Cebuano language

Cebuano (/sɛˈbwɑːnoʊ/ seb-WAH-noh)[2][3][4] is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines. It is natively called by its generic term Bisaya or Binisaya (both are sometimes translated into English as Visayan, though this should not be confused with other Bisayan languages)[5] and sometimes referred to in English sources as Cebuan (/sɛˈbuːən/ seb-OO-ən). It is spoken by the Visayan ethnolinguistic groups native to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, the eastern half of Negros, the western half of Leyte, and the northern coastal areas of Northern Mindanao and the Zamboanga Peninsula. In modern times, it has also spread to the Davao Region, Cotabato, Camiguin, parts of the Dinagat Islands, and the lowland regions of Caraga, often displacing native languages in those areas (most of which are closely related to the language).[6][7]

This article is about the specific Bisayan Cebuano language. It is not to be confused with Bisayan languages or Brunei Bisaya language.

Cebuano
Cebuan
Bisaya, Binisaya, Sinugbuanong Binisaya, Sebwano/Sinebwano
'Sinugbuanong Binisayâ' written in Badlit
Native toPhilippines
RegionCentral Visayas, eastern Negros, western parts of Eastern Visayas, and most parts of Mindanao
EthnicityBisaya (Cebuano, Boholano, Eskaya, etc.)
Native speakers
22 million (2010)[1]
Early forms
Old Cebuano
Dialects
    • Standard Cebuano (Cebu Island)
    • Urban Cebuano (Metro Cebu)
    • Negros Cebuano
    • Leyte Cebuano (Kanâ)
    • Mindanao Cebuano
    • Davao Cebuano
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated by
Language codes
ISO 639-2ceb
ISO 639-3ceb
Glottologcebu1242
Cebuano-speaking area in the Philippines

While Tagalog has the largest number of native speakers among the languages of the Philippines today, Cebuano had the largest native-language-speaking population in the Philippines from the 1950s until about the 1980s.[8] It is by far the most widely spoken of the Bisayan languages.[9]

Cebuano is the lingua franca of Central Visayas, the western parts of Eastern Visayas, some western parts of Palawan and most parts of Mindanao. The name Cebuano is derived from the island of Cebu, which is the source of Standard Cebuano.[6] Cebuano is also the primary language in Western Leyte—noticeably in Ormoc. Cebuano is assigned the ISO 639-2 three-letter code ceb, but not a ISO 639-1 two-letter code.

The Commission on the Filipino Language, the Philippine government body charged with developing and promoting the national and regional languages of the country, spells the name of the language in Filipino as Sebwano.

Nomenclature

The term Cebuano derives from "Cebu"+"ano", a Latinate calque, reflective of the Philippines's Spanish colonial heritage. In common or everyday parlance, especially by those speakers from outside of the island of Cebu and in fact in Cebu the language is more often referred to as Bisaya. Bisaya, however, may become a source of confusion to non-native speakers as many other Bisayan languages may also be referred to as Bisaya even though they are not mutually intelligible with speakers of what is referred to by linguists as Cebuano. Cebuano in this sense applies to all speakers of vernaculars mutually intelligible with the vernaculars of Cebu island, regardless of origin or location, as well as to the language they speak.

The term Cebuano has garnered some objections. For example, generations of Cebuano speakers in Leyte, Bohol, and Northern Mindanao (Dipolog, Dapitan, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental together with coastal areas of Butuan) say that their ancestry traces back to Bisaya speakers native to their place and not from immigrants or settlers from Cebu. Furthermore, they ethnically refer to themselves as Bisaya and not Cebuano, and their language as Binisaya.[10] However, there was a pushback on these objections where enthusiasts of the language insistently called it "Cebuano", resulting from the exclusivist usage of the term "Bisaya" and "Binisaya" among Cebuano speakers to refer their language and ethnicity, which disenfranchised the speakers of Hiligaynon and Waray from calling their language as "Binisaya" and rather distinguish them from the "Bisaya" (Cebuanos). During the Spanish period, the Spaniards made no distinction among speakers of Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Waray, Kinaray-a, and Aklanon as they were rather grouped as "Visaya".[11]

Classification

Cebuano is an Austronesian language; it is generally classified as one of the five primary branches of the Bisayan languages, part of the wider genus of Philippine languages.[12]

Geographical distribution

Cebuano is spoken in the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, Negros Oriental, northeastern Negros Occidental, (as well as the municipality of Hinoba-an and the cities of Kabankalan and Sipalay to a great extent, alongside Ilonggo), southern Masbate, western portions of Leyte and Biliran (to a great extent, alongside Waray), and a large portion of Mindanao, notably the urban areas of Zamboanga Peninsula, Cagayan de Oro, Davao Region, Surigao and some parts of Soccsksargen (alongside Ilonggo, Maguindanaon, indigenous Mindanaoan languages and to the lesser extent, Ilocano).

