Bontoc language

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Northern Luzon language spoken in the Philippines

title: "Bontoc language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["languages-of-mountain-province", "south–central-cordilleran-languages"] description: "Northern Luzon language spoken in the Philippines" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bontoc_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Northern Luzon language spoken in the Philippines ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

Field	Value
name	Bontoc
altname	Bontok
states	Philippines
region	Mountain Province
speakers
date	2007 census
ref	e18
familycolor	Austronesian
fam2	Malayo-Polynesian
fam3	Philippine
fam4	Northern Luzon
fam5	Meso-Cordilleran
fam6	Central Cordilleran
fam7	Nuclear Cordilleran
fam8	Bontok–Kankanay
iso3	bnc
lc1	lbk
lc2	ebk
lc3	rbk
lc4	obk
lc5	vbk
glotto	bont1247
glottorefname	Bontok
map	Bontok_language_map.png
mapcaption	Area where Bontoc is spoken according to Ethnologue
::

Bontoc (Bontok) is a macrolanguage native to the indigenous Bontoc people of the Mountain Province, in the northern part of the Philippines.

Specific languages

Ethnologue reports the following locations for each of the five Bontok languages. Speaker populations from the 2007 census, as quoted in Ethnologue.

::data[format=table]

Language	Location of speakers	Dialects	Ref
Central Bontok
()	Bontoc (Bontoc ili, Caluttit, Dalican, Guina-ang, Ma-init, Maligcong, Samoki, and Tocucan)		19,600
	Eastern Bontok
()	Barlig (Barlig, Kadaklan, Lias)		6,170
	Northern Bontok
()	Sadanga (Anabel, Bekigan, Belwang, Betwagan, Demang, Sacasacan, Saclit, and Sadanga Poblacion);
Southern Kalinga		9,700
Southern Bontok	Bontoc (Talubin, Bayyo, and Can-eo)		2,760
	Southwestern Bontok	Bontoc (Alab, Balili, Gonogon, and villages in the Chico River valley, southwest of the municipal capital Bontoc, along Halsema Highway)
::

Phonology

::data[format=table title="Consonant phonemes{{Cite journal |last=Reid |first=Lawrence A. |date=1963 |title=The Phonology of Central Bontoc |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=3218 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=21–26}}"]

Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal	Nasal	Plosive	Fricative	Rhotic	Approximant



	~

::

The archiphoneme has , , and as its allophones. The allophone occurs word-initially, adjacent to , as the second member of a consonant cluster consisting of a coronal consonant and , and as the second member of any consonant cluster preceded by . occurs in free variation with word-initially, but otherwise occurs in complementary distribution with it. occurs in free variation with and word-initially, and with elsewhere. These /r/ sounds are even applied to loanwords from Ilokano and Tagalog, and Spanish loanwords from the 2 languages.
The plosives , , , and have, respectively, (representing an interdental consonant), , , and as their syllable-initial allophones.
The voiced stop also has and as its allophones. Both of these allophones occur as the first member of a geminate cluster. They are in free variation.
The approximant has one allophone: . occurs after . ::data[format=table title="Vowel phonemes"] | Front | Back | High | Mid | Close | |---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

becomes a slightly centralized when in a syllable whose coda is . When in the nucleus, and are slightly raised and is lowered.

There are two degrees of stress in Bontoc: primary and secondary. Primary stress is phonemic and secondary stress is predictable. Both types are right-oriented and occur on one of the last three syllables. Stress's effects include higher pitch, louder volume, and lengthening of the syllable nucleus, though these are all subject to certain rules pertaining to word prosody.

Example text

The Lord's Prayer

Ama id chaya machad-ayaw nan ngachanmo. Omali nan en-ap-apowam. Maangnen nan nemnemmo isnan lofong ay kag id chaya. Ichowam nan kanenmi isnan kawakawakas. Pakawanem nan fasolmi, tay pinakawanmi akhes nan finmasol ken chakami. Ad-im ogkhayen chakami isnan maawisanmi ay enfasol, mod-i ket isas alakam chakami isnan ngaag.| Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.|lang=bnc|attr1=}}

References

Bauer, Laurie. (2007). "The Linguistics Student's Handbook". Edinburgh University Press.
{{Glottolog. bont1247. Bontok
Ethnologue, [[ethnologue:lbk. Central Bontok]] {{Subscription required
Ethnologue, [[ethnologue:ebk. Eastern Bontok]] {{Subscription required
Ethnologue, [[ethnologue:rbk. Northern Bontok]] {{Subscription required
Ethnologue, [[ethnologue:obk. Southern Bontok]] {{Subscription required
Ethnologue, [[ethnologue:vbk. Southwestern Bontok]] {{Subscription required
Reid, Lawrence A.. (1963). "The Phonology of Central Bontoc". The Journal of the Polynesian Society.

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