Raising Boys

171 languages spoken in the Philippines October 30, 2005

While searching for answers to 20 questions in an Internet scavenger hunt that my online journalism teacher Dr. Elliot King assigned to the class two or three weeks ago, I found this Wikipedia entry about the Philippines.

A total of 171 native languages are spoken in the country. Except for English, Spanish, Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Chabacano, all of the languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.

There are 12 native languages with at least one million native speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Kinaray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao, and Tausug. These are spoken natively by more than 90% of the population.

The entry cited as its source ethnologue.com, a website owned by SIL International, which “studies, documents, and assists in developing the world’s lesser-known languages.” The entry on the Philippines in ethnologue.com was based on a 2000 study conducted by the organization.

There are actually 175 languages listed for the Philippines but four of these are already extinct.

Of my hometown Lapu-Lapu City, I discovered this interesting fact. A few meters away from the prominent statue of chieftain Lapu-Lapu, which is erected on the beachfront where he was supposed to have fought and killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, is an old monument, reportedly one of the oldest monuments in Cebu. It is a classic obelisk on a multi-level base and was erected in 1866 to mark the spot where the great explorer died. The monument is called the Magellan Marker.

If ever I get the chance to pass by that area, I’d take a picture of the monument and post it here.