.[6] Some dialects of Cebuano have different names for the language. Cebuano speakers from Cebu are mainly called "Cebuano" while those from Bohol are "Boholano" or "Bol-anon". Cebuano speakers in Leyte identify their dialect as Kanâ meaning that (Leyte Cebuano or Leyteño). Speakers in Mindanao and Luzon refer to the language simply as Binisaya or Bisaya.[13]

History
See also: Classical Cebuano

Cebuano was first documented in a list of vocabulary compiled by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian explorer who was part of Ferdinand Magellan's 1521 expedition.[14] Spanish missionaries started to write in the language during the early 18th century. As a result of the eventual 333-year Spanish colonial period, Cebuano contains many words of Spanish origin.

While there is evidence of a pre-Spanish writing system for the language, its use appears to have been sporadic. Spaniards recorded the Visayan script[15] which was called Kudlit-kabadlit by the natives.[16]

The language was heavily influenced by the Spanish language during the period of Spanish rule from 1565 to 1898. With the arrival of Spanish colonists, for example, a Latin-based writing system was introduced alongside a number of Spanish loanwords.[17]

Phonology

Vowels

Below is the vowel system of Cebuano with their corresponding letter representation in angular brackets:[10][18][19]

Standard Cebuano vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ o ⟨o⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩

Sometimes, ⟨a⟩ may also be pronounced as the open-mid back unrounded vowel /ʌ/ (as in English "gut"); ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ as the near-close near-front unrounded vowel /ɪ/ (as in English "bit"); and ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩ as the open-mid back rounded vowel /ɔ/ (as in English "thought") or the near-close near-back rounded vowel /ʊ/ (as in English "hook").[10]

During the precolonial and Spanish period, Cebuano had only three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/ and /u/. This was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish. As a consequence, the vowels ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩, as well as ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, are still mostly allophones. They can be freely switched with each other without losing their meaning (free variation); though it may sound strange to a native listener, depending on their dialect. The vowel ⟨a⟩ has no variations, though it can be pronounced subtly differently, as either /a/ or /ʌ/ (and very rarely as /ɔ/ immediately after the consonant /w/). Loanwords, however, are usually more conservative in their orthography and pronunciation (e.g. dyip, "jeepney" from English "jeep", will never be written or spoken as dyep).[10][20]

Consonants

For Cebuano consonants, all the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal /ŋ/ occurs in all positions, including at the beginning of a word (e.g. ngano, "why"). The glottal stop /ʔ/ is most commonly encountered in between two vowels, but can also appear in all positions.[10]

Like in Tagalog, glottal stops are usually not indicated in writing. When indicated, it is commonly written as a hyphen or an apostrophe if the glottal stop occurs in the middle of the word (e.g. tu-o or tu'o, "right"). More formally, when it occurs at the end of the word, it is indicated by a circumflex accent if both a stress and a glottal stop occurs at the final vowel (e.g. basâ, "wet"); or a grave accent if the glottal stop occurs at the final vowel, but the stress occurs at the penultimate syllable (e.g. batà, "child").[21][22][23]

Below is a chart of Cebuano consonants with their corresponding letter representation in parentheses:[10][18][19][24]

Standard Cebuano consonants
Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n̪ ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Stop p ⟨p⟩b ⟨b⟩ t̪ ⟨t⟩d̪ ⟨d⟩ k ⟨k⟩ɡ ⟨g⟩ ʔ (see text)
Fricative s̪ ⟨s⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Affricate   
Approximant
(Lateral)		 j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩
l̪ ⟨l⟩
Rhotic ɾ̪~r̪ ⟨r⟩

In certain dialects, /l/ ⟨l⟩ may be interchanged with /w/ ⟨w⟩ in between vowels and vice versa depending on the following conditions:[10]

  • If ⟨l⟩ is in between ⟨a⟩ and ⟨u⟩/⟨o⟩, the vowel succeeding ⟨l⟩ is usually (but not always) dropped (e.g. lalom, "deep", becomes lawom or lawm).
  • If ⟨l⟩ is in between ⟨u⟩/⟨o⟩ and ⟨a⟩, it is the vowel that is preceding ⟨l⟩ that is instead dropped (e.g. bulan, "moon", becomes buwan or bwan)
  • If ⟨l⟩ is in between two like vowels, the ⟨l⟩ may be dropped completely and the vowel lengthened. For example, dala ("bring"), becomes da (/d̪aː/); and tulod ("push") becomes tud (/t̪uːd̪/).[10] Except if the l is in between closed syllables or is in the beginning of the penultimate syllable; in which case, the ⟨l⟩ is dropped along with one of the vowels, and no lengthening occurs. For example, kalatkat, "climb", becomes katkat (/ˈkatkat/ not /ˈkaːtkat/).

