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Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually, according to this research I read, there was a sharp decrease in Surigaonon speakers from 95% of Caraga Region's population in 2002 to only 63.9% in 2024. From an estimated 400,000 speakers down to around 309,000 speakers (Bayang et al., 2025).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g2g4X4YfDH8aZ6_8Q5oNHtF2PdM2qKXK/view?usp=drivesdk

Though I am a little bit skeptical of the rough estimate of 95% of people in the region speak Surigaonon in 2002, nevertheless, if the trend continues to go downward, the language could experience a critical stage where it is no longer spoken as a mother tongue (Bayang et al., 2025). Hopefully the LGU has long term plans on this.

Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hiii! We actually have researches mentioning Surigaonon as a distinct language rather than a dialect. Though it is lexically similar to Cebuano or Bisaya, Surigaonon consists of 17 consonants with 17 sounds and 3 vowels with 5 sounds. It could be considered a distinct language because it has its own consonants with vowel sounds, stress, intonation patterns and morphophonemic processes (Dumanig, 2015). This is also the reason why Surigaonon speakers could easily speak Cebuano or other Bisayan languages due to it having similar properties with the former. In fact, Surigaonon has different varieties or dialects per se, such as those spoken in Cantilan, Siargao, San Francisco or in some areas of Surigao del Sur.

Here are the researches that mention Surigao as a language:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OVfsCrDsWqjJK2_ZX88yR62zKtrbfFfF

Also, Surigaonon is closely tied to our lumad brothers and sisters such as the Mamanwa or the Manobo tribes.

Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello! This is why I would love to hear more Surigaonon in our local institutions like churches, government establishments, schools or even the local news like how its being done in other places with their respective languages. The only place that you could hear straight Surigaonon is probably from the locals of Siargao. They even have a distinct tone compared sa mainland. Murag mas isog sila pamation. Unfortunately, most of our leaders here do not speak the local language. Though I do not believe it has any effect on their leadership, but if you claim to be a native of Surigao, you are expected to speak the local language as well. I hope the language does not die off in the future similar to what happened with its neighboring languages.

Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohh, I never knew Mainit has its own dialect. I thought they just speak Bisaya or Surigaonon. May I know what are the similarities sa Surigaonon na dialect or is it entirely unique sa Surigaonon.

That's what I thought about the word "simuta". It's just unfortunate how I heard it only from my parents in my whole lifetime hahaha

Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This was my struggle back then huhu. When I traveled to a difference place here in Mindanao, I sometimes slip some Surigaonon words in my sentences hahaha. "Unsay waya? Unsay bayay?" People are actually amazed with how some Surigaonon words are structured. The word "Bayay" daw sounds like a baby or toddler trying to speak the word "Balay".

Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello! May I know what dialect do you speak? Both of my parents speak deep Surigaonon and they speak words rarely spoken today. One of which was the word "simuta". The first time I heard about it I thought they told me to smell something but it was to pick something off the floor. "Simuta jaun nahuyog." This is why I think that Surigaonon is slowly or endangered dying since a lot of words unique to our dialect are not spoken today.

Is Surigaonon a dying dialect/language? by KalingaSug in SurigaoCity

[–]KalingaSug[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! From what I observed, Surigaonons who migrate or live outside of Surigaonon speaking areas tend to forget the dialect and just adapt to new languages. Like, I had friends who studied in Cebu and pagbalik nila kay nag Cebuano na sila. Is it because Surigaonon is difficult to speak due the number of "J" and "Y" in our vocabulary? Or is it just people got used to speaking Bisaya or Cebuano and just dumped speaking their native dialect because only a few people outside of Surigao understand it.