History of Pangasinan Language
The Pangasinan language (Pangasinan: Salitan Pangasinan; Spanish Idioma pangasinense) is an Austronesian language, which is one of the twelve major languages in the Philippines. Pangasinan is the name for the language, people, and province. The Pangasinan language, also called "Pangasinense", its hispanicized name, is spoken by more than one and a half million Pangasinan people (indigenous speakers) in the province of Pangasinan alone. Pangasinan is also spoken in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, and by Pangasinan immigrants in the United States. Pangasinan is the primary language in the province of Pangasinan, located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. It is the official regional language in the province of Pangasinan, with a total population of the province of 2,434,086 (National Statistics Office: 2000 Census). Austronesian-language speakers settled in Maritime Southeast Asia during prehistoric times, perhaps more than 5,000 years ago. The indigenous speakers of Pangasinense are descendants of these prehistoric settlers, who were probably part of the prehistoric human migration that is widely believed to have originated from Southern China via Taiwan about 100 to 200 thousand years ago. The word Pangasinan, means “land of salt” or “place of salt-making”; it is derived from the root word asin, the word for "salt" in Pangasinan. Pangasinan could also refer to a “container of salt or salted-products”; it refers to the ceramic jar for storage of salt or salted-products or its contents.
An easy way for English speakers to learn the Pangasinan language.
Pangasinan is spoken in the Philippines by about three million people and another few million around the world. Of the estimated one million Filipinos in the US, immigrants of Pangasinense descent rank second in population. Learn Pangasinan is a great tool to bridge Fil-Ams hoping to find their ancestral roots or visit Pangasinense relatives, or for anyone interested to discover the beauty of the Pangasinan language – its tourist spots, its people, and of course, its native tongue.
The application features hundreds of everyday phrases spoken by native speakers – ranging from basic words to more complex concepts. It’s a must-have for people traveling to the Philippines, especially when visiting historic places like Gen. Douglas McArthur’s official headquarters and the spectacular Hundred islands in Alaminos, or to party at the province’s numerous beaches on Pista’y Dayat (Festival of the Sea).
The Pangasinan language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family. Pangasinan is similar to the Tagalog and Ilocano languages that are spoken in the Philippines,Indonesian in Indonesia, Malay in Malaysia, and Malagasy in Madagascar. The Pangasinan language is very closely related to the Ibaloi language spoken in the neighboring province of Benguet and Baguio City, located north of Pangasinan. Pangasinan is classified under the Pangasinic group of languages. The Pangasinic languages are:
Pangasinan
Ibaloi
Karao
I-wak
Kalanguya
Keley-I
Kallahan
Kayapa
Tinoc
Pangasinan is the primary language of the province of Pangasinan, located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along Lingayen Gulf. The people of Pangasinan are also referred to as Pangasinan. The province has a total population of 2,343,086 (2000), of which 1.5 million speak Pangasinan. Speakers of the language are concentrated mostly in central Pangasinan. Pangasinan is spoken in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, mostly in the neighboring provinces of Benguet, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Tarlac, and Zambales.
Austronesian-language speakers settled in Maritime Southeast Asia during prehistoric times, perhaps more than 5,000 years ago. The indigenous speakers of Pangasinense are descendants of these prehistoric settlers, who were probably part of the prehistoric human migration that is widely believed to have originated from Southern China via Taiwan about 100 to 200 thousand years ago.
The word Pangasinan, means “land of salt” or “place of salt-making”; it is derived from the root word asin, the word for "salt" in Pangasinan. Pangasinan could also refer to a “container of salt or salted-products”; it refers to the ceramic jar for storage of salt or salted-products or its contents.
