Tagalog

The Tagalog language is an Austronesian language spoken by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines. It is closely related to other Philippine languages, such as Bikol, Bisayan, Ilocano, and Kapampangan, and more distantly to other Austronesian languages. The language is classified as a Central Philippine language and is closely related to the languages spoken in the Bicol Region and the Visayas islands. It differs from its Central Philippine counterparts in its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə. The language has a complex history, with possible words of Old Tagalog origin attested in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription from the tenth century. The first known complete book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Christiana, printed in 1593, and various grammars and dictionaries were written by Spanish clergymen during the 333 years of Spanish rule.learn more on wikipedia