Languages Spoken in the Philippines: A Comprehensive Overview
The Philippines, an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, boasts a rich and diverse linguistic landscape shaped by its history, geography, and interactions with various cultures. With some 130 to 195 languages spoken, depending on classification methods, the country presents a fascinating case study in multilingualism and language evolution. Almost all are Malayo-Polynesian languages native to the archipelago. This article provides an in-depth exploration of the languages spoken in the Philippines, examining their history, current status, and significance.
Official and National Languages: Filipino and English
The Philippines has two official languages: Filipino and English. The 1987 constitution designates Filipino as the national language and an official language along with English. Both Filipino and English are used in government, education, print, broadcast media, and business, with third local languages often being used at the same time.
Filipino: The Standardized National Language
Filipino is a standardized version of Tagalog, spoken mainly in Metro Manila. Filipino is based on Tagalog, the language spoken in the capital city of Manila and surrounding areas. Tagalog is spoken natively by 31.59% of Filipinos. Filipino, meanwhile, is one of the two current official languages of the Philippines, alongside English. The Filipino language is a standardised version of Tagalog.
The development of Filipino as a national language began in the early 20th century, with the aim of creating a unifying language that could be spoken by people from all regions of the Philippines. The first attempts to create a standardised Tagalog language were made in the 1930s, and in 1937 Tagalog was declared the national language. In 1939, President Manuel L. Quezón renamed the Tagalog language as Wikang Pambansa ("national language" in English translation). The language was further renamed in 1959 as Pilipino by Secretary of Education José E. Romero. The 1973 constitution declared the Pilipino language to be co-official, along with English, and mandated the development of a national language, to be known as Filipino.
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 language 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.
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Filipino has borrowings from, among other languages, Spanish, English, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, and Nahuatl. It is an official language of education, but less important than English as a language of publication (except in some domains, like comic books) and less important for academic-scientific-technological discourse.
English: A Legacy of American Colonialism
English became one of the official languages of the Philippines during the American colonial period, when the United States ruled the country from 1898 to 1946. The first significant exposure of Filipinos to the English language occurred in 1762 when the British invaded Manila during the Seven Years' War, but this was a brief episode that had no lasting influence. Following the American occupation of the Philippines and the imposition of English, the use of Spanish declined gradually. Occupation and civil regime, English began to be taught in schools. By 1901, public education used English as the medium of instruction. Around 600 educators (called "Thomasites") who arrived in that year aboard the USAT Thomas replaced the soldiers who also functioned as teachers.
Today, English is spoken by around 70 million people in the Philippines, making it one of the largest English-speaking populations in the world. The widespread use of English in the Philippines has delivered a number of advantages in terms of international opportunities. Not only is English an important language for politics and trade, it has also provided many Filipinos with access to the international jobs market. English is used in official documents of business, government, the legal system, medicine, the sciences and as a medium of instruction.
Major Regional Languages
In addition to Filipino and English, the Philippines is home to a diverse array of regional languages, each with its unique cultural and historical significance. The Constitution of the Philippines provides for the use of the vernacular languages as official auxiliary languages in provinces where Filipino is not the lingua franca.
Tagalog
Tagalog is the language spoken natively by 31.59% of Filipinos. Including second language speakers, Tagalog is the most spoken language in the Philippines. It is spoken as a first language by 26.3 million people.
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Cebuano
Cebuano is another important language spoken by the people of the Philippines. 25.55% of Filipinos speak it - almost as many as speak Tagalog. Native speakers number upward of 21.3 million. The Cebuano language is referred to by its speakers as Bisaya or Binisaya. It was the most spoken native language in the Philippines between around 1950 and 1980, though today Tagalog is more widely spoken. Spoken in the southern Philippines, Cebuano is sometimes called Bisaya or Binisaya by its native speakers, and is sometimes referred to as Cebuan in English sources. Cebuan, an Austronesian language, is spoken by over 20 million people.
