  o as in note; Spanish nosotros
  
• 
  oi as in boil
  
• 
  p as in poor; Spanish pero
  
• 
  q as ch in German ich
  
• 
  s as in sauce; Spanish sordo
  
• 
  sh as in shall; as ch in French charmer
  
• 
  t as in touch; Spanish tomar
  
• 
  u as in rule; Spanish uno
  
• 
  û as in but
  
• 
  ü as in German kühl
  
• 
  v as in valve; in Spanish volver
  
• 
  w as in will; nearly as ou in French oui
  
• 
  y as in you; Spanish ya
  

The sounds which I have represented by the unmarked vowels a, e, i, o, and u, Swettenham and Clifford in their Malay Dictionary represent by the vowels with a circumflex accent. The sound which I have indicated by û they indicate by ă. Other variations will be noted.

The sound represented by a, it must be noted, has not always the same force or quantity, depending on an open or closed syllable and the position of the vowel in the word.

So far as I know there is no r sound in the Bontoc Igorot language. The word “Igorot” when used by the Bontoc man is pronounced Igolot. In an article on “The Chamorro language of Guam”42 it is noted that in that language there was originally no r sound but that in modern times many words formerly pronounced by an l sound now have that letter replaced by r. page 229

Linguistic inconsistencies

The language of the Bontoc area is not stable, but is greatly shifting. In pueblos only a few hours apart there are not only variations in pronunciation but in some cases entirely different words are used, and in a single pueblo there is great inconsistency in pronunciation.

It is often impossible to determine the exact sound of vowels, even in going over common words a score of times with as many people. The accent seems very shifting and it is often difficult to tell where it belongs.

Several initial consonants of words and syllables are commonly interchanged, even by the same speaker if he uses a word more than once during a conversation. That this fickleness is a permanency in the language rather than the result of the present building of new words is proved by ato names, words in use for many years—probably many hundred years.

One of the most frequent interchanges is that of b and f. This is shown in the following ato names: Bu-yay′-yĕng or Fu-yay′-yĕng; Ba-tay′-yan or Fa-tay′-yan; Bi′-lĭg or Fi′-lĭg; and Long-boi′ or Long-foi′. It is also shown in two other words where one would naturally expect to find permanency—the names of the men's public buildings in the ato, namely, ba′-wi or fa′-wi, and pa-ba-bu′-nan or pa-ba-fu′-nan. Other common illustrations are found in the words ba-to or fa-to (stone) and ba-bay′-i or fa-fay′-i (woman).

Another constant interchange is that of ch and d. This also is shown well in names of ato, as follows: Cha-kong′ or Da-kong′; Pud-pud-chog′ or Pud-pud-dog′; and Si-gi-chan′ or Si-gi-dan′. It is shown also in chi′-la or di′-la (tongue).

The interchange of initial k and g is constant. These letters are interchanged in the following names of ato: Am-ka′-wa or Am-ga′-wa; Lu-wa′-kan or Lu-wa′-gan; and Ung-kan′ or Ung-gan′. Other illustrations are ku′-lĭd or gu′-lĭd (itch) and ye′-ka or ye′-ga (earthquake).

The following three words illustrate both the last two interchanges: Cho′-ko or Do′-go (name of an ato); pag-pa-ga′-da or pag-pa-ka′-cha (heel); and ka-cho′ or ga-de′-o (fish).