Wika: Languages of the Philippines

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Filipino: Filipino is the national and official language of the Philippines, a standardized form of Tagalog regulated by the Commission on the Filipino Language. Full entry →
English: English is one of the two official languages of the Philippines, used alongside Filipino in government, education, law, and business. Full entry →

Cebuano: Cebuano is the second most widely spoken native language in the Philippines, used across much of the Visayas and large parts of Mindanao. Full entry →
Hiligaynon: Hiligaynon, also known as Ilonggo, is a major regional language concentrated in Western Visayas and parts of Soccsksargen. Full entry →
Ilocano: Ilocano is the dominant language of the Ilocos Region and one of the most widely spoken native languages in the Philippines. Full entry →
Central Bikol: Central Bikol is the most widely spoken of the Bikol languages, concentrated in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon. Full entry →
Waray: Waray is the principal language of Eastern Visayas, spoken across Samar and Leyte. Full entry →
Kapampangan: Kapampangan is the native language of Pampanga and parts of Tarlac in Central Luzon. Full entry →
Pangasinan: Pangasinan is the native language of Pangasinan province and parts of neighboring areas in Central Luzon. Full entry →
Maguindanao: Maguindanao is the native language of the Maguindanao people, concentrated in the Bangsamoro region of Mindanao. Full entry →
Maranao: Maranao is the language of the Maranao people of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, centered around Lake Lanao. Full entry →
Tausug: Tausug is the principal language of the Sulu Archipelago, spoken across Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and parts of Zamboanga Peninsula. Full entry →
Karay-a: Karay-a is a language spoken primarily in Antique province and parts of Iloilo in Western Visayas. Full entry →
Aklanon: Aklanon is the native language of Aklan province in Western Visayas, closely related to Kinaray-a and Capiznon. Full entry →
Masbateño: Masbateño is the native language of Masbate province, sharing features with both Bikol and Visayan languages. Full entry →
Surigaonon: Surigaonon is the native language of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur in northeastern Mindanao. Full entry →
Chavacano (Zamboangueño): Chavacano is a Spanish-based creole language, with its largest variant, Zamboangueño, spoken in Zamboanga City and the surrounding peninsula. Full entry →
Kankanaey: Kankanaey is a native language of the Cordillera Administrative Region, spoken mainly in Benguet and parts of Mountain Province. Full entry →
Sama (Samal): Sama is the language of the Sama-Bajau people, spoken across Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and other parts of the southern Philippines. Full entry →
B'laan: B'laan is the language of the B'laan indigenous people, spoken in South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Davao del Sur. Full entry →
Ibanag: Ibanag is the native language of Isabela and Cagayan provinces in Cagayan Valley. Full entry →
Iranun: Iranun is the language of the Iranun people, spoken in parts of Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, and Maguindanao. Full entry →

About This Section

The Philippines has 182 native languages according to Ethnologue, with the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino counting 135 living languages using a different classification method. This section organizes them into two groups, so a language like Cebuano or Kapampangan has a clear, sourced definition independent of any single directory page.

Terms are organized by category: Major Wika, covering Filipino and English, the country's two official languages, and Katutubong Wika, covering native regional languages such as Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, and Tausug, often called "dialects" in everyday speech despite being linguistically distinct from Tagalog. Each term links to its own page with speaker counts, language family classification, and a link to the matching region on the azifind.com directory.

Definitions on this page are written independently for azifind.com, informed by the Philippine Statistics Authority 2020 Census of Population and Housing, Ethnologue, and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. About azifind.com →