The Maranao Alphabet

Maranao is a major Philippine language ^[1] with approximately 1.8 million speakers in the Lake Lanao region of Mindanao, Philippines. The language takes its name from the Maranao people, meaning "people of the lake" (ma-ranao, from ranao = lake), reflecting their deep connection to Lake Lanao — the second-largest lake in the Philippines. The Lake Lanao region spans Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces, and the city of Marawi is the cultural and Islamic center of the Maranao people.

The Maranao are one of the major Bangsamoro peoples of the Philippines. They have a distinguished Islamic tradition dating from the arrival of Islam in the Lake Lanao region in the 15th century. Maranao culture is renowned for its sophisticated traditional arts, particularly the Okir (or Ukkil) art form — intricate curvilinear designs in wood carving, metal work, and weaving that are recognized as among the most refined decorative arts in Southeast Asia. The Maranao also have a rich musical tradition centred on the kulintang ensemble — a set of gong instruments that produce complex interlocking rhythmic patterns.

The Darangen is the great epic poem of the Maranao people ^[1], recognised by UNESCO in 2005 as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Darangen is an extraordinary narrative poem of immense length — when written out, it spans multiple volumes — and tells stories of heroes, romance, adventure, and supernatural encounters. It predates the Islamisation of the Maranao people and represents an ancient oral literary tradition that has been preserved through centuries of performance by specialised singers.

The Darangen is traditionally performed at ceremonies and celebrations, with performance specialists (called bayok singers) chanting the epic in a distinctive melodic style. The chanting of the Darangen is a specialised art requiring years of training to master the complex melody, language, and narrative. The epic contains pre-Islamic mythology and cosmology, as well as stories that reflect the historical development of Maranao society. Its recognition by UNESCO has stimulated efforts to document, preserve, and promote the Darangen within the Maranao community and to introduce it to wider audiences.

Maranao belongs to the Danao subgroup of Malayo-Polynesian Austronesian ^[2]. The Danao languages are a cluster of closely related languages spoken by Muslim peoples in Mindanao, including Maguindanao and Iranun in addition to Maranao. These languages form a well-defined subgroup within Philippine Austronesian. Despite the significant influence of Arabic through Islamic practice, the core grammatical structure of Maranao remains thoroughly Austronesian.

Like other Philippine Austronesian languages, Maranao features the Philippine focus/voice system where verb morphology marks the role of the grammatically prominent argument in a sentence. The language has a rich system of verbal affixation and uses word order and particles to express grammatical relationships. Reduplication is used for various grammatical and semantic purposes. Arabic loanwords are abundant in Maranao vocabulary, particularly for religious concepts, Islamic law, and cultural institutions, reflecting the deep integration of Islam into Maranao life and identity.

Maranao is primarily written in the Latin script ^[1] for everyday purposes including education, official documents, and modern media. The Latin alphabet for Maranao was developed through the work of linguists and educators during the American colonial period and has become the standard for modern written Maranao. In addition, an Arabic-derived script (related to Jawi, the Arabic-based script used for Malay) has been used for writing Maranao, particularly in Islamic religious contexts such as Quranic education (madrasa) and traditional literature.

The Islamic tradition means that Arabic literacy is significant in the Maranao community, as Arabic is the language of the Quran and of Islamic prayer and scholarship. Maranao Islamic schools (madrasas) teach both Arabic and Maranao, and many Maranao people learn to read and write Jawi-adapted script for religious purposes. The tension and complementarity between Latin script (for modern practical purposes) and Arabic-derived script (for religious and traditional contexts) reflects the dual cultural heritage of the Maranao people as both indigenous Filipino Austronesians and members of the global Islamic community.

Maranao is a living and actively used language ^[2] with approximately 1.8 million speakers in the Lake Lanao region and diaspora communities. The language is taught in schools in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur under the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) programme in the Philippines. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), established in 2019, recognises indigenous Bangsamoro languages including Maranao as important parts of the region's cultural heritage.

Maranao faces challenges from Filipino and English, which dominate formal education and media across the Philippines. The Marawi Siege of 2017 caused massive displacement of the Maranao community and devastated Marawi City, creating significant disruptions to community life and language transmission. Recovery and rebuilding efforts have been ongoing. Despite these challenges, the Maranao community maintains a strong sense of cultural and linguistic identity, grounded in Islamic faith, the Darangen oral tradition, Okir arts, and the deep connection to Lake Lanao. Cultural organisations and academic institutions continue to document and promote the Maranao language and heritage.