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 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 ...

, and in northern Sulawesi,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. This subgroup was first proposed by Robert Blust (1991) based on lexical and phonological evidence, and is accepted by most specialists in the field. Most of the major languages of the Philippines belong to the Greater Central Philippine subgroup: Tagalog, the

Visayan languages 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. M ...

Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray;

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 ...

, the

Danao languages The Danao languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are Maguindanaon and Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the t ...

Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...

and Magindanaon. On the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, Gorontalo is the third-largest language by number of speakers.

History

According to Blust, the current distribution of the Greater Central Philippine languages is the result of an expansion that occurred around 500 B.C. and which led to levelling of much of the linguistic diversity in the central and southern Philippines. Remnants of this earlier diversity can still be found in relic areas within the Greater Central Philippine area, viz. Manide in southern Luzon, Ati on Panay, the North Mangyan languages on Mindoro, the Kalamian languages in northern

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 ...

and the South Mindanao languages.

Classification

The Greater Central Philippine subgroup comprises the following microgroups: *

Central Philippine languages 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 ...

(including Tagalog,

Bikol languages The Bikol languages or Bicolano languages are a group of Central Philippine languages spoken mostly in the Bicol Peninsula in the island of Luzon, the neighboring island province of Catanduanes and the island of Burias in Masbate. Inter ...

, and Bisayan languages) * South Mangyan languages * Palawanic languages * Subanen languages *

(including

and Magindanao) *

Manobo languages The Manobo languages are a group of languages spoken in the Philippines. Their speakers are primarily located around Northern Mindanao, Central Mindanao (presently called ) and Caraga regions where they are natively spoken. Some outlying group ...

* Gorontalo–Mongondow languages (including Gorontalo)

References

External links

Philippine etyma file cards
by R. David Zorc
R. David Zorc field notes"Greater Central Philippine"
on '' Ethnologue'', (23rd ed., 2020). {{Austronesian languages Philippine languages Languages of the Philippines Languages of Indonesia

History

Classification

See also

References

External links