Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa (Part 1): Language vs. Dialect

Over time, this has become a point of contention, and despite efforts to rectify this long-standing misnomer it is still being perpetuated by media and schools, that is calling all the major languages in the country (other than Tagalog) as “dialects”.

We shall dedicate this post in rebuking this narrative.

When we say it is a language, that is the tongue being spoken of that particular group of people (Tagalog, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Cebuano, Waray, etc.), while a dialect is a variant of the language being spoken (Batangas Tagalog vis-a-vis Manila Tagalog, Central Bikol and the other variants of the Bikol language, Cebuano of Cebu vis-a-vis Mindanao Cebuano).

We hope that this post shall help in clearing the clouds hovering over the horizon over this issue (should you have corrections, feel free to comment), and watch out for our second post in time for the celebration of the Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa.

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