Languages of the Philippines

Languages in the Philippines number more than 170 and almost all of them belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian languages. The official languages are Filipino and English. While Filipino is the national language, both Filipino and English are considered official languages of the country according to the constitution. Both are used extensively in government, education, and commerce. Spanish is used for cultural and heritage purposes, with this it is only spoken among the Spanish - Filipino Mestizo community. With this multiplicity of languages, the Philippines has achieved one of the highest literacy rates in the East Asian and Pacific region. About 90% of the population 10 years of age and older are literate. A solid majority of Filipinos are completely bilingual, and sometimes trilingual--speaking both official languages in addition to their regional tongue.

Contents

1 Native Languages 2 Major Foreign Languages 3 Philippine Languages Comparison Chart 4 False friends Among Philippine Languages 5 References

Native Languages

A total of 172 native languages and dialects are spoken, all belonging to the Austronesian linguistic family. There are twelve Philippine languages with at least one million native speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Kinaray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao, and Tausug. These are spoken natively by more than 90% of the population. As in The Americas, the Spanish missionaries preached the natives in local languages. Filipino is both the national language and an official language. There is a debate as to whether Filipino is just based on Tagalog or whether it is just another name for Tagalog. Tagalog is the dominant native language in the Philippines with Cebuano, a subgroup of Visayan, in a close second place. Since 1939, in an effort to develop national unity, the government has promoted the use of the official national language, Filipino. Filipino is taught in all schools and is gaining acceptance, particularly as a second language for a linguistically diverse population. Pilipino is a more native word or pronunciation for Filipino, just like Nippongo or Nihongo is to Japanese, or Français to French. There is no f sound in the original pre-Spanish Tagalog. Languages including other minor languages: The languages below are spoken in the Northern part of Luzon Island. The lingua franca or most significant language is Ilocano.

• Ibanag
• Itawit
• Malaweg
• Gaddang
• Itawis
• Agta
• Atta
• Yogad
• Isneg

For languages spoken in the central region of the Philippines or Visayan region. See Visayan languages for a complete list. The lingua franca or most significant language is Cebuano. Ilonggo is also widely spoken. Southern languages:

• Chavacano- also known as Chabacano, is a Spanish creole language.
• Sama - spoken in the Sulu archipelago.
• Maguindanaoan

Major Foreign Languages

• Arabic

Arabic is used by some members of the Muslim population. It is used in religious instruction and, more rarely, for official events among Muslim peoples. Historically, Arabic, along with Malay, was used as a lingua-franca between the various peoples of the south.

• Chinese

The islanders have been trading with China and Japan since the early 10th or 11th century. Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction in Chinese schools and lingua franca of the mainland and overseas Chinese. Hokkien Chinese is the language of the majority the Chinese in the Philippines, who immigrated from the Fujian (pronounced locally as Fookien or Hokkien) province in China.

• English

Main Article: Philippine English English is an official language in the Philippines, imposed on by Americans during US colonization after the Philippine-American War. The Americans gradually succeeded in taking control of urban and coastal areas by the end of 1903 and began to aggressively promote English as a universal language. Although the first exposure to English was in 1762, when the British invaded Manila, English from that era never had any lasting influence. English is the dominant language in business, government, the legal system, medicine, the sciences and education. The native languages are often heard in colloquial settings. Filipinos tend to want their text books for subjects like calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. written in English rather than Filipino. In the home with family and friends however, most use their vernaculars. The use of English may be thought to carry an air of formality, given its use in school, government and various ceremonies. A large percentage of the media such as television, newspapers and entertainment are also in English. Since Filipinos are very well oriented with English, a large influx of English words has been assimilated into Tagalog and the other native languages. It is customary to substitute English words even if the word exists in the original vernacular. See Taglish.

• Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi, and Tamil

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, Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi, Tamil and are used.

• Japanese

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 community of Japanese and Japanese descendants in the Davao region. In 1920, there were about 20,000 Japanese in the Davao region.

