Binisaya is the term we use for our language. It is spoken by about 20 million people in the islands of the Visayas and Mindanao. Mostly it is referred to as Cebuano.
I could not really totally agree with this, most historians / anthropologist / archaeologist around here just do not agree with that theory. I asked Jojo Bersales of the USC-Socio Anthro Dept. and the current curator of the Museo Sugbo about this theory. He immediately denies that we were ever part of the empire.
This is what we want to believe. The former USC Father, Fr. Verstraelen even dismisses this. In one of his published books he mentions of language sound shift, I can't remember what it was in full. But to put it bluntly(as far as I can remember) in any sound shift or corruption it would not have been the word Bisaya but something else. However Fr. Verstraelen added that the language did and may have come from the Java speaking areas or influenced by it from migration here. He also added that apart from the Tagalog language, Bisaya developed all in its own, within the surrounding islands. The Cebuano language in particular has more evolution than any of the Bisayan languages. Which to him suggest that the Cebuano language was the common language of the region, which includes the Tagalog people.
He also said that the capital was in Cebu, and has been the center of speech for quite a long time, well maybe a thousand years ago(just thinking out loud on this).
He also further states that back then the Tagalogs spoke a remote language and thus was considered provincial by the Cebuanos because it was a crude language.
The Cebuano language in particular has more words than the Tagalog language.
When I find the post I made in FB, I'll share it here.
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Still a skeptic
I could not really totally agree with this, most historians / anthropologist / archaeologist around here just do not agree with that theory. I asked Jojo Bersales of the USC-Socio Anthro Dept. and the current curator of the Museo Sugbo about this theory. He immediately denies that we were ever part of the empire.
This is what we want to believe. The former USC Father, Fr. Verstraelen even dismisses this. In one of his published books he mentions of language sound shift, I can't remember what it was in full. But to put it bluntly(as far as I can remember) in any sound shift or corruption it would not have been the word Bisaya but something else. However Fr. Verstraelen added that the language did and may have come from the Java speaking areas or influenced by it from migration here. He also added that apart from the Tagalog language, Bisaya developed all in its own, within the surrounding islands. The Cebuano language in particular has more evolution than any of the Bisayan languages. Which to him suggest that the Cebuano language was the common language of the region, which includes the Tagalog people.
He also said that the capital was in Cebu, and has been the center of speech for quite a long time, well maybe a thousand years ago(just thinking out loud on this).
He also further states that back then the Tagalogs spoke a remote language and thus was considered provincial by the Cebuanos because it was a crude language.
The Cebuano language in particular has more words than the Tagalog language.
When I find the post I made in FB, I'll share it here.