More than Words
Butuanons urge to ‘save’ local dialect
“Hopefully, Butuanon will be the first language again. It’s wishful thinking but maybe.”
With the rapid decline of the Butuanon dialect among its users, Butuanons are calling for more action to preserve the language amid the Visayan influence that gradually caused intergenerational changes, culturally and linguistically.
In an interview, Agusan Council President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) Thelma Villanueva expressed her concerns as her first dialect is now at the brink of extinction.
According to the 75 year old native Butuanon, people nowadays rarely speak the dialect, and instead use Bisaya as the native tongue when conversing with others. Much to her dismay, there has been a lack of support from the government and the local community itself in promoting the Butuanon dialect.
Though there have been several programs and competitions, such as vocabulary and impromptu speaking contests during Adlaw Hong Butuan, that focus on fostering a Butuanon-literate community, most led to no avail since the language itself wasn’t taught at home.
“Before, there was an immersion program where students were situated in Maug, a barangay wherein majority of the population still speaks in Butuanon, in order to influence them to learn the language, but it was eventually stopped,” she added.
When questioned about the language barrier that would come into effect if parents urged their children to use Butuanon as their first language, Villanueva reasoned that students would still be able to easily adapt to other dialects, especially Bisaya, since the degree of difference is minimal.
Villanueva emphasized the importance for parents to speak to their children in Butuanon since the dialect focuses more on pronunciation, rather than spelling.
“Most of the parents don’t speak Butuanon to their children, that is the reason why the children do not understand,” she stressed. “They have a role to play in preserving the language.”
Aside from the potential death of the language, the GSP president also highlighted other factors at stake. Once Butuanon will be fully forgotten, it would take a toll on other Butuanon traditions and culture, and eventually endangering ethnic identity.
To contribute in saving the Butuanon language, Villanueva conducted Butuanon lessons to students through Facebook Messenger via recordings and text messages during the pandemic.
As a dance teacher, she also asked her dancers to perform a Manobo dance for more exposure to Butuan culture and the language.
Currently, she hopes to see a Butuanon dictionary, which is currently a work in progress spearheaded by Fr. Joesilo Amalia, trustee of the Butuan City Cultural and Historical Foundation Inc. and curator of the Butuan Diocese Museum. A formal documentation of the Butuanon language would significantly contribute to its preservation.
For several years, Butuanon has been in the shadow of the other local dialects such as Surigaonon and Bisaya after years of intermarriage and resettling among other cultures.
Several of the 175 individual languages in the Philippines are advancing toward the point of extinction, with some dying undocumented. Now more than ever, Butuanons must do their part in preserving the local dialect, and the culture.
