Welcome to the University of Hawaii at Mānoa Ilokano Language, Culture, and Literature Program.
We also call ourselves simply as the UHM Ilokano Program.
This academic program of the university has been in existence since 1972. It has earned its permanent status as a degree-granting program in 2013.
In 2012, it celebrated its 40th year of service to the university community, to the state of Hawaii, and to the nation. It has served other international communities as well, with partnerships and collaborations with other institutions, individuals, and cultural workers outside the United States.
The UH Manoa Ilokano Program also maintains an alliance with the Nakem Conferences Philippines, a consortium of a number of academic institutions, local government units, and cultural agencies in the Philippines.
Native speakers of the Ilokano language in the Philippines account about 11% of the population, with about 2 million speaking it as a second language. Ilokano, popularly referred to as “the national language of Amianan” or “the lingua franca of Northern Philippines,” is also spoken in parts of Mindanao and in several Southern Tagalog Islands such as Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and Palawan. The Metropolitan Manila area has a huge number of Ilokano speaking residents. The Cebu Province in the Visayas has also a sizeable number of Ilokano speakers. In the diaspora, Ilokanos brought with them their language and hence, the huge number of Ilokano speakers in Guam, Alaska, California, Washington, Hawaii, Texas, New York, Nevada, and New Jersey, all in the United States. In other parts of the world, a huge number of Ilokano speakers are found in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
In Hawaii, about 90% of the Philippine population are Ilokano, or Ilokano-descended, thus giving rise to the need for public, social, medical, juridical, and related services in Ilokano including interpretation and translation for the individuals regarded as limited English proficient. Ilokanos continue to Hawaii each year as permanent residents, or green card holder. The number, of about 4500 annually, constitutes between 85-90% of all approved immigrants to Hawaii per year.
Historically the language of the Philippine diaspora, Ilokano is now being used as a language of teaching and learning in the Philippines with the institution of the Mother Tongue-Based Mother Language Education. Plans are afoot to have Ilokano language and culture included as part of the general education requirements for a number of the academic institutions in the Amianan.
The UH Ilokano Program is the only degree-granting program in the world. Other Philippine universities, however, offer Ilokano as part of a coursework for a degree in other fields such as in literature, education, language studies, language teaching, and linguistics, comparative literature, and English studies.In Hawaii, Ilokano is taught as part of the University of Hawaii Maui College Certificate in Philippine Studies. Two large public high schools with a sizeable Ilokano population offer Ilokano as part of their world languages curriculum.The UH Mānoa Ilokano Program partners with a number of civic and cultural organizations in various projects and services to the community, including extension programs in community language education, cultural literacy and performances, and capacity building. The Program’s Nakem Conferences has evolved an international alliance that has been instrumental in the holding of several international conferences since 2006 and in the production and diffusion of knowledge on the Ilokano and Amianan peoples, in the Philippines and in the diaspora.
Ti mision ti Programa iti Lengguahe ken Literatura nga Ilokano ket ti pannakaited iti de-kalidad a pannakaisuro ti lengguahe, literatura, ken kultura nga Ilokano; ti pannakapartuat ken pannakaiburay kadagiti baro nga adal a mainaig iti Ilokano; ti panagpaay iti komunidad babaen ti pannakaited iti panagsanay, agtultuloy nga edukasion, ken aramid nga extension; ken ti pannakaitandudo, pannakaitan-ok, ken pannakapadur-as ti kannawidan dagiti Ilokano.
Ilokano or Iluko, one referred to as the “national language of the north” for its prominence in that hemisphere, is the chief regional language of Northern Luzon.
It is used by at least fifteen million native speakers in the Philippines. It ranks third, after Cebuano and Tagalog in number of native speakers, and is the language of the group of provinces originally referred to as the Ilocos Region (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Abra).
It is also widely spoken in the provinces of Isabela, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Nueva Vizcaya, and Nueva Ecija. In addition, it is the lingua franca of all the mountain provinces of Luzon. Speakers are also numerous in the towns of Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro. In the southern island of Mindanao, large enclaves of Ilokano speakers are found in Cotabato and Davao. In Manila, it is not usually nowadays to hear Ilokano spoken in public places.
Outside the Philippines, Ilokano is the native and ancestral language of the majority of the estimated seven million Filipinos, including approximately 85% of the Filipino population in Hawai’i.
A member of the Austronesian language family, Ilokano is closely related to other Philippine languages of Indonesia and Malaysia. It is less closely related to Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Samoan, and Tahitian, and Micronesian languages like Chamorro and Palauan, as well as the language of Madagascar, Malagasy.
Ilokano is the mother tongue of the majority of the people of the Philippines in Hawai’i, and the heritage language of most Filipinos in the United States. Thus, in recognition of the large Ilokano population in the State, the University of Hawai’i has supported the development of a full Ilokano Program that started in 1972. This move was in response to the community’s need for Ilokano language and culture-trained professionals in the areas of health, social and legal services, education, and commerce.
Ilokano has been, from its inception, one of the largest language programs in the UH Department of Indo-Pacific Languages & Literatures.
Apart from the need to fulfill the UH language requirements, its growth has also been fostered by the basic desire of students of Philippine ancestry to show pride in their Ilokano heritage, communicate with their parents and other members of the Ilokano community, and serve the Ilokanos who need help in various service areas using the Ilokano language.
