Masbateño or Minasbate is a member of Central Philippine languages and of the Bisayan subgroup of the Austronesian language family and spoken by more than 724,000 people in the province of Masbate and some parts of Sorsogon in the Philippines. Masbatenyo (sometimes written as Masbateño) is the name used by the speakers of the language and for themselves, although the term Minásbate is sometimes also used to distinguish the language from the people. It has 350,000 speakers , with 50,000 who speak it as their first language. About 250,000 speakers use it as their second language.

According to a certain Fray Martin de Rada, Masbate took its name from or which means 'having many gold mines'. Another claims that the name Masbate came from Masbad. The term Masbad possibly originated from Masbaranon, a barrio that used to be part of the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Placer but is now under the Municipality of Esperanza. This barrio used to be called Surosimbahan because it looks like a church. Its name was then changed Agoho from the tree called agoho. Then, for the third time, its name was changed to Masbaranon because of the supposed abundance of small fish called . identified three major dialects of Masbatenyo: the western dialect centered around the town of Balud on the western coast which is close to Capiz, the southern dialect centered about the town of Cataingan in the southeastern part of Masbate and the northern dialect covering the whole northern half of Masbate and centered on Masbate City, the capital.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Language and/or Dialect Used in the Municipalities of Masbate

!Municipality

!Language and/or Dialect Used

|-

! colspan="2" |Burias Island, First Congressional District

|-

| rowspan="3" |Claveria

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Cebuano influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with Bikol influence

|-

| rowspan="3" |San Pascual

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Bikol with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Cebuano influence

|-

! colspan="2" |Ticao Island, Second Congressional District

|-

|Batuan

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

|Monreal

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

|San Fernando

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

|San Jacinto

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

! colspan="2" |Second Congressional District

|-

|Aroroy

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Baleno

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Balud

|Hiligaynon with Masbatenyo influence

|-

| rowspan="2" |Mandaon

|Masbatenyo with strong Hiligaynon influence

|-

|Hiligaynon with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Masbate City

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Milagros

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Mobo

|Masbatenyo

|-

! colspan="2" |Third Congressional District

|-

|Cawayan

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

| rowspan="3" |Cataingan

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Cebuano influence

|-

| rowspan="4" |Dimasalang

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Cebuano influence

|-

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Esperanza

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

| rowspan="4" |Palanas

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Waray influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Cebuano influence

|-

|Masbatenyo

|-

|Pio V. Corpuz

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Placer

|Cebuano

|-

| rowspan="3" |Uson

|Cebuano with Masbatenyo influence

|-

|Masbatenyo with strong Cebuano influence

|-

|Masbatenyo

|}

Masbatenyo and its neighboring languages

Wolfenden considered Masbatenyo, together with Kinaray-a, Bulalakaw, Hiligaynon, Waray, and Surigaonon, as "linking dialects" because they serve as "centers of dialect complexes".

McFarland presented different views on the classification of the language spoken in Masbate. One view excluded Masbate and the southern part of Sorsogon from the Bikol area on the grounds that the language spoken in these areas was not Bikol. The other view considered the language as a dialect of Bikol.

Another claim on the language of Masbate was that 'the language and dialects of Masbate are basically Visayan, with the major influence being Cebuano.' Zorc distinguishes between the native Minasbate orthography and the extended working orthography.

Native Minasbaté Orthography

  1. The following symbols are used in the native Minasbaté orthography:
  2. :Aa, Bb, Dd, Gg, Hh, Ii, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, NGng, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ww, Yy, ` (for glottal stop)
  3. Minasbaté has three phonemic vowels (V): Aa, Ii, Uu and 16 consonants (C): Bb, Dd, Gg, Hh, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, NGng, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Ww, Yy, ` (for glottal stop).
  4. The glottal stop is a distinct consonant sound in Minasbaté and part of its alphabet. The grave accent ( ` ) will be used to represent the glottal stop.
  5. The glottal stop may occur between a C and V, e.g ,
  6. It may also occur in the final position of the word, e.g. ,
  7. The glottal may also occur between two V, e.g. , , ,
  8. The glottal stop is also the obligatory onset of the written syllable that begins with a vowel. It will be symbolized when the word begins with a vowel, e.g. , ,
  9. The syllable pattern of Minasbaté words is CV and CVC, e.g. = CV.CVC.
  10. All Cs can occur in the beginning of a word (onset) or ending (coda). Examples: 'thirsty,' 'to catch'
  11. All Vs are used to form a syllable nucleus. Examples:
  12. In writing stress or accent, the acute accent ( ' ) above the V is used, e.g. , 'alive', , 'big', 'noise'.
  13. A stressed non-final syllable is usually lengthened. For example, in the case of 'life' vs 'alive', the syllable in 'life' is longer than the syllable in 'alive'.
  14. It is possible to have more than one stress in a word, e.g. , .
  15. The stress is symbolized by the acute accent ( ' ) if it falls on the last syllable, e.g. , . The stress may not be symbolized if it falls on the penultimate syllable, e.g. 'night', 'eyebrow'.

Extended Orthography

The inclusion of borrowed terms in native Minasbaté vocabulary has resulted in the change in the structure of the language. There is a need to develop an extended orthography to accommodate these words.

