Comparative Austronesian Dictionary: Kagayanen

12. Kagayanen

Contributor:

Introduction and Wordlist: Louise A. MacGregor

1. Introduction

Kagayanen is one of many languages spoken in the Province of Palawan,
Philippines. The municipality of Cagayancillo, which consists of the
Cagayan Islands in this province, is the ethnocentre for the language and the
only municipality in which Kagayanen is the predominant language spoken.
The Cagayan Islands are located in the central area of the Sulu Sea between
the island of Negros to the east and the main island of the Province of
Palawan, which is also called Palawan, to the west. Large numbers of
Kagayanen have moved to the island of Palawan during this century, so that
many villages now exist scattered up and down its eastern coastal plains in
which Kagayanens predominate. Kagayanens can also be found as far north
as Busuanga Island and as far south as Balabac Island. The municipalities of
Roxas, Puerto Princesa City, and Narra, in particular, have barrios with high
concentrations of Kagayanens. Kagayanen is spoken by approximately
15,000 to 20,000 people, of whom about 5,000 live in the Cagayan Islands.

A dialect of Kagayanen called Kinagayanen is spoken on the island of
Coron in the northern part of the Province of Palawan. No research has been
conducted to determine how this dialect compares with Kagayanen as spoken
in the Cagayan Islands. Differences between the Kagayanen spoken in the
Cagayan Islands and on mainland Palawan continue to develop. Tagalog has
a strong influence on the languages for those living on Palawan, whereas the
trade language of Hiligaynon has greater influence on those living in the
Cagayan Islands. In the comparative lexicon the abbreviation (CGC) marks
those items more common to Cagayancillo and the abbreviation (PAL)
marks those items more common to mainland Palawan, where such
differences occur.

The major linguistic work done to date on the Kagayanen language is the
unpublished 1977 doctoral dissertation of Carol Jean W. Harmon. In her
dissertation she argues that Kagayanen should be classified as a Manobo
language, not a Visayan one. While it has a heavy overlay of vocabulary
from Hiligaynon, the language of southern Panay Island and the Province of

Negros Occidental, its grammar and functors are distinctly Manobo.
Harmon links Kagayanen roots to the northern Manobo groups on the island
of Mindanao. No tradition, however, exists among the Kagayanens
concerning their Mindanao origins. It is surmised that the arrival of the first
"Kagayanens" to Cagayancillo would have occurred more than 200 years ago
based on the age of the Spanish built structures there and the date of the first
known "president" of the islands.

Map 12. Kagayanen language area

Data on the Kagayanen language have been collected by the author and her
husband (Scott W. MacGregor) since late 1976 during periods of residence
in Caguisan, Narra, Palawan and shorter visits to Cagayancillo. Mr Javier C.
Carceler, a retired teacher and native of Cagayancillo, was of special help in
preparing the wordlist for this volume. Fieldwork was conducted under the
auspices of The Summer Institute of Linguistics which serves in cooperation
with the Philippine government's Department of Education, Culture, and
Sports. Our work would not have been possible without the gracious
assistance given by various officials and especially our neighbours in
Caguisan.

MacGregor, Louise A. 1995. Kagayanen. In: Tryon, Darrel T. (ed.) Comparative
Austronesian Dictionary. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.