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170 languages are used in Philippines and all of these languages predominantly
belong to Austronesian language family.Since its establishment in the sixteenth
century, Spanish was the original official language of the Philippines. According
to the 1987 Constitution, Filipino, heavily based on Tagalog, and English both
are acknowledged as the official languages.
The twelve major regional languages are the auxiliary official languages of
their respective regions, each with over one million speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano,
Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, Bikol, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Kinaray-a,
Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug.some of the Filipinos particularly those who
belong to the upper strata of society primarily use English as their first language.
Both Spanish and Arabic are used as secondary languages in the Philippines and
the use of Arabic is prevalent among the Filipino Muslims. The Lan-nang-oe version
of Min Nan Chinese dialect is widely spoken by the country's Chinese minority.
November 12, 1937 is a red letter day in the history of Philippines Language
as this particular date marked the creation of National Language Institute by
the First National Assembly.
Philippine languages are further divided into a handful of subgroups which
consists of Northern Philippine languages; Meso Philippine languages; Southern
Philippine languages; Southern Mindanao languages; Sama-Bajaw languages and
the Sulawesi languages.
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