LANGUAGES OF THE PHILIPPINES

There are over 170 'languages in the Philippines'; almost all of them belong to the Austronesian language family. Of all of these languages, only 2 are considered official in the country, at least 10 are considered major and at least 8 are considered co-official.

National and official languages

Spanish was the original official language of the Philippines, since its establishment in the 16th century. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spanish was reaffirmed as the national language of the Philippines during the 1899 Malolos Constitution.
Under the U.S. occupation and civil regime, English began to be taught in schools. By 1901, public education was institutionalized, with English serving as the medium of instruction. Around 600 educators (called "Thomasites") who arrived in that year aboard the USS ''Thomas'' replaced the soldiers who also functioned as teachers . The 1935 Constitution added English as an official language alongside Spanish. A provision in this constitution also called for Congress to "take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages." On November 12, 1937, the First National Assembly created the National Language Institute. President Manuel L. Quezon appointed native Waray-Waray speaker Jaime C. De Veyra to chair a committee of speakers of other regional languages. Their aim was to select a national language among the other regional languages. Ultimately, Tagalog was chosen on December 31, 1937.
Although the teaching of the national language in schools began in 1940, Tagalog was not made an official language until the restoration of independence on July 4, 1946. Starting in 1961, the national language began to be referred to as Filipino rather than Tagalog.
The 1973 Constitution under the Marcos administration retained English and Filipino as official languages, dropping Spanish. There was another provision stating that the National Assembly should "take steps towards the development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino."
The present constitution, ratified in 1987, stated that Filipino and English are both the official languages of the country. Filipino also had the distinction of being a national language that was to be "developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages." Although not explicitly stated in the constitution, Filipino is in practice almost completely composed of the Tagalog as spoken in the capital, Manila; however, organizations such as the University of the Philippines began publishing dictionaries such as the ''UP Diksyonaryong Filipino'' in which words from various Philippine languages were also included. The constitution also made mention of Spanish and Arabic, both of which are to be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis; in reality, virtually nothing is being done to this end.
Filipino is an official language of education, but less important than English. It is the major language of the broadcast media and cinema, but less important than English as a language of publication (except in some domains, like comic books, which are meant to speak directly to the Filipino psyche) and less important for academic-scientific-technological discourse. English and Filipino compete in the domains of business and government. Filipino is used as a lingua franca in all regions of the Philippines as well as within overseas Filipino communities, and is the dominant language of the armed forces (except perhaps for the small part of the commissioned officer corps from wealthy or upper middle class families) and of a large part of the civil service, most of whom are non-Tagalogs.

Indigenous languages

According to Ethnologue, a total of 171 native languages are spoken in the country. Except for English, Spanish, Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Chabacano, all of the languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
There are 12 native languages with at least one million native speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a, and Tausug. One or more of these is spoken natively by more than 90% of the population.

Classification of Philippine languages

Philippine languages are further divided into a handful of subgroups. The first three groups are considered to be closely related to each other.
'Northern Philippine languages' such as Ilokano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, and Sambal languages which are concentrated in northern and central Luzon. Some languages in Mindoro such as ''Iraya'' and ''Tadyawan'' are included in this group. The Yami language (also known as Tao of Orchid Island in Taiwan is also a member of this group.
'Meso Philippine languages' are perhaps the group with the most speakers and is the most geographically widespread, covering Central Luzon, the Visayas and many parts of Mindanao. Certain languages spoken in Palawan and Mindoro such as ''Tagbanwa'', ''Palawano'', and ''Hanunoo'' constitute their own respective subgroups. The largest subgroup are the 'Central Philippine languages' which are composed of Tagalog; Bicol language; Visayan languages such as Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray-Waray; and ''Mansakan languages''.
'Southern Philippine languages' such as Maranao, Maguindanao, Manobo languages, and ''Subanun languages'' are concentrated in Mindanao. Many Southern Philippine languages have been influenced by Malaysian, Indonesian, Sanskrit, and Arabic words.
The final three following groups are thought to be more distantly related to the previous three.
'Southern Mindanao languages' are languages such as ''Tboli'' and ''Blaan'' which are spoken in southern Mindanao.
'Sama-Bajaw' languages mainly centered in the Sulu Archipelago as well as parts of Borneo. One language, ''Abaknon'', is spoken on Capul Island near Samar, which is far from other Sama languages. Other languages in this group are ''Yakan'' and ''Sama''.
'Sulawesi languages' has only two representatives in the Philippines, the ''Sangil'' and the ''Sangir'' languages.

