Sambal or Sambali is a Sambalic language spoken primarily in the Zambal municipalities of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Palauig, and Iba, in the Pangasinense municipality of Infanta, and areas of Pampanga in the boundary with Zambales in the Philippines; speakers can also be found in Panitian, Quezon, Palawan and Barangay Mandaragat or Buncag of Puerto Princesa. The speakers of the language are decreasing due to the fact that many of the speakers are shifting to Tagalog and Ilocano. The first European-produced reference grammar of any indigenous language of the Philippines was that of Zambal, published circa 1601.

Dialects

Ethnologue reports Santa Cruz, Masinloc and Iba as dialects of the language.

Name

The language is occasionally referred to as zambal, which is the hispanized form of Sambal. Sambal had also for a time been referred to as Tina, a term still encountered in older sources. The term, however, which means 'bleached' in the Botolan variety of the language, is considered offensive. The pejorative term was first used in the late 1970s by researchers from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International). Sambals would not normally recognize the reference.

External relationships

Sambal language is most closely related to Kapampangan and to a classic form of Tagalog still spoken in Tanay in the province of Rizal. This has been interpreted to mean that Sambal speakers had once inhabited that area, later being displaced by migrating Tagalog settlers, pushing the original inhabitants northward to the modern province of Zambales, in turn, displacing the Aetas. In Zambales, Sambal speakers were almost displaced by Tagalog settlers once again who migrated along with Ilocano settlers to repopulate the less-populated Zambales valley, leading to the assimilation of Sambals to the Tagalog and Ilocano settlers and to the modern decline of Sambal cultural identity and language. There is also a possible relationship between the Sambal speakers and the population of the island provinces of Marinduque and Romblon based on commonalities in some traditions and practices.

Phonology

Sambali has 19 phonemes: 16 consonants and three vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple.

Vowels

Sambali has three vowels. They are: There are five main diphthongs:, , , /ij/, and.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Sambal consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word. Note: Consonants and sometimes interchange, as they were once allophones. Dy is pronounced, ny , sy , and ty.

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Sambal. Word stress is very important; it differentiates homonyms, e.g. hikó ('I') and híko ('elbow').

Historical sound changes

Many words pronounced with and in Cebuano and Tagalog are pronounced with and, respectively, in their cognates in Sambal. Compare hiko and ba-yo with the Tagalog siko and bago.

Grammar

Nouns

Zambal pronouns

Common singular pronouns

Common plural pronouns

Personal singular pronouns

Personal plural

Note: In a general conversation, hi is usually omitted or contracted from the pronoun: e.g. Hikunla tana hiya rin (sa kanila na lang iyan) is simply ‘kunla tana ‘ya-rin or even shorter, as ‘kunlay na rin. Example: 'The man arrived.' Dumating ang lalaki: Nakita ni Juan si Maria – Na-kit ni Juan hi Maria. 'John saw Mary.' Note that in Philippine languages, even the names of people require an article.

Plural nominal article

'Helen and Robert will go to Miguel's house.' 'Father has the keys.' 'That baby is healthy.'

Pronouns

Personal pronouns are categorized by case. The indirect forms also function as the genitive. Examples: 'I wrote.' Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.

Interrogative words

Sample texts

Philippine national proverb

Below is a translation in Sambal of the Philippine national proverb "He who does not acknowledge his beginnings will not reach his destination," followed by the original in Tagalog.

The Lord's Prayer

Version from Matthew

Ama mi an ison ha langit, sambawon a ngalan mo. Ma-kit mi na komon a pa-mag-ari mo. Ma-honol komon a kalabayan mo iti ha lota a bilang anamaot ison ha langit. Biyan mo kami komon nin pa-mangan mi para konan yadtin awlo; tan patawaron mo kami komon ha kawkasalanan mi a bilang anamaot ha pa-matawad mi konlan ampagkasalanan komi. Tan komon ando mo aboloyan a matokso kami, nokay masbali ipa-lilih mo kamin kay makagawa doka, ta ikon moy kaarian, kapangyarian tan karangalan a homin panganggawan. Amen.

Version from Luke

Ama mi, maipatnag komon a banal mon kapangyarian. Lomato ana komon an awlon sikay mag-ari. Biyan mo kamin pa-mangan mi sa inawlo-awlo. Inga-rowan mo kami sa kawkasalanan mi bilang pa-nginganga-ro mi konlan nagkasalanan komi tan ando mo kami aboloyan manabo sa tokso. Wamoyo.

Examples

Numbers

Sambal numbers are listed below.

Common expressions