Languages of the Philippines

See also: Philippine languages

Languages of the Philippines
Map of the dominant ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines.
Official	Filipino (Tagalog), English
Regional	Bicol, Sama-Bajaw, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Pangasinan, Surigaonon, Tausug, Waray-Waray & Zamboangueño
Foreign	Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Malay
Signed	Philippine Sign Language
Keyboard layout	QWERTY

Language map of the 12 recognized auxiliary languages based on Ethnologue maps.

There are some 120 to 175 languages in the Philippines, depending on the method of classification. Four others are no longer spoken. Almost all are classified as Malayo-Polynesian languages, while one, Chavacano, is a Creole derived from a Romance language. Two are official, while (as of 2010) twelve are official auxiliary languages.

National and official languages

Spanish was the national and official language of the country for more than three centuries under Spanish colonial rule, and became the lingua franca of the Philippines in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1863 a Spanish decree introduced universal education, creating free public schooling in Spanish. It was also the language of the Philippine Revolution, and the 1899 Malolos Constitution effectively proclaimed it as the official language of the First Philippine Republic. National hero José Rizal wrote most of his works in Spanish. Luciano de la Rosa established that Spanish was spoken by a total of 60% of the population in the early 20th century as a first, second or third language. Following the American occupation of the Philippines and the imposition of English, the use of Spanish declined gradually, especially after the 1940s.

Under the U.S. occupation and civil regime, English began to be taught in schools. By 1901, public education used English as the medium of instruction. Around 600 educators (called "Thomasites") who arrived in that year aboard the USAT Thomas replaced the soldiers who also functioned as teachers. The 1935 Constitution added English as an official language alongside Spanish. A provision in this constitution also called for Congress to "take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages." On November 12, 1937, the First National Assembly created the National Language Institute. President Manuel L. Quezón appointed native Waray-Waray speaker Jaime C. De Veyra to chair a committee of speakers of other regional languages. Their aim was to select a national language among the other regional languages. Ultimately, Tagalog was chosen as the base language December 30, 1937.

In 1939, President Manuel L. Quezón renamed the Tagalog language as Wikang Pambansa ("national language" in English translation). The language was further renamed in 1959 as Pilipino by Secretary of Education Jose Romero. The 1973 constitution declared the Pilipino language to be co-official, along with English, and mandated the development of a national language, to be known as Filipino. In addition, Spanish regained its official status when President Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 155, s. 1973.

The present constitution, ratified in 1987, designates Filipino and English as joint official languages. Filipino also had the distinction of being a national language that was to be "developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages." Although not explicitly stated in the constitution, Filipino is in practice almost completely composed of the Tagalog language as spoken in the capital, Manila; however, organizations such as the University of the Philippines began publishing dictionaries such as the UP Diksyonaryong Filipino in which words from various Philippine languages were also included. The constitution also made mention of Spanish and Arabic, both of which are to be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.

Filipino is an official language of education and also the major language of the broadcast media and cinema, but less important than English as a language of publication (except in some domains, like comic books, which are meant to speak directly to the Filipino psyche) and less important for academic-scientific-technological discourse. Filipino is used as a lingua franca in all regions of the Philippines as well as within overseas Filipino communities, and is the dominant language of the armed forces (except perhaps for the small part of the commissioned officer corps from wealthy or upper-middle-class families) and of a large part of the civil service, most of whom are non-Tagalogs.

There are different forms of diglossia that exist in the case of regional languages. Locals may use their mother tongue or the regional lingua franca to communicate amongst themselves, but sometimes switch to foreign languages when addressing outsiders. Another is the prevalence of code-switching to English when speaking in both their first language and Tagalog.

