final paper (phonetics)

7/28/2019 Final Paper (Phonetics)

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I. Introduction

Iloko is an Austronesian language spoken by about 10 million people in the Philippines, mainly

in the northwest of Luzon island, and also in Mindanao. There are significant numbers of Iloko

speakers in the USA, Middle East, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada and Europe as well.

The language is also known as Ilokano, Ilocano, Iluko, Iloco and Iloko, and the Iloko people call

themselves Samtoy, a contraction from the Iloko phrasesa mi ditoy, meaning "our language

here".

Iloko was originally written with the Baybayin syllabary, which is also used to write Tagalog,

but this was gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet the Spanish arrived in the Philippines in the

16th century. One of the first publications in Iloko was theDoctrina Cristiana of 1621.

Ilocano is classified as one of the 27 Cordilleran (named after the Cordillera mountain range on

the island of Luzon in the Philippines) languages and is the most widely spoken of all the

Cordilleran languages (Rubino, 2000). Most Ilocano speakers originate from an area of Northern

Luzon, Philippines (Rubino, 2000).

Yet, Ilocano is the third most common language of the Philippines spoken by approximately 8.9

million (11%) of the countrys total population of approximately 88 million (ethnologue.com ,

2006). The two more commonly spoken languages in the Philippines are Tagalog (the national

language) and Cebuano each spoken by about 24% of the population (ethonologue.com, 2006).

Ilocanos can be found in various countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Canada,

Europe and the United States (Rubino, 2000). In the United States, a high concentration of

Ilocanos can be found in Hawaii, California and Alaska (Rubino, 2000).

The Ilocano language is commonly spoken in Hawaii and is taught at the University of Hawaiias a foreign language (Rubino, 2000). In some cases, the Ilocano language is utilized as the

language of instruction for bilingual students (Rubino, 2000), and is used in the Hawaiian public

educational system. In Hawaii, Ilocano is 2nd, Sagon the fourth most common language, spoken

by approximately 4% of the population, and is ranked 47th of the 322 languages spoken in the

United States (www.us-english.org).


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The City of Laoag (Ilokano: Ciudad ti Laoag; Tagalog:Lungsod ng Laoag) is a 1st class city in

the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. It is the capital city of Ilocos Norte, and the province's

political, commercial, and industrial hub. It is the northernmost city in the Philippines and the

location of the Ilocos region's only commercial airport. According to the 2010 census, it had a

population of 104,904 people.

Long before the coming of the Spaniards, there already existed an extensive region consisting of

the present provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and La Union) renowned for its gold

mines. Merchants from Japan and China would often visit the area to trade gold with beads,

ceramics and silk. The inhabitants of the region, believed to be of Malay origin, called their place

samtoy, from sao mi toy, which literally meant our language.

In 1571, when the Spanish conquistadors had Manila more or less under their control, they began

looking for new sites to conquer. Legaspis grandson, Juan de Salcedo, volunteered to lead one

of these expeditions. Together with 8 armed boats and 45 men, the 22 year old voyager headed

north.

On June 13, 1572, Salcedo and his men landed in Vigan and then proceeded towards Laoag,

Currimao and Badoc. As they sailed along the coast, they were surprised to see numerous

sheltered coves (looc) where the locals lived in harmony. As a result, they named the region

Ylocos and its people Ylocanos.

As the Christianization of the region grew, so did the landscape of the area. Vast tracks of land

were utilized for churches and bell towers in line with the Spanish mission of bajo las

campanas. In the town plaza, it was not uncommon to see garrisons under the church bells. The

colonization process was slowly being carried out.

Laoag City has a total population of 94,466 for the year 2000 as per NSO official report. In 1995,

the total inhabitants of the city was 88,336, an increase of 6,130. Based on the 1995 and 2000

intercensal periods, the Average Annual Growth Rate of the city is 1.45%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_provincehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_provincehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_city


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