In English, the language is primarily known as Tausug (i.e., Tausug language). The local name of the language is bahasa Sūg or Sinūg. The term Tausūg (tau Sūg, meaning "people of Sulu") is derived from two words: tau ("person") and Sūg[5]
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Tausūg is primarily spoken in the Sulu Archipelago, which aside from the island of Sulu, also includes the Tawi-Tawi chain of islands and the island of Basilan. It is a lingua franca spoken in different areas/islands of the archipelago.[8]
Tausūg has three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, /u/, with phonemic length (e.g. īpun, "shrimp" vs. ipun, "tooth"). Stress is not phonemic and usually occurs on the final syllable.[9]
The vowel phonemes have a broad range of allophones:[10]
/a/: [a,ɐ,ɑ]
/i/: [i,ɪ]
/u/: [u,ʊ,ɤ,ʌ,ə]
Tausūg has expectedly developed some variations in accent and vocabulary from one area to another, but there are two basic dialects characterized by differences with regard to vowel sounds. The "Gimbahanun" (literally means people from the farm) speakers, the residents of the out-of-town rural areas, use four vowels: /a/, /i/, /u/ and /ə/,[11] the last vowel representing schwa sound or "obscure u", a retention from Proto-Philippine and Proto-Bisayan. The "Parianun", the residents of the urban areas, use only three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, /u/,;[12] the loss of /ə/ is common in many Bisayan and other Philippine languages.
Tausūg is today primarily written using the Latin alphabet. Historically, it had previously been written using the Arabic alphabet. The script used was derived from Jawi used in writing the Malay language. The script is referred to as Sulat Sug
The Arabic script used to write Tausūg differs in some aspects from the script used for Arabic and in the Jawi script used for Malay.[15]
In Sulu, there is no separate letter for [g]. Whereas in Jawi, the sound [g] is represented with the letter غ (which has a pronunciation [ɣ] in Arabic) is reserved for Arabic loanwords, and sometimes the letter ݢ.
In Sulu, there is no differentiation between [f] and [p]. Whereas in Jawi, the letters ف and ڤ are used respectively, in Sulu the letter ف is used in all instances.
For the sound [ɲ] in the final position, in Sulu, the letter پ is used whereas in Malay Jawi, the letter ڽ is instead used. The letter پ is associated with the sound [p] in Persian and other scripts derived from Persian. In both Malay Jawi and Sulu the letter پـ/ڽـ is used in all other positions.
For the sound [k] in the final position, in Malay Jawi, the letter ک is used, having the same form as when in initial or medial positions. In Sulu, similar to Arabic, it is customary to use ك.
^The number of speakers in the Philippines is calculated from the reported number of households, based on an average household size of 5.9 persons in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as of 2020.[2]
^"Unu in ngān mu?" is a literal translation of Tagalog question "Ano ang pangalan mo?" (or "What is your name?" in English) but is not used by autochthonous Tausūg in day-to-day conversations. To use "Unu in ngān mu" is a glaring sign that the speaker is not a Tausug. "Siyu (or Hisiyu) in ngān mu?" is used for knowing the given or personal name, but to know other callings that are not personal, "Unu" is used, as in: "Unu in pagtawag kaymu ha bāy?" (What is your calling in the house?... "In pagtawag kāku' Bungsu, sabab aku in kabungsuhan." (My calling is Bungsu because I am the youngest); "Unu in ama' mu? Siyu in ngān niya?" (What is your father? What is his name?)..."In ama' ku mangingista'. In ngān niya hi Abdulla." (My father is a fisherman. His name is Abdulla); [citation needed]
Suluk speakers in Malaysia (2013): Maraining, Amrullah; Othman, Zaini; Mohd Radzi, Marsitah; Abdul Rahim, Md Saffie (December 31, 2018). "Komuniti Suluk dan Persoalan Migrasi: 'Sirih Pulang ke Gagang'" [The Community of Sulu and the Issue of Migration]. Jurnal Kinabalu (in Malay). 24: 44. doi:10.51200/ejk.v24i.1678 (inactive July 1, 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
Soderberg, Craig and Ashley, Seymour A. and Olson, Kenneth S. (2012). "Tausug (Suluk)". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 42 (3): 361–364. doi:10.1017/S0025100312000230{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), with supplementary sound recordings.
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