Rinconada Bikol or simply Rinconada, spoken in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines, is one of several languages that compose the Inland Bikol (or Southern Bicol) group of the Bikol macrolanguage. It belongs to the Austronesian language family that also includes most Philippine languages, the Formosan languages of Taiwanese aborigines, Malay, the Polynesian languages and Malagasy.
Rinconada is surrounded by and shares common features with other Bikol languages. It is bordered by Coastal Bikol to the north, Buhinon to the east, and West Miraya language immediately to the south. The language's closest relatives outside the Bicol region are Aklanon, Waray-Waray, and to a lesser extent Tagalog, especially the variants used in Batangas and Marinduque.
Rinconada Bikol is also used by the indigenous population of Agta ( for camaraderie) in the surrounding mountainous areas of Mount Iriga (old name is Mount Asog) as most of them today are fluent in the language. The Austronesian people that have migrated to the foot of Mount Asog from lowland Nabua introduced the language to the Negritos when they began conducting trade and commerce. Consequently, it has become the native language of many, replacing their original language known as "Inagta". Also known to linguists as Mount Iriga Agta, it is currently considered an endangered language. Inagta is said to have 86% intelligibility with Rinconada Bikol and a lexical similarity of 76%.
Name
The name Rinconada is derived from the Rinconada District in Camarines Sur where the language originated, developed and is largely spoken. However, the precise origins of how the term Rinconada was assigned to the area are still unclear. Popular wisdom ascribes the name to have come from the Spanish , 'cornered', from the root rincón, which means 'corner or small district'. Rinconada might have been given by the Spaniards to the then-newly explored and established colony in the southeastern corner of Luzon Island; natives formerly called the area Sumagang (Sumagaŋ), meaning 'far east'.
Adding credence to the theory of a Spanish origin are the localities of La Rinconada in Spain and La Rinconada in Chile, which was also a former Spanish colony.
Dialects
The language is divided into two main dialects and subdivided into six variants:
Sinabukid (highland dialect) (Strong accent, flat intonation only, and with ) Agta variant Iriga variant
Sinaranəw (lakeside dialect) (Soft accent with different types of intonation, and without ) Nabua – Balatan variant Baao variant Bula – Pili variant Bato variant
Dialectal variation
Iriga variantHighland dialect Agta variantHighland dialect Nabua – Balatan variantLakeside dialect Bato variantLakeside dialect Baao variantLakeside dialect Bula – Pili variantLakeside dialect Central Bikol translation Filipino/Tagalog translation English translation He was eating breakfast by the river when he heard news his child ploughed the land again, even as their rice field had not water yet.
Phonology
Consonants +Table of Rinconada Bikol consonant phonemes Bilabial Alveolar Post-alveolar/Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal () Stop Affricate() () Fricative () Approximant () Rhotic Notes:
//, //, //, and // are only found in loanwords, especially from Spanish. // is only found intervocalically between any of the vowels: /a, i, u/ and an /ɨ/. For example, ⟨pala⟩ + ⟨-ən⟩ = ⟨palaɥən⟩.
Vowels Table of Rinconada Bikol vowel phonemes Front Central BackClose Mid ( ) ( ) Open Notes:
// and // are only found in loanwords, especially from Spanish. // is only found in the highland dialect of Iriga city. Several related Inland Bikol languages also have the same vowel.
Diphthong (saəy) Rinconada Bikol has several diphthongs or gliding vowels.
+Rinconada Bikol diphthongs - 'play''fermented shrimp or krill''woman/female''spine''stitch''chick' 'head' (Sinaranəw dialect)'sun''nice/pretty' (Sinaranəw dialect)'scared''armpit''soup' - 'wide, spacious' 'laundry''upside down' 'stop it, please''broad' 'race, ethnicity''human/person''box' (Sinaranəw dialect)'locked' 'leaf''stressful' 'cold cooked rice' - 'good' (Sinaranəw dialect)'wood/tree' (Sinaranəw dialect)'house' 'hang'
Diacritics (kul-it)
Rinconada uses a variation of the Latin alphabet modeled on the Tagalog alphabet. But unlike the modern Tagalog–Filipino, Rinconada retains and uses diacritics ( in Rinconada Bikol and in Tagalog). This is to highlight the meaning of the words and to differentiate homonyms. In return, the diacritics provide Rinconada Bikol with a unique orthography among Philippine languages. Diacritics for this language are limited to the macron and circumflex which is unlike other languages, for example Vietnamese which has several. However, due to technical difficulties and a scarcity of resources, diacritics are sometimes not available. Thus, two Rinconada alphabets were created to meet the needs of the speakers: the native and the simplified. Both can be used at the same time depending on the situation, purpose and availability of resources.
Glottal stop (rəgsad)
The Rinconada name for the letter which represents the glottal stop is . This can only be found in the native form of alphabet, and it is limited to final vowels or vowels at the end of a word. is represented by the circumflex ( ˆ ).
For examples of the glottal stop, consider the Rinconada words ('wrong') and ('drop of water/fluid'), often simply and in the simplified alphabet and in Filipino and English orthographies.
With and , the translation of the phrase I love you in Rinconada is ('love me you' in word-for-word translation).
Alphabet
Native
The Rinconada native alphabet has six short vowels, six long vowels, and seventeen consonants, a total of twenty-nine letters representing all phonemes in Rinconada Bikol. A long or stressed vowel is written with a macron (a diacritic placed above a vowel). It also includes the velar nasal special character that represents "ng". The native alphabet contains phonemes that are native to Rinconada, thus making it the standard Rinconada Bikol alphabet.
Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)AĀBKDEĒƏə̄GHƔIĪJLMNŊOŌPRSTUŪWY Minuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters)aābkdeēəə̄ghiījlmnŋoōprstuūwy
Example of a Filipino proverb written in the Rinconada native alphabet:
(Tagalog: .)
Letter Rinconada English translation A hungry Ā to flaunt B dress/cloth K hand D escape E pity Ē canal Ə angry ə̄ sit G night H offshoot Ɣ feeds I you (singular) Ī earring J hit by a sharp pointed tool or thing L floating M eye N small mosquitoes ŋ tooth O nose Ō ; a person who is not funny anymore; remote area or place P rice (unmilled) R far S floor T a method of harvesting using a bolo or knife U rain Ū late W scattered Y love Notes: Exceptions to the rules of the native alphabet are formal names like Juan Dela Cruz and placenames such as Laguna, Cebu and Manila. Those names must retain their official and simplified spelling instead of their native spellings Huwan Delā Krus, Lagūna, Sebū and Manīla. With the exception of names and places, all words in the native alphabet must be written with their respective spellings with their designated diacritics.
Simplified
The Rinconada Simplified alphabet is just the same as the Philippine alphabet. It has 28 letters:
Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)ABCDEFGHIJKLMNÑNgOPQRSTUVWXYZ Minuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters)abcdefghijklmnñngopqrstuvwxyz
The letters F, V and Z are included because they are native to other Philippine languages like Itawis and Ibanag. The letters C, Ñ, and Q are also included, but their usages are limited to foreign names, Filipinized words of foreign origins or loans, especially from Spanish, English and Arabic.
The simplified alphabet does not use diacritics like the macron for stressed and long vowels, the circumflex for glottal stop, or the letters for velar nasal , schwa , or velar fricative , as they do not appear on a standard QWERTY keyboard. The velar nasal is replaced by the digraph , and the two latter sounds can be replaced by and , , and respectively. Even with the absence of diacritics in the modern and simplified alphabet, pronunciations in the spoken language are not altered. Moreover, the long vowel sound in a word should not be omitted. One example is ('kind') and ('want, like'). The word in the native alphabet is written as in the simplified alphabet, making the two words the same in spelling albeit with different meanings. In this case, the pronunciation of the words depends on their place and usage in a sentence. To avoid confusion and aid in ease of reading, it is strongly recommended to use the native alphabet in writing Rinconada Bikol.
Features and geographic distribution
The Nabua-Balatan variant features high pitch intonation. It is the direct descendant of Rinconada Bikol but it has lost some features of the original spoken language. Speakers can be found throughout the municipalities of Nabua and Balatan. The Iriga variant, on the other hand, has the most speakers. The speakers are concentrated in the district's center, Iriga City, in some of the important barangays of Buhi (West and East Sta. Justina and De Los Angeles), and the urban barangay of Matacon, located in Polangui, Albay. The Iriga variant has a flat intonation and is spoken rapidly. The Bato variant, on the other hand, has a distinctive mellow intonation. It is said that regardless of one's mood, the Bato speaker always sounds sleepy, as if they are chanting. The Bato variant is primarily spoken in Bato, Camarines Sur and is also spoken in Agos, Polangui, Albay. The Agta variant is the smallest of the group. The speakers are exclusively the indigenous population of Agta/Aeta, the aboriginal people of different tribes surrounding Mount Iriga and Buhi lake. Like Iriga, the Agta variant also has a flat intonation; they speak the language with a distinct form of pronunciation which can be traced to the group's extinct language. The variants of Baao and Bula-Pili are considered twins. They have the same accent and only slight differences in vocabulary. Of the two variants, Baao often uses rising intonation, while Bula-Pili is moderately flat but both use high pitch when reasoning. The latter variant is used entirely in Bula and in the southern half of the provincial capital town of Pili. It also has a significant number of speakers in Ocampo and Minalabac in Camarines Sur. The two variants have borrowed some vocabulary from Coastal Bikol; at the same time, Bikol-Partido (a dialect of Coastal Bikol) can be heard with borrowed vocabulary from the two variants.
List of phrases and expressions that are unique to each variant:
Baao variant: Nabua – Balatan variant: Agta variant: Bato variant: Bula – Pili variant: Iriga variant:
Short imperatives
Like other Visayan and Bikol languages, Rinconada Bikol has a short form for the imperative.
e.g.: The phrase ('grill it') is often shortened to and the command phrase ('wipe the mirror') can be shortened to .
A special form is used when talking to elderly people in a polite manner. The letters "ā/a" after the root word of the verb are replaced by the letters "e/ē" if the statement is politely delivered. The letter "e" or "ē" stands for which means 'please' in English, or in Tagalog.
Example 1: is a root word that means 'grill'. means 'grill it'. roughly means 'you, grill it'. is the shortened form of the command 'iyəwən mo'. is the shortened polite form of ('grill it please').
Example 2: is a root word that means 'wipe'. means 'wipe it'. roughly means 'you, wipe it'. is a shortened form of the command . is the shortened polite form of ('wipe it please').
Example 3: is a root word that means 'prepare'. means 'prepare it'. means 'you, prepare it'. is the shortened form of the command .