Editing Ivatan language (section)

== Introduction ==
Ivatan is especially characterized by its words, which mostly have the letter ''v'', as in {{Lang|ivv|vakul}}, {{Lang|ivv|Ivatan}}, and {{Lang|ivv|valuga}}. While related to the Northern Philippine group of languages, Ivatan, having been isolated, is most close to the two other members of the Bashiic sub-group of languages, [[Yami language|Yami]] (Tao) and [[Itbayat language|Itbayat]], neither of which is indigenous to Luzon. Ibatan dialect, spoken on the nearby Babuyan group of islands, is so similar to Ivatan that it is not entirely clear whether it should be classified as a dialect of Ivatan or a separate language, though each does receive its own code in ISO taxonomy.

Ivatan has two dialects; Basco Ivatan, more commonly known as '''Ivasay''', spoken on the main island of Batan, and Southern Ivatan or '''Isamurung''', spoken on the southern half of Batan and on the most southern island, Sabtang.<ref name="Ross"/>