Mutual intelligibility

Despite not being mutually intelligible, Philippine languages tend to be referred to by Filipinos as dialects.
The vast differences between the languages can be seen in the following translations of the Philippine national proverb "He who does not look back at his birthplace will not reach his future."

★ 'Aklanon': Ro uwa' gatan-aw sa anang ginhalinan hay indi makaabut sa anang ginapaeangpan.

★ 'Asi': Kag tawong waya giruromroma it ida ginghalinan, indi makaabot sa ida apagtuan.

★ 'Bangon': No fuktaw hadwa bumontag idwan dasog at bato lawan.

★ 'Standard Bikol': An dai tataong magsalingoy sa saiyang ginikanan, dai makakaabot sa padudumanan.

★ 'Cebuano': Kadtong dili molingi sa gigikanan, dili makaabot sa gipadulongan.

★ 'Ibanag': I tolay nga ari mallipay ta naggafuananna, ari makadde ta angayanna.

★ 'Ilokano': Ti saán a tumaliaw iti naggapuanna, saán a makadánon iti papanánna.

★ 'Hiligaynon': Kon sin-o ang indi makahibalo magbalikid sang iya ginta-uhan, indi makaabot sa iya padulungan.

★ 'Jama Mapun': Soysoy niya' pandoy ngantele' patulakan ne, niya' ta'abut katakkahan ne.

★ 'Kapampangan': Ing e byasang malikid king kayang ibatan, e ya makaratang king kayang pupuntan.

★ 'Kinaray-a': Ang indi kamaan magbalikid sa ana ginhalinan, indi makaabot sa ana paaragtunan.

★ 'Obo Manobo': Iddos minuvu no konnod kotuig nod loingoy to id pomonan din, konna mandad od poko-uma riyon tod undiyonnan din.

★ 'Pangasinan': Say too ya agga unlingon ed nanlapuan to, agga makasabi ed laen to.

★ 'Sambal (Botolan)': Hay ahe nin nanlek ha pinag-ibatan, ay ahe makarateng ha lalakwen.

★ 'Sambal (Tina)': Hay kay tanda mamanomtom ha pinangibatan, kay immabot sa kakaon.

★ 'Sangil': Tao mata taya mabiling su pubuakengnge taya dumanta su kadam tangi.

★ 'Sinama': Ya Aa ga-i tau pa beleng ni awwal na, ga-i du sab makasong ni maksud na.

★ 'Tagalog': Ang hindî marunong lumingón sa pinanggalingan ay hindî makararatíng sa paroroonan.

★ 'Tausug': In di' maingat lumingi' pa bakas liyabayan niya, di' makasampay pa kadtuun niya.

★ 'Waray-Waray': An diri maaram lumingi ha tinikangan, diri maulpot ha kakadtoan.

★ 'Yakan': Gey tau mayam sibukutan, gey tau tekka kaditaran.

Dialectal variation

The amount of dialectal variation varies from language to language. Languages like Tagalog and Kapampangan are known to have very moderate dialectal variation.
In the languages of the Bicol Region, however, there is great dialectal variation. There are towns which have their own dialects. Below is the sentence "Were you there at the market for a long time?" translated into certain varieties of Bikol. The translation is followed by the town in Bicol where they are spoken. The final translations are in Tagalog and Ilonggo.