The Constitution of the Philippines provides for the use of the vernacular languages as official auxiliary languages in provinces where Filipino is not the lingua franca. This is however not implemented as Filipinos at large are polyglots. In the case where the vernacular language is a regional language, Filipinos would speak in Filipino when speaking in formal situations while the regional languages are spoken in non-formal settings. This is evident in major urban areas outside Metro Manila like Camarines Norte in the Bikol-speaking area, and Davao in the Cebuano-speaking area. Although the case of Ilocano and Cebuano are becoming more of bilingualism than diglossia due to the publication of materials written in these languages.

The diglossia is more evident in the case of other languages such as Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Bikol, Waray, Hiligaynon, Sambal, and Maranao, where the written variant of the language is becoming less and less popular to give way to the use of Filipino. Although Philippine laws consider some of these languages as "major languages" there is little, if any, support coming from the government to preserve these languages. This may be bound to change, however, given current policy trends.

There still exists another type of diglossia, which is between the regional languages and the minority languages. Here, we label the regional languages as acrolects while the minority languages as the basilect. In this case, the minority language is spoken only in very intimate circles, like the family or the tribe one belongs to. Outside this circle, one would speak in the prevalent regional language, while maintaining an adequate command of Filipino for formal situations. Unlike the case of the regional languages, these minority languages are always in danger of becoming extinct because of speakers favoring the more prevalent regional language. Moreover, most of the users of these languages are illiterate and as expected, there is a chance that these languages will no longer be revived due to lack of written records.

Indigenous languages

The languages that have the largest number of speakers in a particular region. Note that on regions marked with black diamonds, the language with the most number of speakers denotes a minority of the population.

According to Ethnologue, a total of 175 native languages are spoken in the country, on the other hand four languages have been classified as extinct: Dicamay Agta, Katabaga, Tayabas Ayta and Villaviciosa Agta. Except for English, Spanish, Hokkien (Lan-nang), Cantonese, Mandarin, and Chavacano, all of the languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language family.

Language family		No. of Languages
Philippine languages
	Bashiic	2
	Bilic	5
	Central Luzon	10
	Greater Central Philippines	89
	Kalamian	2
	North Mangyan	3
	Northern Luzon	54
	Sangiric	2
Greater Barito languages
	Sama-Bajaw	7
Spanish-based creole		1
Total		175

There are 13 indigenous languages with at least one million native speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Bikol, Albay Bikol, Pangasinan, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a, and Tausug. One or more of these is spoken natively by more than 90% of the population.

A Philippine language family identified by Robert Blust includes languages of north Sulawesi and the Yami language of Taiwan, but excludes the Sama–Bajaw languages of the Sulu Archipelago as well as a couple of North Bornean languages spoken in southern Palawan.

Eskayan is an artificial auxiliary language created as the embodiment of a Bohol nation in the aftermath of the Philippine–American War. It is used by about 500 people.

Mutual intelligibility

Philippine languages are often referred to by Filipinos as dialects, partly as a relic of the inaccurate vocabulary used in literature during the American period (1898–1946). While there are indeed many hundreds of dialects in the Philippines, they represent variations of no fewer than 120 distinct languages, and many of these languages maintain greater differences than those between established European languages like French and Spanish.

The vast differences between the languages can be seen in the following translations of the Philippine national proverb:

