Philippine Linguistics

Language and Linguistics in the Philippines

• Language is a system of arbitrary sounds used for communication by a community.
• The world has around 7,000 languages.
• Various scholars have different definitions of language, but all emphasize its role in human communication.
• The Philippines has numerous languages, including Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Waray, among others.
• Cebuano has around 20 million first language speakers across 17 provinces.
• Arta is a language spoken by only 11 people from an indigenous group in Quirino province.
• Dialect refers to a variety of a language with distinct features or shibboleths that distinguish it from the whole speech community.
• Filipino/Tagalog is spoken in several provinces and has dialects like Tagalog-Laguna and Tagalog-Batangas.
• The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, while English is an auxiliary official language.
• The Congress established a national language commission to promote research and development of Filipino and other languages.
• The 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education uses English for Math and Sciences and Filipino for Civics and Social Studies.
• The DepEd formulated a mother tongue-based multilingual framework for teaching and learning under The Kindergarten Education Act.

Language and Linguistics in the Philippines

• Language is a system of arbitrary sounds used for communication by a community.
• The world has around 7,000 languages.
• Various scholars have different definitions of language, but all emphasize its role in human communication.
• The Philippines has numerous languages, including Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Waray, among others.
• Cebuano has around 20 million first language speakers across 17 provinces.
• Arta is a language spoken by only 11 people from an indigenous group in Quirino province.
• Dialect refers to a variety of a language with distinct features or shibboleths that distinguish it from the whole speech community.
• Filipino/Tagalog is spoken in several provinces and has dialects like Tagalog-Laguna and Tagalog-Batangas.
• The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, while English is an auxiliary official language.
• The Congress established a national language commission to promote research and development of Filipino and other languages.
• The 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education uses English for Math and Sciences and Filipino for Civics and Social Studies.
• The DepEd formulated a mother tongue-based multilingual framework for teaching and learning under The Kindergarten Education Act.