Jacome-Portugal, Dominga Lagrimas
n. prop. personal name; scholar; author; Boie’nen heritage figure

A native-born Boie’nen educator, writer, publisher, and language advocate best remembered as the author of Buhi Dialect (Boînen) (2000), a 160-page work that remains one of the earliest and most extensive published lexical and phonological studies of the Boie’nen language. Her work preserved forms, meanings, pronunciations, and cultural memory at a time when older Boie’nen speech was already being pressured by language convergence.

Dr. Portugal also published the Hometown Magazine the maiden issue of which was rolled out in January–March 1999, a community-centered publication linking Buhi, overseas workers, friendship networks, and Boie’nen identity.

Cultural note:
Portugal’s work stands as a bridge between memory and documentation: from spoken Boie’nen heritage to printed record. Her Boînen book became one of the foundation stones for later Boie’nen dictionary and orthography-work advocacy of Alfonso Alexander Tayag Claveria.

Source: Portugal, Dominga L. J. Buhi Dialect (Boînen). San Francisco: D. J. Portugal Publications, 2000.