Gaʼdang language should not be confused with Gaddang language.
| Gaʼdang | |
| Also Known As: | Gaddang |
| States: | Philippines |
| Region: | Luzon |
| Speakers: | 6,000 |
| Ethnicity: | Gaddang people |
| Date: | 2002 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Austronesian |
| Fam2: | Malayo-Polynesian |
| Fam3: | Philippine |
| Fam4: | Northern Luzon |
| Fam5: | Northern Cordilleran |
| Iso3: | gdg |
| Glotto: | gada1258 |
| Glottorefname: | Gaʼdang |
| Map: | Ga'dang_language_map.png |
| Mapcaption: | Area where Gaʼdang language is spoken according to Ethnologue maps |
Gaʼdang is an Austronesian dialect spoken in Northern Luzon, Philippines particularly in Paracelis, Mountain Province, Luzon; Potia, Ifugao Province; and Tabuk, Kalinga Province. There are some residents of speakers in Aurora and Nueva Vizcaya. Many Ga'dang speakers speak Ilocano as their second language.
The Ga'dang language is related to Ibanag, Itawis, Malaueg and others. It is distinct in that it features phonemes not present in many neighboring Philippine languages. As an example, the "f", "v", "z" and "j" sounds appear in Ga'dang. There are notable differences from other languages in the distinction between "r" and "l" (and between "r" and "d"), and the "f" sound is a voiceless bilabial fricative somewhat distinct from the fortified "p" sound common in many Philippine languages (but not much closer to the English voiceless labiodental fricative). Finally, the (Spanish) minimally-voiced "J" sound has evolved to a plosive (so the name Joseph sounds to the American ear as Kosip).
Most Ga'dang speakers use six vowel sounds: pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //i//, pronounced as //u//, pronounced as //ɛ//, pronounced as //o//, pronounced as //ɯ//
Ga'dang features doubled consonants, so the language may sound guttural to Tagalog, Ilokano, and even Pangasinan speakers. The uniqueness of this circumstance is often expressed by saying Ga'dang speakers have "a hard tongue". For example: (tood-duh). which means rice.
Ga'dang is also one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from pronounced as /[ɾ]/-pronounced as /[d]/ allophony.