Ilocano
The Ilocano language is spoken by around 9.31% of people in the Philippines, with over 7.7 million native speakers. That makes it the third most spoken native language of the Philippines. With over 7 million speakers primarily among the Ilocano people, this language has a phonology that includes glottal stops and nasal sounds which are not found in other Philippine languages.
Hiligaynon
Another widely spoken language in the Philippines is Hiligaynon. Interestingly, speakers are split between an area in the centre of the country and a region to the south, with few in between. Native speaker numbers are estimated to be just over 7 million, with 8.38% of Filipinos speaking Hiligaynon. Often referred to as Ilonggo, this Austronesian regional language is spoken in the Philippines by more than 9 million people, primarily in Western Visayas and Soccsksargen.
Waray-Waray
Also referred to by its speakers as Waray-Waray, this language is spoken by some 3.71% of Filipinos. Not only is it spoken as a first language by the Waray people but the Abaknon people and some Cebuano speakers use it as a second language. Often referred to as Ilonggo, this Austronesian regional language is spoken in the Philippines by more than 9 million people, primarily in Western Visayas and Soccsksargen.
Central Bikol
Spoken mainly in the northeastern part of the central area of the Philippines, Central Bikol is also known as Bikol Naga and Bikol. Its standard form is based on the Canaman dialect. 2.99% of Filipinos speak Central Bikol, which has 2.5 million native speakers.
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Kapampangan
Another of the Philippines’ languages with significant speaker numbers (well over 2.4 million), Kapampangan is spoken largely in the province of Pampanga, where it is the predominant language. Speakers also reside in southern Tarlac, northeastern Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Zambales.
Pangasinan
The Pangasinan language is native to an area in the northwest of the Philippines, where it has 2.4 million first language speakers. It has a number of close relatives in linguistic terms, including Ibaloi, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, Hawaiian and Malagasy.
Maranao
Maranao is spoken on the island of Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippines. It has a distinctive downstep accent, which differentiates it from other Danao languages. As well as being spoken in the Philippines, it is spoken in Malaysia.
Tausug
Tausug is spoken throughout the Sulu Archipelago in the southern area of the Philippines. Around 1.8 million Filipinos speak it, equating to 2.18% of the population.
Other Notable Languages
Spanish
Spanish was the official language of the country for more than three centuries under Spanish colonial rule, and became the lingua franca of the Philippines in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1863, a Spanish decree introduced universal education, creating free public schooling in Spanish. It was also the language of the Philippine Revolution, and the 1899 Malolos Constitution effectively proclaimed it as the official language of the First Philippine Republic. National hero José Rizal wrote most of his works in Spanish.
Following the American occupation of the Philippines and the imposition of English, the use of Spanish declined gradually. The 1935 Constitution added English as an official language alongside Spanish. In addition, Spanish regained its official status when President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 155, s. The 1987 Constitution under President Corazon Aquino declared Filipino to be the national language of the country. Filipino and English were named as the country's official languages, with the recognition of regional languages as having official auxiliary status in their respective regions (though not specifying any particular languages). Spanish and Arabic were to be promoted on an optional and voluntary basis.
Today, Spanish is spoken mainly by Filipinos of Spanish descent or those who have studied the language.
Arabic
Arabic is used by some Filipino Muslims in both a liturgical and instructional capacity since the arrival of Islam and establishment of several Sultanates in the 14th century. The 1987 Constitution mandates that Arabic (along with Spanish) is to be promoted on an optional and voluntary basis. As of 2015 Arabic is taught for free and is promoted in some Islamic centres predominantly in the southernmost parts of Philippines. It is used primarily in religious activities and education (such as in a madrasa or Islamic school) and rarely for official events or daily conversation.