A final ⟨l⟩ can also be replaced with ⟨w⟩ in certain areas in Bohol (e.g. tambal, "medicine", becomes tambaw). In very rare cases in Cebu, ⟨l⟩ may also be replaced with ⟨y⟩ in between the vowels ⟨a⟩ and ⟨e⟩/⟨i⟩ (e.g. tingali, "maybe", becomes tingayi).[10]

In some parts of Bohol and Southern Leyte, /j/ ⟨y⟩ is also often replaced with d͡ʒ ⟨j/dy⟩ when it is in the beginning of a syllable (e.g. kalayo, "fire", becomes kalajo). It can also happen even if the ⟨y⟩ is at the final position of the syllable and the word, but only if it is moved to the initial position by the addition of the affix -a. For example, baboy ("pig") can not become baboj, but baboya can become baboja.[10]

All of the above substitutions are considered allophonic and do not change the meaning of the word.[10]

In rarer instances, the consonant ⟨d⟩ might also be replaced with ⟨r⟩ when it is in between two vowels (e.g. Boholano ido for standard Cebuano iro, "dog"), but ⟨d⟩ and ⟨r⟩ are not considered allophones,[10] though they may have been in the past.[25]

Stress

Stress accent is phonemic, which means that words with different accent placements, such as dapít (near) and dápit (place), are considered separate. The stress is predictably on the penult when the second-to-last syllable is closed (CVC or VC). On the other hand, when the syllable is open (CV or V), the stress can be on either the penultimate or the final syllable (although there are certain grammatical conditions or categories under which the stress is predictable, such as with numbers and pronouns).[26]

Grammar
Main articles: Cebuano grammar and Austronesian alignment

Cebuano uses VSO sentence structure.

Vocabulary
See also: Indosphere, Indianisation, and List of India-related topics in the Philippines

Cebuano is a member of the Philippine languages. Early trade contact resulted in a large number of older loan words from other languages being embedded in Cebuano, like Sanskrit (e.g. sangka, "fight" and bahandi, "wealth", from Sanskrit sanka and bhānda respectively), and Arabic (e.g. salámat, "thanks"; hukom or hukm, "judge").[27]

It has also been influenced by thousands of words from Spanish, such as kurus (cruz, "cross"), swerte (suerte, "luck"), gwapa (guapa, "beautiful"), merkado (mercado, "market") and brilyante (brillante, "brilliant"). It has several hundred loan words from English as well, which are prescriptively altered to conform to the phonemic inventory of Cebuano: brislit (bracelet), hayskul (high school), syaping (shopping), bakwit (evacuate), and drayber (driver). However, today it is more common for Cebuano speakers to spell out those words in their original English forms rather than with spelling that conforms to Cebuano standards.

Phrases

A few common phrases in Cebuano include:[28]

  • How are you? (used as a greeting) - Kumusta/Kamusta ka?
  • Good morning - Maayong buntag
  • Good afternoon (specifically from 12:00 PM to 12:59 PM) - Maayong udto
  • Good afternoon (specifically from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM) - Maayong palis
  • Good afternoon (specifically from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM) - Maayong hapon
  • Good evening - Maayong gabii
  • Goodbye
    • Ari na ko (meaning: "I'll be here", casual)
    • Ayo-ayo (meaning: "Take care", formal, alternative: "Ingat", borrowed from Tagalog)
    • Adyos (rare, from Spanish "adiós")
    • Babay (informal, from English "Bye-bye")
    • Amping (meaning: "Take care", casual)
    • Hangtod sa sunod nga higayon (meaning "Until next time", formal, alternative: "Sa sunod na pud", casual)
    • Adto na ko ("I will go now")
  • You're so beautiful - Gwapa/Maanyag/Matahom kaayo ka
  • Thanks! - Salamat
  • Thank you - Salamat sa imo
  • Many thanks! - Daghang salamat
  • Thank you very much! - Daghan kaayong salamat
  • You're welcome - Wala'y sapayan
  • Do not (imperative) - Ayaw
  • Don't know - Ambot or Wala ko kabalo
  • Yes - Oo, O
  • Maybe - Basin/Tingali/Siguro
  • No[29]
  • Dili - for future verb negation ("will not", "does/do not", "not going to"); and negation of identity, membership, property, relation, or position ("[he/she/it/this/that] is not")
  • Wala - for past and progressive verb negation ("have not", "did not"); and to indicate the absence of ("none", "nothing", "not have", "there is not")
  • Who? - Kinsa?
  • What? - Unsa?
  • Where?
    • Diin?/Dis-a? - where (past)
    • Hain? - where (present), which
    • Asa? - where (future, general)
  • Which? - Hain?
  • When?
    • Kanus-a? - when (past)
    • Anus-a? - when (future)
  • How?
    • Giunsa? - how (past)
    • Unsaon? - how (future)
  • Why? - Ngano?
  • This/These
    • Kiri - this/these (1st person)
    • Kini - this/these (1st & 2nd person)
  • That/Those
    • Kana - that/those (2nd person)
    • Kadto - that/those (3rd person)

