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The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken 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 ...
. They are most closely related to
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...
and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Most Bisayan languages are spoken in the whole
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, ...
section of the country, but they are also spoken in the southern part of the
Bicol Region 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 of ...
(particularly in Masbate and
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 ...
where several dialects of Waray are spoken), islands south of
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, as ...
, such as those that make up Romblon, most of the areas of
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 ...
and the province of
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 ...
located southwest of Mindanao. Some residents of
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
also speak one of the Bisayan languages. Over 30 languages constitute the Bisayan language family. The Bisayan language with the most speakers is Cebuano, spoken by 20 million people as a native language in
Central Visayas Central Visayas ( ceb, Tunga-tungang Kabisay-an; tl, Gitnang Kabisayaan) is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. It consists of four provinces: (Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor) and thr ...
, parts of
Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas ( war, Sinirangan Kabisay-an; ceb, Sidlakang Kabisay-an; tl, Silangang Kabisayaan or ''Silangang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, ...
, and most of
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 ...
. Two other well-known and widespread Bisayan languages are Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), spoken by 9 million in most of Western Visayas and
Soccsksargen Soccsksargen (officially stylized in all caps; ), formerly known as Central Mindanao, is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region XII. Located in south-central Mindanao, its name is an acronym that stands for the regi ...
; and Waray-Waray, spoken by 6 million in
Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas ( war, Sinirangan Kabisay-an; ceb, Sidlakang Kabisay-an; tl, Silangang Kabisayaan or ''Silangang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, ...
region. Prior to colonization, the script and calligraphy of most of the Visayan peoples was the badlit, closely related to the Tagalog
baybayin (, ''pre-kudlít'': , ''virama-krus-kudlít'': , ''virama-pamudpod'': ; also formerly commonly incorrectly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it ...
.


Nomenclature

Native speakers of most Bisayan languages, especially Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray, not only refer to their language by their local name, but also by ''Bisaya'' or ''Binisaya'', meaning ''Bisayan language''. This is misleading or may lead to confusion as different languages may be called ''Bisaya'' by their respective speakers despite their languages being
mutually unintelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as ...
. However, languages that are classified within the Bisayan language family but spoken natively in places outside of the
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, ...
do not use the self-reference ''Bisaya'' or ''Binisaya''. To speakers of
Cuyonon Cuyonon is a regional Bisayan language spoken on the coast of Palawan and the Cuyo Islands in the Philippines.Surigaonon, Butuanon and Tausug, the term '' Visayan'' usually refers to either Cebuano or Hiligaynon. There have been no proven accounts to verify the origins of ''Bisaya''. However, there is an ethnic group in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
and
Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...
who call themselves with the same name. However, these
ethnic groups 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 gr ...
must not be confused with those in
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...
.


Evidence

David Zorc lists the following innovations as features defining the Bisayan languages as a group (Zorc 1977:241). Tausug is noted to have diverged early from the group and may have avoided some sound changes that affected the others. # *lC, *Cl > *Cl (where C is any consonant not *h, *q, or *l) # *qC, *Cq > *Cq (MOST) *qC, *Cq > *qC ( Tausug, and most Bikol languages)


