Surpassing Tagalog: The Massive Reach of Cebuano
For most of the 20th century, Cebuano, not Tagalog, held the title for the most native speakers in the Philippines, dominating the Visayas and Mindanao. We explore the history of…
Tag: philippines
The First Words: Cebuano and Magellan’s Voyage
Discover the fascinating linguistic history of the first European-recorded word list in the Philippines, compiled by Antonio Pigafetta during Magellan's 1521 voyage. This article explores how the Cebuano language has…
The Word Inside a Word: Infixation
We all know about prefixes and suffixes, but what about the "word inside a word"? This fascinating linguistic process, called infixation, shows up for colorful emphasis in English (think "abso-freaking-lutely")…
The Ghost of Spanish in the Philippines
For over 300 years, Spanish was the official language of the Philippines, but today it is a linguistic ghost. Its spirit survives not in widespread fluency, but in the unique…