Mamanwa is a grammatically conservative language, retaining a three-way deictic distinction in its articles which elsewhere is only preserved in some of the
Batanic languages.[2][3]
Before the arrival of Mamanwa speakers in central
Samar Island, there had been an earlier group of
Negritos on the island.[4] According to
Lobel (2013), the Samar Agta may have switched to
Waray or Northern Samarenyo, or possibly even Mamanwa.
In addition to this, Francisco Combes, a Spanish friar, had observed the presence of Negritos in the
Zamboanga Peninsula "in the
Misamis strip" in 1645, although no linguistic data had ever been collected.[5]