The Ibanag (also Ybanag and Ybanak or Ibanak) are an ethnic minority numbering a little more than half a million people, who inhabit the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela province, and Nueva Vizcaya. They are one of the largest ethnolinguistic minorities in the Philippines.
Etymology
The
endonym "Ibanag" comes from the prefix
I- which means "people of", and
bannag, meaning river. This toponym-based name is similar to the unrelated etymology for the
Tagalog people, which is derived from
taga- ("person from") and
ilog ("river")
Language
The Ibanag language (also Ybanag) is spoken by about 500,000 speakers in two of the northeasternmost provinces of the Philippines, Isabela, and Cagayan. It is closely related to
Gaddang language,
Itawis language, Agta,
Atta language,
Yogad language,
Isneg language, and
Malaweg language.
It is spoken especially in Tuguegarao and Solana in Cagayan, as well as in the municipalities of Cabagan, San Pablo, Tumauini, Santa Maria, Santo Tomas, Ilagan, Gamu, Naguilian, and Reina Mercedes and San Mariano in Isabela. There are also several speakers of the Ibanag language in Abulug, Aparri, Camalaniugan, Lal-lo, and Tuao in Cagayan. Minority Ibanag speakers can be found outside of their regional homeland, such as Metro Manila, Mindoro, Palawan and Mindanao, particularly in Sulu Archipelago. Most of the speakers can speak Ilocano, the lingua franca of Northern Luzon, as well.
Displacement
Ibanags speak the same language under the same name. However, due to several factors including the use of Filipino as the national lingua franca and Ilocano as a regional one, the use of
Ibanag language has now diminished but remains strong with Ibanags living overseas. Thus while there may still be Ibanags around, the language is slowly being displaced. In addition to this, many if not most Ibanags speak
Ilocano language, which has over the years, supplanted Ibanag as the more dominant language in the region.
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