Central Philippine | |
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Geographic distribution | Philippines, Malaysia (eastern seaboard of Sabah state), Indonesia (northeastern part of North Kalimantan province) |
Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
Proto-language | Proto-Central Philippine |
Subdivisions | |
Language codes | |
Glottolog | cent2246 |
The Central Philippine languages are the most geographically widespread demonstrated group of languages in the Philippines, being spoken in southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Sulu. They are also the most populous, including Tagalog (and Filipino), Bikol, and the major Visayan languages Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Kinaray-a, and Tausug, with some forty languages all together. [1]
The languages are generally subdivided thus (languages in italics refer to a single language):
There are in addition several Aeta hill-tribal languages of uncertain affiliation: Ata, Sorsogon Ayta, Tayabas Ayta, Karolanos (Northern Binukidnon), Magahat (Southern Binukidnon), Sulod, and Umiray Dumaget.
Most of the Central Philippine languages in fact form a dialect continuum and cannot be sharply distinguished as separate languages. Blust (2009) notes that the relatively low diversity found among the Visayan languages is due to recent population expansions. [2]
The expanded tree of the Central Philippine languages below is given in David Zorc's 1977 Ph.D. dissertation. [3] The Visayan subgrouping is Zorc's own work, while the Bikol subgrouping is from McFarland (1974) [4] and the Mansakan subgrouping from Gallman (1974). [5]
Individual languages are marked by italics, and primary branches by bold italics.
Andrew Gallman (1997) rejects Zorc's classification of the Mansakan languages and Mamanwa as primary branches of the Central Philippine languages coordinate to the Bisayan languages. Instead, he groups Mansakan, Mamanwa and the Southern Bisayan languages together into an "East Mindanao" subgroup, which links up with the remaining Bisayan branches in a "South Central Philippine" subgroup: [20]
Blust (1991) [21] notes that the central and southern Philippines has low linguistic diversity. Based on exclusively shared lexical innovations, he posits a Greater Central Philippine subgroup that puts together the Central Philippine branch with South Mangyan, Palawan, Danao, Manobo, Subanon and Gorontalo–Mongondow languages, the latter found in northern Sulawesi.
The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Most Bisayan languages are spoken in the whole Visayas section of the country, but they are also spoken in the southern part of the Bicol Region, 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 one of the Bisayan languages.
Tausūg is an Austronesian language spoken in the province of Sulu in the Philippines and in the eastern area of the state of Sabah, Malaysia as well as in the Nunukan Regency, province of North Kalimantan, Indonesia by the Tausūg people. It is widely spoken in the Sulu Archipelago, the Zamboanga Peninsula, southern Palawan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Surigaonon is an Austronesian language spoken by Surigaonon people. As a regional Philippine language, it is spoken in the province of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur, and some portions of Agusan del Norte, especially the towns near Lake Mainit, Agusan del Sur and Davao Oriental.
The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw and the Molbog language—and form a subfamily of Austronesian languages. Although the Philippines is near the center of Austronesian expansion from Taiwan, there is relatively little linguistic diversity among the approximately 150 Philippine languages, suggesting that earlier diversity has been erased by the spread of the ancestor of the modern Philippine languages.
Kamayo, also called Kadi, Kinadi, or Mandaya, is a minor Austronesian language of the central eastern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines.
The Philippines is inhabited by more than 182 ethnolinguistic groups, many of which are classified as "Indigenous Peoples" under the country's Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997. Traditionally-Muslim peoples from the southernmost island group of Mindanao are usually categorized together as Moro peoples, whether they are classified as Indigenous peoples or not. About 142 are classified as non-Muslim Indigenous people groups, and about 19 ethnolinguistic groups are classified as neither Indigenous nor Moro. Various migrant groups have also had a significant presence throughout the country's history.
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous peoples in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad, the autonym officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986 at the Guadalupe Formation Center, Balindog, Kidapawan, Cotabato. Usage of the term was accepted in Philippine jurisprudence when President Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6734, where the word was used in Art. XIII sec. 8(2) to distinguish Lumad ethnic communities from the islands of Mindanao.
