Ilocano language

Austronesian language spoken by the Ilocano people of the Philippines / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Ilocano (also Ilokano; /lˈkɑːn/;[6] Ilocano: Pagsasao nga Ilokano) is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines, primarily by Ilocano people and as a lingua franca by the Igorot people and also by the native settlers of Cagayan Valley. It is the third most-spoken native language in the country.

Quick facts: Ilocano, Native to, Region, Ethnicity, N...
Ilocano
Ilokano
Iloko, Iluko, Iloco, Pagsasao nga Ilokano, Samtoy, Sao mi ditoy
Native toPhilippines
RegionNorthern Luzon, many parts of Central Luzon and a few parts of the Soccsksargen region in Mindanao
EthnicityIlocano
Native speakers
8.1 million (2010)[1]
2 million L2 speakers (2000)[2]
Third most spoken native language in the Philippines[3]
Latin (Ilocano alphabet),
Ilokano Braille
Historically Kur-itan
Official status
Official language in
La Union[4]
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byKomisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-2ilo
ISO 639-3ilo
Glottologilok1237
Linguasphere31-CBA-a
Ilokano_language_map.png
Area where Ilokano is spoken according to Ethnologue[5]
Striped areas are Itneg-Ilokano bilingual communities in Abra
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An Ilocano speaker, recorded in the United States.

As an Austronesian language, it is related to Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan, and Malagasy. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight mutual intelligibility with the Balangao language and the eastern dialects of the Bontoc language.[dubious ][7]

The Ilokano people had their indigenous writing system and script known as kur-itan. There have been proposals to revive the kur-itan script by teaching it in Ilokano-majority public and private schools in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.[8]