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The Philippines is a multilingual state with more than 175 living languages originating and spoken by various ethno-linguistic groups. Many of these languages descend from a common Malayo-Polynesian language due to the Austronesian migration from Taiwan; however, there are languages brought by the Negritos. The common Malayo-Polynesian language split into different languages and these languages borrowed words from other languages such as Hokkien, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Arabic. There was no single

While Spanish and English were considered "official languages" during the American colonial period, there existed no "national language" initially. Article XIII, section 3 of the 1935 constitution establishing the Commonwealth of the Philippines provided that: The National Assembly shall take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages. Until otherwise provided by law, English and Spanish shall continue as official languag

In 1959, the language became known as Pilipino in an effort to disassociate it from the Tagalog ethnic group. The changing of the name did not, however, result in universal acceptance among non-Tagalogs, especially Cebuanos who had previously not accepted the 1937 selection. The 1960s saw the rise of the purist movement where new words were being coined to replace loanwords. This era of "purism" by the SWP sparked criticisms by a number of persons. Two counter-movements emerged during this perio

Since 1997, a month-long celebration of the national language occurs during August, known in Filipino as Buwan ng Wika. Previously, this lasted only a week and was known as Linggo ng Wika. The celebration coincides with the month of birth of President Manuel L. Quezon, regarded as the "Ama ng Wikang Pambansa". In 1946, Proclamation No. 35 of March 26 provided for a week-long celebration of the national language. this celebration would last from March 27 until April 2 each year, the last day coin

While the official view is that Filipino and Tagalog are considered separate languages, in practical terms, Filipino may be considered the official name of Tagalog, or even a synonym of it. Today's Filipino language is best described as "Tagalog-based"; The language is usually called Tagalog within the Philippines and among Filipinos to differentiate it from other Philippine languages, but it has also come to be known as Filipino to differentiate it from the languages of other countries; the for

The expanded tree of the Central Philippine languages below is given in David Zorc's 1977 Ph.D. dissertation. The Visayan subgrouping is Zorc's own work, while the Bikol subgrouping is from McFarland (1974)and the Mansakan subgrouping from Gallman (1974). Individual languages are marked by italics, and primary branches by bold italics. 1. Tagalog 1.1. Standard Filipino 1.2. Marinduque 1.3. Lubang 2. Bikol 2.1. Pandan (North Catanduanes) 2.2. Inland Bikol 2.2.1. Iriga(Rinconada Bikol) 2.2.2. Albay Bikol 2.3. Coastal Bikol (including the Naga City dialect) 2.3.1. Central Bikol 2.3.2. Virac (South Catanduanes) 3. Visayan 3.1. 1. South (spoken on the eastern coast of Mindanao) 3.1.1. Butuan–Tausug 3.1.1.1. Tausug 3.1.1.2. Butuanon 3.1.2. Surigao 3.1.2.1. Surigaonon, Jaun-Jaun, Kantilan, Naturalis 3.2. 2. Cebuan (spoken in Cebu, Bohol, western Leyte, northern Mindanao, and eastern Negros) 3.2.1. Cebuan 3.2.1.1. Cebuano, Boholano, Leyte 3.3. 3. Central (spoken across most of the Visayan r...

Andrew Gallman (1997) rejects Zorc's classification of the Mansakan languages and Mamanwa as primary branches of the Central Philippine languages coordinate to the Bisayan languages. Instead, he groups Mansakan, Mamanwa and the Southern Bisayan languages together into an "East Mindanao" subgroup, which links up with the remaining Bisayan branches in a "South Central Philippine" subgroup: 1. Tagalog 2. Bikol 3. South Central Philippine 3.1. West Bisayan 3.2. Banton 3.3. Central Bisayan 3.4. Cebuan 3.5. East Mindanao 3.5.1. North East Mindanao 3.5.1.1. Mamanwa 3.5.1.2. Surigaonon 3.5.1.3. Butuanon-Tausug 3.5.2. Central East Mindanao 3.5.2.1. Kamayo 3.5.2.2. Davawenyo(Banganga) 3.5.2.3. Davawenyo (Digos) 3.5.3. South East Mindanao 3.5.3.1. Mandaya(Kabasagan) 3.5.3.2. Mandaya (Caraga) 3.5.3.3. Mansaka, Mandaya (Maragusan), Mandaya (Boso) 3.5.3.3.1. (Branch) 3.5.3.3.1.1. Mandaya(Islam) 3.5.3.3.1.2. Kalagan (Kaagan), Kalagan(Tagakaulu)

Blust (1991) notes that the central and southern Philippines has low linguistic diversity. Based on exclusively shared lexical innovations, he posits a Greater Central Philippine subgroup that puts together the Central Philippine branch with South Mangyan, Palawan, Danao, Manobo, Subanon and Gorontalo–Mongondow languages, the latter found in northern Sulawesi.