Language	Translation
English	He (She) who does not know how to look back at his (her) origin will not arrive at his destination.
Aklanon	Ro uwa' gatan-aw sa anang ginhalinan hay indi makaabut sa anang ginapaeangpan.
Asi (Bantoanon)	Kag tawong waya giruromroma it ida ginghalinan, indi makaabot sa ida apagtuan.
Butuanon	Kadtong dili kahibalo molingi sa iyang ginikanan, dili makaabot sa iyang gipadul-ngan.
Albay Bikol	Kan idi tatao magkiling sa inalian,idi makaabot sa papaidtuhan
Bicolano	An diri maaram mag-imud sa pinaghalian, diri makaabot sa pakakadtu-an.
Bikol (Buhi)	Yu di nikiling sa pinagalinan, di makaantos sa pupuntahan.
Bikol Central	An dai tataong magsalingoy sa saiyang ginikanan, dai makakaabot sa padudumanan.
Bikol (Daraga)	Su indi tataw makarumdom nung ginitan, indi makaabot sa adunan.
Bikol (Oasnon)	Kan na taw na idi tataw mag linguy sa sanyang inalian, idi man maka abot sa sanyang paidtunan.
Iriga Bicolano	A diri maglili sa pinaggalinan, diri makaaabot sa pigiyanan.
Masbateño	An dili maaram maglingi sa ginhalian, kay dili makaabot sa kakadtuhan.
Capiznon	Ang indi kabalo magbalikid sa iya ginhalinan, indi makalab-ot sa iya palakadtuan.
Cuyonon	Ang ara agabalikid sa anang ing-alinan, indi enged maka-abot sa anang papakonan.
Cebuano	Kadtong dili kahibalo molingi sa iyang ginikanan, dili makaabot sa iyang gipadulongan.
Caviteño Chabacano	Quien no ta bira cara na su origen no de incarsa na su destinacion.
Ternateño Chabacano	Ay nung sabi mira i donde ya bini no di yega na destinasyon.
Zamboangueño Chavacano	El Quien no sabe vira el cara na su origen, nunca llega na su destinación.
Ibanag	I tolay nga ari mallipay ta naggafuananna, ari makadde ta angayanna.
Itawis	Ya tolay nga mari mallipay tsa naggafuananna, mari makakandet tsa angayanna.
Ilokano	Ti tao nga saan na ammo tumaliaw iti naggapuanna ket saan nga makadanon iti papananna.
Hiligaynon (Ilonggo)	Ang indi makahibalo magbalikid sang iya ginhalinan, indi makaabot sa iya padulungan.
Jama Mapun	Soysoy niya' pandoy ngantele' patulakan ne, niya' ta'abut katakkahan ne.
Kapampangan	Ing e byasang malikid king kayang penibatan, e ya miras king kayang pupuntalan.
Kinaray-a	Ang indi kamaan magbalikid sa ana ginhalinan, indi makaabot sa ana paaragtunan.
Manobo (Obo)	Iddos minuvu no konnod kotuig nod loingoy to id pomonan din, konna mandad od poko-uma riyon tod undiyonnan din.
Maranao	So tao a di matao domingil ko poonan iyan na di niyan kakwa so singanin iyan.
Malay	Orang yang melupakan asal-usulnya tak mungkin mencapai tujuannya.
Pangasinan	Say toon agga onlingao ed pinanlapuan to, agga makasabi'd laen to.
Romblomanon (Ini)	Ang tawo nga bukon tigo mag lingig sa iya guinghalinan hay indi makasampot sa iya ning pagakadtoan.
Sambal (Botolan)	Hay ahe nin nanlek ha pinag-ibatan, ay ahe makarateng ha lalakwen.
Sambal	Hay kay tanda mamanomtom ha pinangibatan, kay immabot sa kakaon.
Sangil	Tao mata taya mabiling su pubuakengnge taya dumanta su kadam tangi.
Sinama	Ya Aa ga-i tau pa beleng ni awwal na, ga-i du sab makasong ni maksud na.
Español	El que no sabe mirar atrás, de donde viene, nunca llegará a su destino.
Surigaonon	Adon dili mahibayo molingi sa ija ing-gikanan, dili gajod makaabot sa ija pasingdan.
Sorsoganon	An diri mag-imud sa pinaghalian diri makaabot sa kakadtuan.
Tayabas Tagalog	Ang hindi maalam lumingon sa pinaroonan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.
Tagalog/Filipino	Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan.
Tausug	In di' maingat lumingi' pa bakas liyabayan niya, di' makasampay pa kadtuun niya.
Waray-Waray (Leyte)	An diri maaram lumingi ha tinikangan, diri maulpot ha kakadtoan.
Waray-Waray (Northern Samar)	An diri maaram lumingi sa tinikangan, diri maulpot sa kakadtoan.
Yakan	Mang gey matau mamayam si bakas palaihan nen, gey tekka si papilihan nen.

