Higaonon language

Higaonon
Misamis Higaonon Manobo
Native toPhilippines
RegionMisamis Oriental, western portions of Agusan del Norte, northwestern portions of Agusan del Sur and northern portions of Bukidnon in Mindanao
Native speakers
452,000 (2026)
Language codes
ISO 639-3mba
Glottologhiga1237

Higaonon is a Manobo language spoken by the Higaonon people on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It is partially intelligible with Binukid.

Region

Higaonon is spoken in the Butuan River basin of north-central Mindanao, comprising the entire Misamis Oriental, northern parts of Bukidnon, northwestern Agusan del Sur Province and the area of Agusan del Norte Province south of Butuan. According to Ethnologue, it is closely related to Binukid, with 77%–81% mutual intelligibility.

The name Higaonon comes from the words higa "to live" + gaon "mountain" + onon "people" — the literal meaning is "the mountain-dwellers."

Map of 21 ancient tribes settling in Mindanao island prior to the arrival of the modern migrants. Higaonon is light blue in the northeastern area.

Status

Higaonon's status has been deemed stable, although there are some threats to its future longevity. Migrants to their native region, urbanization, and the increasing prevalence of Tagalog, Cebuano, and English contribute to its possible decline.

As of 2023, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino has been working on a writing system for Higaonon. In 2025, a mobile dictionary app was developed to encourage knowledge of Higaonon among youth in the Philippines. A survey conducted on young adult heritage speakers of Higaonon found that 100% agree that the language needs to be preserved, but opinions were more mixed on as to why, as well as the ease of learning it.

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative s h
Approximant l j w
Rhotic ɾ

The glottal fricative /h/ and the tap /ɾ/ can only appear in the onset of a syllable. The dental series of consonants is notably not alveolar.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ə o
Open a

Higaonon has five phonemic vowels. The high, unrounded front /i/ has an allophone, [e], that appears only in open syllables. Four diphthongs are also present: /aj/, /uj/, /aw/, and /əw/. For some dialects, /u/ is in free variation with /o/.

Stress

Lexical stress is phonemic in Higaonon, meaning it can distinguish meaning. The minimal pair [‘sa.la] "punishment" and [sa.’la] "sin" illustrate this; for "punishment" the stress is word-initial and for "sin" the stress is word-final. Stress prefers to be on the final or penultimate syllable of a word.

Syntax

Word classes

Higaonon's nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are generally considered open classes, meaning they can take in neologisms.

Nouns

Nouns can be formed through affixation of -an, pag-, or ka- (which attach to a verb to form a verbal noun) or ting- and the circumfix ka-...-an (which attach to nouns to form related new nouns).

Noun-creating affixes
Usage Affix Root Noun Gloss (noun)
Attaches to a verb -an alo alo alo aloan toy
pag- limbay paglimbay singing
ka- alo alo kaalo alo playmate
Attaches to a noun ting- lati tinglati summertime
ka-...-an wahig kawahigan waters

Nouns are typically preceded by nominal markers that correspond to the number and focus of the noun.

Nominal markers Usage Notes
su, si, sidan ki Focus marker
hu, hi, hay Non-focus marker
ta, ki Oblique marker Used for indirect objects
manga Plural marker Used after one of the other markers

An example of a focused plural noun phrase is given below, where the two nominal markers are both employed:

Suminayaw

PERF.dance

su

FOC

manga

PL

bata

child

gabia

yesterday

Suminayaw su manga bata gabia

PERF.dance FOC PL child yesterday

‘The children danced yesterday.’

Numbers

Higaonon has a decimal number system, given below.

Higaonon numbers 1-10
Number Higaonon
1 [sə'buwə]
2 [də'duwə]
3 [tə'tulu]
4 [hə'ʔepat]
5 [lə'li.ma]
6 [hə'ʔenem]
7 ['pi.tu]
8 ['wa.lu]
9 ['si.yam]
10 [sam'peleʔ]

References

  1. 1 2
  2. ↑ Cajetas-Saranza, Rennie. "Higaonon oral literature: A cultural heritage." US-China Education Review B 6.5 (2016).
  3. ↑ "Higaonon". Ethnologue.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Abingosa, Danilyn Tayag; Pasandalan, Sittie Noffaisah; Alovera, Jay Rey; Otano, Jed; Echavez, Nancy; Quilab, Marina (2026-03-31). "Documentation and description of sounds and grammar of Higaonon spoken in Opol, Misamis Oriental". Diksi. 34 (1): 41–66. doi:10.21831/diksi.v34i1.79632. ISSN 2579-6399.
  5. 1 2 Abingosa, D.; Bokingkito, P., Jr.; Pasandalan, S.N.; Alovera, J.R.G.; Otano, J. Digitizing the Higaonon Language: A Mobile Application for Indigenous Preservation in the Philippines. Informatics 2025, 12, 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics12030090
  6. ↑ Taja-on, Evan P. "An ethnographic study on the cognizance of the Higa-onon youth about their native language." Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2023).
  7. 1 2 3 "Language name and locationː Higaonon, Philippines".