Sambal language

"Sambali" redirects here. For the dessert, see basbousa.

Sambal or Sambali is a Sambalic language spoken primarily in the Zambal municipalities of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Palauig, and Iba, and in the Pangasinense municipality of Infanta in the Philippines; speakers can also be found in Panitian, Quezon, Palawan and Barangay Mandaragat or Buncag of Puerto Princesa.^{[citation needed]} The speakers of the language are decreasing due to the fact that many of the speakers are shifting to Tagalog.

Sambal
Sambali
Native to	Philippines
Region	Zambales, Pangasinan, Metro Manila, Palawan
Ethnicity	Sambal
Native speakers	70,000 (2000)^[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Luzon Sambalic Sambal
Official status
Official language in	Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by	Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xsb
Glottolog	tina1248
Area where Sambal is spoken
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The first European-produced reference grammar of any indigenous language of the Philippines was that of Zambal, published circa 1601.^[2]

Dialects

Ethnologue reports Santa Cruz, Masinloc and Iba as dialects of the language. ^[3]

Name

The language is occasionally referred to as zambal, which is the hispanized form of Sambal.

Sambal had also for a time been referred to as Tina,^[4] a term still encountered in older sources. The term, however, which means 'bleached' in the Botolan variety of the language,^[5] is considered offensive. The pejorative term was first used in the late 1970s by researchers from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International).^[5] Sambals would not normally recognize the reference.^[6]

Phonology

Sambali has 19 phonemes: 16 consonants and three vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple.

Vowels

Sambali has three vowels. They are:

• /a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English 'father'
• /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English 'machine'
• /u/ (written as ‘o’) a close back unrounded vowel similar to English 'flute'

There are five main diphthongs: /aɪ/, /uɪ/, /aʊ/, /ij/, and /iʊ/.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Sambal consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

Sambal consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stops	Voiceless	p	t		k	(-) [ʔ]
	Voiced	b	d		g
Affricates	Voiceless			(ts) [tʃ]
	Voiced
Fricatives			s			h
Nasals		m	n		ng [ŋ]
Laterals			l
Flaps			r
Semivowels		w		y [j]

Note: Consonants [d] and [ɾ] sometimes interchange, as they were once allophones. Dy is pronounced [dʒ], ny [ɲ], sy [ʃ], and ty [tʃ].

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Sambal. Word stress is very important; it differentiates homonyms, e.g. hikó ('I') and híko ('elbow').

Historical sound changes

Many words pronounced with /s/ and /ɡ/ in Cebuano and Tagalog are pronounced with /h/ and /j/, respectively, in their cognates in Sambal. Compare hiko and ba-yo with the Tagalog siko and bago.

Grammar

Nouns

Zambal pronouns

Common singular pronouns

• ang, 'yung (iyong) – yay hikon-mong, ya-rin hikon-moy
• ng, n'ung (niyong) – nin kon-moyo
• Sa – ha
• Nasa – Ison ha ('near'), Itaw ha ('far')

Common plural pronouns

• ang mgá, 'yung mgá (iyong mgá) – yay + first letter of plural word + aw
• (e.g. yay bawbabayi – ang mga babae; yay lawlalaki – ang mga lalaki)
• ng mgá, n'ung mgá (niyong mgá) – nin yay + first letter of plural word + aw
• (e.g. nin bawbabayi – ng mga babae, nin lawlalaki – ng mga lalaki)
• sa mgá – ha first letter of plural word + aw (e.g. habawbabayi – sa mga babae, halawlalaki – sa mga ki)
• Nasa mga – Iti, ison, itaw + pronoun

Personal singular pronouns

• Si – hi
• Ni – Ni
• Kay – Kun ni
• Na kay – hikun

Personal plural

• Sina – Hila
• Nina – ni
• Kina – Kun li
• Nakina – Hikunla

Note: In a general conversation, hi is usually omitted or contracted from the pronoun: e.g. Hikunla tana hiya rin (sa kanila na lang iyan) is simply ‘kunla tana ‘ya-rin or even shorter, as ‘kunlay na rin.

Example:

'The man arrived.' Dumating ang lalaki:

1. Nakalato hiyay lalaki or nakalato ‘yay lalaki or ‘yay tawo.
2. Linu-mato hiyay lalaki; or
3. Lin’mato ‘yay lalaki or ‘yay tawo.

• Yay (referring to object)
• Hiyay (singular person)
• Hikamon (plural second person)
• Hilay (plural third person)

Nakita ni Juan si Maria – Na-kit ni Juan hi Maria. 'John saw Mary.'

Note that in Philippine languages, even the names of people require an article.

Plural nominal article

'Helen and Robert will go to Miguel's house.'

• Pupunta sina Elena at Roberto sa bahay ni Miguel.
• Maku hila Elena tan Roberto ha bali ni Miguel.
• Pupunta ako – maku-ko
• Papunta – ma-mako
• Punta – mako
• Pumupunta – ampako
• Pupuntahan – ampaku-tawan\makuku-son

'Father has the keys.'

• Nasaan ang mga aklat?
• Ayti yay lawlibro?
• Na kay Tatay ang mga susi.
• Hikun niTatay yay sawsusi or ‘Kunni Tatay yay sawsusi

'That baby is healthy.'