Dialectal variation

The amount of dialectal variation varies from language to language. Languages like Tagalog and Kapampangan are known to have very moderate dialectal variation.

In the languages of the Bicol Region, however, there is great dialectal variation. There are towns which have their own dialects. Below is the sentence "Were you there at the market for a long time?" translated into certain varieties of Bikol. The translation is followed by dialect and language, and town in Bicol where they are spoken. The final translation is in Tagalog.

• Haloy ka duman sa saod? (Standard Bikol, and Bikol-Naga, a dialect of Central Bicolano or Bikol; Naga City, Camarines Sur)
• Aloy ka duman sa saod? (Magarao, a variety of Bikol-Naga, Central Bicolano; Magarao, Camarines Sur)
• Huray ka doon sa saod? (Northern Catanduanes Bicolano or Pandan Bikol; Pandan, Catanduanes)
• Nauban ika sadto sa sa-ran? (Iriga Bicolano or Rinconada; Iriga City)

• Uban ika adto sa saod? (Libon, Albay-Bikol; Libon, Albay)

• Naegey ika adto sa sa-ran? (Buhi-non, Albay Bicolano; Buhi, Camarines Sur)
• Eley ka idto sa sed? (Oasnon, Albay Bicolano; Oas, Albay)
• Na-alõy ika idto sa sâran/mercado?(Polangueño, Albay-Bicolano; Polangui, Albay)
• Dugay ka didto sa mercado? (Ticao, Masbatenyo; Monreal, Masbate)

• Awat ka didto sa plasa? (Gubat, Southern Sorsogon; Gubat, Sorsogon)
• Matagál ka ba roón sa pámilihan? (Tagalog)

Philippine-language comparison chart

Below is a chart of Philippine languages. While there has been misunderstandings on which ones should be classified as language and which ones should be classified as dialect, the chart confirms that most have similarities, yet are not mutually comprehensible. These languages are arranged according to the regions they are natively spoken (from north to south, then east to west).

English	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we (inclusive)	what	and
Ivatan	asa	dadowa	tatdo	apat	tao	vahay	chito	niyoy	araw	va-yo	yaten	ango
Ilokano	maysa	dua	tallo	uppat	tao	balay	aso	niog	aldaw	baro	datayo	ania	ken
Pangasinan	sakey	duara	talora	apatira	too	abong	aso	niyog	agew	balo	sikatayo	anto
Ibanag	tadday	dua	tallu	appa'	tolay	balay	kitu	inniuk	aggaw	bagu	sittam	anni
Gaddang	tata	addwa	tallo	appat	tolay	balay	atu	ayog	aw	bawu	ikkanetem	sanenay
Kapampangan	metung	adwa	atlu	apat	tau	bale	asu	ngungut	aldo	bayu	ikatamu	nanu	ampo
Tagalog	isa	dalawa	tatlo	apat	tao	bahay	aso	niyog	araw	bago	tayo, kamí, kata	ano	at
Standard Bikol	saro	duwa	tulo	apat	tawo	harong	ayam	niyog	aldaw	ba-go	kita	ano
Iriga Bicolano	usad	darawa	tulo	upat	tawo	baloy	ayam	niyog	aldow	bago	ngamin	ono
Bikol-Polangueño	sad	duwa	tulo	upat	taw	balõy	ayam	nuyog	aldõw	bâgo	kita, sato	uno	dangan, mî, saka
Masbateño	usad	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	ido	buko, lubi	aldaw	bag-o	kita, kami, amon	nano	kag
Romblomanon	isa	duha	tuyo	upat	tawo	bayay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita, aton	ano	kag
Bantoanon	usa	ruha	tuyo	upat	tawo	bayay	iro	nidog	adlaw	bag-o	kita, ato	ni-o	ag
Onhan	isya	darwa	tatlo	apat	tawo	balay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita, taton	ano	ag
Kinaray-a	sara	darwa	tatlo	apat	taho	balay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita, taten	ano, iwan	kag
Hiligaynon	isa	duha	tatlo	apat	tawo	balay	ido	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano	kag
Cebuano	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	iro	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	unsa	ug
Surigaonon	isa	duha	tuyo	upat	tao	bayay	idu	Nijog	adlaw	bag-o	kami	unu
Waray-Waray	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	ayam	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano
T'boli	sotu	lewu	tlu	fat	tau	gunu	ohu	lefo	kdaw	lomi	tekuy	tedu
Tausug	hambuuk	duwa	tu	upat	tau	bay	iru'	niyug	adlaw	ba-gu	kitaniyu	unu
Español	uno	dos	tres	cuatro	persona	casa	perro	coco	día	nuevo	nosostros	que	y/e
Chavacano	uno	dos	tres	cuatro	gente	casa	perro	coco	dia	nuevo	Zamboangueño: nosotros/kame, Bahra: mijotros/motros, Caviteño: nisos	cosá/ qué	y/e

