Philippine Languages

In the Philippines, there are between 120 and 175 languages, depending on the method of classification. Four languages no longer have any known speakers. Almost all the Philippine languages belong to the Austronesian language family. Of all of these languages, only 2 are considered official in the country while (as of 2010) about 12 are considered official auxiliary.

Major foreign languages

Spanish

Spanish began to be introduced in the archipelago after 1565, when the Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi set sail from Mexico and founded the first Spanish settlement on Cebú.

In 1593, the first printing press in the Philippines was founded. In the 17th century, Spanish religious orders founded the first universities in the Philippines, some of which are considered the oldest in Asia. During colonial rule through Mexico City, Spanish was the language of education, trade, politics and religion, and by the 19th century, it became the country's lingua franca although it was only ever used by a small population.[11] In 1863, a Spanish decree introduced a system of public education, creating free public schooling in Spanish. In the 1890s, the Philippines had a prominent group of Spanish-speaking scholars called the Ilustrados, such as José Rizal. Some of these scholars participated in the Philippine Revolution and later in the struggle against American occupation. In 1899, the short-lived First Philippine Republic established Spanish as the country's official language; both the Malolos Constitution and the Lupang Hinirang (national anthem) were written in Spanish.

The use of Spanish began to decline after Spain ceded the islands to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War of 1898. Under U.S. rule, the English language began to be promoted instead of Spanish. In 1940, there were six million people with Spanish speaking skills in the Philippines.[citation needed] The 1950 Census stated that Filipinos who spoke Spanish as a first or second language made up only 6% of the population. In 1990, the census reported that the number had dwindled to just 2500. Spanish ceased to be an official language in 1973 and a college requirement in 1987, during Corazón Aquino's administration. However, the language is still spoken today by Filipino-Spanish mestizos and Spanish families, who are mainly concentrated in Metro Manila, Iloílo and Cebú. It remains a required subject in many universities, such as the University of Santo Tomás of Manila and the University of San Carlos in Cebú. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a third-language Spanish speaker, has introduced legislation to re-establish the instruction of Spanish since 2009.

Many historical documents, land titles, and literature were written in the Spanish language, and many of these documents often were never translated, although some of them as land titles still have legal value. There are thousands of Spanish loanwords in Tagalog, Cebuano, and other languages.

There are also several Spanish-based creole languages in the Philippines, collectively called Chavacano.

They include:

* Chavacanos of Luzón:
o Caviteño (Chabacano de Cavite/nisos), spoken in Cavite City, Cavite.
o Ternateño (Chabacano de Barra), spoken in Ternate, Cavite.
o Ermiteño (Chabacano de Ermita), formerly spoken in Ermita, Manila, now extinct. Last reported speakers were a woman and her grandson between the 1980s and 1990s.
* Chavacanos of Mindanao:
o Zamboangueño Chavacano (Chavacano de Zamboanga / Zamboangueño Chavacano), spoken in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Basilan Province, Sulu Province, Tawi-Tawi Province and Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia (360,000 native speakers-Zamboanga City alone as per 2000 census, the most spoken creole language)
o Cotabateño (Chabacano de Cotabato), spoken in Cotabato
o Davaoeño Abakay (Davaoweño Zamboanguenyo), spoken in Davao City

English

The first exposure to English occurred in 1762, when the British invaded Manila. However, use of English in that era was minimal and had no lasting influence. English became an important language in the Philippines in the period between 1898 and 1946, when the Philippines was under U.S. sovereignty. Today, English remains an official language in the Philippines.

Today, English is the dominant language in business, government, the legal system, medicine, the sciences and education. Filipinos tend to want their textbooks for subjects like calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., written in English rather than Filipino. By way of contrast, the native languages are often heard in colloquial settings, and in the home, with family and friends, most people use their vernaculars. The use of English may be thought to carry an air of formality, given its use in school, government and various ceremonies. A percentage of the media such as cable television and newspapers are also in English; major television networks (i.e. ABS-CBN and GMA) and all AM radio stations are in Filipino. English proficiency sustains a significant call center industry for American companies.

A large influx of English words has been assimilated into Tagalog and the other native languages called Taglish. There is a debate, however, on whether there is diglossia or bilingualism, or even semilingualism,[12][13] between Filipino and English. Filipinos would use Filipino both in formal and informal situations, while, save for a very few, English will only be used for formal gatherings such as education and governance. Though the masses would prefer to speak in Filipino, government officials tend to speak in English when they do their government duties. Until now, there is still resistance in the use of Filipino in courts and the drafting of national statutes.

