Isnag language


Isnag is a language spoken by around 40,000 Isnag people of Apayao Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the northern Philippines. Around 85% of Isnag are capable of reading the Isnag language. Many Isnag speakers also speak Ilocano.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Isnag.
Alternate names for Isnag include Apayao, Dibagat-Kabugao-Isneg, Isneg, and Maragat.
Isnag is spoken in the northern two thirds of Apayao Province, Cagayan Province, Abra Province, and Ilocos Norte Province, and scattered areas along the Apayao western border.
The closely related Adasen language, which consists of western and eastern dialects, is spoken in northeastern Abra Province and into western Apayao Province. There are 4,000 speakers.

Sounds

Isnag is also one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from - allophone.

Language sample

The Proto-Malayo-Polynesian schwa ə has merged to /a/ such as *qatəp > atap similar to Kapampangan, atip in Tagalog and atup in Visayan.