TAGABAWA
Tagabawa, also known as Tagabawa Bagobo or Tagabawa Manobo, is a language located in the Philippines. It consists of 43,000 speakers (SIL, 1998). Tagabawa is under the Manobo subgroup, specifically in South Manobo, within Greater Central Philippines. Also under South Manobo would be Sarangani Manobo and Cotabato Manobo, but Tagabawa is said to bear a closer lexical similarity to Sarangani Manobo (Ethnologue, 2017).
Tagabawa is located mostly in the Southern Philippines, specifically in the Davao del Sur in the Davao region and North Cotabato in SOCCSKSARGEN region. Due to this location, they also share comprehension with other languages such as Obo Manobo and Giangan, both of which are also spoken in the same areas (Ethnologue, 2017).
While the use of the language seems rather active, with a rather high language status of being educational, and with its active use in literature and radio, there is little to no linguistic research done about Tagabawa. Published materials about the ethnicity were mostly ethnographies or collections of narratives written in the language.
SOUNDS OF TAGABAWA
The table above shows the phonetic inventory of the Tagabawa language. Tagabawa's consonant phonemes are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /s/, /r/ (flap), /l/, /j/, /w/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /k/, /g/, /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, /Ɂ/, and /h/. /tʃ/ appears to be seen in borrowed words. Tagabawa is shown to be an l-language.
On the other hand, their vowel phonemes are: /a/, /i/, /ᴈ/, /ᴐ/, /u/, and the high central /ɨ/.The high central vowel /ɨ/ is shown to be pronounced as the pepet [ə] in unstressed syllables. Based on elicitation, while /ᴈ/ and /ᴐ/ are phonemic, they can be pronounced in free variation with /u/ and /i/.
SOME TAGABAWA WORDS
A TAGABAWA STORY
Istorya ka igtikudan ka durian
To mga katugalan ka mga Bagobo na aggodok lasangan ka
Mindanao, mga ginsakupan e Datu Duri. Dun bata din nga agngadanak Durian. Abbad allo kanan, igpakita to Bathala ak Datu Duri asta igpasoddor atkandin nga to bata din mabuhi hangtud sapulo siyo tuig dad man. Iglabe to pira mga amme, ituman to mga igkagi e Bathala Ibogokan at Durian na agad sadan tut gingharian dan anda musing makabaggek bawi para kandin. Anda assa inemu e Datu Duri, igdawat din dan baling na banal to igkagi ka Bathala. Sa anda pa inate si Durian, igpamuyo din tut amma din nga kung mate atkandin to minate lawa din labbangan yat sirab ka bintana ka inna din abo marag madasalan to kandin gimukod. Igtuman pagsik kato amma din to igpamuyu din unya inate dan atkandin nga malinawon.
Iglabe to siyo allo, dun ibanteyan dan nga pamula nga
igtubo tut iglabbangan ki Durian. To pamulayi to, igtubo, igpamulak asta igbuoy. Abbad allo, igtilawan e Datu Duri to abbad malluto buoy.ikitaan dan nga namanipis to luwit ka buoy din, magdelak e mga lisu asta to dalam din mammis. Igbannal jud to mga manubu nga igbagge e Bathala to punuani to abo di malingawan to kamanubuan e Durian ka langun. Iglabe to mga panahon, agkatugal dan at Datu Duri. Dun abbad manubu nga di kasarigan nag ngadanak Sangkalan na ig-ago ka gahum asta kaduwanan kato datu.
Tut katapusan atkandin e inemu datu asta igpasunud din
kandin to mga Bilaan ata mga Manobo. Isoddoran kato Bathala e kamadatan e Sangkalan to go igsilutan atkandin dun sannang nga igkitaan dan tikud tut kayu tut labbang e Durian igsallag e Sangkalan to kayu.
Igbuoy ka magdakal sunnud asta marapong tannak kato
kayu Isoko at Sangkalan asta igtunglo/igmaldisyun din to Bathala, kalit dad igpangkadabu to mga buoy unya itabunan atkandin Tikud kato inate at Sangkalan. Pag abri ka mga manubu kato buoy ikitaan dan na to luwit din makappal dan asta to mga lisu din magdakal dan tuo, asta to mga dalam din mammis. Imantuwan pagsik atkandan kato madat mawu kato buoy ka kayu. Yan dan go to una punuan ka kayu ka durian.
The Origin
of
Durian
The ancestors of the Bagobo people
currently living in Mindanano were once governed by Datu Duri. There was also a child named Durian. One day, Bathala showed himself to Datu Duri and informed the datu that his child will live only until he would turn sixteen. After many years, Bathala's words came true. Durian fell ill, and nobody in the kingdom could cure him. Datu Duri had no choice but to accept the truth. Before Durian died, he wished that upon his death, his body must be buried under his mother's window so that his soul will always be prayed for. His father obliged, and he died peacefully.
After nine days, a plant was noticed to
be growing on Durian's grave. That plant grew, flowered, and bore fruit. One day, Datu Duri tried to taste one ripe fruit. They saw that the fruit had a thin peel, small seeds, and sweet flesh. The people believed that this was given by Bathala as a memory to commemorate Durian's life. Days passed, and Datu Duri aged. A traitor named Sangkalan took the Datu's power and riches. In the end he became datu, and put the Bilaan and Manobo people under his power. Bathala knew of Sangkalan's evil deeds, so he punished him.
A light shone on the tree on Durian's
grave. Sangkalan inspected the tree. The fruit grew many large spikes. Sangkalan got angry and cursed Bathala, and suddenly, the fruits came falling down on him. This killed Sangkalan. When the people opened the fruits, they saw that it had a thick peel, large seeds, and sweet flesh. They also noticed its foul odor. And that was the first durian tree.
WORKS ON TAGABAWA
Du Bois, C. D., Du Bois, L. J., and Lambac, P. E. (Eds.). (1989). To
Manubu agpatongkoe kato kinagiyan Tagabawa igubad tut kinagiyan Bisaya, Filipino asta Inglis. Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Du Bois, L. J., and Lambac, P. E. (Eds.). (1991). Narratives of the
Tagabawas: A compilation of narratives concerning Bagobo origins, ancestors and customs. Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Mangune, S. (2001). Tagabawa Bagobo. Manila: National
Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Simons, G.F. and Fennig, C.D. (Eds.). (2017). Tagabawa. In
Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twentieth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved from https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bgs
