LEXICAL INNOVATIONS, VIEWPOINT AND SENTIENT PRESENTATION IN THE ILOKANO HUMOROUS STORIES OF ROLANDO A. SEGURO, JR. Joel B. Manuel, Ph.D. in Linguistics May 27, 2018 ABSTRACT: The study of authorial styles has emerged as one of the offshoots of formalistic criticism. Although it is popular for quite some time in the international arena of formalistic research, stylistic analyses of Ilokano pieces is relatively new. The field of stylistic research in Ilokano literature is an exciting yet rarefied field, as do Ilokano literary criticism in general. This research in particular targets some seven short fictional pieces of contemporary Ilokano author, Rolando A. Seguro, Jr. It specifically studies the point of view in the macro and the microlevel. Macrolevel point of view outlines and evaluates the latent orchestrating mechanism that tells a piece of fiction. Microlevel point of view identifies and targets the authorial devices that denote and signifies the point of view in the linguistic level. Presentation concerns itself with dishing out thoughts, speeches and dialogues in the fictional piece. This research found out that the fictional pieces demonstrates the salient macrolevel point of view in different gradations and numerous devices had been employed at the linguistic level to aid in storytelling. Likewise, a variety of presentation of thought, actions and speech was identified. Moreover, some lexical innovations had been revealed so far. These devices present a window into the stylistic devices of Ilokano fiction, notably that of the humorous short story. INTRODUCTION Literary criticism is a rarefied field in Ilokano literature. This is evident in the fact that the Bannawag, the foremost literary magazine for Ilokanos, carries no such type of writing in its pages. Reynaldo Duque and Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr. echoes the lack of legitimate critics in Ilokano literature. Ilokano literature has had a long critical history, however. Leopoldo Yabes, a longtime academic and chairman of the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines was known as the scholar who introduced Ilokano literature to the world. Marcelino Foronda, a professor at the De La Salle University continued the tradition of Ilokano literary history which was continued by Prof. Mario Rosal and Prof. Noemi Ulep Rosal, both of UP. Foremost among the critics of Ilokano literature today are Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili, professor and chair of Ilokano studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa and Dr. Roderick Galam who is based in the European Union. These critics are joined by graduate students and academics who had produced their theses and dissertations on critical analyses of pieces of Ilokano writing. If Ilokano criticism is nil in general, stylistic analysis would even be thinner. As such, an analysis on the style of Ilokano writing would always be a welcome addition to the sparse volumes of analyses conducted on Ilokano writing.