Internal classification

David Zorc gives the following internal classification for the Bisayan languages (Zorc 1977:32). The five primary branches are South, Cebuan, Central, Banton, and West. However, Zorc notes that the Bisayan language family is more like 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 vari ...
rather than a set of readily distinguishable languages. The South Bisayan languages are considered to have diverged first, followed by Cebuan and then the rest of the three branches. Also, in the Visayas section, the province of Romblon has the most linguistic diversity, as languages from three primary Bisayan branches are spoken there: Romblomanon from Central Bisayan, Inunhan from Western Bisayan and Banton (which has an independent Bisayan branch). Notably, Baybayanon and Porohanon have Warayan substrata, indicating a more widespread distribution of Waray before Cebuano speakers started to expand considerably starting from the mid-1800s. A total of 36 varieties are listed below. Individual languages are marked by ''italics''. * ''Bisayan'' ** 1. South (spoken on the northeastern coast of
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 ...
) *** Butuan-Tausug **** '' Tausug'' **** '' Butuanon'' *** Surigao **** '' Surigaonon'' **** ''Tandaganon'' ** 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 16 ...
,
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. ...
,
Siquijor Siquijor ( , ), officially the Province of Siquijor ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Siquijor; tl, Lalawigan ng Siquijor), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the municipality also named Siquijor ...
,
Eastern Negros Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southea ...
, 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 ...
and northern, southeastern and northwestern parts of
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 ...
) *** Cebuan **** '' Cebuano'' ***** '' Boholano'' ** 3. Central (spoken across most of the Visayan region) *** Warayan (spoken in eastern
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 ...
, Biliran and
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 ...
) **** '' Waray'' **** '' Baybayanon'' **** '' Kabalian'' **** '' Southern Sorsogon (Gubat)'' *** Peripheral **** '' Hiligaynon (Ilonggo)'' (spoken in eastern
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 o ...
and Guimaras,
Western Negros Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...
and south-central
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 ...
) **** ''
Capiznon Capiznon or Capiceño () is an Austronesian regional language spoken in Western Visayas in the Philippines. Capiznon is concentrated in the province of Capiz in the northeast of Panay Island. It is a member of the Bisayan language family and ...
'' **** '' Bantayanon'' **** '' Porohanon'' **** ''Masbate-Sorsogon'' ***** '' Masbateño'' ***** '' Central Sorsogon (Masbate)'' *** Romblon (also the name of the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
) **** '' Romblomanon'' ** 4. Asi (spoken in northwestern Romblon Province) **** '' Asi'' ** 5. West *** Aklan (spoken in northwestern
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 o ...
) **** '' Aklanon/Inakeanon'' **** '' Malaynon'' *** Karayan **** '' Karay-a'' (spoken in western and inland
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 o ...
) *** North-Central (spoken on Tablas Island 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 ...
) **** '' Inonhan'' (language related to Karayan) *** Kuyan (spoken in the archipelagos west of
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 o ...
and Romblon as well as 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 ...
) **** '' Ratagnon'' **** ''
Cuyonon Cuyonon is a regional Bisayan language spoken on the coast of Palawan and the Cuyo Islands in the Philippines.Caluyanon'' The auxiliary language of Eskayan is grammatically Bisayan, but has essentially no Bisayan (or Philippine) vocabulary. Magahat and Karolanos, both spoken in Negros, are unclassified within Bisayan.Lobel, Jason William. 2013
''Philippine and North Bornean languages: issues in description, subgrouping, and reconstruction''
Ph.D. dissertation. Manoa: University of Hawai'i at Manoa.


''Ethnologue'' classification

''
Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...
'' classifies the 25 Bisayan languages into five subgroups:


Names and locations

Zorc (1977: 14–15) lists the following names and locations of Bisayan languages. The recently documented languages Karolanos, Magahat, and Kabalian are not listed in Zorc (1977).


Comparisons

The following comparisons are from data gathered by Zorc (1997).


Personal-noun case markers


Common-name case markers


Reconstruction

David Zorc's reconstruction of Proto-Bisayan had 15
consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced w ...
s and 4
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...
s (Zorc 1977:201). Vowel length, primary stress (penultimate and ultimate), and secondary stress (pre-penultimate) are also reconstructed by Zorc.


See also

* Bisalog * Bislish * Bisakol languages *
Classical Cebuano Classical Cebuano ( ceb, Karaang Sinugboanon, Karaang Binisaya; Badlit: pre-virama: , post-virama: ) 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 ...
*
Visayans 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 ...


References


External links


"Bisayan"
on ''
Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...
'', (23rd ed., 2020). {{Navboxes , title = Articles related to Bisayan languages , list = {{Visayan languages {{Philippine languages {{Austronesian languages {{BisayaPeoplesmall {{Languages of the Philippines {{Languages of Malaysia Central Philippine languages