Cebuano Language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Binisaya (or Visayan in English), is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas most of whom belong to the Bisaya ethnic group. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino languages.
It has the largest native language speaking population of the Philippines despite not being taught formally in schools and universities. It is the lingua franca of the Central Visayas and parts of Mindanao. The name Cebuano is derived from the island of Cebu where the prestige dialect is spoken.
Most people confuse the terms Binisaya vs. Bisaya. The term Bisaya refers to the people who live in the Visayas Region. Binisaya or Cebuano refers to the language spoken in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and some part of Leyte, Samar and Mindanao.
Cebuano is given the ISO 639-2 three letter code ceb, but has no ISO 639-1 two-letter code.
Read more about Cebuano Language: Distribution, Characteristics, History, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Phrases, Dialects
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