  1. The extended orthography will consist of the following:
  2. : Aa "ey", Bb "bi", Cc "si", Dd "di", Ee "I", Ff "ef", Gg "ji", Hh "eych", Ii "ay", Jj "jey", Kk "key", Ll "el", Mm "em", Nn "en", Ññ "enye", NGng "en ji", Oo "o", Pp "pi", Qq "kyu", Rr "ar", Ss "es", Tt "ti", Uu "yu", Vv "vi", Ww "dobol yu", Xx "eks", Yy "way", Zz "zi", ` (for glottal stop)
  3. All Minasbaté words (native and borrowed) use a, i, e, o and u. The "i" and "e" are indistinct and alternate in written native words and so are/do "o" and "u." The alternation rules are explained below. The "i" and "e" are distinct in borrowed words (e.g. vs. ).
  4. The use of the back vowels "u" and "o":
  5. If the word has only one back vowel sound that occurs in the ultimate position, o is used. Examples: , , , , , , , . Exceptions:
  6. If the word has more than two back vowels, u is used in the second or third to the last syllable and o is used in the final syllable. Examples: , , , , , , , ,
  7. O in borrowed words is retained in writing. Example: , ,
  8. The use of front vowels "i" and "e":
  9. All Minasbaté words with an "i" sound will be written as i. Examples: , , , , , , ,
  10. e in borrowed words will be retained in writing. Examples: , , , , , , ; i will be used to represent the front vowel ("i") that is added in the original form of borrowed words. Examples: for , for sponsor, for smuggle
  11. The hyphen will be used in the following instances:
  12. Reduplication of full words, e.g. 'toy', 'little house', 'improvised stove'
  13. Compound words, e.g. 'conjunctivitis', 'very easy', 'indecisive'
  14. Affixation of borrowed words that are proper names, e.g.
  15. Time expressions, e.g. , ,
  16. The hyphen will be used in the following instances:
  17. Partial reduplication of the word, e.g. , not ; , not
  18. Affixation of native root words, e.g. , not ; , not
  19. Affixation of borrowed verbs and nouns, e.g. , not ; , not
  20. Linkers, , not .
  21. In writing borrowed words, the equivalent sounds in the native Minasbaté will be used to represent the borrowed sounds. The following symbols are used to represent the borrowed sounds:

{| class="wikitable"

!Borrowed letters

!Minasbaté letters

!Examples

|-

|c when followed by o, u, or a

|k

| for

|-

|c when followed by i or e

|s

| for

|-

|ch

|ts

| for

|-

|f

|p

| for

|-

|j

|h

| for

|-

|ll

|y or ly

| for

|-

|ñ

|ny

| for

|-

|q

|k

| vs question

|-

|v

|b

| for

|-

|x

|ks

| for taxi

|-

|z

|S

| for zigzag

|}

8. Consonant clusters exist in both native and borrowed words in Minasbaté.

:* In representing the off-glides or the sequence of u and w, and i and y, the vowels are dropped and the w and y are used, e.g. instead of , instead of , instead of .

{| class="wikitable"

!Consonant Clusters

!Examples

|-

|pl

|

|-

|pr

|

|-

|pw

|

|-

|py

|

|-

|tr

|

|-

|tw

|

|-

|ty

|

|-

|kl

|

|-

|kr

|

|-

|kw

|

|-

|bl

|

|-

|br

|

|-

|bw

|

|-

|by

|

|-

|dr

|

|-

|dw

|

|-

|dy

|

|-

|gl

|

|-

|gr

|

|-

|gw

|

|-

|my

|

|-

|sw

|

|-

|sy

|

|-

|hw

|

|}

9. The apostrophe symbol ( ' ) is used in contracted words. The particles and are often contracted to the immediately preceding word if it ends in either a glottal or vowel sound. The unstressed vowel can also be deleted in fast speech.

: {| class="wikitable"

| ||

|-

| ||

|-

| ||

|-

| ||

|-

| ||

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| ||

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Phonology

Masbatenyo has 19 segmental phonemes: 16 consonant sounds and three vowel sounds . Post-alveolar sounds are also present as a result of loanwords. has the mid front unrounded, lax vowel (written orthographically as e) as its variant; has the mid back rounded lax (written orthographically as o) as its variant. The sound only appears in loan words from English and Spanish and occurs in free variation with . Similarly, the sound is a variant of and its occurrence might have been brought by the interaction with the Tagalog language and the incorporation of Spanish and English loan words in Masbatenyo language. Take the following examples: 'big (size, abstract)' is a root which can express a property or state, as seen in: 'His house is big'. But it can also be combined with certain affixes to form a process verb in: 'His pet has grown already.' It can also combine with a determiner, , to form a noun in the context: 'I didn't see his child growing up.'

is considered a verb when used in command form: 'Run!' But it can be analyzed as a noun in forms such as . 'His truck runs slowly.'

Masbatenyo employs the following operations in deriving new words:

  1. Affixation, the process to which an affix is attached to a root or an 'intermediate stem; e.g. + m- > 'ugly';
  2. Reduplication, the repetition of word or part of word to form a new word; e.g., + PWr reduplication > 'mini boat';
  3. Stress shift, e.g., 'pay' > 'paid'

However, the existence of bare root forms of modifiers (adjectives and adverbs) in Masbatenyo can also provide evidence that root forms also have lexical properties. Examples of this are 'fresh (fish)' versus 'rotten', 'raw' versus 'cooked'.

  • one plus one equals two (1 + 1 = 2) –
  • two times two equals four (2 x 2 = 4) –
  • eight minus five equals three (8 – 5 = 3) –
  • nine divided by three equals three (9 ÷ 3 = 3) –

Advanced algebraic operations

The following are advanced algebraic operations in Masbateño:

References

  • https://masbatenyo.webonary.org/ – Dictionary by SIL