Though spoken and understood by most Filipinos, there are some things about the Filipino language that may still be unknown or unclear to many.

This month, as the country celebrates Buwan ng Wika, check out some things you probably did not know about the Filipino language:

1. Tagalog and Filipino are not the same language.

A lot of people think the Filipino language is the same as Tagalog, but they are different from each other. Filipino is spoken nationwide while Tagalog is used mostly in Central Luzon.

2. Regional languages are not dialects.

For most people, there might be confusion on calling a regional language (Kapampangan, Sebwano, Waray, Chavacano, et cetera) a dialect. Although Filipino is the Philippines’ national language, other languages spoken in different regions of the country are still considered wika ng Filipinas.

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino's (KWF) Education and Networking Division, Officer-in-charge John Torralba describes dialect as a variety of a language.

“Iyang mga wika na ‘yan, maraming lugar ang gumagamit niyan, [at] bawat paraan ng paggamit nila, ‘yun ang diyalekto ng [isang wika].”

3. The Philippines has 130 languages

Philippine languages are so diverse and complex that a recent study by the KWF shows that the country has 130 native languages that are being used today—excluding the dialects borne from each language. Although Filipino is the country’s official and national language, it is only a part of the wikang Filipinas.

4. A foreigner pushed for the establishment of a native national language.

Najeeb Saleeby, a Lebanese naturalized American citizen serving the U.S to teach self-government to the Filipinos, opposed the continued use of English as the country’s language of instruction and insisted a national language based on a native language.

He also asserted that Tagalog has more advantage than other native languages as a basis for the national language of the country.

“Its linguistic pre-eminence and its relation to the national capital, and to the Philippine heroes, supports this claim,” Saleeby stated in 1924.

Other regional delegates, however, heavily opposed this, maintaining English and Spanish as the official languages until the KWF (formerly known as Institute of National Language) chose Tagalog in 1937 as former President Manuel Quezon proclaimed it.

5. The Filipino language is a Filipino’s identity.

Philippines may have been heavily influenced by imperial powers, which resulted to the nation’s mix, or even loss, of identity.

But according to Torralba, the Filipino language, no matter how many languages are taught to us, is a manifestation of our unique identity.

“Ang isang hindi nabura ay yung wika kasi katutubo sa atin [yan],” he said.

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