Itneg is a South-Central Cordilleran dialect continuum found in the island of Luzon, Philippines. This language and Ilocano are spoken by the Itneg people (sometimes also referred to as the "Tingguian people") in Abra.

Itneg
Native toPhilippines
RegionLuzon
EthnicityIgorot (Itneg)
Native speakers
17,000 (2003)[1]
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
itb – Binongan Itneg = Adasen language - Ba-i Lagayan and Tineg
iti – Inlaod Itneg
itt – Maeng Itneg
tis – Masadiit Itneg
ity – Moyadan Itneg
Glottologitne1252
Areas where the various Itneg dialects (including Kalinga Itneg) are spoken according to Ethnologue

Several ethnic-Itneg dialects are taxonomically part of the neighboring Kalinga language.

Locations and dialects

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Ethnologue reports the following locations for each of the five Itneg languages.

However, Ronald Himes (1997)[2] recognizes two dialects for Itneg, namely Binongan (eastern) and Inlaod (western).

Phonology

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Itneg languages almost sound the same with Ilocano, Pangasinan, and other Igorot languages.

Vowels

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Itneg speakers use 5 vowel sounds: /a/, /i/, /u/, ~ e/, /o/.

Consonants

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Itneg features doubled consonants, so the language may sound guttural to Tagalog, Ilokano, and even Pangasinan speakers. The uniqueness of this circumstance is often expressed by saying Itneg speakers have "a hard tongue".

Itneg is also one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from [ɾ]-[d] allophony.

References

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  1. ^ Binongan Itneg = Adasen language - Ba-i Lagayan and Tineg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Inlaod Itneg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Maeng Itneg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Masadiit Itneg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Moyadan Itneg at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Himes, Ronald S. (1997). "Reconstructions in Kalinga-Itneg". Oceanic Linguistics. 36 (1): 102–134. doi:10.2307/3623072. JSTOR 3623072.