Central Philippine languages

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Central Philippine
Geographic
distribution
Philippines
Linguistic classification Austronesian
Proto-languageProto-Central Philippine
Subdivisions
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]

Contents

Classification

Overview

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]

Zorc (1977)

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.

Gallman (1997)

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]

Greater Central Philippine (Blust)

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.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cebuano language</span> Austronesian language of the Philippines

Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines. It is natively, though informally, called by its generic term Bisayâ or Binisayâ and sometimes referred to in English sources as Cebuan. It is spoken by the Visayan ethnolinguistic groups native to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, the eastern half of Negros, the western half of Leyte, and the northern coastal areas of Northern Mindanao and the Zamboanga Peninsula. In modern times, it has also spread to the Davao Region, Cotabato, Camiguin, parts of the Dinagat Islands, and the lowland regions of Caraga, often displacing native languages in those areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisayan languages</span> Language family of the Philippines

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tausug language</span> Austronesian language of the Tausug people

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, by the Tausūg people. It is widely spoken in the Sulu Archipelago, the Zamboanga Peninsula, southern Palawan, and Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surigaonon language</span> Austronesian language of the Philippines

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine languages</span> Proposed branch of the Austronesian language family

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 a few languages of Palawan—and form a subfamily of Austronesian languages. Although the Philippines is near the center of Austronesian expansion from Formosa, there is 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in the Philippines</span> Demography of 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 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 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, 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.

The Bantayanon language is the regional language of the Bantayan islands in the Philippines. It is a part of the Bisayan language family and is closely related to Waray and Hiligaynon. There are three dialects of Bantayanon, based in the three municipalities that comprise the island group: Binantayanun, Linawisanun, and Sinantapihanun, the most idiosyncratic of the three. There are also significant dialectal differences between the speech patterns of those that live in the town centers and those that live outside of the more rural areas of the islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantoanon language</span> Bisayan language spoken in the province of Romblon, Philippines

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.

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.

Classical Cebuano, or Spanish-Era Cebuano, was a form of the Cebuano language spoken during the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines. It was the primary language spoken in Cebu, Bohol, and other parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

References

  1. Ethnologue .
  2. Blust, Robert A. The Austronesian Languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 2009. ISBN   0-85883-602-5, ISBN   978-0-85883-602-0.
  3. 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, p. 33.
  4. McFarland, Curtis D. The Dialects of the Bikol Area. Ph.D. dissertation. New Haven: Dept. of Liunguistics, Yale University, 1974.
  5. Gallman, Andrew Franklin. A Reconstruction of Proto-Mansakan. M.A. dissertation. Arlington, Texas: Dept. of Liunguistics, University of Texas at Arlington, 1974.
  6. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Jaun-Jaun notes .
  7. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Kantilan notes .
  8. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Naturalis notes .
  9. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Odionganon notes .
  10. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Sibalenhon (Bantu-anon) notes .
  11. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Pandan notes .
  12. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Bulalakawnon notes .
  13. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Dispoholnon notes .
  14. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Loocnon notes .
  15. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Datagnon notes .
  16. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Santa Teresa notes .
  17. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Semirara notes .
  18. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Kuyonon notes .
  19. Word list: Zorc, R. David. 1972. Kuyonon (dialects) notes .
  20. Gallman, Andrew Franklin. 1997. Proto East Mindanao and its internal relationships. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, Special monograph issue, no. 44. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines.
  21. Blust, Robert (1991). "The Greater Central Philippines hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. 30 (2): 73–129. doi:10.2307/3623084. JSTOR   3623084.