Sambal language

"Sambali" redirects here. For the dessert, see basbousa.

Sambal
Sambali
Native to	Philippines
Region	Zambales, Pangasinan, Metro Manila, Palawan
Ethnicity	Sambal
Native speakers	70,000 (2000)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Luzon Sambalic Sambal
Official status
Official language in	Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by	Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xsb
Glottolog	tina1248
Area where Sambal is spoken

Sambal or Sambali is a Sambalic language spoken primarily in the Zambal municipalities of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Palauig, and Iba, and in the Pangasinense municipality of Infanta in the Philippines; speakers can also be found in Panitian, Quezon, Palawan and Barangay Mandaragat or Buncag of Puerto Princesa.

Name

The language is occasionally referred to as zambal, which is the hispanicized form of Sambal.

Sambal had also for a time been referred to as Tina, a term still encountered in older sources. The term, however, which means "bleached" in the Botolan variety of the language, is considered offensive. The pejorative term was first used in the late 1970s by researchers from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International). Sambals would not normally recognize the reference.

Phonology

Sambali has 19 phonemes: 16 consonants and three vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple.

Vowels

Sambali has three vowels. They are:

• /a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English ‘father’
• /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English ‘machine’
• /u/ (written as ‘o’) a close back unrounded vowel similar to English ‘flute’

There are five main diphthongs: /aɪ/, /uɪ/, /aʊ/, /ij/, and /iʊ/.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Tina consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stops	Voiceless	p	t		k	(-) [ʔ]
	Voiced	b	d		g
Affricates	Voiceless			(ts) [tʃ]
	Voiced
Fricatives			s			h
Nasals		m	n		ng [ŋ]
Laterals			l
Flaps			r
Semivowels		w		y [j]

Note: Consonants [d] and [ɾ] sometimes interchange, as they were once allophones. Dy is pronounced [dʒ], ny [ɲ], sy [ʃ], and ty [tʃ].

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Sambal. Stress on words is very important, they differentiate words with the same spellings, but with different meanings, e.g. hikó (I) and híko (elbow).

Historical sound changes

Many words pronounced with /s/ and /ɡ/ in Cebuano and Tagalog are pronounced with /h/ and /j/, respectively, in their cognates in Sambal. Compare hiko and ba-yo with the Tagalog siko and bago.

Grammar

Zambal pronouns

Common singular pronouns

ang, 'yung (iyong) – yay hikon-mong, ya-rin hikon-moy ng, n'ung (niyong) – nin kon-moyo Sa – ha Nasa – Ison ha (near), Itaw ha (far)

Common plural pronouns

ang mgá, 'yung mgá (iyong mgá) – yay + first letter of plural word + aw (e.g. yay bawbabayi – ang mga babae; yay lawlalaki – ang mga lalaki) ng mgá, n'ung mgá (niyong mgá) – nin yay + first letter of plural word + aw (e.g. nin bawbabayi – ng mga babae, nin lawlalaki – ng mga lalaki) sa mgá – ha first letter of plural word + aw (e.g. habawbabayi – sa mga babae, halawlalaki – sa mga ki) Nasa mga – Iti, ison, itaw + pronoun

Personal singular pronouns

Si – hi Ni – Ni Kay – Kun ni na kay – hikun

Personal plural

Sina – Hila Nina – ni Kina – Kun li Nakina – Hikunla

Note: In a general conversation, “hi” is usually omitted or contracted from the pronoun. E.g. Hikunla tana hiya rin (sa kanila na lang iyan) is simply ‘kunla tana ‘ya-rin or even shorter as ‘kunlay na rin.

Example: The man arrived. Dumating ang lalaki: 1) Nakalato hiyay lalaki or nakalato ‘yay lalaki or ‘yay tawo . 2) Linu-mato hiyay lalaki; or 3) Lin’mato ‘yay lalaki or ‘yay tawo.

Yay (referring to object) Hiyay (singular person) Hikamon (plural second person) Hilay (plural third person)

Nakita ni Juan si Maria – Na-kit ni Juan hi Maria. "John saw Mary." Note that in Philippine languages, even the names of people require an article.

Plural nominal article

Pupunta sina Elena at Roberto sa bahay ni Miguel. Maku hila Elena tan Roberto ha bali ni Miguel.

Pupunta ako – maku-ko Papunta – ma-mako Punta – mako Pumupunta – ampako Pupuntahan – ampaku-tawan\makuku-son

"Helen and Robert will go to Miguel's house."

Nasaan ang mga aklat? Ayti yay lawlibro?

