Iloko is a member of the Philippine branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken by about 10 million people in the Philippines, mainly in the northwest of Luzon island, and also in Mindanao. There are significant numbers of Iloko speakers in the USA, Middle East, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada and Europe as well.
The language is also known as Ilokano, Ilocano, Iluko, Iloco and Iloko, and the Iloko people call themselves Samtoy, a contraction from the Iloko phrase saö mi ditoy, meaning "our language here".
Iloko was originally written with the Baybayin syllabary, which is also used to write Tagalog, but this was gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet the Spanish arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century. One of the first publications in Iloko was the Doctrina Cristiana of 1621.
This is the style of script used in the 1620s.
A cross was written under consonants to mute the inherent vowel.
When some consonants are followed by i plus another vowels, their pronunciation changes.
Amin nga tao nga sibibiag ket naiyanak a siwawayawaya ken addaan iti agpapada nga dayaw ken kalintegan. Naikkanda ti panagikalintegan ken konsensya a nasken ti panagtitinnulong iti meysa ken meysa iti espiritu nga nainkak-absatan.
Amin a tao ket nayanak a nawaya ken agpapada iti dayaw ken karbengan. Naikkanda
iti isip ken konsensia ket masapul nga aglilinnangen iti anag ti panagkikinnabsat.
Translated by Eugene Carmelo C. Pedro
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Amami a addaka't sadi langita
Pasantipikalmo ti nagammo
padtengmo kadakam ti paghadiam
Paannugummo ti nakemmo ditoy
daga kas sadi langit itdem kadaka-
m iti aldao itoy ti kanemmi
a patinayon a aldao paavani
Information about the Iloko language
Iloko English Dictionary
Iloko Community Online
Iloko web portal - includes songs, fiction, poetry, riddles and a forum