Dialects

The de facto Standard Cebuano dialect (sometimes referred to as General Cebuano) is derived from the conservative Sialo vernacular spoken in southeastern Cebu (also known as the Sialo dialect or the Carcar-Samboan dialect). It first gained prominence due to its adoption by the Catholic Church as the standard for written Cebuano. It retains the intervocalic /l/.[10] In contrast, the Urban Cebuano dialect spoken by people in Metro Cebu and surrounding areas is characterized by /l/ elision and heavily contracted words and phrases.[10] For example, balay ("house"), dalan ("road"), kalahâ ("pan"), and kalayo ("fire") in Standard Cebuano can become bay, dan, kahâ, and kayo in Urban Cebuano respectively, while the phrase waláy problema ("no problem") in Standard Cebuano can become way 'blema in Urban Cebuano.

Colloquialisms can also be used to determine the regional origin of the speaker. Cebuano-speaking people from Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete, for example, say chada or tsada/patsada (roughly translated to the English colloquialism "awesome")[30] and people from Davao City say atchup which also translated to the same English context;[31] meanwhile Cebuanos from Cebu on the other hand say nindot or, sometimes, aníndot. However, this word is also commonly used in the same context in other Cebuano-speaking regions, in effect making this word not only limited in use to Cebu.

There is no standardized orthography for Cebuano, but spelling in print usually follow the pronunciation of Standard Cebuano, regardless of how it is actually spoken by the speaker. For example, baláy ("house") is pronounced /baˈl̪aɪ/ in Standard Cebuano and is thus spelled "baláy", even in Urban Cebuano where it is actually pronounced /ˈbaɪ/.[10]

Cebuano is spoken natively over a large area of the Philippines and thus has numerous regional dialects. It can vary significantly in terms of lexicon and phonology depending on where it is spoken.[10] Increasing usage of spoken English (being the primary language of commerce and education in the Philippines) has also led to the introduction of new pronunciations and spellings of old Cebuano words. Code-switching forms of English and Bisaya (Bislish) are also common among the educated younger generations.[32][33]

There are four main dialectal groups within Cebuano aside from the Standard Cebuano and Urban Cebuano. They are as follows:[34][35][36][37]

Boholano

The Boholano dialect of Bohol shares many similarities with the southern form of the standard Cebuano dialect. It is also spoken in some parts of Siquijor. Boholano, especially as spoken in central Bohol, can be distinguished from other Cebuano variants by a few phonetic changes:

  • The semivowel y is pronounced [dʒ]: iya is pronounced [iˈdʒa];
  • Ako is pronounced as [aˈho];
  • Intervocalic l is occasionally pronounced as [w] when following u or o: kulang is pronounced as [ˈkuwaŋ] (the same as Metro Cebu dialect).

Southern Kanâ

Southern Kanâ is a dialect of both southern Leyte and Southern Leyte provinces; it is closest to the Mindanao Cebuano dialect at the southern area and northern Cebu dialect at the northern boundaries. Both North and South Kana are subgroups of Leyteño dialect. Both of these dialects are spoken in western and central Leyte and in the southern province, but Boholano is more concentrated in Maasin City.

Northern Kanâ

Northern Kanâ (found in the northern part of Leyte), is closest to the variety of the language spoken in northern part of Leyte, and shows significant influence from Waray-Waray, quite notably in its pace which speakers from Cebu find very fast, and its more mellow tone (compared to the urban Cebu City dialect, which Kana speakers find "rough"). A distinguishing feature of this dialect is the reduction of /A/ prominent, but an often unnoticed feature of this dialect is the labialisation of /n/ and /ŋ/ into /m/, when these phonemes come before /p/, /b/ and /m/, velarisation of /m/ and /n/ into /ŋ/ before /k/, /ɡ/ and /ŋ/, and the dentalisation of /ŋ/ and /m/ into /n/ before /t/, /d/ and /n/ and sometimes, before vowels and other consonants as well.

Sugbu Kana Waray English
kan-on luto lutô cooked rice/maize
kini/kiri kiri/kini ini this
kana kara/kana iton that
dinhi/diri ari/dinhi/diri didi/ngadi/aadi/dinhi here
diha/dinha dira/diha/dinha dida/ngada/aada there
bas/balas bas/balas baras soil/sand
alsa arsa alsa to lift
bulsa bursa bulsa pocket

Mindanao

This is the variety of Cebuano spoken throughout most of Mindanao and it is the standard dialect of Cebuano in Northern Mindanao.

