Languages Similar To Filipino – List Of Top 10

There are several languages similar to Filipino. Some of these get spoken in the Philippines, and others in nearby countries.

Languages Similar To Filipino

The Filipino language is the national language of the Philippines. It is mostly based on Tagalog and has the influence of the Spanish language.

Filipino is one of the two official languages of the Philippines, along with English.

These languages share many common features with Filipinos.

These features include sharing, Austronesian roots, subject-verb-object word order, and many Spanish loanwords.

Here are the top 9 languages similar to Filipino.

1. Indonesian:

The Indonesian and Filipino languages share many similarities due to their Austronesian roots.

For example, both languages have a subject-verb-object word order and many Spanish loanwords.

Additionally, both languages use the Latin alphabet and have similar phonemic inventories.

For example, both languages have /p/, /t/, and /k/ as their basic stops and /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ as their voiced stops.

They also have /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ as their nasal stops, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, and /ʒ/ as their fricatives. Both languages have the following vowels: /i/, /e/, /ɛː/, and /aː/.

However, there are some notable differences between the two languages. One is the presence of tones in Indonesian and ejective consonants in Filipino.

For example, in the Indonesian language, there are four tones. Those are level (unmarked), falling, high, and rising.

In Filipino, however, there are only two tones, high and low.

Another point of contrast is that Indonesian has undergone more standardization than Filipino. While Filipino is a collection of various dialects.

Nevertheless, the two languages are mutually intelligible to a certain extent.

2. Malagasy:

Like Indonesian, the Malagasy language also shares many similarities with Filipino.

The first reason is sharing the Austronesian roots. Both languages have a subject-verb-object word order.

Both use the Latin alphabet and have similar phonemic inventories.

Malagasy is unique as it is the only Austronesian language using agglutinative morphology. That means words get built up by combining a series of suffixes and prefixes.

Additionally, Malagasy has more French loanwords than Filipino. That is due to the country’s history as a French colony.

3. Javanese:

Javanese is another Austronesian language that has many similarities with Filipino.

Both languages have a subject-verb-object word order and use the Latin alphabet.

Additionally, both languages have a large number of Indonesian loanwords.

However, there are some notable differences between the two languages. One is the presence of tones in Javanese and ejective consonants in Filipino.

For example, the “k” sound in Javanese is aspirated (as in the English word “key“.)

While in Filipino, it is ejective (a glottal stop followed by an unvoiced consonant, as in the middle of the English word “bottle“).

Javanese is a member of the Austronesian language family, like Filipino. Javanese has several features in common with Filipino.

That includes both having subject-verb-object word order and the use of particles.

However, Javanese also has several unique features. One of them is a complex system of honorifics.

4. Tagalog:

While Tagalog and Filipino are often used interchangeably, they are two different languages.

Tagalog is the basis for the Filipino national language, also known as Pilipino.

Tagalog and Filipino use the Latin alphabet and have a subject-verb-object word order.

For example, the Tagalog sentence “Si Maria ay kumakain ng mangga” would be translated into English as “Maria is eating a mango.“

However, there are some differences between the two languages. Such as using Tagalog affixes and loanwords from other languages in Pilipino.

One similarity between Tagalog and Filipino is that they use the Latin alphabet.

The majority of languages spoken in the Philippines use the Latin alphabet. That is due to the country’s colonial history.

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for centuries. Spanish is a Romance language that uses the Latin alphabet.

One major difference between Tagalog and Filipino is that. Filipino has developed a standardized form.

While Tagalog has remained more regionalized, the reason is partly that the Philippines has never had an official language.

As a result, there has been no standard form of Tagalog that everyone has agreed upon.

5. Balinese:

Balinese is another Austronesian language that is similar to Filipino in many ways.

Balinese, like Filipinos, has a subject-verb-object word order and uses particles.

However, Balinese also has unique features. One of them is the complex system of clitic pronouns.

Balinese is mostly known for its complex system of clitic pronouns. These are special words that attach to other words in a sentence.

For example, the word “I” in English gets written as “me” when it gets attached to another word.

Such as in the phrase “Give me a cookie.” In Balinese, there are more than 30 different clitic pronouns!

6. Waray-Waray:

Waray-Waray is a language spoken in the Visayan Islands region of the Philippines. It is closely related to other Visayan languages, such as Cebuano and Hiligaynon.

Waray-Waray is also similar to Filipino, with both Languages sharing Austronesian roots.

However, Waray-Waray has more Spanish influence due to centuries of colonization.

While Filipino has more English influence, both are official Languages in the Philippines.

Additionally, both Languages are official Languages in the Philippines.

However, there are some differences between Waray-Waray and Filipino. For instance, Waray-Waray has more loanwords from Spanish than Filipino.

7. Cebuano:

Cebuano is one of the Languages spoken in the Philippines that is similar to Filipino.

Cebuano gets spoken in the Cebu province, located in the country’s central region.

Cebuano has more Spanish influence than Hiligaynon, another Language spoken in the Philippines.

For example, Cebuano has many loanwords from Spanish, such as “mesa” (table) and “Puerta” (door).

However, both Languages are official Languages in the Philippines.

Both Languages use the same alphabet and have similar grammar rules.

Additionally, both Languages are official Languages in the Philippines.

However, there are some differences between Cebuano and Filipino. For instance, Cebuano has more loanwords from Spanish than Filipino does.

8. Hiligaynon:

Hiligaynon is another Language spoken in the Philippines that is similar to Filipino. Hiligaynon gets spoken mainly in the Western Visayas region. 

Hiligaynon has more Spanish influence than Cebuano, another Language spoken in the Philippines.

Hiligaynon has many loanwords from Spanish, such as “mesa” (table) and “sala” (living room).

However, Hiligaynon has more loanwords from Spanish than Filipino does.

Both Languages are official Languages in the Philippines.

9. Ilocano:

Ilocano is a Language spoken mainly in the Ilocos Region of the Philippines.

Ilocos is located in the northwestern part of the Philippines. Ilocano is similar to Filipino in grammar and vocabulary.

However, it has less Spanish influence than other Languages spoken in the Philippines.

For example, Ilocano has fewer loanwords from Spanish than Hiligaynon or Cebuano. However, like Filipino, Ilocano is an official Language in the Philippines.

10. Pangasinan:

Pangasinan is a Language spoken mainly in the province of Pangasinan.

That is in the northwestern part of the Philippines. Pangasinan is similar to Filipino in grammar and vocabulary.

Pangasinan has fewer loanwords from Spanish than Hiligaynon or Cebuano.

Even so, Pangasinan is among the languages similar to Filipino.

History Of Spanish In the Philippines

Spanish was first brought to the Philippines in 1565 by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.

He established the first Spanish settlement on the island of Cebu. Over the next 300 years, Spain colonized the rest of the Philippines.

They established a system of government and society different from the indigenous cultures.

During the late 19th century, Spain lost control of the Philippines to the United States.

Spanish continued to get spoken by a minority of Filipinos until the mid-20th century.

Nowadays, Spanish is no longer widely spoken in the Philippines. However, it is still an official language alongside English and Filipino.

Final Thoughts:

Conclusively, there are quite some languages similar to Filipino. That is because Filipino is mainly based on various Languages.

These languages include Spanish, English, and Tagalog.

Moreover, some languages share similarities because they get spoken in closer regions.

Another reason is the impact of colonization, as discussed above in detail. Hopefully, this article was helpful to you.