Cebuano

Introduction

Cebuano, also known as Sugbuhanon, Sugbuanon, Visayan, and Bisayan, is the major language of Visayan islands (Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol), and parts of Mindanao in the Philippines. The name comes from the name of the Philippine island of Cebu + the Spanish suffix -ano meaning 'native of.' It is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian group of languages within the Austronesian language family.

It is estimated that there are about 20 million people in the Philippines who speak Cebuano as their first language (Ethnologue). It is the second most spoken language in the Philippines after Tagalog. Cebuano is used as the medium of instruction in Grades I and II. After that, instruction is shifted to Filipino, the national language, and English.

Structure

Sound System

Mindanao People

Indigenous Visaya Man

Indigenous Visaya Woman

Indigenous Visaya Child

Sound system
The sound system of Cebuano is fairly typical of Malayo-Polynesian languages.

Vowels

There are three vowel phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a difference in word meaning. They are /i/ , /a/, and / u/.
Stressed vowels can be long or short. Vowel length makes a difference in word meaning, e.g., /daapit/ 'to invite' —/dapit/ 'place.'
There are four diphthongs: /aw/, /ay/, /iw/, /uy/.

Consonants
Cebuano has sixteen consonant phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a difference in word meaning. They are given below.

x	Bilabial	Labio-velar	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stops	/p/ -/b/	x	/t/ - / d/	x	/k/ - /g/	/?/
Fricatives	x	x	/s/	x	x	/h/
Nasals	/m/	x	/n/	x	//	x
Laterals	x	x	/l/	x	x	x
Trills	x	x	/r/	x	x	x
Semi-vowels	x	/w/	x	/y/	x	x

// = ng
/?/ = similar to the sound in English uh-oh.
Consonant clusters can occur at the beginning of words, especially in loanwords, e.g., drayber "driver," mwebles "furniture."

Stress
Stress in Cebuano can occur on any syllable of a word. The position of stress can distinguish word meaning.

Click here to listen to a list of foods and food-associated words in Cebuano.

Grammar

Phillippino woman

Indigenous Visaya Farmer

Grammar
The grammar of Cebuano is fairly typical of other Malayo-Polynesian languages and shares many features with other Austronesian languages of the Philippines such asTagalog and Ilokano.

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Nouns in Cebuano are inflected for number (singular and plural), and case.
There is a definite and indefinite article, e.g., ang iro 'the dog,' ang mga iro 'the dogs,' usa ca iro 'a dog, some dog.'
Personal pronouns are marked for person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular and plural) and case.
1st person pronouns have an inclusive and exclusive form. Inclusive form includes the addressee, while the exclusive form does not.

Cebuano verbs are marked for the following categories:

voice (active and passive); there are several varieties of passive;
mood
aspect

Word order
Cebuano word order is typically Verb - Subject - Object. Nouns come after adjectives, but before genitives or relative phrases.

Vocabulary

Phillippino Hut

Mindanao Woman

Higaunon Man

Phillippino children

Cebuano vocabulay is Austronesian in origin and shares many words with Tagalog. As a result of Spanish influence, Cebuano also contains many words of Spanish origin, e.g., names of the days of the week, and months were borrowed from Spanish. In addition, the language has borrowed words from Chinese, Arabic, and English. Some examples are krus from Spanish cruz 'cross,' hayskul from English high school, and prayd tsikin from English fried chicken. In some cases, both the Cebuano and borrowed words exist side by side, e.g., numbers.
Click here for a more complete list of English words in Cebuano.

Below are some common words and phrases in Cebuano.

Maayong udto.	Good day.
Babay.	Good bye
Palihug.	Please.
Salamat.	Thank you.
Pasayloa ko.	I'm sorry.
Oo.	Yes
Dili	No
Tawo, lalaki	Man
Babaye	Woman

Click here to listen to the pronunciation of some common phrases in Cebuano.

Here are two sets of the numbers 1-10 in Cebuano and those borrowed from Spanish which are also in use. .

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
usa	duha	tulo	upat	lima	ulom	pita	walo	siyam	napulo
uno	dos	tres	kwatro	singko	says	syete	otso	nuebe	dies

Click here to hear the pronunciation of the Cebuano numbers.

Writing

bannanas

Philippines

Negros Fisherman

Visaya Fisherman

Writing
Although it is commonly believed that each province in the Philippines had its own ancient alphabet, Spanish writers of the 16th century reported that the practice of writing was found only in the Manila area at the time of first contact. Writing spread to the other islands later, in the middle of the 16th century. The Spaniards usually called the ancient Filipino script "Tagalog letters," regardless of the language for which it was used.

The so-called "Tagalog letters" were actually a syllabic script called Baybayin, which was used until the 17th century when it was gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet that is still in use today. The word baybayin (from baybay 'spell') in Tagalog means 'alphabet.' The Baybayin alphabet, probably developed from the Javanese script, adapted from the Pallava script, the latter itself derived from the Brahmi script of ancient India. Baybayin was mainly used for letters, poetry, and incantations. Today the Baybayin alphabet is used mainly for decorative purposes, although there are attempts to revive its use. .

Baybayin is a syllabic alphabet, written from left to right in horizontal lines, in which each consonant has an inherent vowel /a/. Other vowels are represented either by separate letters, or by diacritics over the consonant. For instance, a dot over the consonant changes the vowel from /a/ to /i/ or /e/, while a dot under the consonant changes it to /o/ or /u/. A plus sign under the consonant indicates that the vowel is mute, e.g.,

There is evidence that Baybayin was used for writing in the Visayas. Here is a 1637 sample of Baybayin alphabet found in the Visayas:

Today, Cebuano is written with the Latin alphabet consisting of 20 letters, representing 5 vowels and 15 consonants. They are given below in their traditional order.

A a	B b	K k	D d	E e	G g	H h	I i	L l	M m
N n	Ng ng	O o	P p	R r	S s	T t	U u	W w	Y y

Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Cebuano.

Ang tanang katawhan gipakatawo nga may kagawasan ug managsama sa kabililhon. Sila gigasahan sa salabutan ug tanlag og mag-ilhanay isip managsoon sa usa'g-usa diha sa diwa sa ospiritu.

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Resources

Click here to find out where Cebuano is taught in the United States.
Click here to find learning materials for studying Cebuano .

Online resources for the study of Cebuano language and culture
Visayan languages
Online Cebuano Lessons
Omniglot guide to Cebuano alphabet
English-Cebuano/Cebuano-English online dictionary
Ang Baybayin
Cebuano Lessons Online