On August 22, 2007, three Malolos City regional trial courts in Bulacan decided to use Filipino, instead of English, in order to promote the national language. Twelve stenographers from Branches 6, 80 and 81, as model courts, had undergone training at Marcelo H. del Pilar College of Law of Bulacan State University College of Law following a directive from the Supreme Court of the Philippines. De la Rama said it was the dream of Chief Justice Reynato Puno to implement the program in other areas such as Laguna, Cavite, Quezón, Nueva Écija, Batangas, Rizal and Metro Manila.

Advocates of English say that it is the wave of the future, with science, world trade and the Internet become more important every decade. However, Philippine-language advocates respond that although the growing influence of English may be unstoppable, English is an exogenous language that is difficult for the mass of Filipinos to acquire fluently, while tens of millions are acquiring the lingua franca and using it extensively on a daily basis. English will remain a second language in the country, while the endogenous Austronesian languages will come to play a more important role in both speech and writing. National census results show that there are very few native speakers of English in the Philippines, a few percent from a small stratum of wealthy and highly educated families, and this is not increasing very rapidly. On the other hand, Filipino, Cebuano, and Ilocano continue to grow vigorously, as lingua francas, second languages, and as first languages as well.

Chinese/Lan-nang


The people have been trading with China and Japan since the early 10th or 11th century. Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction in Chinese schools and lingua franca of the mainland and overseas Chinese. The Lan-nang variant of the Hokkien (Min Nan) is the language of the majority the Chinese in the Philippines, who immigrated from the Fujian (pronounced locally as Fukien or Hokkien) province in China. Another Chinese language, Cantonese, is spoken among the Chinese in the Philippines who are descendants of people from Guangdong province in China.

Arabic

Arabic is used by some members of the Muslim population and has functioned as a liturgical and instructional language since the arrival of Islam in the 14th century. It is primarily used in religious instruction in madrasahs (Muslim schools) and rarely for official events. Historically, Arabic, along with Malay, was the lingua franca in the Malay Archipelago among Muslim traders and the Malay aristocracy in various parts of the archipelago. Arabic is taught for free and promoted in some Islamic centres and used for Islamic activities. According to the 1987 Constitution, Arabic, along with Spanish, is to be promoted on a voluntary basis.

Japanese

The Japanese first came to the Philippines around the 11th Century C.E., the first country they emigrated to, as well as in waves from the 15th century, 17th century, late 19th century, 1900s, 1930s, and the 1940s. There is a small Japanese community and a school for Japanese in Metro Manila due to the number of Japanese companies. Also there is a large community of Japanese and Japanese descendants in Laguna province, Baguio City, and in the Davao region. Davao City is a home to a large population of Japanese descendants. Japanese laborers were hired by American companies like the National Fiber Company (NAFCO) in the first decades of the 20th century to work in abaca plantations. Japanese were known for their hard work and industry. During World War II, Japanese schools were present in Davao City.

Malay

Malay is spoken among Muslim people in the southern Philippines as a lingua franca.

Old Malay and Indonesian cultures and civilizations in ancient Sumatra and Java have had a large influence on the history, lifestyles, and culture of various Philippine peoples. The Malay language, along with Philippine languages belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language family, has also had an immense influence on many if not most of the languages spoken in the Philippines. Roughly a third of all commonly used verbs and nouns used in the Philippines are of Old Malay origin.

When the Spanish had first arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century, Old Malay was spoken among the aristocracy.

It is believed that Ferdinand Magellan’s Moluccan slave Enrique could converse with local leaders in Cebu island, confirming to Magellan his arrival in Southeast Asia. An example of Old Malay and Javanese languages spoken in Philippine history can be seen in the language of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

South Asian languages

Since pre-Spanish times, there have been small Indian communities in the Philippines. Indians tend to be able to speak Tagalog and the other native languages, and are often fluent in English. Among themselves, Sindhi and Punjabi are used. Urdu is spoken among the Pakistani community. Only few South Asians, such as Pakistani, as well as the recent newcomers like the Marathi, Nepali, and Tamil retain their own native languages.