This study explores the feasibility of Island Linguistics as a research area in the Philippines by providing case studies of what could potentially be considered as “island languages” in the archipelago. By using “Island Linguistics”, I attempt to advance the views put forward by Nash et al. (2020) and Nash, Markússon, & Bakker (2022) on the need to disentangle the study of linguistic forms and processes shaped in an island environment from the more established area of Island Studies and draw more attention towards investigations of topography-driven properties of Philippine languages.Building upon the initial criteria for an island language proposed by Nash et al. (2020), I developed a questionnaire that focuses on domains where the interplay between the language and the island is expected to be more pronounced. I examine five Philippine languages from different microgroups that are spoken on islands and selected largely considering their “island” features. These languages are Agutaynen (agn), Bolinao (smk), Kagayanen (cgc), and Porohanon (prh). The data from these languages suggest a robust relationship between “islandness” and language, as shown by the former being deeply entrenched in the semantic system, frames of spatial reference, and social practices related to language use. My findings support the existence of unique island language features in the Philippines context and this study offers a baseline material for a more extensive documentation of island languages in the Philippines.
Dr. Aldrin P. Lee obtained his PhD in Korean Linguistics from the Academy of Korean Studies, South Korea, where he also completed an interim MA in International Korean Studies. He also obtained MA in Linguistics from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman in 2007. He received his BA in Linguistics also from UP Diliman with Magna Cum Laude honors in 2003. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistics, UP Diliman where he served as Chairperson from 2012-2015. He also served as Associate Dean for Research, Extension and Publications of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman from 2017 to 2020 and as OIC Director of the UP Korea Research Center from 2018 to 2020. His research interests include Grammatical Description, Morphosyntactic Analysis, Generative Grammar, Ethnolinguistics, Linguistic Fieldwork & Language Documentation, Lexicography, & Korean Linguistics and Cultural Studies. He has published articles in several journals including the Philippine Social Science Review, Cognition, and the Journal of Global and Area Studies.
He has headed several refereed publications in the University including the Diliman Review (Editor from 2016-2020), HanPil (Editor-in-Chief from 2018-2020) and The Archive (Editor-in-Chief in 2018-2019). He has recently been elected President of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines. In 2018, he became the first UP scholar to be awarded the Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC Distinguished Professorial Chair in Linguistics and Language Education. He is also currently co-convenor of the Language Warriors PH, a social media group that helps facilitate translation of COVID-19 related materials into Philippine languages.
On top of Cuyonon—his mother tongue, Dr. Lee is also fluent in four other languages (Hiligaynon, Tagalog, English & Korean) and knows varying levels of Spanish, Bahasa Indonesia-Malaysia and Japanese.PRESENTATION VIDEO |
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