Though spoken and understood by most Filipinos, there are some things

about the Filipino language that may still be unknown or unclear to many.
This month, as the country celebrates Buwan ng Wika, check out some things
you probably did not know about the Filipino language:
1. Tagalog and Filipino are not the same language.
A lot of people think the Filipino language is the same as Tagalog, but they
are different from each other. Filipino is spoken nationwide while Tagalog is
used mostly in Central Luzon.
2. Regional languages are not dialects.
For most people, there might be confusion on calling a regional language
(Kapampangan, Sebwano, Waray, Chavacano, et cetera) a dialect. Although
Filipino is the Philippines national language, other languages spoken in
different regions of the country are still considered wika ng Filipinas.
Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino's (KWF) Education and Networking Division,
Officer-in-charge John Torralba describes dialect as a variety of a language.
Iyang mga wika na yan, maraming lugar ang gumagamit niyan, [at] bawat
paraan ng paggamit nila, yun ang diyalekto ng [isang wika].
3. The Philippines has 130 languages
Philippine languages are so diverse and complex that a recent study by the
KWF shows that the country has 130 native languages that are being used
todayexcluding the dialects borne from each language. Although Filipino is
the countrys official and national language, it is only a part of the wikang
Filipinas.
4. A foreigner pushed for the establishment of a native national
language.
Najeeb Saleeby, a Lebanese naturalized American citizen serving the U.S to
teach self-government to the Filipinos, opposed the continued use of English
as the countrys language of instruction and insisted a national language
based on a native language.
He also asserted that Tagalog has more advantage than other native
languages as a basis for the national language of the country.
Its linguistic pre-eminence and its relation to the national capital, and to the
Philippine heroes, supports this claim, Saleeby stated in 1924.
Other regional delegates, however, heavily opposed this, maintaining English
and Spanish as the official languages until the KWF (formerly known as
Institute of National Language) chose Tagalog in 1937 as former President
Manuel Quezon proclaimed it.
5. The Filipino language is a Filipinos identity.
Philippines may have been heavily influenced by imperial powers, which
resulted to the nations mix, or even loss, of identity.
But according to Torralba, the Filipino language, no matter how many
languages are taught to us, is a manifestation of our unique identity.
Ang isang hindi nabura ay yung wika kasi katutubo sa atin [yan], he sai