Batanic languages
Subgroup of the Austronesian language family
The Batanic languages (sometimes also called Bashiic or Ivatanic) are a dialect cluster of the Austronesian language family. They are spoken on Babuyan Island, just north of Luzon; three of the Batanes Islands, between the Philippines and Taiwan; and on Orchid Island of southern Taiwan.
The varieties in the Philippines are called Ivatan (also spelled Ibatan), or are named Babuyan, Batan, or Itbayat after their islands, while the variety of Taiwan is called Yami or Tao.
Proto-Batanic has been reconstructed by Yang (2002).
01Classification
Malcolm Ross (2005) and Roger Blench (2015) list four languages:
- Batanic
- Yami (or Tao) on Orchid Island
- Itbayat on Itbayat Island
- Ivatan
- Ivasay dialect (= Basco Ivatan) on Batan
- Isamurung dialect (=Southern Ivatan) on Batan (southern part), Sabtang
- Ibatan (or Babuyan) on the Babuyan Islands
Moriguchi (1983) classifies the Batanic languages as follows.
According to Paul Jen-kuei Li (2000), Yami is most closely related to Itbayat. Among the Batanic languages, Iraralay is the most conservative.
The Batanic languages are frequently included with the Philippine languages. However, there is no full consensus on this, and some consider them a primary branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. Blench concludes that Batanic languages have been splitting from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian for a long time and contain many roots which are not standard Austronesian. The relationship between Batanic and Northern Luzon languages is still uncertain.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Batanic languages”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- The Batanic languages.png by Glennznl, CC BY-SA 4.0
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