Pangasinan

Welcome to Pangasinan!

Pangasinan Gallery

Photo Credits:
Pangasinan language icon created by Kaye Ocampo
Pangasinan language map created by Liam McFadden
Salt production: Photo from the Municipal Government of Dasol, Pangasinan
Colorum Uprisings: "3672Trenchera, Tayug, Pangasinan 45" by Judgefloro, licensed under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
Bangus festival: "Bangus Festival Gilon Gilon ed Baley" by Jdcedit is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
The Hundred Islands: "Pangasinan Hundred Islands" by Robert Anton Pimentel Aparente is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Kaleskes and Pigar Pigar: "Pigar-Pigar on the right and Kaleskes on the left" by Jdcedit is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Tupig: by Judgefloro is in the public domain

Pangasinan Overview

Expand your understanding of the Pangasinan language and people by exploring the following modules.

- Basics

Language names, family, geography, speakers, ethnicities, and status

Pangasinan

[‘paŋ.ɡa.si.nan] 

  • Derived from the word Panagasinan [paˈnag.aˌsi.nan] meaning  where salt is gathered. 
  • The term also refers to the province of Pangasinan and its people.
  • Pangalatoc [ˈpaŋˌɡala.tuk] is a derogatory term, meaning ‘a Pangasinan whose head is shaken’.
    • This term has been so overused to the point where many Pangasinan people unknowingly use it to refer to themselves. 
    • Austronesian
      • Philippine
        • Southern Cordilleran

Spoken in and around the province of Pangasinan, Philippines 

Spoken in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines.

Estimate of about 1.5 million speakers, out of the province’s total population of 2.65 million. 

    • Pangasinense 

A small number of Pangasinan speakers come from the following ethnicities living in and around Pangasinan province:

      • Ilocano
      • Kapampangan
      • Tagalog

EGIDS Level

Level 2, Provincial: Pangasinan is used at a provincial level. Local media outlets and some government services are offered in Pangasinan. Most Pangasinan speakers speak Tagalog and English as they are the languages of instruction. Ilocano is also widely spoken, as it is the most widely-spoken language in Pangasinan.

- Language

Writing system, linguistic typology, notable linguists

Pangasinan used multiple local variations of the Baybayin before the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Today, Pangasinan uses the Filipino alphabet.  

The Filipino Alphabet  

Aa 

Bb 

Cc 

Dd 

Ee 

Ff 

Gg 

Hh 

Ii 

Jj 

Kk 

Ll 

Mm 

Nn 

Ññ 

NGng 

Oo 

Pp 

Qq 

Rr 

Ss 

Tt 

Uu 

Vv 

Ww 

Xx 

Yy 

Zz 

  

  

 

The Baybayin Writing System: Pino et al. (2021) 

  • Nasals assimilate to voiceless stops following them. 
  • Glottal stops after nasals and before vowels get deleted. 
  • No word-initial consonant clusters.
  • The initial /s/ of independent demonstratives can be dropped in any environment. 
  • Possessive pronouns /ko/ and /mo/ become affixed -k and -m when preceded by vowels.

(Benton 1971) 

Pangasinan Consonants  


Note: There is a phonetic glottal stop but it has been argued to be non-phonemic

Pangasinan Vowels  

 

  • VSO Word order and generally head-initial 
  • Word formation includes affixation and reduplication 
  • Topic markers to indicate the subject of a sentence 
  • Articles are rarely used except for emphasis 
  • Independent demonstratives are used to link a spatial relationship with the speaker or addressee 
  • (Benton 1971) 
  • Obligatory marking of verbs with voice affixes 
  • (Chen and McDonnell 2019) 
  • Subject or ‘Pivot’ markers can be relativized 
  • Object or ‘Non-Pivot’ markers and Adjuncts or ‘Obliques’ cannot be relativized
  • (Bondoc 2020)  

These are some notable linguists who have worked on Pangasinan. This is not an exhaustive list!

Victoria B. Anderson

Richard A. Benton

Francisco C. Rosario, Jr.

Pangasinan is second to Ilocano as the most spoken first language in the province of Pangasinan

Tagalog and to some lesser extent, English, are also spoken in the province.

Pangasinan had extensive contact with Spanish from the 16th and 19th centuries.

      • Spanish is no longer used in the province in the present day. 

Pangasinan has no substantial dialect divisions.

It is a common misconception that the Pangasinan is a dialect of the Tagalog language. It is not – it is a language of its own. 

- Context

Historical and current context of the language

Austronesian people arrived and settled by the Lingayen Gulf.

They gave the name “Pangasinan” to their new home because of their proficiency in salt-making.