There is a language spoken by the Tao people (also known as Yami) of Orchid Island of Taiwan which is not included in the language of the Philippines. Their language, Tao (or Yami) is part of the Batanic languages which includes Ivatan, Babuyan, and Itbayat of the Batanes.

English	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we	what
Tao	ása	dóa (raroa)	tílo (tatlo)	ápat	tao	vahay	gara	ngata	araw	vayo	tata	vela
Ivatan	asa	dadowa	tatdo	apat	tao	vahay	chito	niyoy	araw	va-yo	yaten	ango

List of speakers per language

Below are population estimates from the 2000 Philippine census by National Statistics Office of the Philippines on the number of Filipinos who speak the following 18 languages as a native language.

Name of Philippine language	Number of native speakers
Tagalog	26,387,855
Cebuano	21,340,000
Ilocano	7,779,000
Hiligaynon	7,000,979
Waray-Waray	3,100,000
Kapampangan	2,900,000
Northern Bicol	2,500,000
Pangasinan	2,434,086
Southern Bicol	1,200,000
Chavacano	1,200,000
Meranaw	1,150,000
Maguindanao	1,100,000
Kinaray-a	1,051,000
Tausug	1,022,000
Surigaonon	1,000,000
Masbateño	530,000
Aklanon	520,000
Ibanag	320,000
Español	2,000
Yakan	500

Major foreign languages

Chinese/Lan-nang

Main article: Lan-nang

Diplomatic ties with the Ming dynasties among some established states or kingdoms in Luzon and direct interactions and trade overall within the archipelago as a whole go perhaps as far back as early 10th century. Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction in Chinese schools and lingua franca of the mainland and overseas Chinese. The Lan-nang variant of the Hokkien (Min Nan) is the language of the majority the Chinese in the Philippines, who immigrated from the Fujian (pronounced locally as Fukien or Hokkien) province in China. Another Chinese language, Cantonese, is spoken among the Chinese in the Philippines who are descendants of people from Guangdong province in China.

As with Spanish, many native languages have co-opted numerous loanwords from Chinese languages, in particular words that refer to cuisine, household objects, and Philippine kinship terminology.

English

Main articles: Philippine English, Taglish, Bislish, and Englog

The first significant exposure of Filipinos to the English language occurred in 1762 when the British invaded Manila, but this was a brief episode that had no lasting influence. English later became more important and widespread during the American Occupation between 1898 and 1946, and remains an official language of the Philippines.

English is dominant in business, government, the legal system, medicine, the sciences and as a medium of instruction. Filipinos prefer textbooks for subjects like calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., written in English rather than Filipino. By way of contrast, native languages are often heard in colloquial and domestic settings, spoken mostly with family and friends. The use of English may be thought to carry an air of formality, given its use in school, government and various ceremonies. A percentage of the media such as cable television and newspapers are also in English; major television networks such as ABS-CBN and GMA 7) and all AM radio stations broadcast primarily in Filipino. English proficiency sustains a significant call center industry for American companies.

