Masbatenyo, 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.
Masbatenyo is closely related to Capiznon, with 79% lexical similarity, and Hiligaynon, with 76% lexical similarity. Waray language is closely related and significantly similar to Masbatenyo as well. It is also closely related to Waray Sorsogon language, the language of Sorsogon. This is because Masbate was once part of Sorsogon Province and was governed from Sorsogon City until the 1920s. It has three major dialects: 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.
Etymology There are several accounts on the origins of the word Masbate. One account says that it came from the words 'to mix' and 'to beat'. The other account says it came from 'heard better' as in 'Get down here and get closer so that we can hear better whatever you're saying.' Another account further says that it came from the term that Cebuano migrants used to describe the place, , which means 'a place where living condition is worse'.
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 .
Dialects Wolfenden 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.
+Language and/or Dialect Used in the Municipalities of MasbateMunicipalityLanguage and/or Dialect UsedBurias Island, First Congressional DistrictClaveriaMasbatenyoMasbatenyo with strong Cebuano influenceMasbatenyo with Bikol influenceSan PascualCebuano with Masbatenyo influenceBikol with Masbatenyo influenceMasbatenyo with strong Cebuano influenceTicao Island, Second Congressional DistrictBatuanMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceMonrealMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceSan FernandoMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceSan JacintoMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceSecond Congressional DistrictAroroyMasbatenyoBalenoMasbatenyoBaludHiligaynon with Masbatenyo influenceMandaonMasbatenyo with strong Hiligaynon influenceHiligaynon with Masbatenyo influenceMasbate CityMasbatenyoMilagrosMasbatenyoMoboMasbatenyoThird Congressional DistrictCawayanCebuano with Masbatenyo influenceCatainganCebuano with Masbatenyo influenceMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceMasbatenyo with strong Cebuano influenceDimasalangCebuano with Masbatenyo influenceMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceMasbatenyo with strong Cebuano influenceMasbatenyoEsperanzaCebuano with Masbatenyo influencePalanasCebuano with Masbatenyo influenceMasbatenyo with strong Waray influenceMasbatenyo with strong Cebuano influenceMasbatenyoPio V. CorpuzCebuano with Masbatenyo influencePlacerCebuanoUsonCebuano with Masbatenyo influenceMasbatenyo with strong Cebuano influenceMasbatenyo
Masbatenyo and its neighboring languages Wolfenden reported that although Sorsogon (the southernmost province of Bicol) and Masbate are very much closer to the Bicol Peninsula, Sorsoganon and Masbatenyo shared the same grammatical systems, which are rather closer to those of Waray and Hiligaynon, the trade languages in the Visayas, rather than to Bicol.
The presence of competing grammatical and lexical subsystems in the language is the most striking characteristic of Masbatenyo. This has probably been brought on by the influx of settlers from surrounding major language groups who mixed in elements of their language with and alongside the Masbatenyo. This results in several semantic concepts that can be expressed by two to five alternate words for a single concept.
This led Wolfenden to think that Masbatenyo is unique in the sense of its being a mixed-up language. Speakers of the language often thought that their language is just a mixture of its neighboring languages, which are Bikol, Waray-Waray, Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Tagalog. There are still those who refer to their own speech as 'Bisaya'.
Masbatenyo shares different types of mutual intelligibility with its neighboring languages. Speakers of Masbatenyo can easily and conveniently converse with speakers of the neighboring languages using their own language. However, speakers of Cebuano, Waray or Hiligaynon would sometimes find it difficult to understand Masbatenyo because of its lexicon. Furthermore, Zorc 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 made a subgrouping and reconstruction of the Bisayan dialects and included Masbatenyo in his work. He stated that while it is true that there are immigrants from the areas that speak Bikol, Cebuano and Hiligaynon languages, the "native dialect" throughout the island is Masbatenyo.
Zorc presented four types of intelligibility among the Bisayan languages and dialects: a) natural or primary intelligibility, where speakers of different dialects can communicate freely, even they never hear the other dialect before (e.g. Bulalakawnon and Ratagnon, Capiznon and Hiligaynon); b) learned or secondary intelligibility, where speakers can adjust to another dialect in a matter of time (e.g. Bulalakawnon and Aklanon); c) sesquilingualism, whereby a speaker is fluent in his native language (dialect), but can only understand (not speak) another (Waray and Cebuano, where speakers of both languages can understand both perfectly but speakers of Cebuano understand Waray poorly); and d) one-way intelligibility, whereby A understands B but B does not understand A.
Masbatenyo speakers in the town of Masbate belong to the fourth kind. The residents of the town can readily understand the speech of the outsiders, but the outsiders cannot understand the speech of the locals. Speakers can understand Sorsoganon, Capiznon, Hiligaynon, and Cebuano, but the latter experience varying degrees of difficulty in understanding Masbatenyo.
Regarding the duration of the Bisayan occupancy of the Central Philippines, Zorc reported that there are no pre-Hispanic writings that would account for their existence in the area. Zorc stipulated that current speakers of many of the Bisayan languages and dialects could have given up their original languages long ago in favor of an intrusive or more prestigious language, or in favor of the language already spoken in the region that they invaded and conquered.
Orthography In 2016, researchers from the Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa Sr. Memorial State College of Agriculture and Technology (DEBESMSCAT) together with the members of newly established Minasbate Language Society, composed of various stakeholders from Masbate, developed a working orthography on the language based on the discussions in the 1st Minasbate Orthography Congress.
The Minasbate Working Orthography distinguishes between the native Minasbate orthography and the extended working orthography.
Native Minasbaté Orthography The following symbols are used in the native Minasbaté orthography: Aa, Bb, Dd, Gg, Hh, Ii, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, NGng, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ww, Yy, ` (for glottal stop) 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). 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. The glottal stop may occur between a C and V, e.g , It may also occur in the final position of the word, e.g. , The glottal may also occur between two V, e.g. , , , 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. , , The syllable pattern of Minasbaté words is CV and CVC, e.g. = CV.CVC. All Cs can occur in the beginning of a word (onset) or ending (coda). Examples: 'thirsty,' 'to catch' All Vs are used to form a syllable nucleus. Examples: In writing stress or accent, the acute accent ( ' ) above the V is used, e.g. , 'alive', , 'big', 'noise'. 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'. It is possible to have more than one stress in a word, e.g. , . 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.
The extended orthography will consist of the following: 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) 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. ). The use of the back vowels "u" and "o": If the word has only one back vowel sound that occurs in the ultimate position, o is used. Examples: , , , , , , , . Exceptions: 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: , , , , , , , , O in borrowed words is retained in writing. Example: , , The use of front vowels "i" and "e": All Minasbaté words with an "i" sound will be written as i. Examples: , , , , , , , 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 The hyphen will be used in the following instances: