Molbog language

Molbog is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines and Sabah, Malaysia. The majority of speakers are concentrated at the southernmost tip of the Philippine province of Palawan, specifically the municipalities of Bataraza and Balabac. Both municipalities are considered as bastions for environmental conservation in the province. The majority of Molbog speakers are Muslims.

The classification of Molbog is controversial. Thiessen (1981) groups Molbog with the Palawanic languages, based on shared phonological and lexical innovations. This classification is supported by Smith (2017). An alternative view is taken by Lobel (2013), who puts Molbog together with Bonggi in a Molbog-Bonggi subgroup. Ethnically, the Molbog was previously a sub-group of the larger Palaw'an people, and later became as it is due to Islamic influences from the Tausug and Sama-Bajau peoples.

• The sounds [dʒ, ɲ] occur as a result of loanwords from Spanish, Malay or dialects of the Sama language.
• /h/ only occurs marginally. While it was generally lost in inherited words, it is retained in some words e.g. luhaʔ 'tears', probably through re-borrowing.