By 8th century A.D., these people began trade with China, India, and Japan. 

1572 – 1898: The province of Pangasinan falls under Spanish rule.

Spanish is introduced into the province.

Spanish never really managed to “dominate” the Philippine languages at any point due to the high amount of linguistic diversity in the region

The Spanish orders (other than the Jesuits) were opposed to teaching their language to the locals (presumably to keep them out of power), and only a select few Filipinos were allowed into the Spanish schools.

By 1870 only around 2.6% of people there spoke Spanish

Pangasinan remained under Spanish rule until 1898.  

August 1899: While living in Pangasinan, the Manila-born poet Jose Palma writes a poem that becomes the lyrics for “La Marchia National Filipina”, composed by Julian Felipe.

This would later be translated to Tagalog and become the national anthem of the Philippines.  

November 1899: The province of Pangasinan falls under American rule. 

1901 – 1902: The first public secondary school is opened in the city of Lingayen, Pangasinan, with some American teachers as educators.

English is taught and introduced in the province. 

1904 – 1941: English becomes the main language of instruction in the Philippines. 

Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano, Bicolano, Pangasinan, and Pampanga are recognized as “media of instruction”

A few years later, only Tagalog was used in schools other than in the primary grades (English was the main medium of instruction in sixth grade and above with Tagalog as auxiliary)

Note: There have been multiple efforts by the Philippine government to establish a single “national language” based on one or more “dialects” (or languages) in the country

1930s: Filipino, which is based in Tagalog, is adopted as the national language of the Philippines. 

In 1935 (at the writing of the first constitution) it was stated that the National Assembly would work on establishing a common language based on the Tagalog “dialect” (implying all the languages in the Philippines are dialects of each other)

Local non-Tagalog governments (namely the Bisayans) viewed this proposal as a covert takeover by Tagalogs, especially when said lingua franca (dubbed “Pilipino” in 1959) struggled to be recognized

Tagalog continued to be the main language of instruction throughout the country

1973: The 1973 constitution retained English and Filipino as the two official languages of the Philippines.

There was enough resistance to Tagalog-based Pilipino that it was rejected as the new national language in the new constitution.

There was a promise to develop a new language based on all Philippine languages/dialects called “Filipino”

1986: When Filipino was declared the official language , the bill responsible for developing it (which was to be the national language of instruction) was not passed; to non-Tagalogs it was clear that this “new language” was going to be another assertion of Tagalog

Some regions (e.g., in Cebu, where Bisayan is mostly spoken) refused to use FilipinoSG in their own schools, preferring their local ones.

Late 2010s – present: The Pangasinan language is reintroduced in the classroom.

Several schools begin to adapt the MTB-MLE approach (Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education)

      • Pangasinan as the language of instruction

- Samples

Samples of phrases and texts in the language

Phrase 

English translation 

‘hello’ 

‘hello’ 

‘babye’ [babaij] 

‘goodbye’ 

‘salamat’ [salamat] 

‘thank you’ 

‘on’ [on]

 

‘yes’ 

‘andi’ [andɪ] 

‘no’ 

‘antoy ngaran mo’ [antuj ŋaran mo] 

‘What’s your name?’ 

‘Siak si … ’ [ʃak si] 

‘I am . . .’ 

‘kamusta la’ [kamusta la] 

‘How are you?’ 

‘ayos met labat’ [ajos mət labat] 

common response to ‘How are you?’ 

‘bari bari’ [bari bari] 

Used when walking past vegetation or ant colonies to say ‘Excuse me’ to elementals or spirits 

‘labi ed sikayo’ [labid sikajo] 

‘Good evening to you’, used when passing by a group of adults  

 

sonito 133 (2007) by Santiago B Villafania, from the collection “Esaes ed Kareenan” (Whispers in Silence) 

sinmabog so atomo ya berso ed libo-libo ‘ran uniberso  

tan saray iskripton alibata ed impankasakey na salita  

tuldek a kinmidiam so liwawa ed andeket a muling na Kristo 

dia ed sakey igsa o bengatla linmesa’y kosmos tan ganagana 

sagradon ilalam na amalsa so otel na bilay dia ed talba 

tan dia ed sakey kirem na mata nayarin naandin amin iya 

a singa kaerep na liwawa a singa kauyos na linawa 

 

Translation/interpretation (translated by Rikki Ocumen)

The atomo verse exploded in the thousand universes 

And this alibata script in the repetition of speech 

A dot that flickered the light in the dark forehead of Christ 

Here at one time or in anything at all passed the cosmos and consciousness 

Blessed imagination that centers the blame on life in entirety 

And here in one blink of an eye it’s possible that everything will become nothing 

Like the dimming of light, like the sundering of light 

- Culture

Culture, food, literature, and more

Kaleskes (on the left) is a hot soup originating from Dagupan, Pangasinan. It is made with carabao meat innards. Pigar pigar (on the right) is made by deep frying slices of beef and liver and serving with cabbage and spices. 

