The Central Philippine languages are the most geographically widespread demonstrated group of languages in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, being spoken in southern

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, a ...

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands ( Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, ...

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of t ...

, and

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu ( Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Its cap ...

. They are also the most populous, including Tagalog (and Filipino), Bikol, and the major Visayan languages Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray,

Kinaray-a The Karay-a language ( krj, label=none, Kinaray-a, krj, label=none, Binisayâ nga Kinaray-a or krj, label=none, Hinaraya; en, Harayan) is an Austronesian regional language in the Philippines spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique, I ...

, and Tausug, with some forty languages all together.

Classification

Overview

The languages are generally subdivided thus (languages in ''italics'' refer to a single language): * Tagalog (at least three dialects found in southern Luzon) * Bikol (eight languages in the

Bicol Peninsula Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region o ...

) * Bisayan (eighteen languages spoken in the whole

, as well as southeastern

, northeastern

and

) * Mansakan (eleven languages of the

Davao Region Davao Region, formerly called Southern Mindanao ( ceb, Rehiyon sa Davao; fil, Rehiyon ng Davao), is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region XI. It is situated at the southeastern portion of Mindanao and comprises fiv ...

) There are in addition several

Aeta The Aeta (Ayta ), Agta, or Dumagat, are collective terms for several Filipino indigenous peoples who live in various parts of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. They are considered to be part of the Negrito ethnic groups and share common ...

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 A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...

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.Blust, Robert A. ''The Austronesian Languages''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 2009. , .

Zorc (1977)

The expanded tree of the Central Philippine languages below is given in David Zorc's 1977 Ph.D. dissertation.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. The Visayan subgrouping is Zorc's own work, while the Bikol subgrouping is from McFarland (1974) and the Mansakan subgrouping from Gallman (1974). Individual languages are marked by ''italics'', and primary branches by ''bold italics''. *'' Tagalog'' **''Standard Filipino'' **''

Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac. Marinduque lies ...

'' **'' Lubang'' *'' Bikol'' **'' Pandan (North

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes, is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across Maqueda C ...

)'' ** Inland Bikol ***''

Iriga Iriga, officially the City of Iriga ( Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Iriga''; bcl, Siyudad nin Iriga; fil, Lungsod ng Iriga), is component city in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

(Rinconada Bikol)'' ***'' Albay Bikol'' ** Coastal Bikol (including the Naga City dialect) ***''

Central Bikol Central Bikol commonly called Bikol Naga, also known simply as Bikol, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Bicolanos, primarily in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon, Philippines. It is spoken in the northern and western part of Camarines S ...

'' ***'' Virac (South

)'' *''

Visayan Visayans ( Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...

'' **1. South (spoken on the eastern coast of

) ***Butuan–Tausug ****'' Tausug'' ****'' Butuanon'' ***Surigao ****'' Surigaonon, Jaun-Jaun, Kantilan,

Naturalis Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Al ...

'' **2. Cebuan (spoken in

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 1 ...

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It ...

, western

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

, northern

, and eastern Negros) ***Cebuan ****'' Cebuano, Boholano, Leyte'' **3. Central (spoken across most of the Visayan region) ***Warayan ****Waray–Samar *****'' Waray, Samar-Leyte'' *****''Northern

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

'' ****'' Gubat (South

Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon ( Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sorsogon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. It is the southernmost province in L ...

)'' ***Peripheral ****''

(North),

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate ( Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; tl, Lalawigan ng Masbate), is an island province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provincial capital is Masbate ...

'' ****''

Camotes Camotes Islands is a group of islands in the Camotes Sea, Philippines. Combined area is . The island group is located east of Cebu Island, southwest of Leyte Island, and north of Bohol Island. It is from Cebu City and is part of Cebu. Accordi ...

'' ****'' Bantayan'' ****'' Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), Capiznon, Kawayan'' ***

Romblon Romblon ( , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main islands include Tablas, the largest, which covers nine municipalities; Sibuyan with its three towns; as ...

****'' Romblomanon'' **4. Banton/Asi (spoken in northwestern

Province) *** Banton ****'' Banton, Odionganon, Simara, Calatrava, Sibale'' **5. West ***Aklan (spoken in northern

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City ...

) ****'' Aklanon'' ***Kinarayan (spoken in

) ****'' Pandan,

, Gimaras'' ***North-Central (spoken on

Tablas Island Tablas is the largest of the islands that comprise the province of Romblon in the Philippines. The name of the island was of Spanish origin. Before the colonization of the Philippines, Tablas was known as the Island of ''Osigan''. At the time of ...

and the southern tip of

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

) ****'' Bulalakaw, Dispoholnon, Looknon, Alcantaranhon'' ***Kuyan (spoken in the archipelagos west of

and

, as well as the southern tip of

) ****'' Datagnon, Santa Teresa, Semirara'' ****'' Kuyonon'' *'' Mansakan'' **North Mansakan ***''

Kamayo Kamayo (Kinamayo or alternatively spelled Camayo), also called Kadi, Kinadi, or Mandaya, is a minor Austronesian language of the central eastern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines. Distribution Spoken in some areas of Surigao del Sur (the cit ...

(North)'' and ''

(South)'' **Davaw ***'' Davawenyo (Davaweño)'' **Eastern Mansakan ***''Isamal'' ***''

Caraga Caraga, officially the Caraga Administrative Region (or simply known as Caraga Region) and designated as Region XIII, is an administrative region in the Philippines occupying the northeastern section of Mindanao. The region was created through ...

(Karaga)'' ***'' Kabasagan, Boso,

Mansaka The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adop ...

, Mandayan'' **Western Mansakan ***''Kalagan'' and ''Tagakaolo'' *''

Mamanwa The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopt ...

'' **''

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: *''Tagalog'' *''Bikol'' *South Central Philippine **West Bisayan **Banton **Central Bisayan **Cebuan **East Mindanao ***North East Mindanao ****''

'' ****'' Surigaonon'' ****'' Butuanon- Tausug'' ***Central East Mindanao ****''

'' ****'' Davawenyo (Banganga)'' ****'' Davawenyo (

Digos Digos, officially the City of Digos ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Digos; fil, Lungsod ng Digos), is a 2nd class component city and capital of the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 188,376 people. ...

)'' ***South East Mindanao ****'' Mandaya (Kabasagan)'' ****'' Mandaya (

)'' ****''

, Mandaya ( Maragusan), Mandaya (Boso)'' *****(Branch) ******'' Mandaya (Islam)'' ******'' Kalagan ( Kaagan), Kalagan (Tagakaulu)''

Greater Central Philippine (Blust)

Blust (1991) 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 Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

, Danao,

Manobo The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopt ...

, Subanon and Gorontalo–Mongondow languages, the latter found in northern

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Philippine Languages Greater Central Philippine languages