Ilocano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines, primarily by Ilocano people and as a lingua franca by the Igorot people and also by the native settlers of Cagayan Valley. It is the third most-spoken native language in the country.
Ilokano-speaking density per province. Enlarge picture to see percent distribution.
Area where Ilocano is the majority language.
Our Father prayer from Doctrina Cristiana, 1621. Written in Ilocano using Baybayin script.
Ilocano version of the Book of Mormon, written with the Tagalog system, as can be seen by the use of the letter K
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan. They are spoken by about 386 million people. This makes it the fifth-largest language family by number of speakers. Major Austronesian languages include Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, Tagalog, Malagasy and Cebuano. According to some estimates, the family contains 1,257 languages, which is the second most of any language family.
The distribution of Austronesian languages
A 5 dollar banknote, Hawaii, c. 1839, using Hawaiian language
A sign in Balinese and Latin script at a Hindu temple in Bali
A manuscript from the early 1800s using the Batak script
