Cebuano language

Cebuano
Sugbuanon
Bisaya, Sinugbuanon, Sinibuano, Binisayang Sugbuanon
Native to	Philippines
Region	entire Central Visayas and Negros Oriental, some parts of Eastern Visayas, northeastern parts of Negros Occidental, southern parts of Masbate, most parts of Mindanao
Ethnicity	Cebuano people
Native speakers	21 million (2007) 2nd-most-spoken language in the Philippines, after Tagalog
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Visayan Cebuano
Dialects	Standard Cebuano (Cebu province dialect) Urban Cebuano (Metro Cebu dialect) Negrense Cebuano Boholano Cebuano Leyteño Cebuano (Kana) Mindanao Cebuano Davaoeño Cebuano
Writing system	Latin (Cebuano alphabet) Cebuano Braille
Official status
Official language in	Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by	Visayan Academy of Arts and Letters
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ceb
ISO 639-3	ceb
Glottolog	cebu1242
Cebuano-speaking area in the Philippines

Cebuano, referred by most of its speakers as Bisaya or Binisaya (English: Visayan), is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people, mostly in Central Visayas, most of whom belong to the Bisaya ethnic group. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino languages.

It has the largest native language-speaking population of the Philippines despite not being taught formally in schools and universities. It is the lingua franca of the Central Visayas, Negros Oriental, some parts of Eastern Visayas region and most parts of Mindanao. The name Cebuano is derived from the island of Cebu, which is the urheimat or origin of the language. Cebuano is the prime language in Western Leyte, noticeably in Ormoc and other municipalities surrounding the city, though most of the residents in the area name the Cebuano language by their own demonyms such as "Ormocanon" in Ormoc and "Albuerahanon" in Albuera. Cebuano is given the ISO 639-2 three letter code ceb, but has no ISO 639-1 two-letter code.

History

Cebuano, or its ancestor language, has been spoken since the Proto-Austronesian era (c. 6000 years ago) in the Sugbu (Cebu) heartland. The language "has spread from its base in Cebu" to nearby islands and also Bohol, eastern and northeastern Negros, western and southern parts of Leyte and northern, southern, and some western and eastern parts of Mindanao.

Cebuano was first documented by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian explorer who was part of Ferdinand Magellan's 1521 expedition. Spanish missionaries started to write in the language during the early 18th century, and as a result, Cebuano contains many words of Spanish origin.

While there is evidence of a pre-Spanish writing system for the language, its use appears to have been sporadic. Spaniards recorded the Visayan script which was called Kudlit-kabadlit by the natives. The colonists erroneously called the ancient Filipino script "Tagalog letters", regardless of the language for which it was used. This script died out by the 17th century as it was replaced by the Latin alphabet.

The language was heavily influenced by the Spanish language during the period of colonialism from 1521 to 1898. With the arrival of Spanish colonials, for example, a Latin-based writing system was introduced alongside a number of Spanish loanwords. The Spaniards also increased the amount of vowels from 3 to 5.

Distribution

Cebuano (popularly referred by many as Binisaya) is spoken on the island of Cebu and its 167 surrounding islands and islets, Bohol, Negros Oriental, western parts of Leyte, southern Masbate, the northeasternmost portion of Negros Occidental, Biliran, small parts of Samar and most parts of the second largest Philippine island of Mindanao. Furthermore, a "large portion of the urban population of Zamboanga, Davao, and Cotabato is Cebuano speaking". Some dialects of Cebuano/Binisaya have different names for the language. Ethnic groups of Cebuano speakers from Cebu are called "Cebuano", Cebuano speakers from Bohol are "Boholano/Bol-anon", while Cebuano speakers in Leyte identify their dialect as Kana (Leyte Cebuano or Leyteño). Speakers in Mindanao and Luzon refer to the language simply as Binisaya or Bisaya.

Terms

In common/everyday parlance, Bisaya is the term used to refer to Cebuano. Whenever a person or a language is called Bisaya, it is a common notion or it would immediately refer to Cebuano despite the fact that there are many languages in the Visayas which in general are called Visayan or Binisaya. Bisaya, therefore, is a generic word. It is used like the word Filipino; Cebuanos are Filipino, Tagalogs are Filipino, Ilocanos are Filipino, but not all Filipinos are Cebuano, not all Filipinos are Tagalog, not all Filipinos are Ilocano. Similarly, not all Bisaya are Cebuano, not all Bisaya are Ilonggo, not all Bisaya are Waray, but the Cebuanos, Ilonggos, Warays are Bisaya.

