ASPECTS OF CULTURE

Knowledge
Language
Religion
Shelter
Tools
Values
KNOWLEDGE
 There are some 120 to 187 languages and
dialects in the Philippines, depending on the
method of classification. Almost all
are Malayo-Polynesian languages. A number
of Spanish-influenced creole varieties
generally called Chavacano are also spoken
in certain communities. The 1987 constitution
designates Filipino as the national language
and an official language along with English.

LANGUAGE
 Filipino is used for communication across the country's diverse
linguistic groups and is used in popular culture.
 Government operates mostly using English.
 There are more speakers of Filipino than English in the Philippines.
 The other regional languages are given official auxiliary status in
their respective places according to the constitution but
particular languages are not specified. Some of these regional
languages are also used in education.
 is one of the most well-known of the indigenous Filipino scripts
and is used mainly in artistic applications such as on
the Philippine banknotes, where the word "Pilipino" is inscribed
using the writing system.

BAYBAYIN
 The indigenous scripts of the Philippines.
 are used very little; instead, Filipino languages are today written
in the Latin script because of the Spanish and American colonial
experience.

KULITAN, TAGBANWA AND OTHERS

 Used in the Muslim areas in the southern Philippines.

ARABIC SCRIPT
 the official language of the country for more than three centuries
under Spanish colonial rule.
 became the lingua franca of the Philippines in the 19th and early
20th centuries.
 It was also the language of the Philippine Revolution, and the
1899 Malolos Constitution effectively proclaimed it as the official
language of the First Philippine Republic.
 National hero José Rizal wrote most of his works in Spanish.

SPANISH
 Under the U.S. occupation and civil regime, English began to be
taught in schools.
 Around 600 educators (called "Thomasites") who arrived in that
year aboard the USAT Thomas replaced the soldiers who also
functioned as teachers.
 The 1935 Constitution added English as an official language
alongside Spanish.

ENGLISH
 In 1939, President Manuel L. Quezón renamed the Tagalog
language as Wikang Pambansa ("national language" in English
translation).
 Filipino and English as joint official languages.

TAGALOG LANGUAGE
 Filipino is an official language of education and also the major
language of the broadcast media and cinema, but less
important than English as a language of publication (except in
some domains, like comic books) and less important for
academic-scientific-technological discourse.
 Filipino is used as a lingua franca in all regions of the Philippines as
well as within overseas Filipino communities, and is the dominant
language of the armed forces.

FILIPINO
 The use of two varieties of the same language in different social
contexts throughout a speech community.

DIGLOSSIA
 Locals may use their mother tongue or
the regional lingua franca to
communicate amongst themselves, but
sometimes switch to foreign languages
when addressing outsiders.
 Using between the regional languages  Acrolects - the
and the minority languages. regional languages.
 Basilect - the
minority languages.

EXAMPLES
 Filipinos would speak in Filipino when speaking in formal situations
while the regional languages are spoken in non-formal settings.
This is evident in major urban areas outside Metro Manila
like Camarines Norte in the Bikol-speaking area, and Davao in
the Cebuano-speaking area.
 Aside from the two official nationwide languages used in the
Philippines, namely, Filipino and English, other languages have
been proposed as additional nationwide languages. Among the
most prominent proposals are Japanese, and Spanish.
 Tagalog
 Cebuano
 Ilocano
 Hiligaynon

THERE ARE 4 INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

WITH APPROXIMATELY 10 MILLION OR
MORE NATIVE SPEAKERS:
 Waray
 Bikol
 Kapampangan
 Pangasinan
 Maranao
 Tausug
 Maguindanao
 Karay-a

AND 8 WITH 1 MILLION TO 3 MILLION

NATIVE SPEAKERS:
 According to the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, there are 135
ethno-linguistic groups in the country, each having their own
distinct Philippine language.

PROPOSALS TO CONSERVE PHILIPPINE

LANGUAGES
 (1) "establishing a dictionary & sentence construction manual" for each of the 135
living languages in the country.
 (2) "video documentation" of all Philippine languages.
 (3) "revival of the ancient scripts of the Philippines" where each ethnic group's own
script shall be revived and used in schools along with the currently-used Roman script
in communities where those script/s used to be known.
 (4) "teaching of ethnic mother languages first" in homes and schools before the
teaching of Filipino and foreign languages (English or Arabic).
 (5) "using the ethnic mother language and script first in public signs" followed by
Filipino and foreign languages (English and/or Arabic) and scripts, for example, using
Sebwano first followed by Filipino and English underneath the sign.

AMONG THE PROPOSALS INCLUDE

 Arabic
 English
 Hokkien
 Japanese
 Korean
 Spanish

MAJOR IMMIGRANT LANGUAGES