A large influx of English words has been assimilated into Tagalog and the other native languages called Taglish or Bislish. There is a debate, however, on whether there is diglossia or bilingualism, or even semilingualism, between Filipino and English. Filipino is also used both in formal and informal situations. Though the masses would prefer to speak in Filipino, government officials tend to speak in English when performing government functions. There is still resistance to the use of Filipino in courts and the drafting of national statutes.

On August 22, 2007, three Malolos City regional trial courts in Bulacan decided to use Filipino, instead of English, in order to promote the national language. Twelve stenographers from Branches 6, 80 and 81, as model courts, had undergone training at Marcelo H. del Pilar College of Law of Bulacan State University College of Law following a directive from the Supreme Court of the Philippines. De la Rama said it was the dream of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno to implement the program in other areas such as Laguna, Cavite, Quezón, Nueva Écija, Batangas, Rizal, and Metro Manila.

Advocates of English say that it is the wave of the future, with science, world trade and the Internet becoming more important every decade. However, Philippine-language advocates respond that although the growing influence of English may be unstoppable, English is an exogenous language that is difficult for the mass of Filipinos to acquire fluently, while tens of millions are acquiring the lingua franca and using it extensively on a daily basis. English will remain a second language in the country, while the endogenous Austronesian languages will come to play a more important role in both speech and writing. National census results show that there are very few native speakers of English in the Philippines, a few percent from a small stratum of wealthy and highly educated families, and this is not increasing very rapidly. On the other hand, Filipino, Cebuano, and Ilocano continue to grow vigorously, as lingua francas, second languages, and as first languages as well.

Arabic

Arabic is used by some Filipino Muslims in both a liturgical and instructional capacity since the arrival of Islam in the 14th century. Along with Malay, Arabic was the lingua franca of the Malay Archipelago among Muslim traders and the Malay aristocracy.

The 1987 Constitution mandates that Arabic (along with Spanish) is to be promoted on a voluntary basis. Arabic is currently taught for free and is promoted in some Islamic centres. It is used primarily in religious activities and education (such as in a madrasa or Islamic school) and rarely for official events or daily conversation. In this respect, its function and use is somewhat like the traditional roles of Latin and Spanish in Filipino Catholicism vis-à-vis other currently spoken languages.

Japanese

The Japanese first came to the Philippines around the 11th century CE, the first country they emigrated to, as well as in waves from the 15th century, 17th century, late 19th century, 1900s, 1930s, and the 1940s. There is a small Japanese community and a school for Japanese in Metro Manila due to the number of Japanese companies. Also there is a large community of Japanese and Japanese descendants in Laguna province, Baguio City, and in the Davao Region. Davao City is a home to a large population of Japanese descendants. Japanese laborers were hired by American companies like the National Fiber Company (NAFCO) in the first decades of the 20th century to work in abaca plantations. Japanese were known for their hard work and industry. During World War II, Japanese schools were present in Davao City.

Malay / Indonesian

Malay is spoken as a lingua franca in the southernmost parts of the Philippines, from Zamboanga down to Tawi-Tawi among a minority of the Tausug, Bajau, and Yakan peoples. It is also spoken as a daily language by Malays and Indonesians who have settled, or do business in the Philippines. It is also spoken in southern Palawan to some extent. It is not spoken among the Maranao and Maguindanao people. The liturgical language of Islam is Arabic, but the vast majority of Muslims in the Philippines have little practical knowledge of it beyond limited religious terminology.

Old Malay and Indonesian cultures and civilizations in ancient Sumatra and Java influenced the history, lifestyles, and culture of Philippine peoples. The Malay language, along with Philippine languages belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language family, has also had an immense influence on many if not most of the languages spoken in the Philippines. Roughly a third of all commonly used verbs and nouns used in the Philippines are of Old Malay origin. This is because Old Malay used to be the lingua franca throughout the archipelago, a good example of this is Magellan's translator Enrique using Malay to converse with the native Sugbuanon(Cebuano) during this time period.