Chinese
Diplomatic ties with the Ming dynasty among some established states or kingdoms in Luzon and direct interactions and trade overall within the archipelago as a whole may go as far back as the early 10th century during the Song dynasty. Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction and subject matter being taught for Chinese class in Chinese schools in the Philippines. However, the Lan-nang-ue variant of Hokkien Chinese is the majority household and heritage language of the Chinese Filipinos who, for generations, mostly trace roots from Southern Fujian province in China. Other varieties of Chinese such as Yue Chinese (especially Taishanese or Cantonese), Teochew, and Hakka are spoken among a minority of Chinese Filipinos whose ancestral roots trace all the way back from the Guangdong or Guangxi provinces of Southern China.
Japanese
The Japanese first came to the Philippines around the 11th century CE, the first country they emigrated to, as well as in waves from the 15th century (as depicted in the Boxer Codex) 17th century, late 19th century, 1900s, 1930s, and the 1940s. 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, and in the Davao Region. Davao City is a home to a large population of Japanese descendants.
Malay
Malay is spoken as a second language by a minority of the Tausug, Sama-Bajau, and Yakan peoples in the southernmost parts of the Philippines, from Zamboanga down to Tawi-Tawi. It is also spoken as a daily language by the Indonesians and Malaysians who have settled, or do business in the Philippines. It is also spoken in southern Palawan to some extent, especially by the Molbog people.
Endangered Languages
The Philippines is also home to a number of endangered languages, many of which are Negrito languages. Several languages spoken in the Philippines have been classified as endangered and several more have already become extinct. All of these languages are Negrito languages, which are some of the oldest languages to be found in the Philippines. According to UNESCO, there are 17 critically endangered languages in the Philippines, including Ayta Abellen, Kinaray-a, Yami, and Bantoanon, among others.
There are several reasons for the decline of these indigenous languages. Migration, urbanization, and the prevalence of Filipino and English as official languages have led to a decline in the use of native languages. Additionally, there is often a lack of government support for the preservation and promotion of these languages, and they may not be taught in schools or used in official settings.
Some of the endangered languages in the Philippines include:
- Palawan language: According to the Ethnologue, there are only about 8,000 speakers of Palawan left.
- Cebuano language: There are about 21 million speakers of Cebuano, but the number is declining.
- Waray-Waray language: There are about 2.5 million speakers of Waray-Waray, but the number is declining.
Diglossia and Code-Switching
There are different forms of diglossia that exist in the case of regional languages. Locals may use their mother tongue or the regional lingua franca to communicate amongst themselves, but sometimes switch to foreign languages when addressing outsiders. Filipinos by and large are polyglots; in the case where the vernacular language is a regional language, Filipinos would speak in Filipino when speaking in formal situations while the regional languages are spoken in non-formal settings.
There still exists another type of diglossia, which is between the regional languages and the minority languages. Here, we label the regional languages as acrolects while the minority languages as the basilect. 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.
A large influx of English (American English) words have been assimilated into Tagalog and the other native languages called Taglish or Bislish. Some speakers code switch or code mix between English and Tagalog, referred to as speaking Taglish, Englog or Bislish.
The Influence of Loanwords
The Filipino language itself carries echoes of its past, embedded with loaned words from various tongues. Spanish loanwords, dating back to colonial rule, English loanwords from the American era, and notably, Chinese loanwords stemming from trade and migration have all merged seamlessly into Filipino vocabulary.
Spanish loanwords are the oldest type of loaned words in the Philippines. Some examples of Spanish loanwords in the Philippines include “barangay” (village), “eskwela” (school), and “sari-sari store” (neighborhood convenience store). English loanwords became more common in the Philippines after the country became a US territory. Some examples of English loanwords in the Philippines include “jeepney” (a type of public transportation), “t-shirt” (a type of clothing), and “basketball” (a sport). Chinese loanwords were introduced to the Philippines through trade and migration. Some examples of Chinese loanwords in the Philippines include “dim sum” (a type of food), “karaoke” (a type of entertainment), and “feng shui” (a type of belief).
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