MARANAO
4
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Maranao is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken mostly in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, in the southern parts of Mindanao, and in the North Cotabato province of Soccksargen region. It is commonly spoken by the Muslim community, and it is an educational language taught in the province of Lanao del Sur.
The geographical orientation of Lanao del Sur gives the Maranao people its name, along with the name of their language. Maranao literally means “people of the lake” (ma = adjective marker, ranao = ‘lake’), pertaining to the lake in Bukidnon-Lanao plateau. Although it does not have a known dialect, Maranao shares an 87% intelligibility with Iranun and 52% with Maguindanon. Due to this similarity, they are grouped under the Danao subgroup of the Greater Central Philippine languages.
This map shows the distribution of Maranao speakers in the Philippine archipelago. In total, there are approximately 1,500,000 speakers of the Maranao language as of 2016. Although widely dispersed, Maranao speakers are mostly found in the regions of ARMM, Metropolitan Manila, SOCCKSARGEN, and some parts of Northern Mindanao. In particular, they are concentrated in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, making up half of their population.
SOUNDS OF MARANAO
The table above shows the phonetic inventory of the Maranao language. Maranao has a generally similar phonetic inventory with
Maguindanao. Similarly, its vowels are /i/, /o/, /a/, and the pepet /ə/. /o/ varies with /u/ and /ʊ/ and are in free variation. /a/ and /e/ varies with the schwa /ə/, also in free variation. The consonant phonemes are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /s/, /r/ (flap), /l/, /j/, /k/, /g/, /Ɂ/, /ŋ/, and /h/.
Maranao is an r-language. It is also noticeable that there is the absence of the consonant 'h'. If a particular word has the phoneme "h", it is
probably borrowed from another language.
SOME MARANAO WORDS
A MARANAO STORY
si pilandok
Kiyaopakatan o mga lok’s a si Pilandok i titu a baraakal a
mama. Madak’l a tutulan rkyan, so isawn na sabap ki Pilandok a go so buta.
Isadna a gawii, si Pilandok na ma-awid sa kaon a
map’p’no a t’mbuwan. Pimbaling skanyan a go miyabalak sa bota a mama. Oriyan o kiyasambi eran sa salam tig o bota, tonaa aawidan ka anan? Myapikir i Pilandok a sandagan yan so bota. “Pagawidan akn sa agong aya sa padi-an. Giyaya so titu a matanog a agong sa dunya,” Myambimbanon so bota na kabaya yan a masal so agong. Minyog si Pilandok ko kabaya iyan. Pyakakad’n o mama si Pilandok sa likod iyan.
Ogaid na daon tampar si Pilandok ka badn myalagoy,
sumisinga. Byasal o buta a t’k’n so kaon. Mab’g’r a kyasugata nyan on a myag’ba so kaon. Pyangbut skanyan o mililiyo a tambowan, taptap iyan dn a palalagoy ko mga walay. Sii ko mawatan na myan’g iyan so kakikikil i Pilandok
pilandok
Old folks say that Pilandok was the most
cunning man that ever lived. Many stories were told about him, one of which is about him and the blind man.
One day, Pilandok took a box full of
bees. On his way home, he met a blind man. After they exchanged greetings, the blind man asked, what do you have with you? Pilandok thought of playing a trick on the blind man. “I am taking this gong to the market. It’s the loudest ever in the whole world,” The interested blind man wanted to try on the gong. Pilandok agreed to his request.
The blind man asked Pilandok to stand
back. But instead of just standing back, Pilandok ran away, laughing. The blind man began to strike the box. He struck the box forcefully and broke the box. The bees stung the blind man, who ran terrified to the village. From the distance the blind man heard Pilandok laughing loudly.
WORKS ON MARANAO
Al-Macaraya, B.; McKaughan, H.P. 1965. Maranao plant names. Oceanic Linguistics.
Allison, E.J. 1979. Proto-Danaw : a comparative study of Maranaw, Magindanaw, and Iranun.
Pacific Linguistics Series A ; no. 055.
Billings, L. A. 2010. Maranao, voice, and diathesis. SIL Language and Culture Archives.
Forster, J., Ward, R. G. 1967. Verb stem classes in Maranao transitive clauses. Anthropological
Linguistics.
Kaufman, D. 2010. The grammar of clitics in Maranao. SIL Language and Culture Archives.
Lobel, J.W. 2011. Maranao: A Preliminary Phonological Sketch with Supporting Audio.
Language Documentation and Conservation. 5. 31-59.
McKaughan, H. 1922-. 1967. A Maranao dictionary. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press.
_______________1958. Maranao Detailed Description. Bureau of Printing.
_______________1922-; Pike, Kenneth Lee, 1912-. 1995. Maranao Stories. Malate, M.M. [i.e. Metro
Manila] : De La Salle University Press.
_______________1996. Maranao Grammar. De La Salle University Press.
_______________1967. Maranao Orthography. University of Hawaii Press.
_______________1958. Maranao Phonology. Bureau of Printing.
_______________1996. Maranao Phonology. De La Salle University Press
_______________1962. Overt relation markers in Maranao. Language.
_______________1963. Relation markers in Maranao verbs. SIL Language and Culture
Archives.
_______________1959. Semantic components of pronoun systems: Maranao. Word.
_______________1958. The Inflection and Syntax of Maranao Verbs. Bureau of Printing. SIL
International. 2013. Maranao: a language of Philippines. Ethnologue.
OTHER REFERENCES:
Advameg. 2017. Maranao. Countries and their Cultures. Retrieved from
http://www.everyculture.com/East-Southeast-Asia/Maranao.html.
De Jong, R. 2010. The Maranao Tribe from Lake Lanao. Things Asian. Retrieved from
http://thingsasian.com/story/maranao-tribe-lake-lanao.
Ethnic Groups Philippines. 2017. Maranao. Retrieved from http://www.ethnicgroup
sphilippines.com/people/ethnic-groups-in-the-philippines/maranao/.
McKaughan, H. 1922-. 1967. A Maranao dictionary. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press.
_______________1958. The Inflection and Syntax of Maranao Verbs. Bureau of Printing.
