Austronesian · ISO 639-3 ceb
Cebuano Language
Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken by about 26 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Cebuano is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Cebuano
Language family
- Austronesian
- Malayo-Polynesian
- Greater Central Philippine
- Central Philippine
- Bisayan
- Cebuano
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Cebuano language
Cebuano is spoken by about 26 million people, which makes it the 59th most spoken language in the world — just behind N'Ko (27 million) and ahead of Saidi Arabic (25 million). It belongs to the Austronesian language family and, more precisely, to the Bisayan group within the Greater Central Philippine branch.
Where is Cebuano spoken?
Cebuano is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Philippines (28 million).
Cebuano is not a national official language anywhere. It also has regional official status in Philippines.
Writing system and status
Cebuano is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Hiligaynon, Waray (Philippines), Tausug, Kinaray-A, Filipino, Tagalog and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 ceb.
Frequently asked questions about Cebuano
How many people speak Cebuano?
Where is Cebuano spoken?
What language family does Cebuano belong to?
Is Cebuano an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.