Introduction

 

The Obo Manobo language of the Philippines, ISO code [obo], is spoken by about 20,000 monolinguals and 227,000 worldwide. They reside in the Davao and Soccsksargen regions: northeast slope of Mount Apo, between Davao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces as well as major cities.

The language is classified as Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Greater Central Philippine, Manobo, Central, South, Obo. There are four dialects: Kidapawan Manobo, Magpet Manobo, Arakan Manobo, Marilog. Alternate names for the language are Bagobo, Kidapawan Manobo, Manuvu’, and Obo Bagobo.

Obo Manobo has some similarity to Tigwa (Matigsalug Manobo [mbt], Tagabawa [bgs], Tagabawa [bgs], Ilianen Manobo [mbi], and Cebuano [ceb].

Speakers of Obo Manobo highly value their language and use it at home, in school, in the market and in religious settings. There are three primary schools and one secondary school in which Obo Manobo is taught. Both written and oral forms of the language are used, including videos and radio programs.