The Central Luzon Group of Languages

The Central Luzon microgroup of Philippine languages is composed of Kapam-pangan, Sinauna, the three major dialects of Sambal, and the Ayta languages spoken in and around the Zambales Mountains in Zambales, Pampanga, and Bataan provinces. A defining phonological feature of this group is the regular /y/ reflex of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *R. The languages and dialects in question also share similar pronoun sets and a number of lexical and other innovations. The Northern Mangyan and Bashiic languages also reflect *R as /y/. The former group probably clusters with Central Luzon, but the Bashiic languages lack substantial sharing of innovative items with Central Luzon.