Local historical sources found in Cagayan de Oro indicates the early presence of Cebuano Visayans in the Misamis-Agusan coastal areas and their contacts with the Lumads and peoples of the Rajahnate of Butuan. Lumads refer to these Visayan groups as Dumagat ("people of the sea") as they came in the area seaborne. It became the lingua franca of precolonial Visayan settlers and native Lumads of the area, and particularly of the ancient Rajahnate of Butuan where Butuanon, a Southern Visayan language, was also spoken. Cebuano influence in Lumad languages around the highlands of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon was furthered with the influx of Cebuano Visayan laborers and conscripts of the Spaniards from Cebuano areas of Visayas (particularly from Bohol) during the colonial period around the present-day region of Northern Mindanao. It has spread west towards the Zamboanga Peninsula, east towards Caraga, and south towards Bukidnon, Cotabato and the Davao Region in the final years of Spanish colonial rule and even during the American colonial rule which continued until the Philippine independence. Cebuano becomes a lingua franca in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao along with Tagalog, especially among Tausug people who speaks a language which is 1 of the Visayan languages.

Similar to the Sialo dialect of southeastern Cebu, it is distinctive in retaining /l/ sounds, long since considered archaic in Urban Cebuano. For example: bulan instead of buwan ("moon" or "month"), dalunggan instead of dunggan (ear), and halang instead of hang ("spicy").

Due to the influx of migrants (mostly from Western Visayas and Leyte) during the promotion of settlement in the highlands of Central Mindanao in the 1930s, vocabulary from other Visayan languages (predominantly Hiligaynon and Waray-Waray) have also been incorporated into Mindanao Cebuano. For example, the Hiligaynon sábat ("reply") is commonly used alongside Cebuano tubag, bulig alongside tábang ("help"), and Waray lutô alongside kan-on ("cooked rice"). Though, these influences are only limited to the speakers along the port area and Hiligaynon-speaking communities.

Davaoeño
Not to be confused with Chavacano language: Castellano Abakay (Chabacano de Davao).

A branch of Mindanaoan Cebuano in Davao is also known as Davaoeño (not to be confused with the Davao variant of Chavacano which is called "Castellano Abakay"). Like the Cebuano of Luzon, it contains some Tagalog vocabulary, which speakers may use even more frequently than in Luzon Cebuano. Its grammar is similar to that of other varieties; however, current speakers exhibit uniquely strong Tagalog influence in their speech by substituting most Cebuano words with Tagalog ones. This is because the older generations speak Tagalog to their children in home settings, and Cebuano is spoken in other everyday settings, making Tagalog the secondary lingua franca. One characteristic of this dialect is the practice of saying atà, derived from Tagalog yatà, to denote uncertainty in a speaker's aforementioned statements. For instance, a Davaoeño might say "Tuá man atà sa baláy si Manuel" instead of "Tuá man tingáli sa baláy si Manuel". The word atà does exist in Cebuano, though it means 'squid ink' in contrast to Tagalog (e.g. atà sa nukos).

Other examples include: Nibabâ ko sa jeep sa kanto, tapos niulî ko sa among baláy ("I got off the jeepney at the street corner, and then I went home") instead of Ninaog ko sa jeep sa eskina, dayon niulî ko sa among baláy. The words babâ and naog mean "to disembark" or "to go down", kanto and eskina mean "street corner", while tapos and dayon mean "then"; in these cases, the former word is Tagalog, and the latter is Cebuano. Davaoeño speakers may also sometimes add Bagobo or Mansakan vocabulary to their speech, as in "Madayawng adlaw, amigo, kumusta ka?" ("Good day, friend, how are you?", literally "Good morning/afternoon") rather than "Maayong adlaw, amigo, kumusta ka?" The words madayaw and maayo both mean 'good', though the former is Bagobo and the latter Cebuano.

Negros

The Cebuano dialect in Negros is somewhat similar to the Standard Cebuano (spoken by the majority of the provincial areas of Cebu), with distinct Hiligaynon influences. It is distinctive in retaining /l/ sounds and longer word forms as well. It is the primary dialectal language of the entire province of Negros Oriental and northeastern parts of Negros Occidental (while the majority of the latter province and its bordered areas speaks Hiligaynon/Ilonggo), as well as some parts of Siquijor. Examples of Negrense Cebuano's distinction from other Cebuano dialects is the usage of the word maot instead of batî ("ugly"), alálay, kalálag instead of kalag-kalag (Halloween), kabaló/kahíbaló and kaágo/kaántigo instead of kabawó/kahíbawó ("know").