Cebuano applies to all speakers of vernaculars mutually intelligible with the vernaculars of Cebu, regardless of origin or location, as well as to the language they speak. This garnered objections. For example, generations of Cebuano speakers in northern Mindanao (Dipolog, Dapitan, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, coastal areas of Butuan) say that their ancestry traces back to Cebuano speakers native to their place and not from immigrants or settlers from the Visayas. Furthermore, they refer to themselves as Bisaya and not Cebuano, and their language as Binisaya. Many are surprised to learn that what they are speaking is really Cebuano.

Phonology

Main article: Abakada

Cebuano has 21 phonemes. There are 16 consonants: p, t, k, ʔ (the glottal stop), b, d, g, m, n, ng, s, h, w, l, r and y. There are five vowels: i, e, a, o and u.

Vowels

Below is the vowel system of Cebuano:

Table of vowel phonemes of Standard Cebuano

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	ɛ		o
Open		a

• /a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English "father".
• /ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to English "bed".
• /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine".
• /o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English "forty".
• /u/ a close back unrounded vowel similar to English "flute".

During the precolonial and Spanish period, Cebuano had three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/ and /u/. This was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish entries. The vowels o and u are still mostly allophones, however, with u always being used when it is the beginning of a syllable and o always used when it ends a syllable. But there are some exceptions, like kamatuoran (truth) and hangtúd (until). "E" originally appeared only in a few words, such as "babaye" (girl/woman), "dayeg" (praise, compliment), "parayeg" (loving), and "pangadye" (prayer), and only in last syllables, as "E" was mostly an allophone of "I" in final syllables. Under the influence of Spanish, more words with e have been added with the introduction of loanwords.

Consonants

For Cebuano consonants, all the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

Below is a chart of Cebuano consonants.:

	Bilabial		Dental		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m		n̪				ŋ
Stop	p	b	t̪	d̪			k	g	ʔ
Fricative			s̪						h
Approximant (Lateral)						j		w
				l̪
Flap				ɾ̪

Stress

Stress accent is phonemic, so that dápit means "place", while dapit means "invite". Consonants [d] and [ɾ] were once allophones, but cannot interchange. Thus kabungturan (uplands) [from bungtód, mountain] is correct but not *kabungtudan, and tagadihá (from there) [from dihá, there] is correct but not *tagarihá.

Vocabulary

Cebuano is a member of the Borneo–Philippine languages. Early trade contact resulted in a large number of older loan words from other languages in Cebuano, like Sanskrit (e.g. sangka, "fight" and bahandi, "wealth", from Sanskrit sanka and bhānda respectively), and Arabic (e.g. salámat, "thanks"; hukom or hukm, "judge").

It has also been influenced by thousands of words from Spanish, such as kurus [cruz] (cross), swerte [suerte] ("luck"), gwapa [guapa], ("beautiful"), merkado [mercado] ("market") and brilyante [brillante] ("brilliant"). It has several hundred loan words from English as well, which are altered to conform to the limited phonemic inventory of Cebuano: brislit (bracelet), hayskul (high school), syápin (shopping) and dráyber (driver). However, today, it's more common for Cebuanos to spell out those words in its original English term than the terms that might conform to Cebuano standards.

Phrases

A few common phrases in Cebuano include:

• Who are they? - Kinsa sila?
• How are you? - Kumusta ka(sing.)?, Kumusta kamo(pl.)? (Unsa may imong(sing.) kahimtang?, Unsa may inyong(pl.) kahimtamg?
• Good morning - Maayong buntag
• Good afternoon - Maayong hapon
• Good evening - Maayong gabii
• Good bye - Ayoayo (formal), Adios (rare), Babay (informal, corruption of "Goodbye"), Amping ("Take care"), Hangtud sa sunod ("Until next time")
• Thank you - Salamat nimo(sing.), salamat ninyo(pl.)
• Where are you from? - Taga diin ka(sing.)?, taga diin mo(pl.)?
• How do you say... in Cebuano? - Unsaun pagsulti sa ... sa Sinugbuanon/Binisaya?
• How do I get to ...? - Unsaon naku pag-adto sa...?
• Do you understand? - Nakasabut ka(sing.)?, Nakasabut mo(pl.)?
• How is the weather? - Kumusta ang panahon?
• What is that? - Unsa kana?
• What time is it? - Unsa nang orasa?/Unsang orasa na?
• Stop it - Hunonga kana
• Don't - Ayaw
• Yes - Oo
• No - Dili ("no", used for future tense), Wala ("nothing, the absence of", used for past and progressive tenses)
• Okay - Sige, Patek
• Great - Ngilngig, Kuyaw
• Oh! (Interjection) - "Oy!", Hala!, Sus! (shortened form of Hesus!, roughly equivalent to English interjections "Sheesh", "Christ!", and "Jesus!"),

Dialects

Cebuano can vary significantly depending on where it is spoken, particularly in the preference of vowel allophones or consonants. Words like kalayo ("fire") can become kalajo or kajo in some regions. "Hard" forms of vowels (called Gahì) are also preferred in some areas. For example, /o/ or /ɛ/ sounds in some areas can become /u/ or /i/ sounds in others.