• Malay

Spoken among Muslim peoples in the southern Philippines. It is also used in official events in these areas, as well as being found on signs. It is frequently written in the Malayo-Arabic Jawi script. Spoken Bahasa Melayu also has a very important historical context. Just as Old Malay and Indonesian cultures and civilizations in ancient Sumatra and Java have had a large influence on the history, lifestyles, and culture of various Philippine peoples, Old Malay 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. When the Spanish had first arrived in the Philippines in the 16th Century, Old Malay was already the official spoken language of the aristocracy and was also used as languages. It is believed that Ferdinand Magellan’s Moluccan slave Enrique could converse with local leaders in Cebú island, confirming to Magellan his arrival in Southeast Asia. An example of Old Malay and Javanese languages spoken in Philippine history can be seen in the language of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

• Spanish

Main Article: Spanish in the Philippines

Spanish began to be the first language in the archipelago from 1565, when the Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legaspi founded the first Spanish settlement on Cebú. In 1593, the first printing press was founded. A great portion of the colonial history of the Philippines is written in Spanish. Many land titles, contracts, newspapers and literature are still written in Spanish. There are approximately 4,000 Spanish words in Tagalog, and around 6,000 Spanish words in the Visayan family of languages. The Spanish counting system, calendar, Spanish time expressions, etc. is still in use with slight modifications. After World War II and during the Marcos regime, many of the old Spanish-speaking families in Philippines migrated to Europe and the Americas. There were 6 million Spanish speakers in the Philippines in 1940. The 1950 Census stated that the Spanish-speaking Filipinos made up 6% of the population. Spanish ceased to be an official language in 1973 and a required subject in college in 1987 during the Aquino Administration. A Spanish creole has evolved in Zamboanga,Mindanao and various parts of the countries, and the majority of historic documents of the country are still in Spanish.

Philippine Languages 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, this chart confirms that most have similarities but are not mutually comprehensible with each other. These languages are arranged according to the regions they are natively spoken (from north to south, then east to west).

	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we (inc.)	what
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
Pangasinan	sakey	duara	talora	apatira	too	abong	aso	niyog	agew	balo	sikatayo	anto
Ibanag	tadday	dua	tallu	appa'	tolay	balay	kitu	niuk	aggaw	bagu	sittam	anni
Gaddang	antet	addwa	tallo	appat	tolay	balay	atu	ayog	aw	bawu	ikkanetem	sanenay
Kapampangan	metung	adwa	atlu	apat	tau	bale	asu	ngungut	aldo	bayu	ikatamu	nanu
Tagalog	isa	dalawa	tatlo	apat	tao	bahay	aso	niyog	araw	bago	tayo	ano
Bikol	saro	duwa	tulo	apat	tawo	harong	ayam	niyog	aldaw	ba-go	kita	ano
Kinaray-a	sara	darwa	tatlo	apat	taho	balay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita, taten	ano
Ilonggo	isa	duha	tatlo	apat	tawo	balay	ido	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano
Cebuano	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	iro	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	unsa
Waray-Waray	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	ayam	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano
Tboli	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

False friends Among Philippine Languages

Compounding the problem of mutual intelligibility among Philippine languages, there are lots of false friends among them.

	Ilocano	Pangasinan	Kapampangan	Tagalog	Bikol	Ilonggo	Cebuano	Waray-Waray
bukid				field (farm)			hill/mountain
gamot				medicine			roots (of plants)
gubat				forest			battle/war
habol				go after			blanket
hilo				become nauseous			poison or thread
hipon				prawn/shrimp			shrimp paste (bagoong)
ilog				river			quarrel over something
irog				loved one			move over
katok				knock a door			silly/senseless
kumot				blanket			fist
laban				against/opposed to			in support of
lagay				put		male genitals	male genitals
langgam				ant			bird
libang				do leisurely things			defecate	do leisurely things
libog				sexually arouse			confuse
paa				foot			leg
pagod				tired			burnt/scorched
palit				change/exchange			buy
pagong				turtle		frog
tapak				kick			patch a hole
sili				chili			chili	penis
usap				talk			chew
utong				nipple			breath

References

• "Literatura hispanofilipina: siglos XVII al XX" (http://es.geocities.com/Iberofilipino/Articles/LitFilHispana.html), by Edmundo Farolan Romero, with a pretty Philippine poetry anthology in Spanish.
• Ethnologue on Philippines (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Philippines)de:Philippinische Sprachen

es:Lenguas de las Filipinas