Botolan is a Sambalic language spoken by 32,867 (SIL 2000) Sambal, primarily in the Zambal municipalities of Botolan and Cabangan in the Philippines. Language status is 5 (developing).
The Ayta people of sitio Villar, Botolan, and sitio Kakilingan, Santa Fe, Cabangan also speak a Botolan dialect with some unique lexical items.
Ethnologue reports Ayta Hambali (Hambali Botolan), Sambali Botolan as dialects of Sambal Botolan. Among themselves, Ayta Hambali reportedly use some words that are similar to Ayta, Mag-Anchi.
Botolan has 20 phonemes: 16 consonants and four vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel.
Botolan has four vowels. They are:
There are five main diphthongs: , , , /ij/, and .
Below is a chart of Botolan consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.
Note: Consonants and can sometimes interchange as they were once allophones.
Stress is phonemic in Botolan. Word stress is very important; it differentiates homonyms, e.g. ('I') and ('elbow').
Many words pronounced with and in Tagalog have and , respectively, in their cognates in Botolan. Compare and with the Tagalog and .
Below is a translation in Botolan of the Philippine national proverb "He who does not acknowledge his beginnings will not reach his destination," followed by the original in Tagalog.