5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE BISAYA LANGUAGE YOU DIDN’T KNOW
As we all know, August has long been celebrated as Buwan ng Wika or “Language Month”, which for many of us, brings back memories of traditional Filipino dances like tinikling, dress like the barong and baro’t saya, and even Filipino games and food.
These festivities help us to remember our national language- Pilipino which is primarily based on the Tagalog language spoken mostly in Manila and surrounding areas. Filipino may be our national language, for those living in Visayas and Mindanao, Cebuano or Bisaya is our mother tongue. In places like Cebu, Bisaya is a valuable part of our history and everyday culture, with jokes, words, and expressions that cannot be translated into any other language.
With that being said, here are five interesting facts about the Bisaya language that will hopefully help you appreciate the richness and beauty of Sugbuanon Bisaya.
- Many of our basic words remain unchanged since the 1500’s
Just last year, we celebrated our 500th year anniversary since the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the island of Mactan, where he brought Christianity and died in battle at the hands of Datu Lapu-Lapu. We know of all this because of the writings of Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian writer and explorer who was a firsthand witness of the Battle of Mactan.
During his time in Cebu, Pigafetta wrote of the customs, traditions, beliefs and language of the early Bisayans. Many basic words like usa, duha, tulo, mata, dughan, li-og, lubi have remained unchanged throughout the centuries, as shown in this Sunstar article here.
After three hundred years of Spanish colonization, the Bisaya language is one of the few things that we Cebuanos have that connects us with our pre-colonial forefathers. This is, in large part, thanks to the work of Spanish friars and missionaries who learned the language in order to spread the Christian faith.
2. There used to be more Bisaya speakers than Tagalog speakers
Before President Manuel Quezon declared Filipino to be the national language, Cebuano actually had the most speakers in the Philippines. One of the presumed reasons is because Cebuano has traditionally been more widespread. Whereas Tagalog is native in mainly Central and South Luzon, Cebuano has long been the main language in large parts of Visayas and Mindanao for centuries.
During President Quezon’s presidency, Tagalog was chosen to be the basis of the new national language, because at that time it had the most well-developed literature and its use in the capital city of Manila. Today, there are over 22 million speakers of Cebuano, but it has since become overtaken by Tagalog and English as the dominant language.
3. Some of our everyday words have roots in ancient India
Many Cebuanos know that many of our everyday words come from Spanish (words like kusina, sabon, kabayo, biyahe, barko), or English (ratol, hasul, motor, brayt). This is largely to do with our history with Spain and the US.
But what many Cebuanos do not know is that Cebuano words like bahandi, diwata, basa, labaw, bagyo, baha, suka, balita, and gaba all come from an ancient Indian language known as Sanskrit. This is considered a sacred language in Hinduism, and historians believe that the ancient tongue came to the Philippines by way of Hindu traders bringing their goods, culture, and ideas long before the arrival of the Spaniards.
There is even evidence that pre-colonial Cebuanos prayed to Hindu gods as well as their own, as evidenced by old idols of the Hindu god Ganesha found in Mactan. The Bisaya concept of gaba is believed to be inspired by the idea of karma, an important belief in the Hindu faith.
4. There was a “golden age” of Visayan films from the 40’s to the 70’s
Lately, there has been a resurgence of Cebuano language indie movies and short films, like the movie Patay Na Si Hesus in 2018. But many younger urban Cebuanos may not remember the thriving Visayan film industry from the 40’s and 50’s all the way to the 70’s. The first Cebuano-language film was Bertoldo Baldoy released in 1938, but it was after World War II when Visayan filmmaking really took off.
Visayan films from this era like Salingsing sa Kasakit, Badlis sa Kinabuhi, Gimingaw Ako received nationwide and even international accolades. The Cebuano film industry also produced bona fide stars like the late Gloria Sevilla, who may be recognizable among younger people for her role in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.
5. We are not the only people in the world called Bisaya
In the islands of Borneo and Sabah in Malaysia, there is an indigenous group also called Bisaya. And the name of their language? Also Bisaya! Unfortunately, their language is unrelated to Cebuano, and their traditional dress and dance are also more similar to Malaysian and Islamic Moro peoples than that of our own.
No one really knows why they share the same name as us, but it does show that we Filipinos have a lot more in common with our Malaysian and Indonesian brothers and sisters than we think. For example, this video from local YouTuber Carson Moody aka Bisayang Hilaw shows that his tour guide in Bali understood words like “ako,” “puti”, “itum”, and “anak” because they also meant the same thing in Indonesian.
Sources:
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/95066/wenceslao-old-cebuano-movies-and-other-tale
https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-freeman/20180205/281741269866928\
https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2012/12/09/883615/cebu-movies-circa-1939
