Tausug language
Visayan language spoken in the Philippines and Malaysia
Tausūg (Bahasa Sūg, بَهَسَ سُوْغْ, Filipino: Wikang Bahasa Súg, Malay: Bahasa Suluk, بهاس سولوق, lit. 'Language of Sulu/the Tausūg people') is an Austronesian language spoken in the province of Sulu in the Philippines and in the eastern area of the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It is widely spoken in the Sulu Archipelago (Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan), the Zamboanga Peninsula (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga City), southern Palawan, Malaysia (eastern Sabah), and Indonesia (Tarakan City and Nunukan Regency, province of North Kalimantan).
Tausūg has some lexical similarities or near similarities with Surigaonon language of the provinces Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Agusan del Sur and with the Butuanon language of Agusan del Norte; it has also some vocabulary similarities with Sugbuanon, Bicolano, and with other Philippine languages. Many Malay and Arabic words are found in Tausug language.
Nomenclature
In English, the language is primarily known as Tausug (i.e. Tausug language). The local name of the language is bahasa Sūg or Sinūg. The term Tausūg (tau Sūg, meaning "people of Sulu") is derived from two words: tau ("person" or "people") and Sūg
Sūg is the modern form of the older term Sulug (meaning "[sea] currents"), which was also the old name of the island of Jolo. It is derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sələg ("flowing water, current"), and is a cognate of Cebuano sulog, Tagalog silig, and Malay suluk (a borrowing).
Classification
Tausūg is an Austronesian language.
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