Maranao language

Maranaoan
Mëranaw
Native to	Philippines
Region	Central Mindanao
Ethnicity	Maranao people
Native speakers	unknown (780,000 cited 1990 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Mindanao Danao Maranaoan
Writing system	Latin; Historically written in Arabic
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mrw
Glottolog	mara1404
Area where Maranao is spoken

Maranaoan (Maranao [ˈmәranaw] Mëranaw) is an Austronesian language spoken by the Maranao people in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in the Philippines, and in Sabah, Malaysia.

Iranun was once considered a dialect.

Phonology

Below is the sound system of Maranao including underlying phonetic features.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ɪ		u
Mid		ə	o
Open		a

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless						ʔ
	Voiced	b		d		ɡ
Fricative						(h)
Flap				ɾ
Lateral				l
Approximant		w			j

Velar fricative [h]

According to Lobel (2013), [h] only occurs in a select number of Malay loanwords:

• tohan 'God'
• tahon 'astrological sign'
• hadapan 'in front (of God)'

Consonant elongation

Consonants are also pronounced longer if preceded with a schwa ə. However, this process is not a form of gemination since consonant elongation in Mëranao is not distinctive as seen in other Philippine languages such as Ilokano and Ibanag. Some of these are:

• tepad [təpːad] 'get off a vehicle'
• tekaw [təkːaw] 'startled; surprised'
• Meranaw is spoken by the Maranao tribe.
• Solutan (Sultan) (Sultan of Gandamatu) Sultan sa Gandamatu.

See also

• Languages of the Philippines

External links

• Bansa.org, Maranao Dictionary