Location: Jolo (Sulu Archipelago), principally, and the islandsof Pata, Marunggas, Tapul, and Lugus; Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Sabah(Malaysia).
Dialects: Parianun (town of Jolo); Gimbahanun (interior Jolo(deep, conservative) Tausug); outlying dialects.
Number of Speakers: 651,808 (1990 Census, Philippines); 764,000total.
Language Family: Central Philippines > Visayan > South Visayan> Tausug/Butuanon > Tausug.
Alternate Names: Taw Sug, Sulu(k), Tausog, Moro Joloano.
:
Consonants:
p, t, k (unaspirated), ‘ (Glottal stop written as ‘ (linguists) or h(speakers))
b, d, g (spirantize between vowels)
ch (allophone of ss, bichara ‘speak’ > bichara), j (natively, syllableinitial only)
s, h
m, n, (ny), ng
l, r (allophone of d, l), w, y
Features: Gemination of all non-glottal consonants
Vowels:
i, a, u [o/u]
Diphthongs: aw, uy, ay, iw [issiw, variant of hisiyu ‘who’]
Features: Vowel length (marked here with underscore, e.g. ba_y‘house’)
Stress: Nonphonemic Stress on final syllable.
Pronouns
| Singular | 1 | |||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| Plural | 1 (dual) | |||
| 1 (exclusive) | ||||
| 1 (inclusive) | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
Note: Second person pronouns do not encode respect, Second person pronounsareikaw(independent) vs.kaw (enclitic). * First persongenitive pronoun changes totabefore second person nominative pronouns.
Deictics
(nearest speaker) | |||||
(near speaker) | |||||
(near addressee) | |||||
Noun Markers
| Common | |||||
| Personal, singular | |||||
| Personal, plural | |||||
Common noun plural marker:mga [ma.nga]
Basic Verbal Morphology
| Orientation | Future/Inf. | Progressive | Initiated | Imperative |
| Actor | -um-/(m-) | C-imV- | -im- (initiated) | root |
| m- | miyCV- | miy- | root | |
| mag- | nagCV- | nag- | pag-/root | |
| ma- | naCV- | na- | root | |
| Object | -un | C-iyV- | -iy- | -a |
| Direction/Loc. | -an | C-iyV- ... –an | -iy- ... –an | -i |
| Theme | (h)i- | C-iyV- | -iy- | -an, -a |
| Instrument | hipaN- | piyaNCV- | piyaN- | - |
| Reason | hika- | kiyaka- | kiya- | - |
Other Affixes:pa-(causative);maka-,ma-,ka-(stative/potentive); -i (reciprocal); full reduplication of stem(reciprocal, diminutive).
Common Closed Class Words
Answering Questions: (h)uu(n)(yes),bukun,di’(no),kalu-kalu, maray’(perhaps)
Existentials:awn(positive) vs.way, wayruun(negative)
Negators:ayaw (commands);di’ (statements,questions);way (existential, realis (completed or progressive))bukun(adjectives, nouns)
Interrogatives:unu(what),hisiyu (who),kansiyu(whose),mayta’(why),ku’nu(when, future),ka’nu(when, past),ha_in(where),haunu(where; which),pila(how much),biya’diin(how),pakain(where to),hikapila(in what order)
AdverbialParticles:ba(irritation),baha’(wonder),da/ra(only,just), hadja (just),isab(too also),kaddaw(optative),kunu’(hearsay),masi, pa(still, yet),mayan, ma_n(later,conditionals),muna(first),na(already, now),sa(emphatic),tuwi’(surprise).
Conjunctions/Clausecombiners:iban(and, with),atawa (or),sa’(but),bang(if),bat(sothat),na(well,..),pasalan (because, about),sabab(because)
Temporals:ampa(and then),pagkuwan (andthen),huwas,pag,pagka- (after),hina’bu(during),bakas(before),sampay (until),bihaun(now, today),kahapun(yesterday),kuns_um,kinsu_m(tomorrow),ku’nisa(day after tomorrow),ta’kisa(day before yesterday),mayan(later),gana-gana(later)
Similarity:biya’(like, as)
Emphatic/Pointer:amu
1.Hati' maray' giyiikan mu ini siki niya. Then maybe you steppedon his foot.
