Tausūg (, , , ) is an Austronesian language spoken in the province of Sulu in the Philippines and in the eastern area of the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It is widely spoken in the Sulu Archipelago (Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan), the Zamboanga Peninsula (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga City), southern Palawan, Malaysia (eastern Sabah), and Indonesia (Tarakan City and Nunukan Regency, province of North Kalimantan).
Tausūg has some lexical similarities or near similarities with Surigaonon language of the provinces Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Agusan del Sur and with the Butuanon language of Agusan del Norte; it has also some vocabulary similarities with Sugbuanon, Bicolano, and with other Philippine languages.
is the modern form of the older term (meaning "[sea] currents"), which was also the old name of the island of Jolo. It is derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sələg (“flowing water, current”), and is a cognate of Cebuano , Tagalog , and Malay (a borrowing).
Classification
Tausūg is an Austronesian language. It is classified by linguists as being a member of the Bisayan languages family, which includes Cebuano and Waray. In particular, it has many similarities with the Surigaonon language of the provinces Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur and with the Butuanon language of Agusan del Norte
Due to migration, the language is also spoken alongside other local languages in the Zamboanga Peninsula (e.g., Cebuano and Chavacano), which includes the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga City. It is also spoken in Southern Palawan, Eastern Sabah, Malaysia and in Tarakan City and Nunukan Regency, North Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Phonology
Vowels
Tausūg has three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, /u/, with phonemic length (e.g. īpun, "shrimp" vs. ipun, "tooth"). Stress is not phonemic and usually occurs on the final syllable.
The vowel phonemes have a broad range of allophones:
- /b/: per default , but between vowels
- /g/: per default , but between vowels
- /h/: per default , but between vowels
- /r/: per default , but before /m,n,g,k/
Medial gemination (of all non-glottal consonants) is phonemic.
In Sulu, there is no separate letter for [g]. Whereas in Jawi, the sound [g] is represented by the letter (which has a pronunciation [ɣ] in Arabic) is reserved for Arabic loanwords, and sometimes the letter .
In Sulu, there is no differentiation between [f] and [p]. Whereas in Jawi, the letters and are used respectively, in Sulu the letter is used in all instances.
For the sound [ɲ] in the final position, in Sulu, the letter is used whereas in Malay Jawi, the letter is instead used. The letter is associated with the sound [p] in Persian and other scripts derived from Persian. In both Malay Jawi and Sulu the letter / is used in all other positions.
For the sound [k] in the final position, in Malay Jawi, the letter is used, having the same form as when in initial or medial positions. In Sulu, similar to Arabic, it is customary to use .
Latin
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; min-width:60%; margin-left:5px"
|-
|+ Tausūg Alphabet (Bahasa Sūg Alipbā'tā')
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Letter
!A||B||D||G||H||I||J||K||L||M
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Name
|Alip||bā' ||dāl||gā' ||hā' ||ī||jīm||kāp||lām||mīm
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|IPA
| ||, ||||, ||, ||||||||||
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Letter
!N||Ng||P||R||S||T||U||W||Y||'
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|Name
|nūn||ngā' ||pā' ||rā' ||sīn||tā' ||ū||wāw||yā' ||hamja
|-
! style="font-weight:normal; text-align:right"|IPA
| ||||||, ||||||||||||
|}
Arabic
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Tausūg Alphabet – Arabic Script
|- style="font-size:small"
! Character !! Isolated !! Initial !! Medial !! Final !! Name
|-
| ا || ﺍ || || || ﺎ || style="font-size: small;" | alip
|-
| ب || ب || بـ || ـبـ || ـب || style="font-size: small;" | bā'
|-
| ت || ﺕ || ﺗ || ـﺘ || ـﺖ || style="font-size: small;" | tā'
|- bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ث || ث || ثـ || ـثـ || ـث || style="font-size: small;" | sā(thā')
|-
| پ || پ || پـ || ـپـ || ـپ || style="font-size: small;" | nyā'
|-
| ج || ﺝ || ﺟ || ـﺠ || ـﺞ || style="font-size: small;" | jīm
|- bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ح || ح || حـ || ـحـ || ـح || style="font-size: small;" | hā'
|- bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| خ || خ || خـ || ـخـ || ـخ || style="font-size: small;" | khā'
|-
| چ || چ || چـ || ـچـ || ـچ || style="font-size: small;" | chā'
|-
| د || د || || || ـد || style="font-size: small;" | dāl
|- bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ذ || ذ || || || ـذ || style="font-size: small;" | jāl
|-
| ر || ﺭ || || || ـر || style="font-size: small;" | rā'
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ز || ز || || || ـز || style="font-size: small;" | jā'
|-
| س || ﺱ || ﺳ || ـﺴ || ـﺲ || style="font-size: small;" | sīn
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ش || ش || شـ || ـشـ || ـش || style="font-size: small;" | sīn
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ص || ص || صـ || ـصـ || ـص || style="font-size: small;" | sād
|- bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ض || ض || ضـ || ـضـ || ـض || style="font-size: small;" | dād
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ط || ط || طـ || ـطـ || ـط || style="font-size: small;" | tā'
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ظ || ظ || ظـ || ـظـ || ـظ || style="font-size: small;" | lā'
|-
| ع || ع || عـ || ـعـ || ـع || style="font-size: small;" | 'ayn
|-
| غ || ﻍ || ﻏ || ـﻐـ || ـﻎ || style="font-size: small;" | gayn
|-
| ڠ || ڠ || ڠـ || ـڠـ || ـڠ || style="font-size: small;" | ngā'
|-
| ف || ﻑ || ﻓ || ـﻔ || ـﻒ || style="font-size: small;" | pā'
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
| ق || ق || قـ || ـقـ || ـق || style="font-size: small;" | kāp
|-
| ك || ك || كـ || ـكـ || ـك || style="font-size: small;" | kāp
|-
| ل || ﻝ || ﻟ || ـﻠ || ـﻞ || style="font-size: small;" | lām
|-
| م || ﻡ || ﻣ || ـﻤ || ـﻢ || style="font-size: small;" | mīm
|-
| ن || ﻥ || ﻧ || ـﻨ || ﻦ || style="font-size: small;" | nūn
|-
| ه || ﻩ || ﻫ || ـﻬ || ﻪ || style="font-size: small;" | hā'
|-
| و || ﻭ || || || ـو || style="font-size: small;" | wāw
|-
| ي || ﻱ || ﻳ || ـﻴـ || ﻲ || style="font-size: small;" | yā'
|-
| ء || ء || || || ء || style="font-size: small;" | hamja
|-
| أ || أ || || || ـأ || style="font-size: small;" | alip with hamja above
|-
| ﺅ || ﺅ || || || ـﺆ || style="font-size: small;" | wāw with hamja above
|-
| ئ || ئ || ئـ || ــئـ || ـئ || style="font-size: small;" | yā' with hamja above
|-
| لا || لا || لا || ــلا || ــلا || style="font-size: small;" | lām alip
|}
Sample Texts
Below some examples of Sulu in both Latin and Arabic scripts: