LANGUAGE

OMAN

Language has been a great part of the Omani culture. The national language of Oman is Arabic, which is a member of the Central Semitic family. Several native dialects have also been spoken in the country; one of which is Balochi (a Northwestern Iranian Language), a language distantly related to Arabic but closely related to Semitic languages in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Another Semitic language, “Jibbali”, is also spoken in parts of one of the governorates, the southern Dhofar region. Hindu, an Asian language is also spoken by the Omanis due to the influx of Indian migrants during the late 1980s and 1990s. Urdu is another Asian language spoken in the country, also belonging to the Indian family of languages. Moreover, Swahili and French are also widely used due to the historical relations between Oman and Zanzibar. Some immigrant languages in Oman also include Gujarati, Portuguese, Sindhi, and Somali.

Languages of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Sri Lanka, and Gulf States have also influenced the diverse tongues used in the country.

English is adopted as the second language of Oman; tourists have definitely no difficulty in communicating with the Omani people. In the city, English is greatly used especially in business relations.

Various dialects and languages such as Bahrani Arabic, Baharna Arabic, Shihhi Arabic, Shehri, Luwati, Lori, Bathari, Harsusi, Hobyot, Mehri, Shehri, Farsi, and Kumzari are also spoken in different parts of the county.

Despite the differences in the dialects and languages spoken in Oman, people are still united through common languages and most especially through their hearts embr acing hospitality.

PHILIPPINES

During colonial rule, the official language of the islands was Spanish. Even after the territory was ceded to the US at the end of the 19th century, Spanish remained the lingua franca for another century or so. In 1901, under US occupation, English became the language of the public school system. The Constitution of 1935 established both English and Spanish as the official languages of the country with a note that Congress should nominate a native language with national standing. The Congress voted to include Tagalog as the national language in 1937. In addition to being one of the official languages of the country, Filipino is also the national language. This language primarily consists of Tagalog with some mix of other Philippine languages. Public school teachers rely on Filipino to teach most classes, and it is the language of choice for televised media and cinema. Today, it has become the lingua franca throughout the majority of the country as well as in Philippine communities around the world.

Twenty-one languages are spoken regionally. These include: Aklanon, Basian, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Ivatan, Maranao, Tagalog, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Waray, Maguindanao, Pangasinan, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tausug, and Yakan.

Each of these represents a major indigenous language of Philippines that is spoken in areas inhabited by large populations of native speakers. The majority of these regional languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language family sub-group, and this sub-group belongs to the Austronesian language family. This is true with the exception of Chavacano, which is a Spanish-based creole language. It is the only Spanish-based Creole language in Asia and has been spoken for around 400 years. This makes the language one of the oldest Creole languages in the world. Chavacano has an estimated 1.2 million speakers.