| Central Philippine | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Philippines,Malaysia (eastern seaboard ofSabah state),Indonesia (northeastern part ofNorth Kalimantan province) |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Central Philippine |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | cent2246 |
TheCentral Philippine languages are the most geographically widespread demonstrated group of languages in thePhilippines, being spoken in southernLuzon,Visayas,Mindanao, andSulu. They are also the most populous, includingTagalog (andFilipino),Bikol, and the major Visayan languagesCebuano,Hiligaynon,Waray,Kinaray-a, andTausug, with some forty languages all together.[1]
The languages are generally subdivided thus (languages initalics refer to a single language):
There are in addition severalAeta hill-tribal languages of uncertain affiliation:Ata,Sorsogon Ayta,Tayabas Ayta,Karolanos (Northern Binukidnon),Magahat (Southern Binukidnon),Sulod, andUmiray Dumaget.
Most of the Central Philippine languages in fact form adialect continuum and cannot be sharply distinguished as separate languages. Blust (2009) notes that the relatively low diversity found among the Visayan languages is due to recent population expansions.[2]
The expanded tree of the Central Philippine languages below is given in David Zorc's 1977 Ph.D. dissertation.[3] The Visayan subgrouping is Zorc's own work, while the Bikol subgrouping is from McFarland (1974)[4] and the Mansakan subgrouping from Gallman (1974).[5]
Individual languages are marked byitalics, and primary branches bybold italics.
Andrew Gallman (1997) rejects Zorc's classification of the Mansakan languages and Mamanwa as primary branches of the Central Philippine languages coordinate to the Bisayan languages. Instead, he groups Mansakan, Mamanwa and the Southern Bisayan languages together into an "East Mindanao" subgroup, which links up with the remaining Bisayan branches in a "South Central Philippine" subgroup:[20]
Blust (1991)[21] notes that the central and southern Philippines has low linguistic diversity. Based on exclusively shared lexical innovations, he posits aGreater Central Philippine subgroup that puts together the Central Philippine branch withSouth Mangyan,Palawan,Danao,Manobo,Subanon andGorontalo–Mongondow languages, the latter found in northernSulawesi.