Urban Cebuano dialect spoken by people in Metro Cebu has the distinction in shortening phrases and words. Examples of which are Wala'y problema ("no problem") becomes way blema and ayaw sige og pinamaayo diha ("don't act as if you know everything") becomes ay sig pinamaay diha. They also possess the distinction of using the tag question ’sa? ("right?") instead of ’no?. Another distinction is the use of the word suol ("relapse") instead of the standard tukar.

Colloquialisms can also be used to determine the regional origin of the speaker. Cebuano-speaking people from Cagayan de Oro, for example, say "chada" or tsada/patsada (roughly translated to the English colloquialism "awesome") and people from Davao City say "atchup" which also translated to the same English context; meanwhile Cebuanos from Cebu on the other hand say nindot or, sometimes, anindot. However, this word is also commonly used in the same context in other Cebuano-speaking regions, in effect making this word not only limited in use to Cebu.

Increasing usage of spoken English (being the primary language of commerce and education in the Philippines) has led to the introduction of new pronunciations and spellings of old Cebuano words. /dʒ/ now routinely replace /dj/ sounds, /tʃ/ for /ts/, etc. Code-switching forms of English and Bisaya (Bislish) are also common among the educated younger generations.

There are five main dialectal groups within Cebuano aside from the Standard Cebuano (Cebu province dialect) and Urban Cebuano (Metro Cebu dialect). They are as follows:

Boholano Cebuano

The Boholano dialect of Bohol shares many similarities with the southern form of the standard Cebuano dialect. It is also spoken in some parts of Siquijor. Boholano, especially as spoken in central Bohol, can be distinguished from other Cebuano variants by a few phonetic changes:

• The semivowel y is pronounced [dʒ]: iya is pronounced [iˈdʒa];
• Ako is pronounced as [aˈho];
• Intervocalic l is occasionally pronounced as [w] when following u or o: kulang is pronounced as [ˈkuwaŋ] (the same as Cebu City dialect).

Leyteño Cebuano

Southern Kana

Southern Kana is a dialect of southern Leyte and in Southern Leyte; it is closest to the Mindanao Cebuano dialect at the southern area and northern Cebu dialect at the northern boundaries. Both North and South Kana are subgroups of Leyteño dialect. Both of these dialects are spoken in western and central Leyte and in the southern province, but the Boholano is more concentrated in Maasin City.

Speakers of these two dialects can be distinguished by their distinctive modification of /j/ into /dʒ/, as in the words ayaw (don't) is turned into ajaw; dayon (come in) - dajun; bayad(pay) -bajad. Like the Mindanao dialects, they are notable for their usage of a vocabulary containing archaic longer words like kalatkat ("climb") instead of katkat.

Southern Kana can be further distinguished from Boholano by slight vocabulary differences, such as arang ("very") for northern kana hastang and standard dialect kaayo.

In South Kana, there are some words that are influences from Waray-waray and used in everyday conversations. For example, luto in place of kan-on (rice), suoy in place of suka (vinegar), kaunan in place of kan-anan (dining room), tamsi in place of langgam (bird, but in Hiligaynon tamsi means snake), and bungto in place of lungsod (town or municipality).

Northern Kana

North Kana (found in the northern part of Leyte), is closest to the variety of the language spoken in northern part of Leyte, and shows significant influence from Waray-Waray, quite notably in its pace which speakers from Cebu find very fast, and its more mellow tone (compared to the urban Cebu City dialect, which Kana speakers find "rough"). A distinguishing feature of this dialect is the reduction of /A/ prominent, but an often unnoticed feature of this dialect is the labialisation of /n/ and /ŋ/ into /m/, when these phonemes come before /p/ /b/ and /m/, velarisation of /m/ and /n/ into /ŋ/ before /k/ /g/ and /ŋ/, and the dentalisation of /ŋ/ and /m/ into /n/ before /t/, /d/ and /n/ and sometimes, before vowels and other consonants as well.

The Northern Kana dialect generally contains less /l/ sounds than standard Cebuano. In between vowels /l/ is removed, and depending on what vowel chain follows, it may create a long vowel or have /y/ or /w/ take its place. (Elision)

For example: balud ("wave") becomes baōd or bawod; balay ("house") becomes bāy; ulo ("head") becomes ū or o. Aside from /l/ elision, /l/ may also change to either the alveolar flap /ɽ/ or the velar flap /ɾ/.

There may be slight vocabulary differences and shortened words like the use of āga for buntag (morning), ika for ikaw ("you"), and mā or mana for mga (plural subject marker). The prefixes hing- and ning- are also used in place of the standard ming-/mi- in Cebuano.

