Boholano people
Encyclopedia
The Boholano people, also called Bol-anon, refers to the people who live in the island province of Bohol
Bohol
Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of and a coastline long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines...

. They are part of the wider Visayans ethnolinguistic group, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group.

Language

Boholano is a dialect of Cebuano
Cebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...

 that is spoken on the island of Bohol
Bohol
Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of and a coastline long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines...

 in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, which is a Visayan speech variety, although it is sometimes described as a separate language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

. Boholano, especially the dialects used in Central Bohol, can be distinguished from other Cebuano dialects by a few phonetic changes. The "y" sound in Cebuano
Cebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...

 becomes "j" ("iya" in Cebuano becomes "ija"), the "k" sound sometimes becomes "h" ("ako" in Cebuano becomes "aho")the "l" sound sometimes if it is used in the second or following syllable becomes "w" ("kulang" in Cebuano becomes "kuwang"). The dialects used in the coastal areas of Bohol though, including Tagbilaran City
Tagbilaran City
Tagbilaran City is a 2nd class component city in the island province of Bohol, Philippines and serves as its capital. Tagbilaran lies on the southwestern part of the province, and has a total land area of 32.7 km², with about 13 km of coastline...

, are almost indistinguishable from other Cebuano
Cebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...

-speaking areas.

Demographics

The population of Bohol
Bohol
Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of and a coastline long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines...

 is 1,137,268 according to the 2000 census. Some also live in Mindanao. The majority of the population is Roman Catholic adherents or other Christian denominations like the Protestants and Iglesia ni Cristo
Iglesia ni Cristo
Iglesia ni Cristo also known as INC, is the largest entirely indigenous Christian religious organization that originated from the Philippines and the largest independent church in Asia. Due to a number of similarities, some Protestant writers describe the INC's doctrines as restorationist in...

 account for a significant part of the remainder.

Culture

Much of the Boholano culture has been influenced by the Culture of Spain
Culture of Spain
The culture of Spain is based on a variety of influences.The Visigothic Kingdom left a sense of a united Christian Hispania that was going to be welded in the Reconquista. Muslim influences were strong during the period of 711 AD to the 15th century, especially linguistically...

 and Indigenous Philippine traditions. The majority of its people belong to the Roman Catholic religion.

History

The people of Bohol are said to be the descendants of the last group of inhabitants who settled in the Philippines called pintados or “tattooed ones.” Boholanos had already a culture of their own as evidenced by the artifacts dug at Mansasa
Mansasa
Barangay Mansâsâ is one of the 15 districts or barangays of Tagbilaran City, capital of the province of Bohol, in the Philippines. It is located on the southern part of the city, just a minute ride from the city proper. It is bordered on the north by Barangay Dampas, Bool to the east, Poblacion 1...

, Tagbilaran City
Tagbilaran City
Tagbilaran City is a 2nd class component city in the island province of Bohol, Philippines and serves as its capital. Tagbilaran lies on the southwestern part of the province, and has a total land area of 32.7 km², with about 13 km of coastline...

, and in Dauis
Dauis, Bohol
Dauis is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 36,139 people. It is one of the 47 towns of Bohol, located in the Island of Panglao.-The Barangays:...

 and Panglao
Panglao, Bohol
Panglao is a fourth class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. It is one of two municipalities that make up Panglao Island, the other being Dauis. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 25,558 people....

. They are different from Cebuanos
Cebuano people
The Cebuano people , are a Visayan ethnic group in Cebu and form the second largest cultural-linguistic group in the Philippines.-History:...

, thus Boholano language is considered separate language from Cebuano.

Bohol
Bohol
Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of and a coastline long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines...

 is derived from the word Bo-ho or Bo-ol.The island was the seat of the first international treaty of peace and unity between the native king Datu Sikatuna
Datu Sikatuna
Datu Sikatuna was the Datu in the island of Bohol in the Philippines. His real name was "Katuna" but "Si" was added to his name as this is a nominative marker for a Filipino...

, and Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador who established one of the first European settlements in the East Indies and the Pacific Islands in 1565. He is the first Governor-General in the Philippines...

, on March 16, 1565 through a blood compact alliance known today by many Filipinos as the Sandugo
Sandugo
The Sandugo was a blood compact, performed in the island of Bohol in the Philippines, between the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of Bohol on March 16, 1565, to seal their friendship as part of the tribal tradition. This is considered as the first treaty of...

.

Boholano is derived from the name of the province.

External links

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