Na kay Tatay ang mga susi. Hikun niTatay yay sawsusi or ‘Kunni Tatay yay sawsusi "Father has the keys."

Malusog ang sanggol. Maganda yay lalaman nya-nin makating/makalog. "That baby is healthy."

Pronouns (panghalip)

Personal pronouns are categorized by case. The indirect forms also function as the genitive.

		singular	dual	plural
1st person	exclusive	Ako – hiko Ko – ko Akin – hikunko (shortened to ‘kunko)	Kita – ta, kunta	Kami – hikami or ‘kami Namin – mi Amin – hikunmi or ‘kunmi
	inclusive			Tayo – hitamo or ‘tamo Natin – hikuntamo or ‘kuntamo Atin – hikuntamo or ‘kuntamo
2nd person		ikáw – hika mo – mo iyó – hikunmo or ‘kunmo	Kayo – hikamo or ‘kamo Ninyo – moyo Inyo – hikunmoyo or ‘kunmoyo
3rd person		Siya – hiya Niya – naya Kaniya – hikunnaya or ‘kunnaya	Silá – hila Nilá – la Kanilá – hikunla or ‘kunla

Examples:

Sulat is hulat (Masinloc) or sulat (Sta. Cruz)

Sumulat ako. Humulat ko or Sumulat ko.

"I wrote."

Sinulatan ako ng liham. Hinulatan nya hiko or hinulatan nya’ ko.

"He/She wrote me a letter." Hinomulat ya ‘kunko, nanulat ya kunko, or hinulatan mya ko.

Ibibigay ko sa kaniyá. Ebi ko ‘kunna (hikuna).

"I will give it to him/her."

Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.

Ang bahay ko. Yay bali ko.

Ang aking bahay. Yay ‘kunkon bali.

"My house."

Interrogative words

Sambal – Tagalog – English

Ayri/Ayti - Saan – Where

Anya - Ano - What

Anta/Ongkot - Bakit - why

hino - sino - who

nakano -kailan -when

Sample texts

Philippine national proverb

Below is a translation in Sambal of the Philippine national proverb “He who does not acknowledge his beginnings will not reach his destination,” followed by the original in Tagalog.

• Sambal: “Hay kay tanda mamanomtom ha pinangibatan, kay maka-lato ha ampako-taw-an.”
• Tagalog: “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan.”

The Lord's Prayer

Version from Matthew

Ama mi an ison ha langit,
sambawon a ngalan mo.
Ma-kit mi na komon a pa-mag-ari mo.
Ma-honol komon a kalabayan mo iti ha lota
a bilang anamaot ison ha langit.
Biyan mo kami komon nin
pa-mangan mi para konan yadtin awlo;
tan patawaron mo kami komon ha kawkasalanan mi
a bilang anamaot ha pa-matawad mi
konlan ampagkasalanan komi.
Tan komon ando mo aboloyan a matokso kami,
nokay masbali ipa-lilih mo kamin kay makagawa doka,
ta ikon moy kaarian, kapangyarian tan karangalan a homin
panganggawan. Amen.

Version from Luke

Ama mi, maipatnag komon a banal mon kapangyarian.
Lomato ana komon an awlon sikay mag-ari.
Biyan mo kamin pa-mangan mi sa inawlo-awlo.
Inga-rowan mo kami sa kawkasalanan mi bilang
pa-nginganga-ro mi konlan nagkasalanan komi
tan ando mo kami aboloyan manabo sa tokso.
Wamoyo.

Examples

Numbers

One= a`sa

Two = luwa

} numbers from 3 to 9 generally use the same word as tagalog.

Three= tulo

Four= a`pat

Five= lima

Six= a`num

Seven= pito

Eight= walo

Nine= siyam

}

Ten= mapulo

Common expressions

kay ko tanda / tanda ko= i don't know / i know (english) = hindi ko alam / alam ko (tagalog)

papo = grandparent (english) = lola/lolo (tagalog)

kaka = sibling or cousin (english) = ate/kuya/pinsan (tagalog)

kay ko labay / labay ko = i don't like / i like (english) = hindi ko gusto / gusto ko (tagalog)

murong tamoy na= lets go home/back (english) = uwi/balik na tayo (tagalog)

hadilap = tomorrow (english) = bukas (tagalog)

hawanin = now/today (english) = ngayon (tagalog)

naapon = yesterday (english) = kahapon (tagalog)

ya = yes (english) = oo (tagalog)

ka`i = no (english) = hindi (tagalog)

See also

• Sambal people
• Zambales
• Languages of the Philippines

External links

• "Zambal-language resources at the SIL".