Wikijunior:Languages/Hiligaynon

What writing system(s) does this language use?
Hiligaynon and almost all of the languages in the Philippines are written using the Latin alphabet.

The Hiligaynon alphabet includes all of the same letters we use in English, along with 'Ñ' (enye), which the Filipinos borrowed from the Spanish, and 'Ng', a digraph already available as a single character in Baybayin.

How many people speak this language?
There are 7.8 million native speakers as of 2010. There are 9.1 million total speakers. It is the 4th most spoken native language in the Philippines.

Where is this language spoken?
Hiligaynon is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 9.1 million people, predominantly in Western Visayas and Soccsksargen, most of whom belong to the Hiligaynon people. It is the second-most widely spoken language in the Visayas and belongs to the Bisayan languages, and it is more distantly related to other Philippine languages.

What is the history of this language?
Hiligaynon is an Austronesian Language. It was thought that the Austronesian language came from Taiwan and migrated southwards through sailing. They first reached Batanes islands, by around 2200 BCE.

Soon after the Age of Contact came and the Philippines started trading with other people like Persians, Arabs, Malays, Indians, Japanese, and Chinese. The people who traded with the Filipinos also introduced their language and culture, and soon after the Filipinos started using words from their languages and dressed, ate, and lived like them.

The Spaniards came and introduced Spanish, taught the Filipinos Spanish, and soon after many Spanish words entered the Language. The Americans came and introduced English and encouraged the use of English, so English words also entered Hiligaynon. Hiligaynon therefore is one of the most diverse languages of the world, with Sanskrit, Malay, Javanese, ../Mandarin Chinese/, Nahuatl, Persian, ../Arabic/, ../Japanese/, ../Spanish/, and ../English/ loanwords.

Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?

 * Peter Solis Nery is a Filipino poet, fictionist, author, and filmmaker. Writing in Hiligaynon, he is a Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Hall of Fame Awardee, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Literary Grant, and the All-Western Visayas Literary Contest (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) winner.

What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?
Masadya sa Buluthuan is a Hiligaynon song for kids composed by Mr. Jeff Javier.

Here's the English translation of that song.