Alternate Names: Sambali, “Tina” (pej.), “Tina Sambal” (pej.)
Dialects: Iba, Masinloc, Santa Cruz. 70% intelligibility with Botolan ,.
Status Notes: De facto language of provincial identity in Zambales province.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 70,000 (2000 SIL), decreasing. 0 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 70,000.
Language Use: Youth start using it at work if they do not go on to higher education; little use among children. Not used around outsiders, but they like it when outsiders learn Sambal. All domains among adults. Oral use in local commerce, occasional use in religion and political campaigning. Some letter-writing. Adults. 100% also use Filipino [fil]. 30% also use Ilocano [ilo].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 98%. Literacy rate in L2: 98%. Orthography similar to Filipino. English and Filipino taught in school. Taught in primary schools, in Zambales. Poetry. Newspapers. Radio programs. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1999–2000.
Writing System: Latin
Nation of Origin: Philippines
Other Comments: Christian (Protestant).