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Cebuano to Hiligaynon Translation

Translate Cebuano to Hiligaynon instantly, then check the result against a 402-entry phrasebook compiled by hand rather than generated by the tool.

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Cebuano phrases with Hiligaynon translations

402 entries across 24 categories, compiled from published references rather than generated by the tool above. This set is compiled from general reference and is awaiting confirmation from native speakers, which is why each entry carries a pending-review marker.

CebuanoHiligaynonEnglish
Maayong buntagMaayong agaGood morning
Maayong haponMaayong haponGood afternoon
Maayong gabiiMaayong gab-iGood evening
Maayong adlawMaayong adlawGood day
Kumusta ka?Kamusta ka?How are you?
Maayo raMaayo manI'm fine
Ayo-ayoHalongGoodbye
SalamatSalamatThank you
Daghang salamatMadamo gid nga salamatThank you very much
Walay sapayanWala sang anumanYou're welcome
All 402 phrases

How Cebuano and Hiligaynon differ

Cebuano and Hiligaynon are both Bisayan languages within the Central Philippine group — the closest relationship any two languages on this site have. They share grammar, sentence structure and a large part of their core vocabulary, and where they differ they usually differ predictably.

These two are the closest pair on this site. A Cebuano speaker and a Hiligaynon speaker can hold a conversation, each in their own language, and follow most of it — the grammar is near-identical and a large share of the core vocabulary is shared or predictably shifted. What breaks down is everyday high-frequency words: Cebuano lami against Hiligaynon namit for 'delicious', gwapa against matahum for 'beautiful', tabang against bulig for 'help'. Treat them as close relatives, not as one language.

Cebuano is the largest Bisayan language and the lingua franca of most of Mindanao, so a great deal of what is loosely called 'Bisaya' online is Cebuano specifically. Hiligaynon — Ilonggo to its speakers — is the Western Bisayan language of Panay and Negros Occidental, and is close enough to Cebuano that the two are routinely mistaken for one language.

Because the two are so close, machine translation between them produces fluent output that is wrong in small ways — it will often return the Cebuano word unchanged because it is a plausible Hiligaynon string. Fluent-looking output is the failure mode here, not garbled output.

Words that exist in both languages and mean different things

These are where confident readers get caught, and where the translator above is least reliable — a word it does not recognise is passed through unchanged, which can land in the other language as a real word with an unrelated meaning.

  • tabang

    Cebuano: Help.

    Hiligaynon: Bland, tasteless — written tab-ang. The word for help is bulig.

  • balaod

    Cebuano: Law; a rule, act, edict or ordinance.

    Hiligaynon: Dysentery — written balaód, with the stress on the final syllable.

  • karon

    Cebuano: Now, today.

    Hiligaynon: Later, in a while. The word for 'now' is subong.

Machine translation across Philippine languages fails in patterns rather than at random. We wrote up what those patterns are and why they happen, measured against Ilocano.

How accurate is it?

Neither Cebuano nor Hiligaynon is a well-resourced language, and there is very little direct training data between them. The engine translates through English internally, so every result here is two translations stacked on top of each other, and the errors of the first are carried into the second.

We ran all 287 translatable entries in this phrasebook through the translator above and compared each against the human-written Hiligaynon. It matched or came close 43.2% of the time.

The reverse direction is not equivalent. Cebuano → Hiligaynon scored 43.2% and Hiligaynon → Cebuano scored 60.3% — a gap of 17.1 points on the same phrase set, so the other direction is the one to trust more.

Full results, category by category

Common questions

Is Cebuano the same as Hiligaynon?
Cebuano and Hiligaynon are both Bisayan languages within the Central Philippine group — the closest relationship any two languages on this site have. They share grammar, sentence structure and a large part of their core vocabulary, and where they differ they usually differ predictably.
Can a Cebuano speaker understand Hiligaynon?
These two are the closest pair on this site. A Cebuano speaker and a Hiligaynon speaker can hold a conversation, each in their own language, and follow most of it — the grammar is near-identical and a large share of the core vocabulary is shared or predictably shifted. What breaks down is everyday high-frequency words: Cebuano lami against Hiligaynon namit for 'delicious', gwapa against matahum for 'beautiful', tabang against bulig for 'help'. Treat them as close relatives, not as one language.
How accurate is Cebuano to Hiligaynon translation?
We measured it rather than guessing. Running all 287 translatable entries in our Cebuano–Hiligaynon phrasebook through this tool, the machine output matched or closely matched the human-written Hiligaynon 43.2% of the time. It is weakest on greetings (0%) and strongest on months (75%). The direction matters too: Hiligaynon → Cebuano scored 60.3%, a gap of 17.1 points. Treat it as a helpful draft, not a finished translation.
Why did the translation come back exactly the same as what I typed?
Usually because the engine did not recognise the word and echoed your input rather than failing visibly. But check before assuming it is broken: 199 of the entries in our Cebuano–Hiligaynon phrase data are genuinely spelled the same in both languages, including Maayong hapon (good afternoon), Maayong adlaw (good day), Salamat (thank you), Duha (two). Unchanged output is not automatically wrong for this pair.
Which Cebuano words mean something different in Hiligaynon?
tabang — Help in Cebuano, bland, tasteless — written tab-ang. The word for help is bulig in Hiligaynon; balaod — Law; a rule, act, edict or ordinance in Cebuano, dysentery — written balaód, with the stress on the final syllable in Hiligaynon; karon — Now, today in Cebuano, later, in a while. The word for 'now' is subong in Hiligaynon. We document 3 of these for this pair. They are where the translator is least reliable, because a word it does not recognise is passed through unchanged and can land in the other language as a real word with an unrelated meaning.
How many people speak Cebuano?
The 2020 Philippine census recorded Cebuano as the language generally spoken at home in about 1.72 million households, and 8.0% of the household population identified as ethnically Cebuano. PSA counts 'Cebuano' and 'Bisaya/Binisaya' as separate census categories, so the true Cebuano-speaking total is higher than the Cebuano row alone. Figures elsewhere claiming far larger totals for these languages are generally not supported by census data.
Can I translate Hiligaynon to Cebuano as well?
Yes — use the Hiligaynon to Cebuano page, or press the swap button above the text box. We measured both: Cebuano → Hiligaynon scored 43.2% and Hiligaynon → Cebuano scored 60.3%. That is a real gap, so the reverse direction is actually the more reliable of the two.
Is it free, and are there limits?
It is free with no account required. A single translation is capped at 5,000 characters, and there is a rate limit to keep the service available for everyone. There is no limit on how many translations you can do overall.

Related translators

Who maintains this

Compiled and maintained by John Smith. Last checked .

I compile Philippine-language phrase data from published references, check it against multiple sources, and measure the machine translation on this site rather than making claims about it. I am not a linguist. Entries I have not been able to confirm are marked as pending review rather than presented as verified.

No native Cebuano speaker has reviewed this data yet. 402 phrasebook entries are marked pending review. See the phrasebook and its sources.

Translations are produced by a general-purpose machine translation engine and are not a substitute for a professional translator.