Mandaya language

Mandaya is an Austronesian language of Mindanao in the Philippines. It may be intelligible with Mansaka. Mandaya is a language native to some parts of Davao Oriental, Mindanao.

Mandaya
Caraga
Native to	Philippines
Region	some parts of Davao Oriental, Mindanao
Native speakers	250,000 (2010)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Mansakan Mandayan Mandaya
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mry
Glottolog	kara1489

Geographical distribution

Ethnologue reports that Mandaya is spoken in Manay, Caraga, Baganga, and Cateel municipalities of Davao Oriental Province, as well as in Davao del Norte Province.

Varieties

Ethnologue lists the following varieties of Mandaya.

• Carraga Mandaya
• Cateeleño
• Manay Mandayan
• Mandaya
• Cataelano
• Karaga
• Sangab
• Mangaragan Mandaya

Pallesen (1985)^[2] lists the following varieties of Mandaya.

• Kabasagan
• Caragan
• Boso: spoken just inland from Mati, Davao Oriental
• Maragusan
• Mandaya Islam (or Kalagan Piso): spoken on the east coast of Davao Gulf directly east of Davao City, in Davao del Norte.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Open		a

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Fricative			s			h
Lateral			l	ʎ
Approximant		w		j

/d/ can be heard as [r] in intervocalic positions.^[3]

References

1. Mandaya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Pallesen, A. Kemp. 1985. Culture contact and language convergence. Philippine journal of linguistics: special monograph issue, 24. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines.
3. Estrera, Edward G. (2020). A Grammatical Sketch of Mandaya. Diliman, University of the Philippines.