What is the official language of the Philippines?

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ÛÛž Felicity ÛžÛ

The Tagalog language is spoken by 46 percent of the population and was made the national language by the government in 1947 as well as the medium of communication in schools, businesses and government. English is widely spoken, with most Filipinos moving seamlessly between English and Tagalog, often in the space of the same sentence. Many English words have been cleverly adopted by Filipinos, giving rise to a small canon of slang patois known affectionately as Taglish.

bounce_00

The Constitution answered it already. The 1987 Constitution provides, Section 6 Article XIV. "The national language of the Philippines is Filipino...."

Section 7: For purposes of communication and instruction the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.

*** So, its Filipino and English. Now, Filipino is a general term used for the major dialects of the Philippines, like Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano and others. Thus, Tagalog is not really the official language of the Philippines, its FILIPINO (which means the major dialects spoken here ) and ENGLISH.

phils_skorea

Filipino and English are the official languages of the Philippines, but more than 180 languages and dialects are spoken in the archipelago, almost all of them belonging to the Borneo-Philippines group of the Malayo-Polynesian language branch of the Austronesian language family.

According to the 1987 Constitution, Filipino and English are both the official languages. Many Filipinos understand, write and speak English, Filipino and their respective regional languages.

Filipino is the de facto standardized version of Tagalog spoken in Metro Manila and urban centers and one of the official languages in the country. English, the other official language, is widely used as a lingua franca throughout the country.

Twelve major regional languages are the auxiliary official languages of their respective regions, each with over one million speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Bikol, Pangasinan. Kinaray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug.

English was imposed by Americans during the U.S. intervention and colonization of the archipelago. English is used in education, churches, religious affairs, print and broadcast media, and business, though the number of people who use it as a second language far outnumber those who speak it as a first language. Still, English is the preferred medium for textbooks and instruction for secondary and tertiary levels. Movies and TV programs in English are not subtitled but many films and TV programs are produced in Filipino. English is the sole language of the law courts.

Spanish was the original official language of the country for more than three centuries, and became the lingua franca of the Philippines in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Spanish was the language of the Philippine Revolution, and the 1899 Malolos Constitution proclaimed it as the official language. However, Spanish was spoken by a total of 60% of the population in the early 1900s as a first, second or third language. Following the American occupation of the Philippines, its use declined after 1940. Currently, only a few Mestizos of Spanish or Hispanic origin speak it as their first language, although a few others use it together with Filipino and English.

Both Spanish and Arabic are used as auxiliary languages in the Philippines. The use of Arabic is prevalent among Filipino Muslims and taught in madrasah (Muslim) schools.

hope it helps...

dreamer2007

Tagalog, although there are many other Dialects, and

English is widely spoken !

oracleguru

Both Filipino and English are considered to be the official languages per the country's constitution.

Benv

tagalog

johnnystoneiii1972

Tagalog - with many other dialects.
Did you know that the Philippines is the 3rd largest country with people that speak English?

Juan C

there are two official languages in the Philippines... Tagalog and English...

angel obregon

at present philippine has 2 official language TAGALOG AND ENGLISH

rlzp

Filipino and English. Filipino is used in homes, while English is used in business and media and school.

Brannon M

I know they use Filipino and English,Those are the most used, then another one is Tagalog,There are over 170 spoken languages in the Philippines; almost all of them belong to the Austronesian language family. Of all of these languages, only 2 are considered official in the country, at least 10 are considered major and at least 8 are considered co-official. Go to this wikipedi website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines

Best Answer Please,

Brannon M

oragon daa?

Filipino (Pilipino) is the official language. Filipino language is a mixture of regional languages and dialects, borrowed foreign words and largely based on tagalog language.
how ever barely half of filipinos speak Filipino(tagalog). majority of our population speak Visayans language.

fox

Tagalog

muymuy

its actually said that we have 2 offical language.. the FILIPINO (or TAGALOG) and english..

Dee<3

ok i'm filipino and the official language is

Tagalog
but people also call it filipino

English can be considered the second language since it is taught in school in the Philippines.

Clarisse

Filipino and English

Joe

Spanish has never been the official language of The Philippines. Read a book already.

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