A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan

About this book

This volume is a scholarly reference work that catalogues roughly twenty‑five thousand Cebuano roots with English explanations, supplemented by an addenda of seven hundred forms. Compiled under the auspices of Cornell University’s Southeast Asia Program and the Linguistic Society of the Philippines, the dictionary reflects eleven years of collaborative fieldwork, transcription, and editing by native speakers in Cebu City and surrounding regions. The opening pages outline the program’s institutional background, detail the extensive funding and personnel network that produced the manuscript, and explain the methodological choices, such as the decision to describe forms in terms of themselves rather than provide direct English equivalents. The work also includes introductory material on dialectal variation, phonology, and affixation, followed by a systematic listing of entries, an addenda, and a bibliography.

The text reads in a precise, academic voice typical of early‑1970s linguistic scholarship, with clear definitions, extensive cross‑referencing, and occasional notes on usage categories like slang or colloquial. Its style is descriptive rather than prescriptive, aiming to serve both native speakers seeking a reliable reference and students or researchers interested in Philippine languages, historical linguistics, or comparative Austronesian studies. Readers who appreciate meticulous documentation and the cultural context of a language spoken by a substantial portion of the Philippines will find this dictionary a valuable resource.