2.Bukun, di' ku kaingatan bang unu in nangjari, maray' nabali'in hawakan niya.No, I don’t know what happened. Maybe he broke hiship.
3.Ama', mayta' di' mu aku pakattuhun kimita' sini iban hi Omar?Father, why don’t you let me go to the movies with Omar?
4.Kiyarungugan ku, da_hun mu in anak mu babae pa sini, manjarida_hun mu ra isab in anak ku usug isab? I heard you were taking yourdaugther to the movies, can you also take my son?
5.Ibayta' ku kaymu, bang hadja janji' di' mu ibayta' kaniya.I’ll tell you only if you promise not to tell her.
6.Dihili aku tu_ (3) masukud umbul. Give me three lucky numbers.
7.Pangannal ku yari sila ha pitaka' sa' wayruun di_. I thoughtthey were in my wallet, but (they're) not here.
8.Malami bang biya' diin matu_g in iru' (hiBuster). Daran siya matu_g ha taykud hati' piyataas in mga siki?That's funny how the dog (Buster)sleeps. Does he usually sleep on hs back with his legs up (in the air)?
9.Dayang, tabia' simay kaw pa higad, kagunahan tandingun namu'kaw. Ma'am, please step to the side, we need to inspect you.
10.Mayta' pini_' niyu aku, lupa aku sugarul? Why did you chooseme, do I look like a burglar?
11.Haggut-atay, yuhulasan na kaw, kiyakangi' mu in malingkat mubadju'. Calm down. You are sweating (and) you'll spoil your nice suit.
In ka_baw minsan mu biadjuan sutla’ mui’ da pa pisak.
Through you dress a water buffalo in silk, he will always return tothe mud.
Mamung hi ambung kan batak parahal sali’ sali’ da buslot.
The rattan basket criticizes the palm bag, but both are full of holes.
Marayaw sumabulak sumping ha kubul kapil, ayaw sumabulak ha kubullalim.
It’s better the strew flowers on the grave of an infidel than thatof a tyrant.
Matambul in simud suba’ dayn ha simud sin ta’u.
It is easier to stop the mouth of a river, than the mouth of a man.
:
Armour, Malcolm S. 1984.A comparison of narrative and hortatorydiscourse in Tausug. M.A. thesis. University of Texas at Arlington.xiii, 197 p.
Armour, Malcolm S., Seymour Ashley, and Lois Ashley. 1978. "Tausug[language texts]." In Evan L. Antworth (ed.), Folktale texts , 180-201.Studies in Philippine Linguistics, 2(2). Manila: Linguistic Society ofthe Philippines and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Ashley, Seymour and Lois Ashley. 1963. "The phonemes of Tausug." InElmer Wolfenden (ed.), Papers on Philippine Languages 1 , 7-17. Manila:Institute for Language Teaching and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Ashley, Seymour and Lois Ashley. 1971. "Outline of sentence types ofTausug." Philippine Journal of Linguistics 2(1): 44-91.
Ashley, Seymour. 1973. "A case classification of Tausug verbs." InGerhard Rixhon (ed.), Sulu studies 2 , 70-85. Jolo, Sulu: Notre Dame ofJolo College.
Ashley, Seymour. 1973. "Notes on Tausug orthography." In Gerhard Rixhon(ed.), Sulu studies 2 , 86-94. Jolo, Sulu: Notre Dame of Jolo College.
Hassan, Irene, Ricardo Adjawie and Gerard Rixhon. 1974. "Selected TausugPoems." Sulu Studies 3. Jolo: Notre Dame College of Jolo, 115-130.
Hassan, Irene U, Nurhadan Halud, Seymour A. Ashley, Mary L. Ashley.1995. Tausug-English Dictionary Kabtangan Iban Maana. Manila: Summer Instituteof Linguistics.
Moody, David C. 1984. "The Suluk (Tausug) language." In Julie K. Kingand John Wayne King (eds.), Languages of Sabah: A survey report , 75-84.Pacific Linguistics C, 78. Canberra: Australian National University.
Peneyra, Irma. 1993. "A Grammatical Sketch of Tausug". Archive, PublicationNine.
Rixhon, Gerard. 1974. "Tausug Literature: An Overview." Sulu Studies3. Jolo: Coordinated Investigation of Sulu Culture, Notre Dame Collegeof Jolo, 1-86.