Agusan language

Agusan is a Manobo language of northeastern Mindanao in the Philippines.

Agusan Manobo (consisting of the Umayam, Adgawan, Surigao, and Omayamnon dialects) is spoken in the following areas.

• Agusan del Sur Province: western area, southeast of Lake Buluan
• inland areas of Surigao del Sur Province
• southwest of Lanuza Peninsula to Lianga Bay in Surigao del Sur Province
• western Agusan del Norte Province
• Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte provinces: continuous strip along northern borders
• Surigao del Norte Province: southern tip, inland
• scattered small border areas of Bukidnon and Davao Oriental provinces

Dibabawon Manobo is spoken in the following areas.

• northern Compostela Valley Province: upper Agusan River area
• Davao Oriental Province: Boston and Cateel municipalities
• Davao del Norte Province: Asuncion municipality (in Manguagan)

Rajah Kabunsuwan Manobo is spoken in the following areas.

• northern border of Davao Oriental Province
• southeast corner of Agusan del Sur Province
• southern Surigao del Sur Province: Lingig (in Rajah Cabungsuan)

The Omayamnon, Dibabawon, and Rajah Kabunsuwan dialects are divergent.

In Agusan, the stops have unreleased variants when occurring before another consonant, silence, and in syllable-final position. The glottal stop /ʔ/ occurs in all consonant positions. Of the continuants, all occur in syllable-initial position and all except /h/ in word-final position. The consonants /d/ and /j/ are used interchangeably.

Agusan has only five vowels, /i/, /u/, /e/, /æ/, and /a/. Vowels may appear alone, after a consonant, or between consonants in a syllable. All vowels, with the exception of /æ/, may occur "in a sequence of identical vowels separated by a glottal stop". The vowel /e/ never occurs next to the consonant /r/.