Luzon

There is no specific Luzonian dialect of Cebuano, as speakers of Cebuano in Luzon come from many different regions in Central Visayas and Mindanao. Cebuano-speaking people from Luzon can be easily recognized in the Visayas primarily by their vocabulary, which incorporates Tagalog words. Their accents and some aspects of their grammar can also sometimes exhibit Tagalog influence. Such Tagalog-influenced Cebuano dialects are sometimes colloquially known as "Bisalog" (a portmanteau of Tagalog and Bisaya).

Saksak sinagol

The term saksak sinagol in context means "a collection of miscellaneous things" or literally "inserted mixture", thus the few other Cebuano-influenced regions that have a variety of regional languages use this term to refer to their dialects with considerable incorporated Cebuano words. Examples of these regions can be found in places like Masbate.

Examples

Numbers
Main article: Cebuano numbers

Cebuano uses two numeral systems. Currently, the native system is mostly used in counting the number of things, animate and inanimate, e.g. the number of horses or houses. The Spanish-derived system, on the other hand, is exclusively applied in monetary and chronological terminology and is also commonly used in counting from 11 and above.

Number Native Cebuano Spanish-derived
0 walâ nulo, sero
1 usá uno
2 duhá dos
3 tuló tres
4 upát kwatro
5 limá singko
6 unóm séys
7 pitó siyete
8 waló otso
9 siyám nwebe
10 napulò, pulò diyés
11 napúlog usá onse
12 napúlog duhá dose
13 napúlog tuló trese
14 napúlog upát katórse
15 napúlog limá kinse
16 napúlog unóm diyesiséys
17 napúlog pitó diyesisiyete
18 napúlog waló diyesiyotso
19 napúlog siyám diyesinwebe
20 kaluháan (kaduháan) beynte
21 kaluháag usá beyntiwuno
22 kaluháag duhá beyntidos
23 kaluháag tuló beyntitres
24 kaluháag upát beyntikwatro
25 kaluháag limá beyntisingko
30 katlóan (katulóan) treynta
40 kap-atan (kaupátan) kwarénta
50 kalím-an (kalimáan) sinkwénta
60 kan-uman (kaunóman) sesenta
70 kapitóan seténta
80 kawalóan otsénta
90 kasiyáman nobénta
100 usá ka gatós siyén, siyento
200 duhá ka gatós dosiyéntos
300 tuló ka gatós tresiyéntos
400 upát ka gatós kwatrosiyéntos
500 limá ka gatós kiniyéntos
1,000 usá ka libo mil
5,000 limá ka libo singko mil
10,000 usá ka laksà, napulò ka libo diyes mil
50,000 limá ka laksà, kalím-an ka libo singkwenta mil
100,000 usá ka yaba, usá ka gatós ka líbo siyén mil
1,000,000 usá ka yukót milyón
1,000,000,000 usá ka wakát bilyón (mil milyones)

Shapes
English Common Cebuano Classical Cebuano
square kwadrado laro, lado
triangle trayanggulo sinug-ang, bilid, binalso, gitlo
rectangle rektanggulo gipat
circle lingin alirong, alilong, sirkulo
oval initlog alipid, alibid

Colors
English Native Cebuano
black itom
white puti
red pula
orange kahil
yellow dalag, dulaw
green lunhaw, berde
blue bughaw, pughaw, asul
indigo tagom
purple tapol
pink pulang-luspad, limbahon
gray dagtom, abohon
brown ilom, suilom, tabonon

Loanwords

Sanskrit
See also: Indosphere, Indian influences in early Philippine polities, List of India-related topics in the Philippines, Indianisation, and Sanskritisation

Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, loanwords in Cebuano-Bisayan language are given below. In Javanese, Malayan and Cebuana-Bisayan languages, the long vowels of sanskrit are shortened, sometimes frontal or back vowels of sanskrit are eliminated, or glottal stops are inserted. Loanword are as follows (format: Cebuano words from xyz Sanskrit word):[38]

