The Northern Luzon languages (also known as the Cordilleran languages) are one of the few established large groups within Philippine languages. These are mostly located in and around the Cordillera Central of northern Luzon in the Philippines. Among its major languages are Ilocano, Pangasinan and Ibanag.
Internal classification Lawrence Reid (2018) divides the over thirty Northern Luzon languages into five branches: the Northeastern Luzon, Cagayan Valley and Meso-Cordilleran subgroups, further Ilokano and Arta as group-level isolate branches.Reid, Lawrence A. 2018. "Modeling the linguistic situation in the Philippines." In Let's Talk about Trees, ed. by Ritsuko Kikusawa and Lawrence A. Reid. Osaka: Senri Ethnological Studies, Minpaku. † indicates that the language is extinct.
Northern Luzon Ilocano Arta Dicamay Agta † (unclassified) Cagayan Valley Isnag Ibanagic Atta Ibanag Itawis Yogad Gaddang-Cagayan Central Cagayan Agta Gaddang Ga'dang Northeastern LuzonRobinson, Laura C. and Jason William Lobel (2013). "The Northeastern Luzon Subgroup of Philippine Languages." Oceanic Linguistics 52.1 (2013): 125-168. Dupaningan Agta (core) Dinapigue Agta Casiguran Agta, Nagtipunan Agta Pahanan Agta, Paranan Meso-CordilleranHimes, Ronald S. 2005. The Meso-Cordilleran Group of Philippine Languages. In Hsiu-chuan Liao and Carl R. Galvez Rubino (eds.), Current Issues in Philippine Linguistics and Anthropology: Parangal kay Lawrence A. Reid, 81-92. Manila, Philippines: Linguistic Society of the Philippines and SIL Philippines. Northern Alta Southern Alta South-Central Cordilleran Central Cordilleran Isinai North Central Cordilleran Kalinga-Itneg Itneg Kalinga Nuclear Cordilleran Ifugao Balangao Bontok-Kankanaey Bontok-Finallig Kankanaey Southern Cordilleran Bugkalot West Southern Cordilleran Pangasinan Nuclear Southern Cordilleran Ibaloi Iwaak Kallahan Karao
Reconstruction
Phonology Reid (2006) has reconstructed the Proto-Northern Luzon sound system as follows, with phonemic stress: VowelsFrontCentralBackClose *i *ɨ *uOpen *a
ConsonantsBilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalStopvoiceless *p *t *k *ʔvoiced *b *d *j *gFricative *s Nasal *m *n *ŋLateral *lApproximant *w *y The sound inventory of Proto-Northern Luzon shows no innovations from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian that would set it apart from other Philippine languages. There are however two phonological innovations that characterize the Northern Luzon languages: Loss of final *ʔ (< *q) Metathesis of *s and *t, e.g. Proto-Northern Luzon < Proto-Malayo-Polynesian 'weep', < 'hundred'.
Vocabulary Lexical innovations only found in Northern Luzon languages include: 'feather, body hair', 'squeeze', 'swell', 'earthquake', 'stand', 'buttocks'. Semantic shifts are observed e.g. in 'give' (cf. Proto-Philippine 'escort') and 'wild pig' (cf. Proto-Philippine 'flesh').
Footnotes
Ethnic groups
See also Northeastern Luzon languages
References