Maguindanao Language Guide

Official language in
Philippines
Script
Latin

Where it's spoken

The textbook Maguindanaon Dialogs and Drills describes the Maguindanaon as the people of the flood plain, located along the Rio Grande de Mindanao, and says that farming and fishing are two of their major means of making a living.

The same book says that Maguindanaon has three major dialects: Taw sa ilud, Taw sa laya, and Biwangen. It places the Taw sa ilud in the lower part of the Pulangi River, including the City of Cotabato, and the Taw sa laya in the upriver part. It says that the Biwangen area comprises General Santos City, Sarangani Province, and the City of Pagadian, among other places. It also says that there are some differences in vocabulary, but that the basic vocabulary of Maguindanaon is generally understood, whether Taw sa ilud, Taw sa laya, or Biwangen.

The Philippine Constitution makes Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English the official languages, and the regional languages the auxiliary official languages in the regions. A news report lists Maguindanaon among the regional languages that the Education Secretary identified for mother-tongue-based education.

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Script & pronunciation

The textbook says that there are 21 letters in the native Maguindanaon alphabet, 17 consonants and 4 vowels (a, e, i, u). It says that the letters c, f, o, q, v and x are not used, and that j and z are seldom used in the book because they are mostly used in unassimilated Arabic borrowings.

In the book, the letter e always represents the pepet or schwa sound. The book also says that some Maguindanaon writers do not follow the spelling of the four cardinal vowels: u is usually pronounced or spelled as o, and i is also spelled as e. This app's cards write the greeting for the morning as Mapia mapita ("Good morning").

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Grammar essentials

In a dialog in the textbook, the speaker explains that if you greet someone and he or she cannot reply, the person is not a Muslim: di kena Muslim sekanin, in the book's English, "he's not a Muslim". Here kena comes before Muslim, and the same passage uses dili before makasumpat, which the book's English renders as "can't reply". The app's card for Kena translates it as "Not (before a noun or adjective)".

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Politeness & etiquette

In the first dialog of the textbook, one speaker says that for Muslims nothing would replace the greeting Assalamu alaikum, which the book translates as "Peace be upon you", and the reply is Alaikumi salam. One speaker says that all greetings are the same and are understood by God, and, asked about greetings specific to parts of the day, lists "good morning" among them. The app has cards for Assalamu alaikum ("Peace be upon you (Islamic greeting)") and for Wa alaikum salam ("And upon you be peace (reply)").

The same dialog says that Assalamu alaikum can be used for anyone but is a problem for non-Muslims, who do not understand it. Asked what to do when you do not know whether someone is a Muslim or a Christian, the speaker says that if you greet him and he cannot reply, that means he is not a Muslim, and then you will use "good morning" or whatever time of day it is.

Sources

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