Kaleskes and Pigar-Pigar

Tupig is a sweet rice cake made in Pangasinan and the neighbouring provinces of Ilocos and Tarlac. It is made by roasting or baking glutinous rice and coconut wrapped in banana leaves. 

Malinak la’y labi is a classic Pangasinan song about love, peace, and sorrow at night. 

Malinak la’y labi (1987) by Asin 

Malinak la’y labi oras la’y mareen 
Mapalpalna’y dagem katekep to’y linaew 
Samit da’y kugip kon binangonan kon tampol 
Lapu’d say limgas mo sikan sika’y amamayoen. 

Lalo la bilay no sika la’y nanengneng 
Napunas lan amin so ermen ya agbibiten 
No nanunotan ko la’y samit da’y ugalim 
Ag ta ka nalingwanan angga’d kauyos na bilay… 

Malinak la’y labi oras la’y mareen 
Mapalpalna’y dagem katekep to’y linaew 
Samit da’y kugip kon binangonan kon tampol 
Lapu’d say limgas mo sikan sika’y amamayoen. 

Lalo la bilay no sika la’y nanengneng 
Napunas lan amin so ermen ya agbibiten 
No nanunotan ko la’y samit da’y ugalim 
Ag ta ka nalingoanan angga’d kauyos na bilay… 

Also check out this cover of Malinak la’y labi with English subtitles

 

Luyag Ko Tan Yaman, the official Provincial hymn of Pangasinan

Sekder ka dan dayew mi
Pangasinan ya pinabli
Deen mo tan iyaliguwas
Piugagep ko lawas

Diad pusok Pangasinan
Agka nalingwanan
Luyag ko ya niyanakan
Peteg takan yaman

Matuwan aliguas mo natay anengneng la
Pasimbaloy ginmapo la
Say pankakasakey natay nalilikna
Lapud panamablid sika

Say dayat mo napnoy dakep tan say yaman
Sekder na kapalandeyan
Kareenan tan santing mo Pangasinan
Pablien tan lawas bantayan

Lawas takan intanduro Pangasinan
Aroen ka tan bayuboan
Panangampupom ya walan abangonan
Ikikinon kod siopa man

Pangasinan Luyag Mi Tan Yaman

The province of Pangasinan is known for having the tastiest and juiciest milkfish or ‘bangus’.

A month-long festival is held through Milkfish cook fests and street parties

Bagus (Milkfish) Festival

‘Gilon Gilon’ is a bangus (milkfish) harvest dance performed by hundreds of dancers during the Bangus Festival. Watch a ‘Gilon Gilon’ performance in Dagupan, Pangasinan.  

  • Leonarda C. CarreraMatuan panangaro. (Dagupan City: Amor Cico, 1983).
    • Real act of loving 
  • Maria C. Magsano.  Colegiala Dolores. Komaduan tomo. (Dagupan City: Pangasinan Review Press, 1950). 
    • Second Tomo 
  • Maria C. Magsano.  Duksay Kapalaran. (Dagupan City: Pangasinan Review Press, 1959). 
    • Violence of Fate 
  • Maria C. MagsanoSamban Agnabenegan: sakey a kombilay. (Dagupan City: Pangasinan Review Press, 1954). 
    • Service that one cannot turn away from: one in my life 
  • Emmanuel S. Sison. Tales from the Land of Salt – A glimpse into the history and the rich folklores of Pangasinan. (Makati: Elmyrs Publishing House, November 2005).
  • Juan C. VillamilDiad Lawak na bilay. (Dagupan City: J.C. Villamil, 1978). 
    • In this vastness of life 
  • Juan C. VillamilSiak tan sika. (Dagupan City, 1978). 

The Hundred Islands is a Philippine National Park comprised of about 123 islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan.  

Hundred Islands National Park, Pangasinan, Philippines

- Credits and References

References, image credits, and how to cite this profile

Anderson, Victoria B., & Anderson, James N. (2007). Pangasinan—an endangered language? Retrospect and prospect. Philippine Studies, 55(1), 116–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42633901 

Benton, Richard Anthony. (1971). Pangasinan reference grammar. Hawai’i, USA: University of Hawaii Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv9hvs53   

Bondoc, Ivan Paul M. (2022). Relativization asymmetries in Philippine-type languages: a preliminary investigation. The Archive, 1(1-2). https://www.journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/archive/article /view/8482 

Chen, Victoria, & McDonnell, Bradley. (2019). Western Austronesian voice. Annual Review of Linguistics, 5(1), 173–195. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011718-011731 

Himes, Ronald S. (1998). The Southern Cordilleran group of Philippine languages. Oceanic Linguistics, 37(1), 120-177. https://doi.org/10.2307/3623282  

Fulgencio-Español, Elaine. (2019, April 14). Bangus Festival Kicks off in Dagupan City. ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/04/14/19/bangus-festival-kicks-off-in-dagupan-city   

Pino, Rodney, Mendoza, Renier, & Sambayan, Rachelle. (2021). A Baybayin word recognition system. PeerJ Computer Science, 7, e596. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj-cs.596  

Steinhauer, H. (2005). Colonial history and language policy in insular Southeast Asia and Madagascar. In Adelaar, Alexander, & Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. (Eds.), The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar (pp. 65-86). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. 

Pangasinan language icon created by Kaye Ocampo

Pangasinan language word cloud created by Kaye Ocampo

Pangasinan saying icon created by Lucy Meanwell

Pangasinan language map created by Liam McFadden

“Saltfarm” by Homboy, licensed under under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Colorum Uprisings: “3672Trenchera, Tayug, Pangasinan 45” by Judgefloro, licensed under the Creative CommonsCC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Bangus festival: “Bangus Festival Gilon Gilon ed Baley” by Jdcedit is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

The Hundred Islands: “Pangasinan Hundred Islands” by Robert Anton Pimentel Aparente
is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Kaleskes and Pigar Pigar: “Pigar-Pigar on the right and Kaleskes on the left” by Jdcedit is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Tupig: by Judgefloro is in the public domain

The Baybayin Writing System: Pino, Rodney et al. “A Baybayin word recognition system.” PeerJ. Computer science vol. 7 e596. 16 Jun. 2021, doi:10.7717/peerj-cs.596

The content of this profile was created by Rikki Ocumen. To cite: 

Ocumen, Rikki. 2023. Pangasinan. In Ozburn, Avery (ed.), The Language Profiles Project. Available online at https://languageprofiles.ca/home/pangasinan/. 

We would also like to acknowledge Lucy Meanwell, Liam McFadden, Kaye Ocampo, and Gianna Giovio Canavesi.

The map was created by Liam McFadden.

Pangasinan datasets

Find Pangasinan datasets for use in Linguistics courses

Notice for Screen Reader Users: We invite and encourage you to use the downloadable datasets for an optimal experience. Please find download links at the top of each dataset section.

    • Velar nasals (phonetics)
    • Nasal assimilation (phonology)
    • Loanwords (phonology)
    • Free variation (sociolinguistics)
    • Possessives (phonology, morphology)
    • Movement (syntax)
    • Islands (syntax)

You can download the editable dataset documents by looking in the corresponding subsection.

Pangasinan velar nasals

Download

ŋaran  

‘name’  

ŋalŋal  

‘to chew’  

ŋipən  

‘teeth’  

ŋirijət  

‘to show the teeth when smiling’  

ŋiləb  

‘toothless’  

ŋisiw  

‘to hiss, to whistle’  

ŋojŋoj  

‘running mucus or saliva’  

ŋalaŋala  

‘the inside of the throat’  

  •  Velar nasals appear in the onset position 

Phonology: environment, distributions
Phonetics: velar nasals

Source: Rikki Ocumen

Pangasinan nasal assimilation and stop deletion

Download

Listen to benefactive forms:

Listen to future forms:

Listen to involuntary forms:

Benefactive 

Future 

Involuntary  

Gloss 

ikətkətan  

maŋətkət  

akakətkət  

‘bite’  

ikərəwan  

maŋərəw  

akakərəw  

‘ask for something’  

ikuruŋan  

maŋuruŋ  

akakuruŋ  

‘crawl’  

ikablitan  

maŋablit  

akakablit  

‘touch’  

ilakoan  

manlako  

akalako  

‘sell’  

ilagarian   

manlagari  

akalagari  

‘cut with a saw’  

ikutkutan  

maŋutkut  

akakutkut  

‘dig’  

ilurujan  

manluruj  

akaluruj  

‘joke’  

ipatɪran  

mamatɪr  

akapatɪr  

‘trip’  

ipaltogan  

mamaltog  

akapaltog  

‘shoot’  

iturukan  

maŋuruk  

akaturuk  

‘penetrate’  

ibasigan 

manbasig 

akabasig 

‘smash’ 

igərgəran 

mangərgər 

akagərgər 

‘slice’ 

idaləman 

mandaləm 

akadaləm 

‘snitch’ 

ibatikan 

manbatik 

akabatik 

‘flee’ 

ilikasan  

manlikas  

akalikas  

‘be aware of’  