Some words also hold different meanings, like how the word "ramāw"/"lamāw" refers to the meat of young coconut suspended in either coconut juice or sugared milk in N. Kana; while in Standard Cebuano, "lamāw" means "rice leftovers", which is "bahāw" in S. Kana and Mindanao Cebuano.

Aside from that, there are also very rare alternate shortenings of phrases, such as saze instead of sas for asa si.

Sample Kana words and prefixes and their equivalents in standard Cebuano: (Some of these words may have originated in Waray-Waray and have their Waray-Waray equivalents included.)

Sugbu	Kana	Waray	English
Kan-on	Luto	Lutô	Rice
Kini	Kiri/kini	Ini	This
Kana	Kara'/kana	Iton	That
Dinhi/Diri	ari/dinhi/diri	Didi/Ngadi/Aadi/Dinhi	Here
Diha/Dinha	Dira/diha/dinha	Dida/Ngada/Aada	There
Bas/Balas	Bas/Balas	Baras	Soil/Sand
Alsa	Arsa	Alsa	To lift
Bulsa	Bursa	Bulsa	Pocket

Mindanao Cebuano

The Cebuano dialect in Mindanao is a unique blending of several dialects and other languages like Waray-waray, Hiligaynon, and Tagalog. It is distinctive in retaining /l/ sounds and longer word forms, long since considered archaic in northern Cebuano dialects. For example: bulan instead of buwan ("moon" or "month"), hulam instead of huwam ("borrow"), dula instead of duwa ("play"), dalunggan instead of dunggan (ear), halang instead of hang ("spicy") and the occasional lamang instead of lang or ra ("only").

In some instances, bulig can be heard or read in some signs, prayers, and public speeches thus it is used in place of tabang. Both of these words means "help". Although the former is Hiligaynon and Waray-waray, it is also in Cebuano vocabulary, but the latter is more frequent.

Davaoeño Cebuano

Not to be confused with Chavacano language.

The Cebuano dialectal variant in Davao is also known as Davaoeño, not the Davao variant of Chavacano. Like the Cebuano-speakers of Luzon (Luzon Cebuano dialect), it contains some Tagalog vocabulary, though to a lesser extent. Its grammar is somewhat in between the original Cebuano language and the Luzon Cebuano dialect.

For example: Ninaug ko sa dyip sa kanto, tapos miuli ko sa among balay ("I got off the jeepney at the street corner, and then I went home") instead of Ninaug ko sa dyip sa kanto, dayon miuli ko sa among balay. The words tapos and dayon mean "then"; the former is Tagalog, and the latter Cebuano. It also sometimes add some Bagobo and Mansakan vocabulary, like: Madayaw nga adlaw, amigo, kamusta ka? ("Good day, friend, how are you?", literally "Good morning/afternoon") rather than "Maayo nga adlaw, amigo, kamusta ka?" The words madayaw and maayo mean "good"; the former is Bagobo, and the latter Cebuano.

Negrense Cebuano

The Cebuano dialect in Negros is somewhat similar to the Standard Cebuano (spoken by the majority of the provincial areas of Cebu) and Mindanao Cebuano, with distinct Hiligaynon influences. It is distinctive in retaining /l/ sounds and longer word forms as well. It is the primary dialectal language of the entire province of Negros Oriental, as well as the northeastern most parts of Negros Occidental (while the majority of the province speaks Hiligaynon or popularly known as Ilonggo) and some parts of Siquijor. Examples of Negrense Cebuano's distinction from other dialects is the usage of the word maot instead of bati ("ugly") and kabalo/kahibalo or kaantigo instead of kabaw/kahibaw ("know").

Other dialects

Luzon Cebuano

There is no specific Luzon dialect, as speakers of Cebuano in Luzon come from many different regions in Central Visayas and Mindanao. Cebuano-speaking people from Luzon in the Visayas can be easily recognized primarily by their vocabulary which incorporates Tagalog words. Their accents and some aspects of grammar can also sometimes exhibit Tagalog influence. The dialect is sometimes colloquially known as "Tagbis" (a portmanteau of Tagalog and Binisaya).

See also

• Cebuano grammar
• Cebuano literature
• Cebuano Wikipedia

External links

• Cebuano Dictionary
• Cebuano English Searchable Dictionary
• John U. Wolff, A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan: Volume I, Volume II, searchable interface, Downloadable text at Project Gutenberg
• Ang Dila Natong Bisaya
• Lagda Sa Espeling Rules of Spelling (Cebuano)
• Language Links.org - Philippine Languages to the world - Cebuano Lessons
• Language Links.org - Philippine Languages to the World
• Online E-book of Spanish-Cebuano Dictionary, published in 1898 by Fr. Felix Guillén
• Cebuano dictionary