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Bantoanon
Asi
Binantoanon
Native to	Philippines
Region	Romblon
Native speakers	75,000 (2011)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Bisayan Bantoanon
Dialects	Bantoanon Odionganon Calatravanhon Sibalenhon Simaranhon
Writing system	Latin (Bantoanon Alphabet) Baybayin locally known as Suyat (historical)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bno
Glottolog	bant1288
Bantoanon language map
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Bantoanon^[1] orAsi is aregionalBisayan language spoken, along withRomblomanon andOnhan, in the province ofRomblon,Philippines. Asi originated in the island ofBanton, Romblon and spread to the neighboring islands ofSibale,Simara, and the towns ofOdiongan,San Andres andCalatrava onTablas Island. The Asi spoken in Odiongan is called Odionganon, Calatravanhon in Calatrava, Sibalenhon in Concepcion, Simaranhon in Corcuera, and Bantoanon in Banton. The Asi language is closer to Western Visayan language likeKaray-a than toCebuano andWaray

Specifically, it is spoken on the following islands within Romblon:

• Tablas: themunicipalities ofOdiongan,San Andres andCalatrava, situated respectively on the western and northern parts of the island. The Odiongan dialect has more outside influences and is more widely used in literature.^[2]
• Banton, encompassing the whole municipality ofBanton
• Simara, encompassing the whole municipality ofCorcuera
• Maestre de Campo, also known as Sibale, encompassing the whole municipality ofConcepcion

LinguistDavid Zorc notes that Bantoanon speakers may have been the first Bisayan speakers in theRomblon region. He also suggests that Asi may have a Western Visayansubstratum and that many of its words may have been influenced by the later influx of other languages such asRomblomanon.^[3]

WhileBantoanon is the original and most common name of the language, the nameAsi, meaning 'why', is also commonly used especially in formal and academic papers. TheCommission on the Filipino Language or KWF prescribes the use ofÁsi^[4] with theacute accent on the Á, although the native pronunciation is closer toÁsì with the acute Á and agrave accent on the ì. Considering that the language has four other dialects other than Bantoanon: Odionganon, Calatravanhon, Sibalenhon, and Simaranhon,Asi is occasionally used instead of Bantoanon to distinguish between the language and the dialect of it spoken in Banton. Speakers of dialects that have evolved through the Bantoanon diaspora preferAsi, or just their dialect's name. In casual speech, however, native speakers often refer to the language asBisaya, not to be confused with otherBisayan languages.

Bantoanon has sixteen consonant phonemes: /p, t, k, ʔ, b, d, ɡ, s, h, m, n, ŋ, l, ɾ~r, w, j/. There are three vowel phonemes: /i, a, u/. The three vowels each have allophones of [ɪ, e, ɛ, ə], [ʌ], [o]. /i/ is always used as [i] when it is in the beginning and middle syllables, [e, ɛ] is always used when it is in final syllables, [ɪ] when in open-prestressed syllables, and as [ə] in word-final post-stressed syllables before /ɾ~r/. [ʌ] is heard as an allophone of /a/ when in closed syllables. The vowel [o] is an allophone of /u/, and is always heard when it is in final syllables.^[5] This is one of the Philippine languages that do not exhibit[ɾ]-[d] allophony.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(April 2022)

Bantoanon speakers prefer using Spanish-derived or English numbers for financial situations.

For numbers 11 to 90, Bantoanon speakers rarely use Bantoanon numbers, but instead their Spanish-derived counterparts even in contexts not related to finances.

In Italics = rarely used and/or reconstructed based on existing vocabulary and grammar.

• Lobel, Jason William (July 8, 2002)."An Introduction to the Languages of Romblon".Sarokan News Magazine. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. RetrievedNovember 6, 2015.

• Bantoanon language information
• Webonary.org, Asi (Bantoanon) Dictionary
• SIL Philippines, Archived Resources^{[permanent dead link‍]}

• Languages of Romblon
• Visayan languages

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