Editing Visayas (section)

==''Cebuano'' versus ''Bisaya''==

There has been ongoing contention regarding the use of the word '''''Bisaya''''' among speakers of Visayan languages. The term ''Bisaya'' broadly refers to the people of the Visayas region in the Philippines, as well as those who have migrated to other parts of the country, including Luzon and Mindanao. The Visayas region encompasses several ethnolinguistic groups and languages, including [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]], [[Cebuano language|Cebuano]], [[Waray language|Waray]], and others, which are distinct and not mutually intelligible, despite belonging to the same language family.

Over the years, ''Bisaya'' has often been used interchangeably with Cebuano in many parts of the country,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dialectology of Cebuano: Cebuano, Bisaya, Binisaya |url=https://binisaya.com/content/dialectology-cebuano-cebuano-bisaya-binisaya |website=Binisaya |date=10 February 2011 |access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> though this practice is context-dependent and varies across regions. Cebuano-speaking settlers in Mindanao and other areas outside Cebu frequently refer to themselves and their language as Bisaya to distinguish themselves from the people of Cebu and their dialect. To address this ambiguity, some propose using the term '''''Sinugbuanong Binisaya''''' (which has been the term used in basic education)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lacorte |first1=Germelina |title=Learning in Sinugbuanong Binisaya |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/206105/learning-in-sinugbuanong-binisaya |date=4 June 2012 |agency=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> to specify Cebuano, while others suggest '''''Binisaya''''' as a broader term. Surveys, such as those conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mapa |first1=Dennis |title=Tagalog is the Most Widely Spoken Language at Home (2020 Census of Population and Housing) |url=https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/population-and-housing/node/1684041577 |website=Philippine Statistics Office |date=7 March 2023|access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Thinking Machines Data Science Inc. |title=The language landscape of the Philippines in 4 maps |url=https://stories.thinkingmachin.es/philippine-languages/ |website=Thinking Machines |date=10 August 2016|access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> often separate Bisaya and Cebuano, despite the two being mutually intelligible. Ethnologue, however, only lists Cebuano as a language.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cebuano |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ceb/ |website=Ethnologue |access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> In Western Visayas, ''Bisaya'' may refer to Hiligaynon or Kinaray-a speakers, whereas in Eastern Visayas, it may denote Waray speakers.

In Mindanao, migrant ethnic groups from Luzon and indigenous peoples have assimilated into predominantly Cebuano-speaking societies (or Hiligaynon-speaking communities in the case of Soccsksargen) over the years. Many of these individuals now identify as Visayans after learning Cebuano, though they often retain knowledge of their non-Visayan roots and may still speak their ancestral languages fluently as a second or third language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Galay-David |first=Karlo Antonio |date=December 2017 |title=We Who Seek to Settle Problematizing the Mindanao Settler Identity |url=https://www.academia.edu/35306614 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230914194141/https://www.academia.edu/35306614/We_Who_Seek_to_Settle_Problematizing_the_Mindanao_Settler_Identity |archive-date=September 14, 2023}}</ref>