Visayan languages
The Visayan languages (or Bisayan languages) of the Philippines, along with Tagalog and Bikol, are part of the Central Philippine languages. Most Visayan languages are spoken in the Visayas region but they are also spoken in the Bicol Region (particularly in Masbate), islands south of Luzon such as those that make up Romblon, most of the areas of Mindanao, and the province of Sulu located southwest of Mindanao. Some residents of Metro Manila also speak Visayan.
Over thirty languages constitute the Visayan language family. The Visayan language with the most speakers is Cebuano, spoken by 20 million people as a native language in Central Visayas, northern and eastern parts of Mindanao. Two other well-known Visayan languages are Hiligaynon, spoken by 7 million in western Visayas and Waray-Waray spoken by 3 million in eastern Visayas.
Nomenclature
Native speakers of Visayan languages, especially Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Waray-Waray not only refer to their language by their local name, but also by Bisaya or Binisaya, meaning Visayan language. This is misleading or may lead to confusion as different languages may be called Bisaya by their respective speakers despite their languages being mutually unintelligible. However, languages that are classified within the Visayan language family but spoken natively in places outside of the Visayas do not use the self-reference Bisaya or Binisaya. To speakers of Butuanon, Surigaonon, and Masbatenyo, the term Visaya usually refers to Cebuano. Since Tausugs are mostly Muslims, they view the term Bisaya as a religious term referring to Christian Filipinos (mostly referring either to Cebuano or Hiligaynon as they are the neighboring languages).
The Bisayan language and people of the Philippines are also not to be confused with the Bisaya of Malaysia.
Geographic distribution
The Visayan languages are further divided into five subfamilies. The list below is by no means exhaustive. Asi, Surigaonon, and Cebuano constitute their own subfamilies.
- Asi – spoken in towns on Tablas Island as well as the islands of Banton, Simara, and Maestro de Campo in Romblon province. It is known officially as Bantoanon language.
- Cebuano – includes Boholano, Leytehanon, Mindanao Cebuano and Mindanao Visayan dialects.
Table of speakers
Language |
ISO 639
Lang Code |
Speakers |
Aklanon |
akl |
394,545 (1990 census) |
Ati |
ati |
1,500 (1980 SIL) |
Bantoanon (or Asi) |
bno |
200,000 (2002 SIL) |
Butuanon |
btw |
34,547 (1990 census) |
Caluyanon |
clu |
30,000 (1994 SIL) |
Capiznon |
cps |
638,653 (2000) |
Cebuano |
ceb |
20,043,502 in the Philippines (1995 census) |
Cuyonon |
cyo |
123,384 (1990 census) |
Hiligaynon |
hil |
7,000,000 in the Philippines (1995) |
Inonhan |
loc |
85,829 (2000 WCD) |
Kinaray-A |
krj |
377,529 (1994 SIL) |
Malaynon |
mlz |
8,500 (1973 SIL) |
Masbateño |
msb |
350,000 (2002 SIL) |
Porohanon |
prh |
23,000 |
Ratagnon |
btn |
2 to 3 (2000 Wurm) (Nearly extinct) |
Romblomanon |
rol |
200,000 (1987 SIL) |
Sorsogon, Masbate |
bks |
85,000 (1975 census) |
Sorsogon, Waray |
srv |
185,000 (1975 census) |
Surigaonon |
sul |
344,974 (1990 census) |
Tausug |
tsg |
900,000 in the Philippines (2000 SIL) (Population total all countries: 1,022,000) |
Waray-Waray |
war |
5,438,889 (1999 census) |
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. . Total |
33,463,654 |
Internal classification
David Zorc gives the following internal classification for the Visayan languages (Zorc 1977:32).[2] The five primary branches are South, Cebuan, Central, Banton, and West. However, Zorc notes that the Visayan language family is more like a dialect continuum rather than a set of readily distinguishable languages. The South Visayan languages are considered to have diverged first, followed by Cebuan and then the rest of the three branches. Also, in the Visayan region, Romblon Province has the most linguistic diversity, as languages from three primary Visayan branches are spoken there.
A total of 36 speech varieties are listed below. Individual languages are marked by italics.
- Visayan
- 1. South (spoken on the eastern coast of Mindanao)
- 2. Cebuan (spoken in Cebu, Bohol, northern Mindanao, and eastern Negros)
- 3. Central (spoken across most of the Visayan region)
- 4. Banton/Odiongan (spoken in northwestern Romblon Province)
- 5. West
Reconstruction
David Zorc's reconstruction of Proto-Visayan had 15 consonants and 4 vowels (Zorc 1977:201).[2] Vowel length, primary stress (penultimate and ultimate), and secondary stress (pre-penultimate) are also reconstructed by Zorc.
References
- ^ Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
- ^ a b Zorc, David Paul. The Bisayan Dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and Reconstruction. Canberra, Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1977.
See also
Visayan languages
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South |
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Cebuan |
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Central |
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Banton |
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West |
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