Cebuano language

Standard Cebuano
Binisayâ, Sinugboanon
'Sinugbuanong Binisayâ' written in Badlit
Native to	Philippines
Region	Central Visayas, eastern Negros Occidental, western parts of Eastern Visayas, and most parts of Mindanao
Ethnicity	Visayans (Bisaya)
Native speakers	28.9 million (2020)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Greater Central Philippine Central Philippine Visayan Standard Cebuano
Dialects	Standard Cebuano (Cebu island Urban Cebuano (Metro Cebu) Negros Cebuano Boholano Leyte (Kanâ) Mindanao Cebuano Davaoeño Cebuano
Writing system	Latin (Cebuano alphabet) Philippine Braille Historically Badlit
Official status
Official language in	Regional language in the Philippines.
Regulated by	Visayan Academy of Arts and Letters Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ceb
ISO 639-3	ceb
Cebuano-speaking area in the Philippines

Cebuano (also referred to as Bisaya) is one of the main languages spoken in the Philippines. More than 28 million people speak this language. Cebuano is a member of the "Visayan language family".

While Tagalog has more speakers than any other language in the Philippines today, Cebuano was the most widely spoken language in the Philippines from the 1950s until the 1980s. Cebuano is by far the most widely spoken of the "Visayan languages".

It is the most spoken language by many people in the Central Visayas, western parts of the Eastern Visayas, some western parts of Palawan and most parts of Mindanao. Cebuano is one of the three main Visayan languages, along with Waray, Hiligaynon and Davaoeño, which are more closely related to it.

1. ↑ "Housing Characteristics in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing)". Retrieved 12 December 2023.