Ibatan

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A language of Philippines

ISO 639-3
ivb
Alternate Names
Babuyan, Ibataan, Ivatan
Population

1,240 (2007 NCIP). No monolinguals. Ethnic population: 1,400 (2008 SIL).

Location

North of Luzon, Babuyan Islands, Ibatan tribe ancestral domain.

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Philippine, Bashiic, Ivatan
Dialects

Intelligibility of Itbayaten Ivatan [ivv] 64%; Basco Ivatan [ivv] 31%. Lexical similarity: 72% with Itbayaten Ivatan [ivv], 74% with Basco Ivatan [ivv] (1974–1975 SIL survey).

Language Use

Shifting to Ilocano [ilo]. All domains as well as religious services and ceremonies, and local commerce. All ages. Positive attitudes. Increasingly bilingual in Ilocano [ilo]. Some also use Filipino [fil], Chinese (Taiwanese [nan]), or Mandarin [cmn]. Schooling is in Filipino [fil] or English [eng]. Code switching common between Ilocano and Ibatan (2007 SIL).

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 90%. Literacy rate in L2: 80% (2007 SIL). All school-aged children are literate. Taught in primary schools, but only if instructions not understood in English (2007 SIL). Taught in secondary schools. Grammar. NT: 1996.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Ibatan
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

Since 1978, speakers have increased from 450 to 1,220. On June 1, 2007, the Ibatan were awarded title to their island home of Babuyan Claro with all collective rights to natural resources, including 5 km of ocean around the island. The ancestral domain was established with the help of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines and based on the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (2007 SIL). Christian.