The Yapian Classification of the Vocabulary of the Austronesian Visayan-Cebuano Language

Abstract

After the 1898 Philippine revolution, the English language was introduced in the country by the Americans and it began to surmount in the consciousness of the Filipino people. For one century now, this language has become dominant in the Filipino consciousness. Linguistically, it has even influenced the classification of the vocabulary of the Visayan-Cebuano language, i.e., according to the English eight parts of speech. But, as early as 1947, Manuel Yap, bishop and biblical scholar from Carcar, Cebu, objected, saying that the Visayan-Cebuano vocabulary does not fit in the English eight-parts-of-speech classification. This study, then, aims at inquiring into Yap’s own classification of the Visayan-Cebuano vocabulary. In doing this, it uses the descriptive-analysis research design. First, it presents the English eight-parts-of-speech classification, and second, Yap’s classification of the Visayan-Cebuano vocabulary. It concludes that Yap’s classification is the one that fits to the nature of the Visayan-Cebuano vocabulary.