The Greater Central Philippine languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian language family, defined by the change of

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch (by current speakers) of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesi ...

''*R'' to ''*g''. They are spoken in the central and southern parts of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and in northern

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. This subgroup was first proposed by

Robert Blust Robert A. Blust (; ; May 9, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American linguist who worked in several areas, including historical linguistics, lexicography and ethnology. He was Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Blus ...

(1991) based on lexical and phonological evidence, and is accepted by most specialists in the field. Most of the major languages of the Philippines belong to the Greater Central Philippine subgroup: Tagalog, the

Visayan languages The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. M ...

Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray;

Central Bikol Central Bikol commonly called Bikol Naga, also known simply as Bikol, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Bicolanos, primarily in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon, Philippines. It is spoken in the northern and western part of Camarines ...

, the

Danao languages The Danao languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are Maguindanaon and Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the t ...

Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...

and Magindanaon. On the island of

, Indonesia,

Gorontalo Gorontalo ( Gorontaloan: ''Hulontalo'') is a province of Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi. Located on the Minahasa Peninsula, Gorontalo was formerly part of the province of North Sulawesi until its inauguration as a separate province on 5 D ...

is the third-largest language by number of speakers.

History

According to Blust, the current distribution of the Greater Central Philippine languages is the result of an expansion that occurred around 500 B.C. and which led to levelling of much of the linguistic diversity in the central and southern Philippines. Remnants of this earlier diversity can still be found in relic areas within the Greater Central Philippine area, viz. Manide in southern

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

Ati Ati or ATI may refer to: * Ati people, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines **Ati language (Philippines), the language spoken by this people group ** Ati-Atihan festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines *Ati language (China), a ...

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

, the North Mangyan languages on

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

, the

Kalamian languages The Kalamian languages are a small cluster of languages spoken in the Philippines: Calamian Tagbanwa and Agutaynen. Other languages called Tagbanwa, the Aborlan Tagbanwa language and Central Tagbanwa language are members of the Palawanic langua ...

in northern

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

and the

South Mindanao languages The South Mindanao or Bilic languages are a group of related languages spoken by the Bagobo, B'laan, T'boli, and Tiruray peoples of the southern coast of Mindanao Island in the Philippines. They are not part of the Mindanao language family that ...

Classification

The Greater Central Philippine subgroup comprises the following microgroups: *

Central Philippine languages The Central Philippine languages are the most geographically widespread demonstrated group of languages in the Philippines, being spoken in southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Sulu. They are also the most populous, including Tagalog (and ...

(including Tagalog,

Bikol languages The Bikol languages or Bicolano languages are a group of Central Philippine languages spoken mostly in the Bicol Peninsula in the island of Luzon, the neighboring island province of Catanduanes and the island of Burias in Masbate. Inter ...

, and

Bisayan languages The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Mos ...

) * South Mangyan languages *

Palawanic languages The Palawanic languages are a subgroup in the Greater Central Philippine-family spoken on the island of Palawan and nearby islets. Languages The Palawanic languages are: * Palawano (a dialect cluster) * Aborlan Tagbanwa * Central Tagbanwa (n ...

* Subanen languages *

(including

and Magindanao) *

Manobo languages The Manobo languages are a group of languages spoken in the Philippines. Their speakers are primarily located around Northern Mindanao, Central Mindanao (presently called ) and Caraga regions where they are natively spoken. Some outlying group ...

Gorontalo–Mongondow languages The Gorontalo–Mongondow languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Languages The Gorontalo–Mongondow languages are divided into two branches: *Gorontalic: Bolango, Buol, Bintauna, Gorontalo ...

(including

)

References

External links

Philippine etyma file cards
by

R. David Zorc R. David Zorc (also R. David Paul Zorc; born 1943) is an American linguist primarily known for his work on Austronesian languages and linguistics, particularly the Philippine languages. Education Zorc graduated ''cum laude'' with an A.B. in Phi ...

R. David Zorc field notes"Greater Central Philippine"
on ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'', (23rd ed., 2020). {{Austronesian languages Philippine languages Languages of the Philippines Languages of Indonesia

History

Classification

See also

References

External links