Sambal

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A language of Philippines

ISO 639-3
xsb
Alternate Names
Sambali, “Tina” (pej.), “Tina Sambal” (pej.)
Population

70,000 (2000 SIL), decreasing. 0 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 70,000.

Location

Luzon, Zambales Province, north, 5 towns; Tarlac Province, western border; Pangasinan Province, 2 villages, Palawan Island, Quezon, Panitian village.

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational). De facto language of provincial identity in Zambales province.

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Philippine, Central Luzon, Sambalic
Dialects

Iba, Masinloc, Santa Cruz. 70% intelligibility with Botolan [sbl].

Language Use

Youth start using it at work if they do not go on to higher education; little use among children. Not used around outsiders, but they like it when outsiders learn Sambal. All domains among adults. Oral use in local commerce, occasional use in religion and political campaigning. Some letter-writing. Adults. 100% also use Filipino [fil]. 30% also use Ilocano [ilo].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 98%. Literacy rate in L2: 98%. Orthography similar to Filipino. English and Filipino taught in school. Taught in primary schools, in Zambales. Poetry. Newspapers. Radio programs. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1999–2000.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Sambal
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Christian (Protestant).