Vasily Nebenzya

Top 10 Languages Used in the

Philippines
October 12, 2015 By Lyza R. Sabornido 4 Comments

Baybayin known as Tagalog alphabet is an ancient Philippine script.

I used to think that the only language we have here in the Philippines is Filipino. It may be our
national language, but there are actually more languages here in our country than we know.

Because there are more than seven thousand islands in the Philippines, it is no wonder why we
have many languages which most of us consider as dialects. There is a difference between dialect
and language, though. According to Dictionary.com, a language is used by people who are of the
same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition. While the
dialect is a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language
by of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary.
Here are the top 10 languages used in the Philippines:

1. Tagalog

Our national language was based from Tagalog. It is used mainly in Manila Area and nearby
provinces such as Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Laguna. This is the only Filipino
language that is generally used and can be understood around the country. Based on the
Philippine census conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, there were 26,387,855
Filipinos who speak this language in the country.

Example:
Good morning – Magandang umaga
Good evening – Magandang Gabi
I love you – Iniibig kita or minamahal kita

2. Cebuano

Cebuano is the next most spoken language in the Philippines with a total of 21,340,000 Filipinos
using it. This is mainly used in Cebu City and some areas in Mindanao, such as Butuan, Cagayan
de Oro, Davao, and General Santos City.

Example:
Good morning – Maayong buntag
Good evening – Maayong gabii
I love you – Gihigugma ko ikaw

3. Ilocano

Ilokano or Ilocano is a combination of other languages from other countries such as Chamorro of
Guam, Indonesian, Hawaiian, Malay, Samoan and Tahitian. It is mostly spoken in the Northern
part of the country but because Ilocano speaking people have spread throughout the Philippines,
it ranked as third of the most spoken language with 7,779,000 Filipinos using it.

Example:
Good morning – Naimbag a bigat
Good evening – Naimbag a sardam
I love you – Ayayatenka

4. Hiligaynon

Hiligaynon or Ilonggo is the language used in Aklan, Antique, Bacolod, Capiz, Iloilo, Panay
Islands as well as in North and South Cotabato in Mindanao. This language is distinct for having
a sweet intonation. And as of 2000, there were 7,000,979 sweet speaking Filipinos in the
country.

Example:
Good morning – Maayo nga Aga
Good evening – Maayo nga Hapon
Goodbye – Asta sa liwat.

5. Waray-Waray
If Hiligaynons are known for being sweet, the Waray people are known for being tough and
strong. Waray is spoken in the Eastern Visayas, particularly Samar and some parts of Leyte and
Biliran Province. The Waray comes fifth with 3,100,000 Filipinos using this language as of year
2000.

Example:
Good morning – Maupay nga aga
Good evening – Maupay nga gab-i
Thank you very much – Damo nga salamat

6. Kapampangan

Kapampangan or Pampangueño are spoken by 2,900,000 Filipinos. This is mostly spoken in the
northern part of the country particularly Pampanga Province, and portions of Bataan and Tarlac.

Example:
Good morning – Mayap a abak
Good evening – Mayap a bengi
Thank you very much – Dakal a salamat

7. Bicolano

Bikolano or Bicolano is the language used in the Bicol Region. Bicol is one of the biggest
regions in the Philippines and there are about 2,500,000 Bicolanos speaking the language.

Example:
Good morning – Marhay na aga
Good evening – Marhay na banggi
I love you – Namomotan ta ka

8. Pangasinense
Pangasinense is the language used in Pangasinan Province in Central Luzon. It has a population
of more than 2 million and 2,434,086 of which use the language. Pangasinense is like the Ibalio
language used by the people of Baguio City and Benguet in the mountain province.

Example:
Good morning! – Maabig ya kaboasan!
Good afternoon! – Maabig ya ngarem!
I love you – Inaro ta ka.

9. Maranaoan

Maranaoan is the language spoken by 2,150,000 Maranao people living in Lanao del Norte and
Lanao del Sur Provinces. It is a Western Austronesian language likewise used in Sabah,
Malaysia.

Example:
Good Morning! – Mapiya kapipita
Good Evening! – Mapiya gagawi-i
I Love You! – Pekababaya-an ko seka!

10. Tausug

Tausug is the language used by 1,822,000 people in the Sulu Archipelago, the Zamboanga
Peninsula, and Southern Palawan. It is likewise used in the eastern part of Sabah, Malaysia, and
North Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Example:
Kalasahan ta kaw – I love you
Kamaya daran – Take care always
Magsukul – Thanks

Other languages in the Philippines are as follows:

Maguindanao – used by 1,800,000 residents of Maguindanao and some parts some parts of
Mindanao.

Chavacano – is from a Spanish word “Chabacano” which means tasteless. It is one of the oldest
creole languages in the world and the only one in Asia. There are various dialects of Chavacano
including, Zamboangueño, Caviteño, Cotabateño, Castellano Abakay (Chabacano de Davao),
Ternateño (Bahra), and Ermiteño (Ermitense) with a total population of 1,200,000.

Kinaray-a – is a Visayan language spoken in Antique Province and used by 1,051,000 Filipinos.
Surigaonon – is mainly used by Surigaonon people from the province of Surigao del Norte,
Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Islands, and some portions of Agusan del Norte especially the towns
near the Mainit Lake, Agusan del Sur and Davao Oriental. There is more than 1,000,000
Filipinos using this language.

Foreign languages that became an official language of the Philippines

Spanish and English are two languages we Filipinos got used to when we were still under the
governance of Spain and America.

Spanish – used to be the official language in the Philippines back in the 16th century but now,
only around 2,000 Filipinos use this language.

English – is a foreign language commonly used by Filipinos until today. In a survey conducted
by Social Weather Stations(SWS) back in 2008, around 76% of Filipinos says they understand
English. It is the language mainly used in schools, in the government, in the business world, and
etc. This foreign language became an official language of the Philippines under the 1935
Constitution added alongside Spanish. Under the present constitution, approved in 1987, Filipino
and English became joint official languages of the country.

Although we have many languages most of us use Taglish or a combination of English and
Tagalog. This is often used by the younger generation of Filipinos when texting or talking to
friends. Filipinos abroad who have forgotten how to speak Tagalog use this too.