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Cebuano

Austronesian Languages

Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines by the Bisaya people and other ethnic groups. It is spoken by the Visayan ethnolinguistic groups native to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, and parts of Negros, Leyte and Mindanao.

Facts
ISO 639-3 Code
ceb 2
Speaker Count
20,000,000 2
2023 estimate.
Status
Living 2
Wikipedia article on Cebuano: a currently spoken living language with an active native-speaker population; checked 2026-09-27.
Attested From (Year)
from 1521 2
Region
Central Visayas, almost all of Negros Island Region, western parts of Eastern Visayas, and most parts of Mindanao 2
Classification
Language Kind
Safe 1
Official Status
Recognized Regional or Minority Language 1
Connections

In Family

Source Wikipedia: Cebuano Language
Source Wikipedia: Cebuano Language

Written In

Latin Script, Scripts

Cebuano is standardly written in the Latin alphabet.

In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Glottolog
Sources
1. Glottolog: Cebuano (Glottolog languoid cebu1242)
Glottolog
  • Endangerment, AES status
    AES status: not endangered
  • Endangerment
    Statutory language of provincial identity in Cebu Province, 4 other areas (1991, ACFLC Section 3(f)).
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Cebuano Language
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    It is spoken by the Visayan ethnolinguistic groups native to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, the eastern half of Negros, the western half of Leyte, the northern coastal areas of Northern Mindanao and the eastern part of Zamboanga del Norte due to Spanish settlements during the 18th century.
  • Infobox, ISO 639-3
    ceb
  • Article text
    As of the 2020 (but released in 2023) statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the current number of households that speak Cebuano is approximately 1.72 million and around 6.5% of the country's population speak it inside their home.
  • Infobox, Region
    Central Visayas, almost all of Negros Island Region, western parts of Eastern Visayas, and most parts of Mindanao
  • History
    The earliest record of the Cebuano language was first documented in a list of words compiled by Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian explorer who was part of Ferdinand Magellan's 1521 expedition.
  • In Family: Malayo-Polynesian, Infobox, Language family
    Malayo-Polynesian
  • In Family: Bisayan, Infobox, Language family
    Bisayan
View the Source
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