UP Linguistics at the SEALS 31

Exploring Island Linguistics in the Philippines: Mooring Languages to Islandness

This study explores the feasibility of Island Linguistics as a research program in the Philippines by providing case studies of what could potentially be considered as “island languages” in the archipelago. By using “Island Linguistics”, I attempt to advance the views put forward by Nash et al. (2020) and Nash, Markússon, & Bakker (2020) on the need to disentangle the study of linguistic forms and processes shaped in an island environment from the more established area of Island Studies and draw more attention towards investigations of topography-driven properties of human languages. While other scholars have previously examined the relationship between island topography and specific language properties (e.g. Nagaya [2022] on the directionals of Lamaholot spoken in Flores Island; Nash [2017] on islands and toponymy in Australia), there is still neither any known proposal for an island-spoken variety to be putatively considered as an “island language” nor any attempt to find cross-linguistic patterns that could be attributed specifically to the islands and their “islandness” (cf. Palmer et al., 2017).

Building upon the initial criteria for an island language proposed by Nash et al. (2020),  I first examine the case of Cuyonon (ISO 639-3 cyo), a West Bisayan  variety primarily spoken in the island of Cuyo (part of Palawan Province, in southwestern part of the Philippines). The data from Cuyonon suggest a robust relationship between “islandness” and language, as shown by the former being deeply entrenched in the semantic system, frames of spatial reference, and social practices related to language use.  Second, I present additional, albeit smaller, case studies from other island-spoken Philippine languages from different subgroups to identify possible shared features including Agutaynen (agn), Bolinao (smk), Kagayanen (cgc), and Porohanon (prh).  Lastly, I propose ways how to possibly account for these features in the grammatical description and in larger documentation projects involving island languages in the Philippines in the future.