  • Bisaya from Sri Vijaya the Hindu king or "Bidaya" (knowledge or education) or vaíśya (वैश्य) the Indian traders.
  • Bathala (god or almighty, from Batara Guru an incarnation of Hindu god shiva) from bhattara (noble lord)
    • Balahala (deity) from bhattara (noble lord), free Spanish and prehistoric Filipinos worship the deity called belahala based on the Hindu deity, when Legaspi return to 1565 he found that the newly converted to catholicism native Filipinos had stopped observing the strict catholicism and had restarted worshiping the native deities.[38]
  • Bahin (share) & pagbahin (to share) from Sanskrit word bhagin (share in).
  • Bahandi (property or wealth) from bhanda (goods)
  • Bala (to piggyback carry a person) from bhara (load)
  • Balita (news, report) from vrtta (an incident)
  • Bansa (state) from vamsa (lineage, descent, race)
  • Bansagon (familyname) from vamsa (lineage, descent, race)
  • Banyaga (scoundrel) from vanija (merchant)
  • Basa / Pagbasa (to read) from vaca (sacred words)
  • Baya (word for warning of danger, also a word for emphasis) from bhaya (danger)
  • Budhi / Pagbudhi (to betray) from buddhi (intellect)
  • Diwa / Diwata (spirits) from deva & devata (deity, deities) in sanskrit
  • Gansa / Hansa (goose) from hamsa (goose)
  • Gapas (cotton) from karpasa (cotton)
  • Hayag (bright) / Kahayag (brightness) from chaya (shade, luster, reflection of an image)
  • Labaw (increase, difference, more) from labha (profit)
    • Labi (more) from labha
    • Labas (to buy and sell) from labha
    • Pangilabs (to ask a favor) from labha
  • Labu (mealy, meaning saquash and root crops) from alabu (gourd)
    • Labu-labu (mealy complexion) from alabu
  • Laksa (ten thousand) from Sanskrit lakṣa ("लक्ष", hundred thousand”).
  • Lala / Laa (venom from sting of animal or serpent) from lala (saliva)
    • Laway (sting) from lala (saliva)
  • Lasuna (onion) from lacsuna (garlic) in sanskrit.
  • Laxuna (garlic, presently Spanish loanword ajos for garlic is more than use) from lacsuna (garlic) in sanskrit.
  • Lila (pale purple color or lilac flower) from ultimately from Sanskrit nīlā (नीला, dark blue).
  • Mahal (beloved, expensive, precious, noble/royal) from maha (great)
  • Malakoko (jasmimum grandiflorum) from Malati (jasmimum grandiflorum)
  • Malisa (black pepper) from Sanskrit marica (मरिच, black pepper).
  • Manol / Marol (jasmimum sambac flower) from madhura (jasmimum sambac)
  • Mantala / Pagmantala (to announce) from Mantra (sacred verse in Hindu scriptures, formula, charm)
    • Mantalaan (newspaper) from Mantra (sacred verse in Hindu scriptures, formula, charm)
  • Mutya (gem or pearl) from mutya (pearl)
  • Panday (carpenter, blacksmith) from pandya (learned or wise person)
  • Parakul (an axe) from parasu (an axe)
  • Pasung / Pasong (manger, stable) from pasu (cattle)
  • Pasungan / Pasongan (stable) from pasu (cattle)
  • Patola (luffa made from gourd) from patola (a type of gourd)
  • Pu'asa (fast) from upavasa (fast, a day of fasting)
  • Putli (virgin, pure) from putri (daughter)
  • Rajah (king) from Sanskrit rājan (राजन्, king, prince)
  • Sadya (cheerful, merry) from sajja (ready)
  • Saksi from sakshi (witness)
  • Sala (living room) from shala (living room)
  • Salampati (dove) from parapati (turtle dove)
  • Sampaka (jasmine flower) from champaka (jasmine flower)
  • Sama (same, equal, like) from sama (same, equal, like)
  • Sanga (an associate in gambling) from samga (throng, multitude, corporation)
  • Sangka (fight, battle) from sanka (fight, battle)
  • Sekma & pagsekma (to blow nose) from slesman (mucus)
  • Suka (vinegar, vomit, puke, reveal secret) ultimately from Sanskrit cukrā (चुक्रा, sour tamarind tree)
  • Sumatra (largest island in Indonesia) from Sanskrit samudra (समुद्र, sea)
  • Sungka (mancala game played with cowrie shells) from shanka (counch shell)
  • Tagna / Pagtagna (foretell, to guess) from lagna (horoscope)
    • Manalagna (fortune teller) from lagna (horoscope)
  • Talikala (shackles) from srnkhala (chain)
  • Tampoy / Tambis / Lumboy (eugenia jambu fruit) from jambu (eugenia jambu fruit)
  • Tumbaga (copper) from Tamra
  • Yati (an expression of surprise or annoyance) from jati

Spanish

Thousands of words from Spanish, such as

  • kurus (cruz, "cross")
  • swerte (suerte, "luck")
  • gwapa (guapa, "beautiful")
  • merkado (mercado, "market")
  • brilyante (brillante, "brilliant")

English

English words prescriptively altered to conform to the phonemic inventory of Cebuano:

  • bakwit (evacuate)
  • brislit (bracelet)
  • drayber (driver)
  • hayskul (high school)
  • syaping (shopping)

