A Case Study About Coping with Bisaya Accent

Prince Eduard D. Suralta

Introduction
The Cebuano referred to the most of its speakers as Bisaya is an Austronesian
language, spoken in the Southern Philippines. The language flourishes in Central
Visayas, western part of Eastern Visayas and on most of Mindanao. It originated on the
island of Cebu, and is now spoken primarily by various Visayan ethnolinguistic groups
or primarily the cebuanos.
When the Visayans seek to find more opportunities and more convenient life, they
use to go to Metro Manila to find their fate. It is undeniable right now that the number of
Cebuano living in Metro Manila gradually increases that’s why their accent is heard
most of the time. But it is very obvious also that the life of the Visayans in Metro Manila
isn’t that easy at all especially on speaking and on language also. Their pronunciation
and accent might be the reason why they struggling while living in Metro Manila. That is
also the reason why discrimination is always onto us Visayans. Like Lisa, who lives for
almost many years on Metro Manila then she confesses about her issues or about her
hardships while migrating to Manila. But her confidence boost up when he learned the
language for 6 months

Objectives of The Case Study

If discrimination exist, there will be no unity in the absence of equality and there will
be also no happiness on everyone. We need to resolve this issue regarding to the
Visayans who are discriminated.
The objectives of the case study:
1. To make our surroundings being at peace and enjoyable country
2. To stop the discrimination to the Visayans due to their Bisaya accent
3. To promote variety of culture equally in our community.
Presentation of the Case

Discrimination is what the Cebuanos get due to their language/dialect and accent.
Especially their famous pronunciation is basically the switching of vowel sound “e” to “I”,
“o” to “u,” and vice versa. They make it as a joke and they also laugh about that. When
the family of Lisa moved to Manila for their fate but shamed and laughs is what they
heard and it was discrimination that they found their inconvenient life. It is very big deal
for the urban people to cope with the accent of this poor rural people. She said that
Being Bisaya in Manila was very challenging for her. Especially on the traffics and
pollution and also they need to adjust their new language.
For Lisa, a housewife who has lived in Cebu for more than 30 years decided to
move to Metro Manila. It was tough for a woman who was born and raised in Samal
Island in the province of Davao Del Norte to lean the Tagalog language. Their family
decided to move because of her child to give the good education they deserved. She
sometimes get a headache just to converse in Tagalog with their neighbors and people
at the market. Lisa’s experience made her feel that Bisaya was inferior to Tagalog. She
was often misunderstood when buying an item at a store, and she would often hear
mocking comments about her quirky pronunciation.
The most disparaging remark she has ever heard that is Bisaya is “low class”
compared to Tagalog. It is obviously a discrimination for her. To learn Tagalog quickly,
she tuned in local radio stations and imitated the way Tagalog was spoken. She read
books and have friends not only helped her adjust to the new language, but also
assisted her in coping of the stressful life in Manila. In just six months, Lisa learned also
the new language. She confesses, though, that “funny” Visayan accent still slips out
from time to time. But she feels lucky and confident now about her ability to
communicate and switch back and forth between the two languages. The truth is, no
language is inferior or superior to one another so we must be equal on others.
Proposed Solutions and Recommendations
We Filipino are known as respectable persons. So on this we must not ruin our
image because of this issue. Just love the person around you no matter what language
they speak because that is your fellowman.
For me, we can solve this issue by providing law about this issue to lessen the cases
of discrimination especially now some of us are making their life miserable because of
this issue, then like everyone’s said “If you do this to me, I will also do that for you it
means that if you respect me as what I am then I will respect you to what you are
especially on the dialect. We should known what others feel if we discriminate them, so
for me the best solution is we must be equal.
For me, please stop this discrimination because it can harm others life especially to
those who are depressed. So I recommend that instead of discriminating others due to
their difference in race and culture let’s just respect them because they are also a
human being.

References:

Ethnic Groups Philippines

https://www.ethnicgroupsphilippines.com/2013/09/18/coping-with-the-bisaya-accent