Language Information

Visayan, with the stress on the second syllable, is a collective term for three closely related yet distinctly different languages spoken mainly on the middle islands of the Philippine archipelago. The three languages are (1) Cebuano, spoken by about 15 million people on Cebu, Bohol, eastern Negros, western Leyte, and northern Mindanao; (2) Hiligaynon, spoken by 6 million people on Panay and western Negros; (3) Samaran, spoken by 3 million people on Samar and eastern Leyte. The passage below is in Cebuano. Like Tagalog, the Visayan languages are of the Malayo-Polynesian family.

Family: Malayo-Polynesian
Subgroup: Indonesian

Writing Sample

Translation

Many years ago there was a couple who had a son whom they named John. As John grew up, his parents were happy, believing that now they would have help in the household. The father especially was very happy because now he would have help in gathering firewood which was the means by which he earned his living from day to day.