Difference Between Cebuano and Visayan

Cebuano vs Visayan

Both “Visayan” and “Cebuano” are adjectives used to describe certain ethnic people in the Philippines and the language they use to communicate.

Visayan is an adjective that refers to the people living in the Visayan region, the second largest mass of land in the Philippines. Visayan, as a descriptive noun, refers to the collection of people and languages spoken in that particular region as their mother tongue. Ethnic groups and languages that are part of Visayan are, in common terms, known as Bisaya in the local language.

The Visayas comprise different islands like Bacolod, Iloilo, and Roxas, Antique, Aklan, Capiz, Romblon, Samar and Leyte. It is the home of the Visayan people which comprises different ethnic people like the Cebuano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Aklanon, Capiznon, Kinaray-a, Bantoanon, Romblomanon, Cuyonon, Waray, Surigaonon, Butuanon, Tausug, etc. The majority of Visayas are Roman Catholic since it is also the first place where Westerners (particularly, the Spanish) established Christianity not just in the country but in the Asian region.

The Visayan language is part of the Central Philippine language, which also include Tagalog and Bicol. The group comprises 30 languages divided with 5 subfamilies. These subfamilies include: Asi, Cebuano, Suriganos, Central and Western Visayas, and Tausug.

On the other hand, Cebuano is a specific name for a people and a language in the Visayan region. The Cebuano people are the people who primarily live in the province of Cebu. However, it is also applicable to any person who hails from this specific province or has an ancestral background that can be traced back to this specific ethnic group. The people are known for their hospitality and, like most other Filipinos, as devout Filipinos.

Cebuanos primarily speak Cebuano but are also able to converse well in English and Tagalog. Cebuano, as a language, is part of the Visayan languages as one of its subfamilies and as one of the most spoken in the Visayan region. It is considered the most prominent language spoken in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Occidental, Samar and Masbate.

Like Tagalog and Filipino, the Cebuano language is also heavily influenced by the Spanish language when the Philippines was under Spanish rule. The language originally had three vowels but added another two as a result of the influence and changes in the alphabet.

Cebuano is also known as Sugbuhanon or Sinugbuhanon. The language has two standards, the traditional Bisaya and the modern Tamdanan.
Pertaining to the classification of the languages, both Visayan and Cebuano belong to the Austronesian language family and also classified under the Western or Indonesian subgroup and Central Philippine languages. The Austronesian language family is formerly known as the Malayo-Polynesian language family.

Summary:

1.Visayan language and Cebuano are both labels for the specific people and languages that live and is spoken in the Visayas region of the Philippines.
2.“Visayan” is considered as a generic term, while “Cebuano” is considered a specific term or description.
3.Both terms were derived from a location. Visayan is derived from the Visayas, the second region of the Philippines, while Cebuano came from the province of Cebu, a part of the Visayan region.
4.The Visayan people are comprised of different ethnic groups like: Ilongos, Waray, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Romblomanon, Tausug and other ethnic groups found in the region. The Cebuano people are just one of these ethnic groups. Some Visayan and Cebuano characteristics can be similar.
5.Likewise, the Visayan language is comprised of different languages while Cebuano is a specific language that belongs under Visayan as a subfamily. The Cebuano language is the most prominent language used in the Visayan region. Both languages are under the Austronesian language family, Western or Indonesian subgroup and Central Philippine languages.

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