  • Nasals assimilate the place of following voiceless stops
      • /n/ alternates with {m, ŋ}
      • Nasals do not alternate to the place of following voiced stops 
  • Voiceless stops are deleted after nasals
      • {p, t, k} alternates with  
  • Assimilation applies before deletion
  • The benefactive is expressed with a circumfix

Phonology: alternation, rule ordering, assimilation, deletion 

Morphology: circumfix 

Source: Rikki Ocumen 

Pangasinan loanwords 

Download

Pangasinan word in IPA 

English Gloss 

Spanish Gloss 

Spanish word in IPA (assuming seseo dialect)  

sais  

‘six’  

‘seis’  

sejs 

ʃɛtɛ  

‘seven’  

‘siete’  

sjete 

nuwebe  

‘nine’’  

‘nueve’  

nweβe 

diʃembre  

‘December’  

‘diciembre’  

ðisjemβɾe 

kutʃɛ  

‘car’  

‘coche’  

kotʃe 

mansanas  

‘apple’  

‘manzana’  

mansana 

mirijɛnda  

‘afternoon snack’  

‘merienda’  

meɾjenða 

unano  

‘very short’  

(Spanish also: ‘dwarf’) 

‘enano’  

enano 

hwebes  

‘Thursday’  

‘jueves’  

xweβes (or hweβes) 

pamilja  

‘family’  

‘familia’  

familja 

med͡ʒas  

‘sock’   

(Spanish also: ‘medium; average’) 

‘media’  

meðja 

d͡ʒos  

‘god’  

‘dios’  

ðjos 

pasenʃa  

‘sorry’ (Spanish: ‘patience’/’be patient’) 

‘paciencia’  

pasjensja 

ispɪrɪmento  

‘experiment’  

‘experimento’  

ekspeɾimento 

bakuna  

‘vaccine’  

‘vacuna’  

bakuna 

kanʃʊn  

‘song’  

‘canción’  

kansjon 

  • Spanish labial and dental fricatives become stops in Pangasinan (fortition) 
      • except when followed by a glide 
      • example: ðisjemβɾe –> diʃembre 
  • Palatalization of fricative+glide sequences
      • ðj→ d͡ʒ
      • sj ʃ (exception: pasjensja → pasenʃa)
  • cluster reduction: ispɪrɪmento 
  • epenthesis before glides: mirijɛnda, nuwebe
      • must happen after palatalization

Phonology: loanword adaptation, epenthesis, cluster reduction, palatalization, fortition, ordering 

Source: Rikki Ocumen (Pangasinan), Gianna Giovio Canavesi (Spanish)

Pangasinan free variation 

Download

saja  

aja  

‘this’  

saraja  

araja  

‘these’  

satan  

atan  

‘that’ (near addressee)  

saratan  

aratan  

‘those’ (near addressee)  

saman  

aman  

‘that’ (yonder)  

saraman  

araman  

‘those’ (yonder)  

 

ija  

ja  

this  

iraja  

raja  

these  

itan  

tan  

that (near addressee)  

iratan  

ratan  

those (near addressee)  

iman  

man  

that (yonder)  

iraman  

raman  

those (yonder)  

  • The initial /s/ of independent demonstratives can be dropped in any environment without any changes in meaning 
      • Older speakers are more likely to keep the [s]
  • The initial /i/ of basic demonstratives can be dropped, particularly when preceded by vowels, without any changes in meaning. 
      • Older speakers are more likely to keep the [i]

Phonology: free variation
Sociolinguistics: age

Source: Rikki Ocumen

Pangasinan possessives 

Download

salik  

‘my foot’  

sapatos ko  

‘my shoes’  

limam  

‘your hand’  

ules mo  

‘your bedsheet’  

agik  

‘my sibling’  

ninong ko  

‘my uncle’ 

kaarom  

‘your friend’  

lamisaan mo  

‘your table’  

  • Possessive pronouns /ko/ and /mo/ become affixed /-k/ and /-m/ when preceded by vowels.  
  • Note: o is *not* the epenthetic vowel in Pangasinan.

Phonology: phonologically-conditioned allomorphy
Morphology: phonologically-conditioned allomorphy 

Source: Rikki Ocumen

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