See also

Notes
  1. "2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A - Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables)" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  2. Cebuano on Merriam-Webster.com
  3. Cebu on Merriam-Webster.com
  4. Columbia Encyclopedia
  5. Reference to the language as Binisaya is discouraged by many linguists, in light of the many languages within the Visayan language group that might be confounded with the term.
  6. Wolff 1972
  7. "Cebuano". Ethnologue. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  8. Ammon, Ulrich; Dittmar, Norbert; Mattheier, Klaus J.; Trudgill, Peter (2006). Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society. Vol. 3. Walter de Gruyter. p. 2018. ISBN 9783110184181.
  9. "Language Specific Peculiarities Document for Cebuano as Spoken in the Philippines" (PDF). Linguistic Data Consortium. 12 January 2020.
  10. Endriga 2010
  11. González Fernández, Ramón (1877). Anuario Filipino para 1877; Segunda Edición del Manual del Viajero en Filipinas. Manila: Establecimiento tipográfico de Plana y Ca. p. 37. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  12. Zorc, David Paul (1977). The Bisayan Dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and Reconstruction. Pacific Linguistics Series C - No. 44. Canberra, Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-C44. hdl:1885/146594. ISBN 0858831570.
  13. Pangan, John Kingsley (2016). Church of the Far East. Makati: St. Pauls. p. 19.
  14. "Cebuano language, alphabet and pronunciation". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  15. "Alphabets Des Philippines" (JPG). S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  16. Eleanor, Maria (16 July 2011). "Finding the "Aginid"". philstar.com. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  17. "Cebuano". www.alsintl.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  18. "Cebuano Phonetics and Orthography" (PDF). Dila. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  19. Thompson, Irene (11 July 2013). "Cebuano". About World Languages. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  20. Steinkrüger, Patrick O. (2008). "Hispanisation processes in the Philippines". In Stolz, Thomas; Bakker, Dik; Palomo, Rosa Salas (eds.). Hispanisation: The Impact of Spanish on the Lexicon and Grammar of the Indigenous Languages of Austronesia and the Americas. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 203–236. ISBN 9783110207231.
  21. Morrow, Paul (16 March 2011). "The basics of Filipino pronunciation: Part 2 of 3 • accent marks". Pilipino Express. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  22. Nolasco, Ricardo M.D. Grammar notes on the national language (PDF). {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  23. Schoellner, Joan; Heinle, Beverly D., eds. (2007). Tagalog Reading Booklet (PDF). Simon & Schister's Pimsleur. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  24. Bollas, Abigail A. (2013), Comparative Analysis on the Phonology of Tagalog, Cebuano, and Itawis, University of the Philippines - Diliman
  25. Verstraelen, Eugene (1961). "Some further remarks about the L-feature". Philippine Studies. 9 (1): 72–77.
  26. Newton, Brian (December 1991). "The Cebuano Language and Generative Phonology". Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society. 19 (4): 253–263. JSTOR 29792064 – via JSTOR.
  27. Kuizon, Jose G. (1964). "The Sanskrit Loan-Words in the Cebuano-Bisayan Language". Asian Folklore Studies. 23 (1): 111–158. doi:10.2307/1177640. JSTOR 1177640.
  28. "Useful Cebuano phrases". Omniglot. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  29. Curtis D. McFarland (2008). "Linguistic diversity and English in the Philippines". In Maria Lourdes S. Bautista & Kingsley Bolton (ed.). Philippine English: Linguistic and Literary. Hong Kong University Press. p. 137–138. ISBN 9789622099470.
  30. "10 Fun Facts about Cagayan de Oro". About Cagayan de Oro. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  31. "Atchup Boulevard Explained". www.ilovedavao.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  32. Nissan, Ephraim (2012). "Asia at Both Ends: An Introduction to Etymythology, with a Response to Chapter Nine". In Zuckermann, Ghil‘ad (ed.). Burning Issues in Afro-Asiatic Linguistics. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 299. ISBN 9781443864626.
  33. Meierkord, Christiane (2012). Interactions Across Englishes: Linguistic Choices in Local and International Contact Situations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 209. ISBN 9780521192286.
  34. "Cebuano". Ethnologue. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  35. Dingwall, Alastair (1994). Traveller's Literary Companion to South-East Asia. In Print Publishing, Limited. p. 372. ISBN 9781873047255.
  36. Blake, Frank R. (1905). "The Bisayan Dialects". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 26 (1905): 120–136. doi:10.2307/592885. JSTOR 592885.
  37. Gonzalez, Andrew (1991). "Cebuano and Tagalog: Ethnic Rivalry Redivivus". In Dow, James R. (ed.). Focus on Language and Ethnicity. Vol. 2. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. p. 115–116. ISBN 9789027220813.
  38. JG Kuizon, 1964, The Sanskrit Loan-Words in the Cebuano-Bisayan Language, Asian folklore studies (Asian Ethnology), Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan, pp.111-159.

References
Cebuano edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Cebuano.
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