Southwestern Bontoc

Southwestern Bontoc (Southwestern Bontok) is a variety of the Bontoc language of the Philippines. This language is a moribund language, with only 2,470 speakers left in 2007.^[2]

Southwestern Bontok
Southwestern Bontoc
Native to	Philippines
Region	Cordillera Administrative Region
Native speakers	2,470 (2007 census)[1]
Language family	Malayo-Polynesian Philippine North Luzon Meso-Cordilleran South-Central Cordilleran Central Cordilleran North Central Cordilleran Nuclear Cordilleran Bontok-Kankanay Bontok Southwestern Bontok
Language codes
ISO 639-3	vbk

Distribution and dialects

Ethnologue reports the following locations for Southwestern Bontok:

Cordillera Administrative Region: Mountain Province: Bontoc Municipality: Alab, Balili, Gonogon and some villages near Chico River Valley and the southwest of Bontoc Municipality.^[2]

Ethnologue identifies Ina-ab, Binalili and Ginonogon as dialects of Southwestern Bontok.^[2]

Similarities

Ethnologue reports the language is similar to 4 other Bontoc languages: Central Bontok, North Bontok, Southern Bontok and Eastern Bontok.

Death of the language

This language is a moribund language, which means that only a few people speak it and if the speakers of the language continue to speak Tagalog or English to their sons and not speak their own mother tongue, the language will not be passed down to newer generations, eventually becoming a "dead language". Many of the speakers have shifted to Ilokano. Many of the speakers can also speak Central Bontok and Kankanaey as their second language.^[2]