Languages of the World

Malaweg

Malaweg

Other names

Malagueg, malaueg, malweg

Spoken in ...

Philippines: in the north of the island of Luzon, mainly in the provinces of Cagayan (in the Cagayan Valley region, also known as Region II) and Kalinga and Apayao (in the Cordillera Administrative Region or CAR).

Number of speakers

12,000-15,000.

Legal status

Non-specific protection.

According to the country's 1987 constitution, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino (a tongue based on Tagalog) and English. Filipino is also the national language of the state. Referred to as regional languages, the indigenous tongues of the Philippines are recognised as auxiliary official languages for the purposes of education in the territories in which they are spoken, and are to be preserved, developed and disseminated.

Source(s)

ASHER, R.E. and MOSELEY, C. (eds.) (2007) Atlas of the World's Languages. Routledge, London/New York.

LECLERC, J. (2007) L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Quebec: TLFQ, Université Laval.

MCFARLAND, C.D. (1981) A Linguistic Atlas of the Philippines. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines.

PERALTA, Jesus T. (2000) Glimpses: Peoples of the Philippines. Pasig City, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2003.

Comments

The Malaweg are one of the ethnolinguistic groups that have traditionally inhabited northern Luzon, where the Ilocano, the Ibanag, the Itawit and the Agta also live. Culturally speaking, the Malaweg are related to the Itawit and the Ibanag.

In linguistic terms, Malaweg is very closely related to the Itawit language, and some experts actually class the former as a dialect of the latter.

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Classification

Family:
Austronesian
Branch:
Malayo-Polynesian
Group:
Northern Philippine, Northern Cordilleran

Location

Continents:
Asia
Countries:
Philippines