★ Haloy ka duman sa saod? (Naga City; standard dialect)

★ Naeban ika sadto sa sa-ran? (Iriga City)

★ Uban ika adto sa saod? (Libon)

★ Huray ka doon sa saod? (Pandan)

★ Naegey ika adto sa sa-ran? (Buhi)

★ Eley ka idto sa sed? (Oas)

★ Dugay ka didto sa palengke? (Ticao)

★ Awat ka didto sa plasa? (Gubat)

★ Matagal ka roon sa palengke? (Tagalog)

★ Nagdugay ka didto sa tyangge? (Ilonggo)

False friends among Philippine languages

One factor compounding the problem of mutual intelligibility among Philippine languages are those false friends, or false cognates, among the languages. There are many examples where a word in one language will have a greatly different meaning in another language.
Legend: Ilocano (ILO), Kapampangan (PMP), Tagalog (TGL), Cebuano (CEB), Ilonggo/Hiligaynon (HIL), Waray-Waray (WRY), Pangasinan (PANG).

★ bukid: field (farm) (TGL), hill/mountain (CEB, WRY,& HIL).

★ gamot: medicine (TGL), roots of plants (CEB & WRY).

★ habol: pursue (TGL), blanket (CEB & HIL), dulled (CEB & HIL).

★ hilo: become nauseous (TGL & HIL), poison ''or'' thread (CEB & HIL).

★ hipon: prawn/shrimp (TGL & HIL), shrimp paste (bagoong [CEB & TAG]).

★ ilog: river (TGL), quarrel over ''something'' (CEB), cheat/cheating (HIL).

★ irog: loved one (TGL), move over (CEB).

★ ibon: 'ebun'-egg (Kp), bird (TGL).

★ hubad: translate (CEB), naked (TGL).

★ kadyot: copulate (TGL), a moment (CEB).

★ karon: later (HIL), now (CEB).

★ katok: knock ''a door'' (TGL), silly/senseless (CEB & HIL).

★ kayat: want (ILO), copulate (CEB).

★ kumot: blanket (TGL), to crumple (CEB & WRY)

★ laban: against/opposed to (TGL), in support of (CEB)

★ lagay: put (TGL), male genitals (HIL & CEB), mud (WRY)

★ langgam: ant (TGL), bird (CEB).

★ libang: do leisurely things (TGL& WRY), defecate (CEB), to baby-sit or to entertain (HIL)

★ libog: lust (TGL), to be confused (CEB & HIL).

★ lingin: round (CEB), dizzy (HIL)

★ lipong: dizzy (CEB), fainted (HIL)

★ paa: foot (TGL), leg (CEB & HIL).

★ pagod: tired (TGL), burnt/scorched (CEB).

★ palit: change/exchange (TGL), buy (CEB).

★ pagong: turtle (TGL), frog (HIL).

★ pating: shark (TGL & CEB), dove (HIL)

★ sabot: pubic hair (HIL), to understand (CEB).

★ sili: chili (TGL & CEB), penis (WRY).

★ tapak: to step on (TGL & HIL), to patch a hole (CEB).

★ tete: bridge (PMP), Mammary glands (TGL).

★ titi: penis (TGL), breasts (HIL, ILO & CEB)

★ tulo: drip (TGL & HIL), Syphilis (TGL), three (CEB & WRY).

★ usa: deer (TGL & HIL), one (CEB & WRY).

★ usap : to talk (TGL), to chew (CEB & HIL).

★ utong: nipple (TGL), to hold one's breath (CEB).

★ wala : nothing (TGL, HIL, & CEB), there is (PANG), left side (HIL)

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	inniuk	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, iwan
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

There is a language spoken by the Tao people (also known as Yami) of Orchid Island of Taiwan which is not included in the language of the Philippines. Their language, Tao (or Yami) is part of the Batanic languages which includes Ivatan, Babuyan, and Itbayat of the 'Batanes'.

	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we (inc.)	what
Tao	ása	dóa (raroa)	tílo (tatlo)	ápat	tao	vahay			araw	vayo

List of Speakers per Language

Below are population estimates from the 2000 Philippine census by National Statistics Office of the Philippines on the number of Filipinos who speak the following 18 languages as a native language.