Other students from the University take the Ilokano courses to fulfill their academic requirement, to pursue their interest in Philippine cultures and languages, or to gain multi-cultural competency by way of the Ilokano Program’s Indo-Pacific courses in Philippine drama, film, pop culture, and critical studies.
The University of Hawai’i has been recognized nationally as having one of the best and most extensive language programs in the United States, and Ilokano is one of the language programs that has given it prominence. Ilokano has placed the University in a unique position of being the main resource for Ilokano Studies, and the only institution in the world offering a Bachelor of Arts degree with a specialization in Ilokano, a minor, and a certificate.
Babaen iti daytoy a Web site, iyebkasmi ti gagarmi—dakami a mangbukbukel iti Programa ti Lengguahe ken Literatura nga Ilokano—a mangibaga kadakayo: Lumaemkayo, dumanonkayo!
Kabulon dayta a gagar ti maysa nga arapaap, nabiag ken mangbibiag kadatayo amin, datayo a mairanranud iti daytoy a nabiag ken sibibiag met laeng a kultura ken pagsasao iti Amianan a Filipinas: a sapay koma ta mabalinantayo nga irupir ti espasio a kukuatayo, ti espasio iti kultural a biagtayo iti uneg ken ruar ti Filipinas.
Kastoy ti bukodtayo a panagipapan iti daytoy nga espasio a dinappatantayo, binukatan kas kadagiti sinilong a masirsirmata laeng kadagiti rangrangkis ken kadagiti bakbakir ti biag tapno iti kasta, manipud kadagiti barukong dagitoy a rangrangkis ken bakbakir ket makapartuat, makapatanor, ken makabukeltayo iti maysa a komunidad dagiti Ilokano a ti nakem daytoy ket pudno a naigamer iti lagip ken laing ni Ilokano.
Iti kasta a wagas, saan laeng nga iti ili a nagtaudan dagiti naggapuantayo a puli ti maitag-ay no di ket mairaman dagiti nagkaadu a diasporiko a komunidad dagiti padatayo met laeng nga Ilokano ken dagiti in-inabo ni Ilokano iti ballasiw-taaw.
Ta daytoy ket maysa a banag a di mainsasaanan: a kadagiti diasporiko a komunidad dagiti Ilokano kadagiti lugar a nagkalkallautangan ket ti agtultuloy a pannakibalubal ni Ilokano, pannakibalubal a saan a kas karina, pannakibalubal a makasapul unay-unay iti pinget, andur, takneng, ken tured.
Kas met iti ili a naggapuan, adda dagiti karit iti panagirupir kadagiti naintaoan a kalintegan, kas iti kalintegan iti bukod a lengguahe ken iti bukod a kultura, kas iti kalintegan nga agbiag iti ballasiw-taaw a natalged—ken natalged gapu ta nga ibabaet dagita a pagsasao ken kultura dagiti di agmawmaw nga adal ken panirigan nga impatawid ti naggapuan a puli.
Umuna ditoy ti karit a masapul a sarangten. Daytoy ti karit a maigapu iti rekisito ti kultural ken lingguistiko a diversidad, ti diversidad a maysa nga arapaap a makasapul iti sustenido nga aksion tapno iti kasta ket maipatungpal dagiti amin a gandat a mainaig iti panangted iti hushusto a panagrespeto ken panangted iti panagilala iti lengguahetayo ken iti kultura a sabsabokenna.
Maikadua ti obligasiontayo a moral a mangiseguro iti nagan ti masakbayan ken iti nagan dagiti sumaruno a kaputotan a daytoy a pagsasao, a daytoy a lengguahe, ken daytoy a kinaasinno ni Ilokano nga idatdaton ti lengguahe ken kulturana ket ni kaano man ket dinto maungaw, dinto mapukaw, dinto maipadpadisi.
Ngarud, iti daytoy a Web site, makitayo dagiti aktividad ti Programa—aktividad a mangitan-ok iti kina-Ilokano.
Masaksianyo kadagitoy a panid ti ar-aramiden ti Programatayo ditoy nga Universidad tapno magabenanna nga ipatungpal ti mandatona a saan laeng nga aggapu iti Estado ti Hawai’i no ket aggapu met a mismo kadagiti nagkaadu a komunidad dagiti Ilokano iti intero a lubong.
Ngamin ta ni Ilokano ket saan laengen nga iti Ilocos—iti Filipinas—a masarakan.
Ngamin ta ni Ilokano—iti laksid ken maigapu iti kina-Ilokanona—ket siudadano met iti lubong ken iti universo.
Lumaemkayo ngarud, pagpatgenmi a gagayyem, dakayo a mamati kadagiti aramidtayo a mangipaneknek a nasken ken rumbeng laeng nga ilalaen ti pagsasao ken kultura nga Ilokano.
Dumanonkayo, kakabsat, iti daytoy nanumo a taeng ti Programa, tapno babaen ti ilalaemyo ken isasangbayyo ket masaksianyo nga awan ngatan ti mas naim-impanawanen a pannakidangadang iti nagan ti kina-Ilokano no ni kadagitoy a tiempo.
Itedmi kadakayo ti naimpusuan a panagyaman.
Siraraem,
Aurelio Solver Agcaoili
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