On Cebu, people often call the local language Bisaya — in that everyday sense, Bisaya and Cebuano are the same language. Tagalog is a different language. If you are travelling to Cebu, learn Cebuano.

Below is what the names mean, where Bisaya can mean more than Cebuano, and how Cebuano relates to Tagalog and Filipino — with the sources for each point.

What “Bisaya” Means on Cebu

Bisaya and Binisaya are other names for Cebuano: the French national institute for languages and civilisations, INALCO, introduces Cebuano as “also called binisayà or bisaya” (INALCO). In Cebuano sentences the language is simply called Bisaya. Two lines from the Quick Cebuano app show it — and the app translates Bisaya as Cebuano:

Cebuano Pronunciation English
Gamay ra kong Bisaya. gah-MY rah kong bee-SAH-yah I only speak a little Cebuano.
Nagtuon ko ug Bisaya. nahg-TOO-on koh oog bee-SAH-yah I’m learning Cebuano.

Where “Bisaya” Can Mean More

In English, Bisaya is usually rendered as Visayan, and that is a wider word. Britannica uses Visayan for three ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines — Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray-Waray (Britannica: Visayan). The language catalogue Glottolog lists a whole Bisayan group of related languages, among them Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Kinaray-a, Aklanon, Surigaonon and Tausug (Glottolog: Bisayan). So Bisaya does not always mean Cebuano: depending on who is speaking and where, it can mean another of these languages or a Visayan identity.

Cebuano Is Not the Only Language of the Visayas and Mindanao

Cebuano is spoken on some of the Visayas islands — among them Cebu, Bohol, Negros and Leyte — and in certain provinces of Mindanao (INALCO; Britannica: Cebuano language). It shares these regions with other languages. Britannica names Hiligaynon and Waray-Waray as closely related languages, and on Mindanao the Maranao live around Lake Lanao (Britannica: Maranao); Glottolog places Maranao in a separate group, Danaw, not in the Bisayan group (Glottolog: Maranao).

Cebuano, Tagalog and Filipino

Tagalog is a separate language from Cebuano. Glottolog places Cebuano in the Bisayan group and Tagalog in a different group, Tagalogic, together with Filipino (Glottolog: Tagalog). Under the 1987 Constitution, the national language of the Philippines is Filipino (Constitution, Article XIV, Section 6). You notice the difference in small things. The Quick Cebuano app points out one of them with its very first phrase:

Cebuano Pronunciation English
Maayong buntag mah-AH-yong BOON-tahg Good morning

Good to know: The polite ‘po/opo’ exists only in Tagalog — Cebuano doesn’t have it. Politeness here works with Sir/Ma’am and a smile.

What to Learn for Cebu

For Cebu, Bohol and the other places where Cebuano is spoken, learn Cebuano — the language people there call Bisaya. Start with the greetings and the travel phrases.

Sources