Hiligaynon language

"Ilongo language" redirects here. Not to be confused with the Ilongot language, also of the Philippines.

Hiligaynon
Ilonggo
Hiniligaynon, Inilonggo
Pronunciation/hɪlɪˈɡaɪnən/
Native toPhilippines
RegionWestern Visayas, Negros Island Region, Soccsksargen, southwestern portion of Masbate, coastal Palawan, some parts of southern Mindoro, some parts of Romblon and a few parts of Northern Mindanao
EthnicityHiligaynon
Native speakers
7.8 million (2010)[1][needs update]
9.1 million total speakers[2]
4th most spoken native language in the Philippines[3]
Dialects
    • Standard Hiligaynon (Iloilo province dialect);
    • Urban Hiligaynon (Metro Iloilo dialect);
    • Guimarasnon Hiligaynon;
    • Bacolodnon Hiligaynon (Metro Bacolod dialect);
    • Negrense Hiligaynon (Negros Occidental dialect);
    • Mindanao Hiligaynon
Latin (Hiligaynon alphabet)
Hiligaynon Braille
Historically Baybayin (c. 13th–19th centuries)
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byKomisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-2hil
ISO 639-3hil
Glottologhili1240
Areas where Hiligaynon is spoken in the Philippines
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Hiligaynon, also often referred to as Ilonggo or Binisayâ/Bisayâ nga Hiniligaynon/Inilonggo, is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 9.1 million people, predominantly in Western Visayas, Negros Island Region, and Soccsksargen, most of whom belong to the Hiligaynon people.[4] It is the second-most widely spoken language in the Visayas and belongs to the Bisayan languages, and it is more distantly related to other Philippine languages.

It also has one of the largest native language-speaking populations of the Philippines, despite it not being taught and studied formally in schools and universities until 2012.[5] Hiligaynon is given the ISO 639-2 three-letter code hil, but has no ISO 639-1 two-letter code.

Hiligaynon is mainly concentrated in the regions of Western Visayas (Iloilo, Capiz, and Guimaras), Negros Island Region (Negros Occidental), and Soccsksargen (South Cotabato including General Santos, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato). It is spoken in other neighboring provinces, such as Antique and Aklan in Western Visayas, Negros Oriental in Negros Island Region, Masbate in Bicol Region, and southern parts of Mindoro, Romblon and Palawan in Mimaropa.

It is spoken as a second language by Kinaray-a speakers in Antique, Aklanon/Malaynon speakers in Aklan, Capiznon speakers in Capiz, Cebuano speakers in Negros Oriental,[6] and spoken and understood by native speakers of Maguindanaon, Cebuano, Ilocano, Blaan, Tboli and other settler and indigenous languages in Soccsksargen in Mindanao.[7] There are approximately 9,300,000 people in and out of the Philippines who are native speakers of Hiligaynon and an additional 5,000,000 capable of speaking it with a substantial degree of proficiency.[8]

  1. ^ "2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A - Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables)" (PDF). Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Lewis, M. Paul (2009). "Hiligaynon". www.ethnologue.com/. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A - Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables)" (PDF). Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  4. ^ Lewis, M. Paul (2009). "Hiligaynon". www.ethnologue.com/. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  5. ^ Ulrich Ammon; Norbert Dittmar; Klaus J. Mattheier (2006). Sociolinguistics: an international handbook of the science of language and society. Vol. 3. Walter de Gruyter. p. 2018. ISBN 978-3-11-018418-1.
  6. ^ "Islas de los Pintados: The Visayan Islands". Ateneo de Manila University. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Arellano, Bernardo Muerong III (October 9, 2020). "Ang Pagpangayaw sa Dutang Ginsaad: A History of Migration and Settlement of Ilonggos in Central Mindanao, 1951-1960s". Researchgate.net. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  8. ^ Philippine Census, 2000. Table 11. Household Population by Ethnicity, Sex and Region: 2000