“Bird” in every Philippine language
Bird across 8 languages, and what the differences tell you.
Last updated
Side by side
| Language | Bird |
|---|---|
| English | Bird |
| Tagalog | Ibon |
| Ilocano | Billit |
| Cebuano | Langgam |
| Hiligaynon | Pispis |
| Waray | Tamsi |
| Bikol | Gamgam |
| Kapampangan | Ayup |
1 language is missing here because we could not confirm a form, not because the language lacks the word.
What the pattern shows
Cebuano 'langgam' is a bird; Tagalog 'langgam' is an ant. One of the most-cited false friends between the two largest languages in the country.
No two languages here use the same word. That is unusual even on this list, and it is the clearest possible answer to whether these are dialects of one another.
Watch out
langgam does not mean the same thing everywhere:
- An ant in Tagalog
- A bird in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray
Nothing in the sentence signals which one is meant, and both are plausible in most contexts.
More animals
The whole category as a word list: Ilocano Words for Animals · Tagalog Words for Animals
Where this comes from
This row is one of 161 concept pages drawn from a parallel set of everyday vocabulary held across nine languages. You can browse all of them, download the whole set under CC BY-SA 4.0, or paste text to find out which language it is.
Compiled from published general reference and pending review by native speakers. If something here is wrong in a language you speak, please tell us.