	Number of native speakers
Tagalog	22,000,000
Cebuano	20,000,000
Ilokano	7,700,000
Hiligaynon	7,000,000
Waray-Waray	3,100,000
Northern Bikol	2,500,000
Kapampangan	2,400,000
Pangasinan	1,540,000
Southern Bikol	1,200,000
Maranao	1,150,000
Maguindanao	1,100,000
Kinaray-a	1,051,000
Tausug	1,022,000
Chavacano	607,000
Surigaonon	600,000
Masbatenyo	530,000
Aklanon	520,000
Ibanag	320,000

Major Foreign Languages

Spanish

Main articles: Spanish in the Philippines

Spanish began to be introduced in the archipelago from 1565, when the Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi founded the first Spanish settlement on Cebu.
In 1593, the first printing press was founded. A great portion of the history of the Philippines is written in Spanish. Many land titles, contracts, newspapers and literature are still written in Spanish. There are thousands of Spanish loanwords in Tagalog, Cebuano, and other languages. Spanish numbers are usually used with dates, times, measurements, and other occasions.
The use of Spanish began to decline after Spain ceded the islands to the United States in 1898. Under U.S. rule, English began to be promoted instead of Spanish. After the country's independence (in 1946) and during the Marcos administration, many of the old Spanish-speaking families in Philippines migrated to Spain and Latin America. There were six million Spanish speakers in the Philippines in 1940. The 1950 Census stated that hispanophone Filipinos made up 6% of the population. In 1990, the census reported that the number had dwindled to just 2,500.
Spanish ceased to be an official language in 1973 and a college requirement in 1987 during the Aquino administration. However the language is still spoken today by Filipino-Spanish mestizos and Spanish families, who are mainly concentrated in Metro Manila, IloIlo and Cebu. It remains a required subject in many universities, such as the University of Santo Tomás of Manila and the University of San Carlos in Cebu.
There are also several Spanish creole languages in the Philippines, collectively called Chavacano.
They include:

★ Chavacanos of Luzon:

★
★ ''Caviteño'', spoken in Cavite City, Cavite.

★
★ ''Ternateño'', spoken in Ternate, Cavite.

★
★ ''Ermitaño'', formerly spoken in Ermita, Manila, now extinct.

★ Chavacanos of Mindanao:

★
★ ''Zamboangueño'', spoken in Zamboanga City (360,000 native speakers, the most spoken creole)

★
★ ''Cotabateño'', spoken in Cotobato City

★
★ ''Davaoeño'', spoken in Davao City

English

Main articles: Philippine English

Main articles: Taglish

Main articles: Englog

The first exposure English occurred in 1762, when the British invaded Manila. However, use of English in that era had no lasting influence. English was declared the official language during the American colonial period by William Howard Taft, the first civilian governor of the Philippines. English remains an official language the Philippines today.
Today, English is the dominant language in business, government, the legal system, medicine, the sciences and education. Filipinos tend to want their textbooks for subjects like calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., written in English rather than Filipino. By way of contrast, the native languages are often heard in colloquial settings, and in the home, with family and friends, most people 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; the major television networks are shifting to Tagalog. English proficiency sustains a significant call center industry for American companies. It is also a valuable asset for overseas workers such as nurses.
Since Filipinos are so comfortable with the English language, a large influx of English words has been assimilated into Tagalog and the other native languages called Taglish.
Advocates of English say that it is the wave of the future, with science, world trade and the Internet become more important every decade. However, Philippine-language advocates respond that although the growing influence of English may be unstoppable, English is an exogenous language that is difficult for the mass of Filipinos to acquire fluently, while tens of millions are acquiring the ''lingua franca'' and using it extensively on a daily basis. English will remain a second language, as in Finland or the Netherlands, while the endogenous Austronesian languages will come to play a more important role in both speech and writing. National census results show that there are very few native speakers of English in the Philippines, a few percent from a small stratum of wealthy and highly educated families, and this is not increasing very rapidly. On the other hand, Filipino, Cebuano, and Ilocano continue to grow vigorously, as lingua francas, second languages, and as first languages as well.

Chinese/Lan-nang

Main articles: Lan-nang

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. The Lan-nang variant of the Hokkien (Min Nan) is the language of the majority the Chinese in the Philippines, who immigrated from the Fujian (pronounced locally as Fukien or Hokkien) province in China. Another Chinese language, Cantonese, is spoken among the Chinese in the Philippines who are descendants of people from Guangdong province in China.

Arabic

Arabic is used by some members of the Muslim population. It is used in religious instruction in madrasahs (Muslim schools) and, more rarely, for official events among Muslim peoples. Historically, Arabic, along with Malay, was used as a lingua franca in the Malay Archipelago among Muslim traders and the Muslim Malay aristocracy throughout the Archipelago. Arabic is taught for free and promoted in some Islamic centers and used for Islamic activities. According to the 1987 Constitution, Arabic, along with Spanish, is to be promoted on a voluntary basis.

Japanese

The Japanese first came to the Philippines in the 1200s A.D., the first country they immigrated to, as well as in waves in the 1400s, 1600s, late eighteen hundreds, 1900s, 30s, 40s,. Which explains why a lot of Filipinos have Japanese in them. 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 large community of Japanese and Japanese descendants in Laguna province, Baguio city, and in the Davao region. Davao City is a home to a large population of Japanese descendants. Japanese laborers were hired by American companies like the National Fiber Company (NAFCO)in the first decades of the 20th century to work in abaca plantations. Japanese were known for their hard work and industry. During the World War II, Japanese schools were present in Davao City.

Malay

Spoken among Muslim peoples in the southern Philippines.
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 spoken among the aristocracy.
It is believed that Ferdinand Magellan’s Moluccan slave Enrique could converse with local leaders in Cebu 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.

South Asian languages

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, Sindhi and Punjabi are used. Urdu is spoken among the Pakistani community. Only few South Asians, such as Pakistani, as well as the recent newcomers like the Marathi, Nepali, and Tamil retain their own native languages.

Diglossia

There is still doubt whether there is 'diglossia in the Philippines', considering that there still confusion whether Tagalog and Filipino are two distinct languages. However, there are some shades of diglossia in the provinces, especially in areas where Tagalog is not an arterial language to the major populace.

Between Filipino and Tagalog

Diglossia in the National Capital Region, also known as Metropolitan Manila, is the hardest to determine for the reason given above. To this day, the 'Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino' (Commission on the Filipino Language or KWF) is insisting that Filipino is not Tagalog but a language heavily based on Tagalog and other languages as well.
One famous event where the definition between Filipino and Tagalog is challenged was during the impeachment trial of the Former President of the Philippines, the Actor Joseph Estrada.
When the presiding justice Hilario Davide asked in which language would the witness Emma Lim prefer to testify, Lim promptly answered 'Tagalog', to which Davide promptly did not agree.
According to Davide, nobody could testify in Tagalog because it is not the official language of the Philippines and there is no available interpreter from Tagalog to Filipino.
However, the then President of the Senate, Franklin Drilon, sided on the oneness of the two languages saying that an interpreter will no longer be needed because everybody would understand the testimony in Tagalog.
More noticeable cases include Regional Tagalog Speakers who lose their accents when they are in Manila. In the case of the Batangueños, the change in speech pattern is evident in the changing of morphology. It is a very common phenomenon that these folks, especially if they have resided in Manila for a considerable amount of time, to automatically regain their accents, and sometimes the vocabulary, the moment they enter the boundaries of the province. This is jocularly called by some as the ''Portal Effect'' as the change happens when they see the ''Welcome to Batangas'' Marker.

Between Tagalog and regional languages

If the diglossia between Filipino and Tagalog is disputed, nobody questions that there is diglossia in the case of Tagalog and the other regional languages. In this case, we can clearly label Tagalog as the High Language and the Regional Languages the Low Language.
According to the Constitution of the Philippines, Filipinos will theoretically be bilingual, equiproficient in Filipino and English. But it also provided the use of the vernacular languages as auxiliary languages in provinces where Filipino or Tagalog is not the lingua franca.
This is however not implemented as Filipinos at large would be polyglots. In the case where the vernacular language is a regional language, Filipinos would speak in Filipino (or Tagalog) when speaking in formal situations while the regional languages are spoken in non-formal settings.
This is evident in major urban areas outside the National Capital Region like Laoag and Vigan in the Ilocano-speaking area, and Cebu and Davao in the Cebuano-speaking area. Although the case of Ilocano and Cebuano are becoming more of bilingualism than diglossia due to the publication of materials written in these languages.
The diglossia is more evident in the case of other languages such as Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Bicol, Waray, Hiligaynon, Sambal, and Maranao, where the written variant of the language is becoming less and less popular to give way to the use of Filipino.
Although Philippine Laws consider these languages 'Major Languages' there is little, if any, support coming from the government to preserve these languages. Although Philippine linguists would agree that there is still no danger of these languages becoming extinct in the near future, the lack of support from the government makes these languages prone to “bastardation”.

