Yakan language

Yakan
Native toPhilippines
RegionBasilan
EthnicityYakan
Native speakers
(110,000 cited 1990 census)[1]
Official status
Official language in
Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated byKomisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-3yka
Glottologyaka1277
Area where Yakan is spoken

Yakan is an Austronesian language primarily spoken in Basilan in the Philippines. It is the native language of the Yakan people, the indigenous as well as the largest ethnic group on the island. It has a total of 110,000 native speakers. Despite being located in the Philippines, it is not closely related to other languages of the country. It is a member of the Sama-Bajaw languages, which in turn are related to the Barito languages spoken in southern Borneo, Madagascar and Mayotte.

  1. ^ Yakan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)