Sambal or Sambali is a Sambalic language spoken primarily in the Zambal municipalities of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Palauig, and Iba, and in the Pangasinense municipality of Infanta in the Philippines; speakers can also be found in Panitian, Quezon, Palawan and Barangay Mandaragat or Buncag of Puerto Princesa. The speakers of the language are decreasing due to the fact that many of the speakers are shifting to Tagalog. The first European-produced reference grammar of any indigenous language of the Philippines was that of Zambal, published circa 1601. Dialects Ethnologue reports Santa Cruz, Masinloc and Iba as dialects of the language. Name The language is occasionally referred to as zambal, which is the hispanized form of Sambal. Sambal had also for a time been referred to as Tina, a term still encountered in older sources. The term, however, which means 'bleached' in the Botolan variety of the language, is considered offensive. The pejorative term was first used in the late 1970s by researchers from the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International). Sambals would not normally recognize the reference. Phonology Sambali has 19 phonemes: 16 consonants and three vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Vowels Sambali has three vowels. They are: /a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English 'father' /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English 'machine' /u/ (written as ‘o’) a close back unrounded vowel similar to English 'flute' There are five main diphthongs: , , , /ij/, and . Consonants Below is a chart of Sambal consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word. Note: Consonants and sometimes interchange, as they were once allophones. Dy is pronounced , ny , sy , and ty . Stress Stress is phonemic in Sambal. Word stress is very important; it differentiates homonyms, e.g. ('I') and ('elbow'). Historical sound changes Many words pronounced with and in Cebuano and Tagalog are pronounced with and , respectively, in their cognates in Sambal. Compare and with the Tagalog and . Grammar Nouns Zambal pronouns Common singular pronouns ang, 'yung (iyong) – yay hikon-mong, ya-rin hikon-moy ng, n'ung (niyong) – nin kon-moyo Sa – ha Nasa – Ison ha ('near'), Itaw ha ('far') Common plural pronouns ang mgá, 'yung mgá (iyong mgá) – yay + first letter of plural word + aw (e.g. yay bawbabayi – ang mga babae; yay lawlalaki