Filipino Domestic Helpers and
Multilingual Hong Kong
There are roughly 3 families of languages broken down by region - Northern, Central, and Southern Philippines. The major languages of the northern region are Ilokano, Tagalog, Kapampangan, and Pangasinan languages which are located in northern and central Luzon. The largest group of central Philippine languages is the Visayan languages and Bikol. The Visayan languages are composed of Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Waray-Waray. The southern Philippine languages such as Maranao and Subanun are concentrated in Mindanao.
Other Languages
Visayan
Visayan is the name of the language family in the central islands of the Philippines. It is also know as Bisaya. Visayan is comprised of several distinct languages, including Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray-waray, Boholano and Porohanon. Sometimes the names Visayan and Cebuano are substituted for each other, but Cebuano is really a subset of the Visayan language family.
Cebuano is the major language in the Visayan Islands. It is the language of the Cebu province. Many people refer to Cebuano as Visayan, because Cebuano is the most prominent language in the Visayas region. Speakers in Mindanao refer to the language as Bisaya.
Hiligaynon, or Ilonggo is spoken in Iloilo and Capiz provinces, Negros Occidental, and Panay. Waray-waray is spoken in Samar, Biliran, and north-eastern Leyte. Boholano is actually a dialect of Cebuano spoken on the island of Bohol. It is sometimes described as a separate language from Cebuano. Boholano can be distinguished from other Cebuano dialects by a few phonetic changes. Porohanon is spoken on the Camotes Islands, just east of the Cebu Island. This language is closer to Hiligaynon than Cebuano.
Kapampangan Language
Kapampangan is spoken in the province of Pampanga, the southern half of the province of Tarlac and the northern portion of the province of Bataan. Kapampangan is also called Pampangan, Pampango, Capampangan, Pampangueno
The word Kapampangan is derived from the rootword pampang, which means “riverside”. Most Kapampangan people speak 3 languages: Kapampangan, Tagalog and English. The Pampangos speak a distinct language, which is a source of ethnic pride.
About 3 million people in the Philippines speak Kapampangan in Luzon
Ilocano
Ilocano (Ilokano) is the third most popular language in the Philippines. About 8 million residents, or 11% of the Philippine population speak Ilocano.
Ilocano is spoken mainly in the Luzon area. It is spoken in Northwestern Luzon, La Union and Ilocos provinces, Cagayan Valley, Babuyan, Mindoro, Mindanao and in the USA. Ilocano is sometimes known as Iloko.
Ilocano originates from i-, which denotes "from", and looc, meaning "cove or bay", giving them the name "People of the bay".