This dissertation presents a study of patterns of speech in Western Subanon, as heard in areas of Mindanao, an island in the Philippines. An introductory section discusses relevant general issues in linguistic research and the present study. The relationships of language to linguistics and of language to society, the objectives of the study, the observer's role, and the population under investigation are discussed. Subsequent sections address: definition of formal speech situations (speech values and social requisites); characteristics of the speech situation, speech event, and speech act; a taxonomy of social and speech situations and some speech acts that occur in such situations; the speech situations and events typical of Western Subanon; the dynamics of interchange in this population (participant perceptions of the speech situation, turn-taking, beginnings and endings, back channel responses, and interruptions); the patterns of Western Subanon poetry; and poetic patterns in Western Subanon formal speech. Texts and translations of five significant events or speech acts are appended. Over 60 references are listed. (MSE)