Kamusta ka?
'How are you?' in Filipino
Photo by Eibner Saliba
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Language
Filipino
FIL
FIL
Filipino, an Austronesian language, is spoken by over 80 million people, primarily in the Philippines and among diaspora communities worldwide. It is a standardized form of Tagalog, serving as the national language of the Philippines. Filipino uses the Latin alphabet, with the modern Baybayin script occasionally used for cultural purposes. Known for its syllabic clarity, Filipino grammar is agglutinative, featuring a verb-subject-object word order, no grammatical gender, and complex verb conjugations with affixes to indicate focus, tense, and aspect. Its vocabulary is based on Tagalog with Austronesian roots, enriched by loanwords from Spanish, English, Chinese, Malay, and other Philippine languages like Cebuano and Ilocano to promote inclusivity. As an official language of the Philippines alongside English, Filipino is central to national culture, media, education, and literature.