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Language in the Philippines
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Why is the Philippines considered a multilingual nation?
neosparrow
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Why is the Philippines considered a multilingual nation?
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In the Philippines, a total of 100 to 200 languages are spoken by 105 million people. The national language is Filipino, a standardized register of the Tagalog language, the language of the dominant ethnic group, the Tagalogs (since the late 16th century) and is spoken mainly in Southern Luzon, where the national capital, Manila is located. Many of the major local languages are Cebuano, Ilocano, Pangasinan, Waray, Hiligaynon and etc. Cebuano, not Tagalog, is the most widely spoken language in the Philippines, with 35 million speakers, compared to Tagalog and 25 million speakers. Despite having 170 languages, all of them are closely related and all fall within the same Filipino branch of the larger Austronesian language family, spoken all over the Indo-Pacific. The two dominant local languages, Cebuano and Tagalog are each other’s closest relatives, with the remainder of the Visayan languages most likely being offshoots of Middle Cebuano, many only becoming their own separate languages in the past 900 years thanks to the influence of the Kingdom of Cebu during medieval times. The only exception is Chavacano, which is a dialect of the Spanish language which is spoken almost entirely in western and southern Mindanao. Only 3 percent of Filipinos speak Spanish, a Romance language, despite 333 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines. But thanks to constant war with the United States in the first half of the 20th century, a majority of modern Filipinos speak the English language, a Germanic language. There is also the Chinese language, which is spoken by the Chinese community in the urban cities, as well as an increasing Korean presence thanks to the influx of South Korean expats and immigrants in the past three decades. In the southern regions, Malay is spoken as a trade language. That is because of the influence of Islam and the fact that Malay has been used as a lingua franca in Austronesia for centuries. These days, Malay is starting to be taught in schools and universities. There are many other immigrant languages spoken in the Philippines, predominantly European languages related to English and Spanish. I speak Cebuano, Tagalog, Serbian and Russian. Many ancestors of mine were Russian and Serbian aristocrats that fled to the Philippines during the onset of Communism in the 1910s and 1940s respectively. My father is half-Serbian and my mother is half-Russian and they speak it fluently and have since passed it down to me. This is just an example of how diverse the Philippines can really be with over 170 local languages and many more immigrant ones.
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Both my parents grew up in Samar. The culture and the language they grew up in are called Waray. When they migrated to Manila, they brought their culture with them. I remember my father repeatedly telling me that he’s not good in English, but given that he started working for an American multinational corporation, he has to be at least conversational at it. When the Tondo plant (where the company initially employs my dad) moved to Laguna, they brought my dad along. My mom found employment teaching at a local school, and so although I grew up with Waray parents and with Waray relatives my neighbors spoke Tagalog and so I grew up speaking their language, as well. As I expanded my reading and writing activities my knowledge about English grew, and I learned how to speak both languages in a satisfactory manner. When I finally entered La Salle to study there, I brought with me not just my knowledge of how to use both English and Tagalog, but even little bits of Waray here and there! I don’t know how to converse in Waray, but I can understand it in some way. I would guess that my story is not unique. There are many people who grew up in different communities, and have to move to new ones but bring their old culture and values, and their language. That is why the Philippines is considered a multilingual nation.