RE: I’ve never heard of the Hawaiian language Ilocano. What is that?
It’s not a Hawaiian language. It’s a Philippine dialect spoken in the North of that country. Most Filipino immigrants to Hawaii are Ilocano (nearly 23% of Hawaii’s population is from the Philippines with a huge proportion of that being Ilocanos ).
Thanks. Didn’t know that. My daughter worked in the tourism industry in Honolulu for four years. Her coworkers were a wonderful mix of people from all over the Pacific and a large number of Filipinos. The Pacific Islander culture was a joy.
There are many regional dialects in the Philippines, over 150 of them.. Many people can not speak any other than their own, making it difficult to have a unified country.
The government has made Tagalog/Pilipino the National language. This has met with resistance in local areas people who resist being told to speak Tagalog, which is the dialect of the Manila area, rather than their own.
The residents of the individual islands or districts have their own cultural identity and are proud of that. Many island/districts, have been labeled, by other Filipinos, with reputations associated with a unique character of their local culture.
The Ilocanos, who live in northern Luzon, have a reputation of being “frugal” or “parsimonious”,
Or, as said in the Philippines, to have “deep pockets and short arms”.