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Hiligaynon to Cebuano Translation

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

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Hiligaynon phrases with Cebuano 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.

HiligaynonCebuanoEnglish
Maayong agaMaayong buntagGood morning
Maayong haponMaayong haponGood afternoon
Maayong gab-iMaayong gabiiGood evening
Maayong adlawMaayong adlawGood day
Kamusta ka?Kumusta ka?How are you?
Maayo manMaayo raI'm fine
HalongAyo-ayoGoodbye
SalamatSalamatThank you
Madamo gid nga salamatDaghang salamatThank you very much
Wala sang anumanWalay sapayanYou're welcome
All 402 phrases

How Hiligaynon and Cebuano differ

Hiligaynon and Cebuano 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.

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. 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.

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

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

    Cebuano: Help.

  • balaod

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

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

  • karon

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

    Cebuano: Now, today.

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 Hiligaynon nor Cebuano 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 Cebuano. It matched or came close 60.3% of the time.

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

Full results, category by category

Common questions

Is Hiligaynon the same as Cebuano?
Hiligaynon and Cebuano 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 Hiligaynon speaker understand Cebuano?
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 Hiligaynon to Cebuano translation?
We measured it rather than guessing. Running all 287 translatable entries in our Hiligaynon–Cebuano phrasebook through this tool, the machine output matched or closely matched the human-written Cebuano 60.3% of the time. It is weakest on everyday verbs (0%) and strongest on the body (92%). The direction matters too: Cebuano → Hiligaynon scored 43.2%, 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 Hiligaynon–Cebuano 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 Hiligaynon words mean something different in Cebuano?
tabang — Bland, tasteless — written tab-ang. The word for help is bulig in Hiligaynon, help in Cebuano; balaod — Dysentery — written balaód, with the stress on the final syllable in Hiligaynon, law; a rule, act, edict or ordinance in Cebuano; karon — Later, in a while. The word for 'now' is subong in Hiligaynon, now, today in Cebuano. 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 Hiligaynon?
Hiligaynon is spoken mainly in Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Capiz, Guimaras. The 2020 census reports ethnicity rather than a separate speaker count for it, so we do not publish a speaker figure we cannot source. Figures elsewhere claiming far larger totals for these languages are generally not supported by census data.
Can I translate Cebuano to Hiligaynon as well?
Yes — use the Cebuano to Hiligaynon page, or press the swap button above the text box. We measured both: Hiligaynon → Cebuano scored 60.3% and Cebuano → Hiligaynon scored 43.2%. That is a real gap, so this direction is 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 Hiligaynon 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.