What is correct- cebuano, tagalog, ilocano, etc. are languages OR they are dialects?
“Strange as it may seem, there’s no really good way to distinguish between a “language” and a “dialect.” Because they’re not objective, scientific terms. People use the words “dialect” and “language” to mean different things. “Language” can often refer to your own linguistic variety and “dialect” to the variety spoken by someone else, usually someone thought of as inferior. Or “language” can mean the generally accepted “standard” or radio-talk language of a country, while dialects are homely versions of it that vary from region to region and may not be pronounced the way the so-called “language” is. Language varieties are called “dialects” rather than “languages” because they’re not written, or because speakers of that variety don’t run the country, or because their language lacks prestige. In short, the distinction is subjective. It depends on who you are and where you sit.
Yes, you are right! Language is defined as a system of communication with its own set of vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and peculiarities (like slang words). Dialect is defined as a mere variation in language use. Cebuano, Tagalog, and Ilocano are all languages in their own right – they have their own vocabulary, syntax, and even grammar, as well as special words. For example, the word “jud” in Cebuano doesn’t have a counterpart in Tagalog. According to Ethnologue, the premier source for languages, Tagalog has several dialects: Paete-Tanay, Tayabas, Batangas, Bulacan, Bataan, Marinduque – all of them are mere variations of the standard – which is the Manila-Cavite speech of Tagalog. For Filipino, it is considered as an independent language largely based in the Manila-Cavite speech of the Tagalog language. Altogether, the Philippines has about 187 indigenous languages belonging to the Austronesian Language family, with 2 primary Indo-European languages (English and Spanish), and 1 primary
In the Philippines, the official national language is called “Filipino” it is the country’s universal language so everyone from far north can communicate to those from way down south. Tagalog is also considered one of the dialects because of the variations depending on the region. Although because because it is widely used so they thought of it as the national language.
Actually,TAGALOG is a “LANGUAGE” of filipino people,which is most commonly used to refer to so called “natural languages” …CEBUANO, ILOCANO, ect. are the so called “DIALECT”,coz it refers to a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language’s speakers…TAGALOG is the –universal language– [of filipinos],and the other are just the –sub-languages–thats why we called it DIALECT…
