Those who claim to speak Ct are those who belong to the old families of the original capital of the Province of Cotabato which is now Cotabato City proper. What is considered as the speech community of Ct includes the immediate geographical environs which extend to Tamontaka, the river población and the first Christian settlement of the province (founded early 19th C) as well as the old bay poblaciones of Parang (1854) and its neighbor, Polloc Point, the old minor Spanish naval station.
It is difficult to ascertain the number of Ct speakers today. In the 1969 Philippine Census which claimed the total Cotabato population as 1,029,119, there were only 7,102 Chabacano speakers. In 1970, the total population rose to 1,136,007 with only 4,983 reported Chabacano speakers.³
In this connection, a rough estimate of three generations of typical Ct family was made.[4] Assuming that the first generation had 100% Ct speakers, the second had only 98.9%; and the thirst generation had an abrupt drop with only 20.92% Ct speakers. The third generation represents the children born within the period of the past twenty years.
Although the number of Ct speakers tapers to an evident reduction or near extinction, there are living informants between the ages of 73 and 80 who claim that Ct had always been their language at home. They further claim that they had always spoken Ct with their elders as far as they can remember.[5]
Tr=Ternate Chabacano Cv=Cavite Chabacano Zm=Zamboanga Chabacano Ct=Cotabato Chabacano
³ I believe that the methodology employed by the Bureau of Census and Statistics is not adequate to reflect the authentic statistical variables. In the more than 25 years as a Religious for instance, I never knew of any census team coming to the convent to gather such information and other pertinent data on what language the citizens speak. [get back]
[4] The study was made of my own family for a paper entitled, "The Segmental Phonemes of Ct" (Typescript, Manila, 1972-73)
The following is a table of the three-generation sampling. I belong to the second generation of Ct native speakers.
THREE GENERATION SAMPLING OF CT NATIVE SPEAKERS
Generation | Population | Ct Speaker | Percentage | Non-Ct Speakers | % | Total
First | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 100%
Second | 43 | 39 | 98.9%| 4 | 1.1%| 100%
Third | 67 | 14 | 20.92% | 53 | 79.08%| 100%
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[5] This was a result of a series of personal interview made in August 1973 at Cotabato City and Tamontaka, Cotabato. Seven of the interviews were recorded. [ get back ]