An example of Old Malay and Javanese languages spoken in Philippine history can be seen in the language of the 10th-century Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

When the Spanish had first arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century, Old Malay was spoken among the aristocracy.

It is believed that Ferdinand Magellan’s Moluccan slave Enrique could converse with local leaders in Cebu island, confirming to Magellan his arrival in Southeast Asia.

Today, Indonesian is taught as a foreign language in the Department of Linguistics and Asian Languages in the University of the Philippines. Also, the Indonesian School in Davao City teaches the language to preserve the culture of Indonesian immigrants there. The Indonesian Embassy in Manila also offers occasional classes for Filipinos and foreigners.

Spanish

Main article: Spanish language in the Philippines

Spanish was introduced in the islands after 1565, when the Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi set sail from Mexico and founded the first Spanish settlement on Cebú.

In 1593, the first printing press in the Philippines was founded and it released the first (albeit polyglot) book, the Doctrina Christiana that same year. In the 17th century, Spanish religious orders founded the first universities in the Philippines, some of which are considered the oldest in Asia. During colonial rule through Mexico City, Spanish was the language of education, trade, politics and religion, and by the 19th century, became the country's lingua franca although it was mainly used by the educated Filipinos. In 1863, a Spanish decree introduced a system of public education, creating free public schooling in Spanish. In the 1890s, the Philippines had a prominent group of Spanish-speaking scholars called the Ilustrados, such as José Rizal. Some of these scholars participated in the Philippine Revolution and later in the struggle against American occupation. Both the Malolos Constitution and the Lupang Hinirang (national anthem) were written in Spanish.

Under U.S. rule, the English language began to be promoted instead of Spanish. The use of Spanish began to decline some years after Spain was forced to pass the islands to the United States as a result of the introduction of English into the public schools as a language of instruction. The 1950 census stated that Filipinos who spoke Spanish as a first or second language made up only 6% of the population. In 1990, the census reported that the number had dwindled to just 2,500.

Spanish briefly lost its status as an official language in the 1973 constitution but regained official status two months later when President Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 155. With the promulgation of the 1987 constitution, Spanish lost its official status and it was dropped as a college requirement during Corazón Aquino's administration. Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a third-language Spanish speaker, introduced legislation to re-establish the instruction of Spanish in 2009 in the state education system. Today, the language is still spoken by Filipino-Spanish mestizos and Spanish families who are mainly concentrated in Metro Manila, Iloílo and Cebú. It remains a required subject in some academic institutions, such as the University of Santo Tomás in Manila and the University of San Carlos in Cebú.

Many historical documents, land titles, and literature are written in Spanish and are still not translated into Filipino languages, despite the fact that some such as land titles have legal value. Spanish, through colonization has contributed the largest number of loanwords and expressions in Tagalog, Cebuano, and other Philippine languages.

Spanish creoles

Main article: Chavacano language

There are several Spanish-based creole languages in the Philippines, collectively called Chavacano. These may be split into two major geographical groups:

• In Luzón:
  • Caviteño (Chabacano de Cavite), spoken in Cavite City, Cavite.
  • Ternateño (Chabacano de Barra), spoken in Ternate, Cavite.
  • Ermiteño (Chabacano de Ermita), formerly spoken in Ermita, Manila but is now extinct. The last reported speakers were a woman and her grandson during the 1980s and 1990s.

