Magahat, also called Southern Binukidnon or Buglas Bukidnon, is a Central Philippine language of the mountains of Negros 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 ...

that has been strongly influenced by Cebuano and Hiligaynon. It is similar to Karolanos; Lobel (2013) suggests that it is a

Bisayan 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 gr ...

language.

Demographics

Oracion (1974) reported a Magahat population of just under 400 people in Basay, Negros Oriental. Dantes (2015)Dantes, Edmundo. 2015
Anthropology Development in Negros Oriental
reported a Magahat population of 2,478 individuals. According to the '' Ethnologue'', Magahat is spoken in the Mount Arniyo area near

Bayawan Bayawan, officially the City of Bayawan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Bayawan), is a 2nd class component city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 122,747 people. Bayawan is located from ...

, upper Tayaban,

Tanjay Tanjay, officially the City of Tanjay ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tanjay; fil, Lungsod ng Tanjay), is a 4th class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Negros Oriental, Philippine ...

, Santa Catalina, and Siaton municipalities in southern Negros Oriental Province, located just west of

Dumaguete City Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dumaguete; fil, Lungsod ng Dumaguete), is a 3rd income class component city and the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a ...

Sound changes

Lobel (2013: 39, 249, 273)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. reports that Southern Binukidnon is a Bisayan language that has some unique sound changes, such as

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch (by current speakers) of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesi ...

*l > zero and the preservation of

*-h in coda positions.

References

Central Philippine languages Aeta languages Languages of Negros Oriental {{CPhilippine-lang-stub