The Gaddang language is spoken by up to 30,000 speakers (the Gaddang people) in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, in the northeastern provinces of Nueva Vizcaya

Nueva Vizcaya

Nueva Vizcaya is a province of the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital is Bayombong. It is bordered by, clockwise from the north, Ifugao, Isabela, Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Benguet.-History, people and culture:The name was derived from the...

 and Isabela and by overseas immigrants in countries located Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, in the Middle East, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the U.S.A.. Most of the speakers can also speak Ilocano

Ilokano language

Ilokano or Ilocano is the third most-spoken language of the Republic of the Philippines....

, the lingua franca of Northern Luzon. Gaddang is derived from . It is closely related to Ibanag, Itawis, Agta, Atta, Yogad, Isneg and Malaweg.

Phonology

Gaddang is also one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from [ɾ]-[d] allophone.

Nouns

English	Gaddang	Tagalog
house	balai	bahay
girl	bafay	babae
boy	lalaki	lalaki
snake	irao	ahas
person	tolay	tao
water	danum	tubig
plate	duyug	plato
light	siruat	ilaw
name	ngan	pangalan
bird	pappitut	ibon
pig	bafuy	baboy
carabao	daffug	kalabaw
key	alladdu	susi
road	dalan	daan
stomach	kuyung	tiyan
slipper	sinelyat	tsinelas
food	maac-can	pagkain
rice cake	dekat	kakanin
mother	ina	ina
father	ama	ama
brother	wayi, manung (pollito)	kapatid, kuya (pollito)
sister	wayi a bafay, manang (pollito)	kapatid, ate (pollito)
sibling	wayi	kapatid

Personal Pronouns

• I - Iccanak
• You - Icca
• He, She, It - Baggina
• We (exclusive) - Iccami
• We (inclusive) - Iccanetam
• You (plural/polite) - Iccayu
• They - Ira
• sibling - wayi/anak

Demonstrative Pronouns

• Yao - This
• Nay - That
• Sitao - Here
• Sitan - There
• Sinay - Over there

Interrogative Words

• what, who - nenay. (nenay ka? who are you? nenay yan? what is that?)
• why - saay
• where - sintaw
• where is - ope
• how - kasan-nu (??? this word is iluko)
• how much - pigya

Structure

The Gaddang language is distinct in that it features phonemes that are not present in many other neighboring Philippine languages

Philippine languages

The Philippine languages are a 1991 proposal by Robert Blust that all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi—except Sama–Bajaw and a few languages of Palawan—form a subfamily of Austronesian languages...

. It is related to Ibanag, Itawis, Malaueg and others.
As an example the "f","v","z" and "j" sounds.
- rice, - pig, - goat, or - maid.

In addition to this, Gaddang also features doubled consonants. Therefore making the language sound "hard" or guttural.
For example: tudda (tood-duh) which means rice.

This is an example of a Gaddang proverb:

Inaccan na lammag ca.

Translated:

"eaten by alligator" ha,ha!

Simple greetings/questions/phrases

• Good morning - macasta a daddaramat.
• Good afternoon - macasta a fuwab.
• Good evening/night - macasta a gaffi.
• How are you? - Manantaw ka?
• I'm good and you? Mappia ac pay, icca ay?
• I'm just fine thank god - mappia ak pay, mabbalat si dios ay.
• Thank you - mabbalat sicuam.
• Where are you going? - Sintaw yo angan nu?
• I'm going to...Umang ngac ci......
• What are you doing? -hanna angwa-angwan nu?
• Oh, Nothing in particular. - e awan lamang.
• Please come in. - Makigumallak ac, umunag ca.
• happy birthday - maka yoan ka??
• we visit our grandfather - binisitan mi e lolo. OR bisitan mi e lolo.
• Are we good grandfather? - husta eta lolo ? OR mapia eta lolo ?
• Who are you? - cinno ka?
• Dodge that ball! - aroyuan nu yo bolla!! :)
• Why are you crying? - Saay a mattangit ca?
• Are there lots of people here? - Addu (yao) tolay sitao?
• Are you sleepy? - Sikkaturug kan?
• I don't want to sleep yet. - Ammec kepay gustu (a) makkaturug.

Numbers

• 0- awan
• 1- tata
• 2- addua
• 3- tallu
• 4- appat
• 5- lima
• 6- annam
• 7- pitu
• 8- walu
• 9- siyam
• 10- tafulu
• 11- tafulu tata
• 12- tafulu dua
• 13- tafulu tallu
• 14- tafulu appat
• 15-tafulu lima
• 20- duafulu
• 21- duafulu tata
• 22- duafulu dua
• 100- tahatut
• 200- duatut
• 500- limatut
• 1000- tarifu
• 2000- duarifu

Sentences

Gaddang	Tagalog	English
nenay inaccannu singcabbulan	Ano ang kinain mo kanina?	What did you eat a while ago?
nenay inaccan diaw sin kabbulan	Ano ang kinain ninyo kanina ?	What did you,(all) eat?
nenay inaccan nu	Ano ang kinain mo?	What did you eat?
nenay accanan nu cicina	Ano ang kakainin mo mamaya?	What are you going to e
paddatang na manggan kamin	Pagdating niya, kumakain kami.	We were eating when he came.
nu dimatang baggina, de nanggan kamin	Kung dumating sana siya, nakakain sana kami.	I (We) hope that by the time he would have arrived, we would have eaten.
mem manggan	Huwag kang kumain.	Don't eat.
Mangngan ka.	Kumain ka na!	Eat!
inquac yan / accuac yan	Akin yan!	That's mine!
angganma cu icca / anggamman ta ka	Mahal kita	I love you

External references

• Ethnologue on Gaddang
• Global Recordings Network