• In Mindanao:
  • Zamboangueño Chavacano (Chabacano de Zamboanga / Zamboangueño Chavacano), spoken in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Basilan Province, Sulu Province, Tawi-Tawi Province and Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia (360,000 native speakers-Zamboanga City alone as per 2000 census, making it the most spoken form and known form of Chavacano)
  • Cotabateño (Chabacano de Cotabato), spoken in Cotabato
  • Davaoeño Abakay (Chabacano de Davao), spoken in Davao City

South Asian languages

Since pre-Spanish times, there have been small Indian communities in the Philippines. Indians tend to be able to speak Tagalog and the other native languages, and are often fluent in English. Among themselves, Sindhi and Punjabi are used. Urdu is spoken among the Pakistani community. Only few South Asians, such as Pakistani, as well as the recent newcomers like speakers of Marathi, Nepali, and Tamil retain their own respective languages.

See also

• Philippine languages
• Filipino orthography
• Commission on the Filipino Language

References

General references

• Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James; & Tryon, Darrell (1995). The Austronesians: Historical and comparative perspectives. Department of Anthropology, Australian National University. ISBN 0-7315-2132-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• "Ethnologue report for Philippines". Retrieved July 28, 2005.
• Lobel, Jason William & Wilmer Joseph S. Tria (2000). An Satuyang Tataramon: A Study of the Bikol language. Lobel & Tria Partnership Co. ISBN 971-92226-0-3.
• Malcolm Warren Mintz (2001). "Bikol". Facts About the World's Languages: an Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present. ISBN 0-8242-0970-2.
• Reid, Lawrence A. (1971). Philippine minor Languages: Word lists and phonologies. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-87022-691-6.
• Rubino, Carl Ralph Galvez (1998). Tagalog-English English-Tagalog Dictionary. Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-7818-0961-4.
• Rubino, Carl Ralph Galvez (2000). Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-2088-6.
• Carl Ralph Galvez Rubino. "The Philippine National Proverb". Translated into various Philippine languages. Retrieved July 28, 2005.
• Sundita, Christopher Allen (2002). In Bahasa Sug: An Introduction to Tausug. ISBN 971-92226-6-2. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Christopher Sundita. "Languages or Dialects?". Understanding the Native Tongues of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 2006-06-16. Retrieved July 28, 2005.
• Yap, Fe Aldave (1977). A Comparative Study of Philippine Lexicons. Institute of Philippine languages, Department of Education, Culture, and Sports. ISBN 971-8705-05-8.
• R. David Zorc (1977). "The Bisayan dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and reconstruction". Pacific Linguistics. C (44).
• R. David Zorc (2001). "Hiligaynon". Facts About the World's Languages: an Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present.
• Joseph Reylan B. Viray (2006). "Dagang Simbahan". Makata International Journal of Poetry,. 7 (12).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• Luciano de la Rosa (1960). "El Filipino: Origen y Connotación". El renacimiento filipino.

Further reading

• Dedaić, Mirjana N.; Nelson, Daniel N. (2003). At War With Words. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-017649-1. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
• Hamers, Josiane F. (2000). Bilinguality and Bilingualism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64843-2. Retrieved 2007-10-04.

External links

• Ricardo Maria Nolasco on the diversity of languages in the Philippines
• Lawrence R. Reid webpage of Dr. Lawrence A. Reid. Researcher Emeritus of linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Has researched Philippine languages for decades.
• The Metamorphosis of Filipino as a National Language
• Carl Rubino webpage of Dr. Carl Rubino. A Filipino linguist who has studied Philippine languages.
• Literatura hispanofilipina: siglos XVII al XX by Edmundo Farolan Romero, with a brief Philippine poetry anthology in Spanish.
• Salita Blog by Christopher Sundita. A blog about a variety of issues concerning the languages of the Philippines.
• Espaniero An Online Spanish conversation group for Pinoys
• Philippine Language Tree
• The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines, by Andrew González, FSC
• kaibigankastila webpage of the Spanish culture in the Philippines.
• Linguistic map of the Philippines at Muturzikin.com
• On linguistic mutual intolerance in the Philippines
• Filipino Translator
• Tagalog Translator Online Online dictionary for translating Tagalog from/to English, including expressions and latest headlines regarding the Philippines.