Between regional and minority languages

There still exists a third kind of diglossia in the country, which is between the regional languages and the minority languages. Here, we label the regional languages as high languages while the minority languages as the low languages.
In this case, the minority language is spoken only in very intimate circles, like the family or the tribe one belongs to. Outside this circle, one would speak in the prevalent regional language, while maintaining an adequate command of Filipino for formal situations.
Unlike the case of the regional languages these minority languages are always in danger of becoming extinct because of speakers favoring the more prevalent regional language. Moreover, most of the users of these languages are illiterate and as expected, there is a chance that these languages will no longer be revived due to lack of written records.

Between Filipino and English

Like the confusion between the Filipino and Tagalog diglossia, there is also a debate whether there is diglossia or bilingualism, or even semilingualism, between Filipino and English.
Should Filipino and Tagalog be considered one language, Filipinos would use this language both in formal and informal situations, while, save for a very few, English will only be used for formal gatherings such as education and governance.
Though the masses would prefer to speak in Filipino, government officials tend to speak in English when they do their government duties. Until now, there is still resistance in the use of Filipino in courts and the drafting of national statutes.

References

★ The Austronesians: Historical and comparative perspectives, Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James; & Tryon, Darrell, , , Department of Anthropology, Australian National University, 1995, ISBN 0-7315-2132-3

★ Ethnologue report for Philippines

★ An Satuyang Tataramon: A Study of the Bikol language, Lobel, Jason William & Wilmer Joseph S. Tria, , , Lobel & Tria Partnership Co., 2000, ISBN 971-92226-0-3

★ Bikol, Malcolm Warren Mintz, , , Facts About the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present, 2001

★ Philippine minor Languages: Word lists and phonologies, Reid, Lawrence A., , , University of Hawai'i Press, 1971, ISBN 0870226916

★ Tagalog-English English-Tagalog Dictionary, Rubino, Carl Ralph Galvez, , , Hippocrene Books, 1998, ISBN 0-7818-0961-4

★ Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar, Rubino, Carl Ralph Galvez, , , University of Hawai'i Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8248-2088-6

★ The Philippine National Proverb Carl Ralph Galvez Rubino

★ In Bahasa Sug: An Introduction to Tausug, Sundita, Christopher Allen, , , Lobel & Tria Partnership, Co., 2002, ISBN 971-92226-6-2

★ Languages or Dialects? Christopher Sundita

★ A Comparative Study of Philippine Lexicons, Yap, Fe Aldave, , , Institute of Philippine languages, Department of Education, Culture, and Sports, 1977, ISBN 971-8705-05-8

★ The Bisayan dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and reconstruction, R. David Zorc, , , Pacific Linguistics,, 1977

★ Hiligaynon, R. David Zorc, , , Facts About the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present, 2001

★

External links

★ Ricardo Maria Nolasco on the diversity of languages in the Philippines

★ Lawrence R. Reid webpage of Dr. Lawrence R. Reid. Professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Has researched Philippine languages for decades.

★ Carl Rubino webpage of Dr. Carl Rubino. A Filipino linguist who has studied Philippine languages.

★ Literatura hispanofilipina: siglos XVII al XX by Edmundo Farolan Romero, with a pretty Philippine poetry anthology in Spanish.

★ Salita Blog by Christopher Sundita. A blog about a variety of issues concerning the languages of the Philippines.

★ Espaniero An Online Spanish conversation group for Pinoys

★ Philippine Language Tree

★ The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines, by Andrew Gonzalez, FSC

★ kaibigankastil webpage of the Spanish culture in the Philippines.

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