Ilonggo language

Hiligaynon
Ilonggo
Inilonggo, Binisayâ nga Hiligaynon, Bisaya nga Ilonggo
Pronunciation	/hɪlɪˈɡaɪnən/
Native to	Philippines
Region	Western Visayas, SOCCSKSARGEN, western Negros Oriental, southwestern portion of Masbate, coastal Palawan, some parts of Romblon and a few parts of Northern Mindanao
Ethnicity	Hiligaynon people
Native speakers	9.3 million (2010) 4th most spoken native language in the Philippines.
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Visayan Hiligaynon
Dialects	Standard/Urban Hiligaynon (Iloilo province/Iloilo City dialect); Guimaras Hiligaynon; Bacolodnon Hiligaynon (Metro Bacolod dialect); Negrense Hiligaynon (Negros Occidental dialect); Mindanao Hiligaynon
Writing system	Latin (Hiligaynon alphabet) Hiligaynon Braille Historically Badlit (c. 13th–19th centuries)
Official status
Official language in	Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by	Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
Language codes
ISO 639-2	`hil`
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	`hili1240`
Areas where Hiligaynon is spoken in the Philippines
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The Hiligaynon language, also colloquially referred often by most of its speakers simply as Ilonggo, is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 9.1 million people, mainly in Western Visayas and SOCCSKSARGEN, most of whom belong to the Visayan ethnic group, mainly the Hiligaynons. It is the second-most widely spoken language and a member of the so-named Visayan language family and is somewhat related to other Philippine languages.

Hiligaynon is mainly concentrated in the regions of Western Visayas (Iloilo, Capiz, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental), as well as in South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato in SOCCSKSARGEN. It is also spoken in other neighboring provinces, such as Antique and Aklan (also in Western Visayas), Negros Oriental in Central Visayas, Masbate in Bicol Region, Romblon and Palawan in MIMAROPA, as well as some parts of Northern Mindanao. It is also spoken as a second language by Kinaray-a speakers in Antique, Aklanon/Malaynon speakers in Aklan, Capiznon speakers in Capiz and Cebuano speakers in Negros Oriental. There are approximately 9,300,000 people in and out of the Philippines who are native speakers of Hiligaynon and an additional 5,000,000 capable of speaking it with a substantial degree of proficiency.