• Malusog ang sanggol.
• Maganda yay lalaman nya-nin makating/makalog.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns are categorized by case. The indirect forms also function as the genitive.

		Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	Exclusive	ako – hiko ko – ko akin – hikunko (shortened to ‘kunko)	kita – ta, kunta	kami – hikami or ‘kami namin – mi amin – hikunmi or ‘kunmi
	Inclusive			tayo – hitamo or ‘tamo natin – hikuntamo or ‘kuntamo atin – hikuntamo or ‘kuntamo
2nd person		ikáw – hika mo – mo iyó – hikunmo or ‘kunmo	kayo – hikamo or ‘kamo ninyo – moyo inyo – hikunmoyo or ‘kunmoyo
3rd person		siya – hiya niya – naya kaniya – hikunnaya or ‘kunnaya	silá – hila nilá – la kanilá – hikunla or ‘kunla

Examples:

'I wrote.'

Sulat is hulat (Masinloc) or sulat (Sta. Cruz)

Sumulat ako. Humulat ko or Sumulat ko.

Sinulatan ako ng liham. Hinulatan nya hiko or hinulatan nya’ ko.

'He/She wrote me a letter.' Hinomulat ya ‘kunko, nanulat ya kunko, or hinulatan mya ko.

Ibibigay ko sa kaniyá. Ebi ko ‘kunna (hikuna).

'I will give it to him/her.'

Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.

Ang bahay ko. Yay bali ko.

Ang aking bahay. Yay ‘kunkon bali.

'My house.'

Interrogative words

Sambal	Tagalog	English
Ayri/Ayti	Saan	Where
Anya	Ano	What
Anta/Ongkot	Bakit	Why
Hino	Sino	Who
Nakano	Kailan	When

Sample texts

Philippine national proverb

Below is a translation in Sambal of the Philippine national proverb^[7] "He who does not acknowledge his beginnings will not reach his destination," followed by the original in Tagalog.

• Sambal: Hay kay tanda mamanomtom ha pinang-ibatan, kay maka-lato ha ampako-taw-an.
• Tagalog: Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan.

The Lord's Prayer

Version from Matthew

Ama mi an ison ha langit,
sambawon a ngalan mo.
Ma-kit mi na komon a pa-mag-ari mo.
Ma-honol komon a kalabayan mo iti ha lota
a bilang anamaot ison ha langit.
Biyan mo kami komon nin
pa-mangan mi para konan yadtin awlo;
tan patawaron mo kami komon ha kawkasalanan mi
a bilang anamaot ha pa-matawad mi
konlan ampagkasalanan komi.
Tan komon ando mo aboloyan a matokso kami,
nokay masbali ipa-lilih mo kamin kay makagawa doka,
ta ikon moy kaarian, kapangyarian tan karangalan a homin
panganggawan. Amen.^[8]

Version from Luke

Ama mi, maipatnag komon a banal mon kapangyarian.
Lomato ana komon an awlon sikay mag-ari.
Biyan mo kamin pa-mangan mi sa inawlo-awlo.
Inga-rowan mo kami sa kawkasalanan mi bilang
pa-nginganga-ro mi konlan nagkasalanan komi
tan ando mo kami aboloyan manabo sa tokso.
Wamoyo.^[8]

Examples

Numbers

Sambal numbers are listed below.

Sambal numbers

Sambal	English
A`sa	One
Luwa	Two
Tulo	Three
A`pat	Four
Lima	Five
A`num	Six
Pito	Seven
Walo	Eight
Siyam	Nine
Mapulo	Ten

Common expressions

Sambal	Tagalog	English
Kay ko tanda / Tanda ko	Hindi ko alam / Alam ko	I don't know / I know
Papo	Lola/lolo	Grandparent
Kaka	Ate/kuya/pinsan	Sibling or cousin
Akay ko labay / Labay ko	Hindi ko gusto / Gusto ko	I don't like / I like
Murong tamoy na	Uwi/balik na tayo	Let's go home/back
Hadilap	Bukas	Tomorrow
Hawanin	Ngayon	Now/today
Naapon	Kahapon	Yesterday
Ya	Oo	Yes
Ka`i	Hindi	No

See also

• Sambal people
• Zambales
• Languages of the Philippines

References

1. Sambal at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Mojarro Romero, Jorge (2022-05-03). "The Spanish Friars and Philippine Languages". Manila Times.
3. https://www.ethnologue.com/language/xsb (subscription required)
4. Agagas, Pascual (1978). "Tina Sambal". In Antworth, Evan L. (ed.). (PDF) (Language text). Studies in Philippine Linguistics, Vol. 2, No. 2. Text analysis by Margarete Schuster and Hella Goschnick. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines and Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 32–43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-11-02.
5. "Call me Sambal". Call me Sambal. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
6. Elgincolin, Priscilla R.; Goshnick, Hella E. (1979). "Interclausal Relationships in Tina Sambal". Studies in Philippine Linguistics. 3 (1): 84.
7. Rubino, Carl (n.d.). "The Philippine National Proverb: Translated Into Various Philippine Languages". iloko.tripod.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
8. . Christus Rex. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2022.

External links

 

Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Sambal.

• Zambal-language resources at the SIL