Oratio Dominica in these -languages. The Tagala is said
by these writers to be the -proper language of the islands of
Luzon and Marinduque. The following account of the sub-
dialectsof the Tagala is-given by Hervas; from the Abbate
Don Bernardo de la Fuente, a missionary who was familiarly
and critically versed both in the Tagala and Bisaya. He
says, “ In the Isle of Luzon the following'/ dhdectsi,are
spoken; 1. In Manilla, the capital, and its environs, the
pure Tagala. 2. In - Camarines, the Camarino, which is a
mixture of the Tagala and the Bisaya of the Isle of Samar.
3. The Pampanga. 4. The Fangasinan: ^5, The ‘Ilocos-;
6. The Zambale, which is proper to the inountaineerSk 7<' The
Cayagan. 8. The Maitim, that is,Negta, which is spoken
by the Negroes who inhabit the mountains in the »interior*
All these languages are dialects ojf the Tagala, though sbme
of them differ considerably from other^,?p-
Of the dialects of the other Philippine Islands we have
in the same work an account written by the Abbate Don
Antonio Torres, who travelled through all the islands, and
understood all the languages spoken in them. He says,
“ I have seen the account of the Tagala dialects which Signor
Abbate de la Fuente places in Luzon, and I have nothing to
add to his enumeration. Of the Bisayan language spoken
in the other Philippine Islands, which are often termed
Bisayan Isles, there are the following dialects i 1, the
Mindanao; 2, the Samar ; 3, the dialect of Ioio ; 4, that
of Bohol. The Mindanao comprises some difficult dialects;
for being detained there a year and a half in slavery, I continually
endeavoured to understand some of them, and found
very many words quite unintelligible to me. I made similar
attempts to comprehend the dialect of Iolo, where I also
was a slave for half a year. In Mindanao, which is the
second of the Philippine Islands, there are . the following
dialects. L The pure Bisaya Ts spoken in some districts.
The author then mentions some others; ,among them the
fourth is the Lutao, so named from lutao, which signifies to
swim; it is spoken by the Lutai, who live by fishing, and
dwell almost entirely in their barks, which are in- fact their
bouses. 5. The dialect of the Negroes, who inhabit the
intarior of the- island, and there support themselves on the
fruits of trees and on the hopey made <by the bees of the
Woods.” In all the other j Philippine, Islands j is spoken
th e, language which is termed' Ihfayap* In I© jo; whnil is
one of them, u§jto be found a, resort of people who come on
account, of traffic from Malacca,,. Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and
Celebes or;,Macassar, and all t^eir ^languages ate.- intelligible.
to th e I ©loans» t
, It ma^y be it observed.; fhat these tni^sionari^s regard the
idioms of, the iNegroes as ppgnate-; dialects, with the Tagala
and Bisaya- This? is explicitly affirmed by the, Abbate Torres
in theCfollowing, term&;-^‘La lingua dell’ Isola detta de’ Njegri
e la BisayUi stessa, col miscuglip di moltissime parple^ fores-
Fuen$% who. w yW “ La loro lingua,^
Bpholana*;poiche in* essa mi parlavajxo sebbene, adulterata/’
Bernardo de la Fuente has likewise given, a description of
the p eo p le ^ „the island called Isla d.e l©s Negfos. As. Jhis
belongs to -another part of. my subject, I shall pass it,J>y at
We have.,no , want of inffirmation. of ^the,physical char
racier® of ? the Philippine } islander^. Mr. Marsden says
of ;tliem Hgeuerally that they, resemble thg,. Sumatrans and
Macassars, in person as/well as in language-anfi manner,®.
H;e says: that they are a robpit wen-made;people, fair, but
itanlining to. a copper; colour, with fiattish rioseSjand black
eyes and hair. .
, The people of Mindanao are described by Dampier^who
says that Mindanao and. St. John’s. Is,In are the^nty :Onesrin
all the groupe not; subject to the Spaniards. The people, of
Mindanao are under several princes,.-.and speak different
languages, but “ are much ulike in colour, strength, and
stature.” They are all or mostly .Mohammedan, and similar
in manners. Besides the proper Mindanayans, who are the
greatest nation, there are the Hilhuoones. or the mountaineers,
the Sologues, and the Alfooriesi The.Alfoories are the same
with the Mindanayans.”
The Mindanayans, properly so called, are men of mean
stature, small limbs, straight bodies, and little beards; their