A grammar of Kagayanen

Carol J. Pebley; Thomas E. Payne

Forthcoming: A grammar of Kagayanen

Carol J. Pebley Thomas E. Payne

Synopsis

Kagayanen is a resilient Austronesian>Greater Central Philippine>Manobo language spoken by about 30,000 individuals, mostly in Palawan province in the Philippines. This grammar is the result of nearly 40 years of research by Carol Pebley and a team of Kagayanen speakers and non-Kagayanen co-workers. The primary data source is a corpus of texts collected over a 20 year period. These texts, three of which appear in an appendix to this book, provide vivid insights into Kagayanen ways of being. The grammar is written with a general linguistics audience in mind, from a "communication first" perspective. It should prove useful to specialists in Austronesian languages, linguistic typologists, and others interested in doing research in the central Philippines. It is also hoped that this grammar will be an encouragement to Kagayanen speakers, proving that their language is wonderfully complex and deserves an equal place alongside other regional and international languages.

Biographies

Carol J. Pebley

Carol Pebley received a Master's Degree in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1983 and has been a member of SIL Philippines Branch since 1986. Since that time she has lived in various Kagayanen communities, including 4 years in Cagayancillo, the island homeland of the Kagayanen people. From 1986 until the present she has worked on language development projects in Kagayanen, including language learning, translation, and linguistic research in support of local educational initiatives. She has published several articles on various aspects of the language. Since 2008 she has also worked as a translation consultant for other language development projects in the Philippines.

Thomas E. Payne

Thomas Payne received BA (1975) and PhD (1985) degrees in linguistics from the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1975-1976 he worked with SIL Philippines doing language surveys in several regions of the country. This experience cemented his career commitment to serving minoritized language communities via linguistics. In 1986 he joined the Linguistics Department at the University of Oregon as a Research Associate, and in 1990 he became an International Linguistics Consultant for SIL International. In that capacity, he has done linguistic research, consulting and teaching in over a dozen countries, and has published several books and articles on descriptive linguistics. Thomas is currently co-authoring a grammar of Waray, a major Philippine language, and supporting L1-based multilingual education throughout the Philippines.