The languages of Bicol are a group of four languages that are spoken in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.
Despite being mutually unintelligible, the four languages are all called Bikol (and to a lesser extent, Bicolano) by their speakers. This situation roughly mirrors that of the Visayan languages where roughly three dozen speech varieties are called Bisaya by their speakers. In both cases, more specific names based on the name of a municipality or province are also used.
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Bikol languages are classified under the Central Philippine language family of which Tagalog and the Visayan languages are a part of.
The four groups are outlined below.
North Coastal Standard Bikol (Ethnologue name: Coastal Bikol) or simply, Northern Bikol, is spoken by over 2.4 million people (figure dates back from the 1990 Census) with native speakers in various areas in all the provinces of the Bicol Region: Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, and Masbate.
Northern Bikol is further divided into four languages:
1. Central Bicolano or Bikol Central
2. Isarog Agta
3. Mt. Iraya Agta
4. Southern Catanduanes Bicolano - Spoken in the southern end of Catanduanes.
The language of the city of Naga and adjacent towns or Bikol-Naga dialect is the basis of the standard language and is used in media and mass communication.
Southern Coastal and Inland Bikol (Ethnologue name: Inland Bikol), or simply, Southern Bikol, is spoken by over 1.1 million people living mainly in the southwestern area of Camarines Sur as well as parts of western Albay and western Sorsogon.
Southern Bikol is further divided into three languages:
1. Iriga Bicolano or Riŋkonāda or Rinconada Bikol - Spoken in Iriga City, Baao, Balatan, Bato, Buhi, Bula and Nabua, Camarines Sur. (All six towns and one city of the Rinconada District have similar dialects and understand each other, however, Iriga, Buhi and Bato have tones, pronunciations and some words that are distinctively different from the rest)
2. Albay Bicolano or Albay Bikol:
3. Mt. Iriga Agta
1. Northern Catanduanes Bicolano (Ethnologue name: Pandan) is spoken by about 80,000 people in the Northern Catanduanes towns of Caramoran, Pandan, Bagamanoc, Panganiban, and Viga.
The portmanteau term Bisakol refers to Visayan languages spoken in the Bikol region. These languages are close to Waray-Waray and Hiligaynon but have a lot of influence from other Bikol languages. There are roughly 850,000 Bisakol speakers, including roughly 530,000 Masbatenyo ones.
The three languages are:
1. Central Sorsogon - Spoken in Sorsogon City, Castilla, Casiguran, and Juban, Sorsogon.
2. Southern Sorsogon - Spoken in Gubat, Barcelona, Bulusan, Santa Magdalena, Matnog, Irosin, and Bulan, Sorsogon.
3. Masbateño - Spoken in Masbate City, Mobo, Uson, Dimasalang, Palanas, Masbate, Aroroy on the island of Masbate, all of Ticao Island, and Claveria on the southern half of Burias Island.
The Bicol is also home to other languages. Tagalog, for example, is spoken in most of Camarines Norte and in the town of Del Gallego, Camarines Sur. Hiligaynon is spoken in the southwestern Masbate towns of Balud and Mandaon while Cebuano is spoken in the southeastern Masbate towns of Placer, Cataingan, Pio V. Corpuz, and Esperanza.
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