Sangir language

Sangir, also known as Sangihé, Sangi, Sangil, or Sangih, is an Austronesian language spoken on the islands linking northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with Mindanao, Philippines by the Sangir people. It belongs to the Philippine group within the Austronesian language family.^[1]

Sangir
Sangihẹ̆
Native to	Indonesia Philippines
Region	North Sulawesi North Maluku Davao del Sur Davao Occidental Davao Oriental
Ethnicity	Sangir
Native speakers	Sangir: 170,000 (2010)[1] Sangil: 15,000 (1996)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Sangiric North Sangir
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: sxn – Sangir snl – Sangil
Glottolog	nort2871

Some lexical influence comes from Ternate and Spanish,^[2][3] as well as Dutch and Malay.^[4] Many of the Sangirese have migrated to areas outside of the Sangihe archipelago, including mainland Sulawesi, as well as the Philippines, where the language remains vigorous.^[5] Sangir is also spoken by Sangirese migrants in North Maluku, Indonesia.^[6]

Manado Malay is commonly used among the Sangirese, sometimes as a first language. Manado Malay is particularly influential in Tahuna and Manado.^[5]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t			k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Nasal		m	n			ŋ
Fricative		β	s			ɣ	h
Rhotic			ɾ
Lateral			l	𝼈
Approximant		w			j

/ɣ/ is mainly heard in the Sangihé dialect.^[7]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

• Vowels /i, e, a, o, u/ may also be heard as [ɪ, ɛ, ə, ɔ, ʊ] within syllables.
• /ɨ/ can be heard as [ɨ], [ɯ], [ə].^[8]