The Southern Mindoro languages are one of two small clusters of Austronesian languages spoken by the Mangyan people of Mindoro Island in the Philippines. They make up a branch of the Greater Central Philippine subgroup.
The Mansakan languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. Dabawenyo is the principal native language of the Davao region; however, there is a high degree of bilingualism in Cebuano among their speakers. Most speakers have shifted to a dialect of Cebuano today.
The Greater Central Philippine languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian language family, defined by the change of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *R to *g. They are spoken in the central and southern parts of the Philippines, eastern and western parts of Sabah, Malaysia and in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. This subgroup was first proposed by Robert Blust (1991) based on lexical and phonological evidence, and is accepted by most specialists in the field.
Davaoeño (Dabawenyo) is a language of the Davao Region of Mindanao in the Philippines. According to Zorc (1977), it is a native Mansakan language influenced by Cebuano and Tagalog. Traditionally, it was the principal language of the Davaoeño people, but it is no longer spoken in Davao City as speakers have shifted to a local dialect of the Cebuano language, called Davaoeño Cebuano.
The Negrito peoples of the Philippines speak various Philippine languages. They have more in common with neighboring languages than with each other, and are listed here merely as an aid to identification.
Old Tagalog, also known as Old Filipino, is the earliest form of the Tagalog language during the Classical period. It is the primary language of pre-colonial Tondo, Namayan and Maynila. The language originated from the Proto-Philippine language and evolved to Classical Tagalog, which was the basis for Modern Tagalog. Old Tagalog uses the Tagalog script or Baybayin, one of the scripts indigenous to the Philippines.
The Proto-Philippine language is a reconstructed ancestral proto-language of the Philippine languages, a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages which includes all languages within the Philippines as well as those within the northern portions of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Proto-Philippine is not directly attested to in any written work, but linguistic reconstruction by the comparative method has found regular similarities among languages that cannot be explained by coincidence or word-borrowing.
Bisakol is an informal term for the three Bisayan languages spoken in the Bicol Region.
Bantoanon or Asi is a regional Bisayan language spoken, along with Romblomanon and Onhan, in the province of Romblon, Philippines. Asi originated in the island of Banton, Romblon and spread to the neighboring islands of Sibale, Simara, and the towns of Odiongan, San Andres and Calatrava on Tablas Island. The Asi spoken in Odiongan is called Odionganon, Calatravanhon in Calatrava, Sibalenhon in Concepcion, Simaranhon in Corcuera, and Bantoanon in Banton. The Asi language is closer to Western Visayan language like Karay-a than to Cebuano and Waray
Waray is an Austronesian language and the fifth-most-spoken native regional language of the Philippines, native to Eastern Visayas. It is the native language of the Waray people and second language of the Abaknon people of Capul, Northern Samar, and some Cebuano-speaking peoples of western and southern parts of Leyte island. It is the third most spoken language among the Bisayan languages, only behind Cebuano and Hiligaynon.
Southern Sorsogon is a Bisayan language spoken in the southern part of Sorsogon, Philippines, in the municipalities of Gubat, Barcelona, Bulusan, Santa Magdalena, Matnog, Bulan, and Irosin. Although located in the Bicol Region, Southern Sorsogon belongs to the Warayan Bisayan subgroup, and is mutually intelligible to Waray which is spoken to the south on the neighboring island of Samar. The other two Bisayan languages spoken in the Bicol Region are Masbate Sorsogon and Masbateño.
Northern Sorsogon is a Bisayan language spoken in the central part of Sorsogon, Philippines, in Sorsogon City and the municipalities of Casiguran, and Juban. It is closely related to, but distinct from Southern Sorsogon which is spoken in the southern part of Sorsogon.
R. David Zorc is an American linguist primarily known for his work on Austronesian languages and linguistics, particularly the Philippine languages.