Monolingual dictionaries are usually forgiven for not providing more grammatical information because their main target users are native speakers or highly-advanced learners, who likely do not have much need to look up the meaning and usage of, say, high-frequency function words. Dictionaries, however, also serve as encyclopaedias of linguistic information which reflect what we know and understand of the language (Hoekstra, 2010). The objective of this paper is to investigate the treatment of selected function words in MFDs at the microstructure level. We particularly focus on function words that are usually labelled as pantukoy or pang-ukol in dictionaries and Filipino grammar books. In the linguistics literature, these words have been variably called articles, determiners, prepositions, nominal markers, among others. From the wide range of terms used to label these function words, we can immediately surmise that there are some incongruence in the analyses of these words. In comparing the information provided by the MFDs, this study aims to discover the extent to which they match analyses in the linguistics literature and whether or not we would find a consensus among lexicographers where none has so far been reached among syntacticians. Recommendations on the treatment of these words will also be provided.

The late Dr. Ernesto Constantino was a prominent Filipino linguist who conducted many comparative studies on the morphology and syntax of various Philippine indigenous languages. As such, his personal collection, which was donated to the University Archives of the University of the Philippines Diliman, contains a wealth of raw data collected from different communities all over the Philippines. To date, we have cataloged 458 magnetic reel tapes and 733 cassette tapes from various linguistic fieldwork conducted by Dr. Constantino and his team of research assistants between the 1960s and the 1990s. We have also so far cataloged word and sentence lists in over a hundred Philippine language varieties. Many of these languages and dialects are under-studied while some, such as Yogad, Bolinao, and Manide, are also currently marked as threatened or endangered languages. This paper presents a preliminary assessment of the state of the legacy language materials in the Constantino Collection. We identify challenges that we face in cataloging and archiving the materials and the issues that should be faced in attempting to get subsequent use of the materials.

In this essay we map out the development of linguistic research on Tagalog, a major Philippine-type Austronesian language indigenous to the Philippines, by providing a historical overview of studies done on Tagalog. The first part is an overview of the works done as well as the motivations and implications of studying Tagalog during the colonial period. It will also discuss how Tagalog has become the basis for the formation of a national language, an imposed prerequisite for sovereignty shared with other postcolonial Southeast Asian countries in the earlier part of the 20th century. The second part of the essay looks at how Tagalog has led scholars to debate on and challenge theoretical notions, specifically on grammatical categories and subjecthood. This paper ultimately aims to consolidate major Tagalog linguistic studies and to systematically present them as an integrated body of knowledge in order to review what has been accomplished and what possible research directions can be taken in the future.

This paper aims to contribute to the scarce literature describing the grammar of Iraya Mangyan — a language primarily spoken on the island of Mindoro — by providing a description of how focus and aspect are expressed in the language. Similar to most known Philippine languages, Iraya makes use of affixes that attach to verbs to mark focus. In terms of expressing aspect, the language uses both synthetic and analytic means, and is closely linked to the type of focus affixes that verbs may combine with. When compared to previous descriptions of the verb morphology of the language, the current data seem to indicate that a shift has been occurring in Iraya’s verb focus and aspect paradigms. Differences in the features described might be due to dialectal variations; however, they could also be indicative of attrition in the language as the number of its speakers continue to shrink. A description of the language situation in the area where fieldwork for this study was conducted is also provided.

The Iraya Mangyans form one of the eight indigenous ethnolinguistic groups on the island of Mindoro, which is located off the southwestern coast of Luzon. This thesis presents a description of the grammar of the language spoken by the Iraya Mangyans, particularly in the northwestern part of Oriental Mindoro.

There have been few studies on the Iraya Mangyan language, and most of the linguistic studies, which do include this language, deal with its genetic relationship with other Mangyan languages and with other Philippine languages (Zorc, 1974; Barbian, 1977; and Reid, 2017). To date, the most extensive description of the language was made by Tweddell (1958), however, it is only limited to the description of Iraya phonology and morphology.

This study seeks to present a more comprehensive grammar of the language by revisiting the phonological and morphological structure of the language, and by describing the syntactic patterns and operations in Iraya. Some of the noteworthy features of the language include the lack of case markers, the lack of distinction between dual and plural personal pronouns in terms of case, the use of grammaticalized gender markers, and the limited productivity of aspectual marking on verbs through affixation. There is also no overt relativizing morpheme in the language, and the relative clause is simply juxtaposed to the head noun that it modifies.

As with most Philippine languages, Iraya is a primarily predicate-initial language. However, in cases where the actor is encoded as a personal pronoun, there is a strong preference for it to appear in the pre-verbal position.

