Fleming Hannah M. A Grammar of Eastern Tawbuid

SIL International, 2022. — 195 p.This book is a descriptive grammar of the Eastern Tawbuid language, containing analysis of the phonology, morphology and syntax of this under-documented language of the Philippines. The ISO code for this language is [bnj]. Prior to this book, there has been virtually no published data or analysis of the Eastern Tawbuid language, and there has been no published descriptive grammar of any of the languages native to the island of Mindoro, where Eastern Tawbuid is spoken. One function of this grammar, therefore, is to help fill this gap in the documentation of Philippine languages. But setting aside the issue of language documentation, the data presented in this grammar are interesting, revealing a language with a complex system of negation, a verbal morphology which encodes a range of modal and aspectual distinctions, and a plethora of second-position clitics for communicating subtle semantic and pragmatic information.
While some parts of the grammar will be familiar to students of previously documented Philippine languages, Eastern Tawbuid diverges in several ways from these languages. The most striking difference is the absence in Eastern Tawbuid of elaborate systems of voice or voice-like alternations that form a ubiquitous part of the morphosyntax of better-known Philippine languages.
This and many other divergences between Eastern Tawbuid syntax and the syntax of a ‘typical’ Philippine language make the previous neglect of this language particularly regrettable. It is the author’s hope that this book will stimulate more interest in the languages of Mindoro, as well as helping Philippinists to develop a more complete picture of the linguistic diversity that exists within this region.