Word order is relatively strict in this language. The grammatical relations of arguments can be discerned from the semantic roles they play within the sentence, their position within the sentence, and the focus affix attached to the verb. The strict word order in the language is hypothesized to be due to the lack of differentiation in the case marking of core arguments within the sentence.

This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the language and provides an overview of the language situation of the Iraya Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro. Chapter 2 provides a review of previous studies on this language, with particular attention paid to Tweddell’s description of Iraya phonology and morphology. Chapter 3 introduces the phonemic inventory of the language and the morphophonological processes that occur in the language. Chapter 4 presents the categorization of morphemes and the various word formation processes in Iraya.  Specific grammatical categories such as the case, number, and gender of nouns, as well as aspect, focus, and modality of verbs are discussed in this chapter as well. Chapter 5 presents the phrasal and clausal structures in Iraya. Syntactic operations such as coordination and subordination are also discussed. Finally, Chapter 6 presents a summary and implications of the current findings, as well as recommendations for future studies on the language.

We present preliminary findings on the language vitality and morphosyntactic properties of a language at risk of being endangered, Iraya. Iraya is a language spoken by one of the eight indigenous Mangyan groups on the island of Mindoro, Philippines. Research on Iraya has been very limited, only covering its genetic relationship with other Mangyan and Philippine languages (Zorc, 1974; Barbian, 1977; Reid, 2017), or with its phonology and morphology. This study aimed to fill in these gaps by investigating the morphosyntactic properties of the language, as well as its language vitality.

In the course of collecting data from over fifty Philippine languages around the country for our research project entitled The Automated Constructions of Phylogenetic Trees and Networks of Languages in the Greater Central Philippines by a Feature-Sensitive Metric, or the Phylogeny Project in short, we interview correspondents from these different Philippine ethnolinguistic groups to find out the language situation in their community, their attitudes towards implemented language policies, and their opinions about projects that promote or would promote the maintenance or revitalization of minority languages in the country, including research projects like ours, which seek to document languages for academic study in a specialized field of linguistics, but which may contribute to future language revitalization projects. From these interviews and observations during our fieldwork, we find that different groups express varying levels of enthusiasm and optimism for their languages, which relate to their willingness to maintain their languages, or be involved in the revitalization of their languages. We have also gathered reports of varying degrees of increase or decrease in their sense of cultural identity and belongingness to the overall national discourse. This study provides insights on factors that cause and/or shape such varying perspectives, including existing language policies, socio-economic forces, and the influence of mainstream media. We also provide a preliminary report on the applicability, effectiveness, and the intended and/or unintended consequences of the implementation of national language policies, such as the relatively recent educational reforms like the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) Program and the National Indigenous Peoples Education (IP Ed) Framework, from the perspectives of the communities that we have visited. Based on the reports from our fieldwork, we will offer recommendations on how to approach future language documentation and language revitalization projects in the Philippines.

The Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Curriculum Framework was drafted by the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd), and implemented as part of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 after years of continuous dialogue with community elders and other stakeholders. The adoption of this framework seeks to fulfill the government’s mandate in providing indigenous peoples the right to a culturally appropriate educational system, which integrates and promotes indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP), to affirm and strengthen the cultural identity and bonds of the indigenous youths to their cultural community and heritage. It aims to provide an educational framework that is culturally rooted and responsive to the indigenous communities’ specific social, educational, and environmental contexts. To achieve its objectives, the IPEd Curriculum Framework provides guidelines on key areas in education, including: (1) Curriculum design, competencies, and content, which are anchored to the communities’ IKSP, worldview, and their indigenous cultural institutions. These must also strengthen and affirm the indigenous cultural identity, as well as revitalize and enrich IKSPs and indigenous languages; (2) teaching methodologies and strategies that must be in line with indigenous learning systems; and (3) the development of culturally appropriate learning resources, which should integrate IKSPs, and must be written in the language that is to be determined by consultation with the community. This must be in line with the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy (MTB-MLE), which emphasizes the use of the primary level learners’ mother tongue. The present study looks at how the IP Ed Curriculum is being implemented in indigenous communities in Oriental Mindoro, and what challenges local schools, which offer primary education to indigenous children in this region, face in implementing this framework in the communities they serve. The island of Mindoro, which is located off the southwestern coast of Luzon, is home to eight indigenous groups collectively known as Mangyan. This study focuses on IP schools in four out of eight of these groups, namely the Iraya, Hanunuo, Buhid, and Bangon groups. Of particular interest to the researcher is the level of language vitality, and the use of these groups’ indigenous languages in school instruction and in the production of learning resources. The extent to which the implementation of this framework fulfills its objectives among the indigenous youths in these four communities will be assessed, and whether its implementation instills a sense of wellbeing and empowerment in the students will also be explored.