title




A Chronological Inventory of Lexical Works in Cebuano: 1521 to 1990
  with partial and selective annotations

by Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

1521
Pigafetta, Antonio..Cebuano Wordlist In Emma Helen Blair and James 
Alexander Robertson, The Philippine Islands, Vol. 33. Cleveland: 
Arthrur Clark Company, 1908. pp. 189-199. 
1633 Encina, Francisco. .Bisayan Dictionary. Manuscript. 
1686
San Geronimo, Thomas, O.S.A. Vocabulario de la lengua Cebuana. Ms.
1692 Sanchez, Jose. Bisaya Dictionary. Manuscript. 
1705 Oriol, Pedro; S.J. Vocabulario en lengua Bisaya. Manuscript. 
1711 Sanchez, Mateo, S.J. Vocabulario de la lengua Bisaya. Manila: Colegio de la 
Sagrada Comodidad de Jesus de Jesus por D. Gaspar Aquino de 
Belen. 5; 551; 83 pp. (A photocopy is at the Cebuano Studies Center 
of San Carlos University, Cebu City). 
Annotation: Main entries in Cebuano are followed by Spanish explanation;
illustrative sentences in Cebuano and Waray are translated into Spanish. 
1760 Encina, Francisco; O.E.SA. Vocabulario de la lengua Bisaya-zebuana. Ms.
1804  Encina, Francisco; O.E.S.A. Vocabulario de la lengua zebuana. Sampaloc: 
J.M. Dayot por Tomas Oliva. 616 and 15 pp. 
1842 Martin, Julian; O.S.A. Diccionario bisaya-español. Manila: Imprenta de 
D. Manuel y D. Felis Dayot por D. Tomas Oliva. 
Annotation: Main entries in Spanish are followed by their gender, 
lexical classification, and Bisayan translation. 
1851 Encarnacion, Juan Felix de la; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Bisaya-Español. Manila:
Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais, a cargo de M. Sanchez. 8 and 634 pp. 
1851 Monasterio, Pedro; O.F.M. Diccionario Visaya-Castellano. Manuscript. 282 pp 
1852 Encarnacion, Juan Felix; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Español-Bisaya. Manila: Imprenta
de los Amigos del Pais, a cargo de M. Sanchez. 6 and 573 pp.
1860 Encarnacion, Juan Felix; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Bisaya-Epañol, 2a ed. 
Binondo:M. Sanchez y ca. 2 and 364 pp. 
1865 Narciso de Jesus, Mario; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Bisaya-Español. Manuscript. 
1866 Encarnacion, Juan Felix de la; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Bisaya-Español y Español-
Bisaya. 2a ed. Compuesto, corregido y aumentado por el R.P. Fr. 
Encarnacion. Binondo, Manila: Imprenta de M. Sanchez y ca. 2 vols 
(Vol. 1, 2 and 388 and 2 pp; Vol. 2, 2 and 364 and 2 pp). 
1870 Soriano, Juan; O.S.A. Diccionario Cebuano. Manuscript
1883 Encarncaion, Juan Felix; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Bisaya-Español. Manila: Tipografico 
de Amigos del Pais. (Hidalgo said a copy of this is at the University of San
 Agustin in Iloilo City). 
1885 Encarnacion, Juan Felix; O.R.S.A. Diccionario Bisaya-Español, 3a ed. 
(Aumentada con mas de tres mil voces por Jose Sanchez y la cooperacion
de varios Padres Recoletos). Manila: Tipografia de Amigos del Pais. 2 Vols:
Vol. I, Diccionario Bisaya-Español, 8 and 437 pp.; Vol II, Diccionario 
Español-Bisaya, 2 and 349 pp; Appendice, 433-437). 
Annotation: Majority of the entries are in Cebuano-Visayan; also includes
lexical items from the islands of Romblon, Sibuyan, Panay, Leyte, Samar,
Bohol, Negros, and Mindanao; grammar notes on the alphabet, stress and
pronunciation. 
1885-1891
 
Rajal y Larre, Joaquin. "Idiomas -causas que originaron su corrupcion." In Obras
Varias. Madrid: Fortanet, v.2, pp. 13-20, 193-222 (Ayer 2061 R16)
Welsh, 1959: 22.:"wordlist for Bisayan and Manobo."
1896 Aparicio, Jose; O.S.A. Diccionario general bisaya-español.(Hiligaynon, 
Cebuano, Waray-waray). 
1900 Cohen, Hymen and Antonio Medalle y Zaguire. Pocket Dictionary of English, 
Spanish, Visayan Languages. Cebu: University of San Carlos. 204 pp. 
1900 Conant, Carlos Everett with V. Sotto and J. Villagonzalo. A Bisaya-English 
Dictionary. Manuscript.
1908 Lagorra, Blas.Subano vocabulary:Subano-Visaya-English. Zamboanga: n.p. 28 pp. 
Content: This lists selected lexical items from Subano and gives their
correspondence in English, Chavacano, Visayan, Magindanao, and 
Joloano. 
1909 Allin, Benjamin Casey. Allin's Standard English-Visaya Dictionary. Cebu: 
Falek's Printing. 260 pp. 
Annotation: Translates into Visayan some 5,000 English words in a
 manner that is easily understood by learners. 
1919 Jakosalem, Dionesio. "Los pueblos de la isla de Cebu y los signifacados 
etimologicos de sus nombres." Manuscript. In H. Otley Beyer Philippine 
Ethnographic Series, Set 1 (Bisaya),Vol. 8, Paper 183. Cebu. 13pp 
1920 Cuenco, Jose Maria. English-Visayan Dictionary, 2nd ed. Cebu: Imprenta Rosario.
 238, and 20 pp. 
 Annotation: This translates over 6,000 English lexical items into Cebuano;
 appended are the lists of irregularverbs and synonyms and some poems by
 Mariano A. Cuenco. 
1921 Alcazar, Antonio V. Diccionario Visaya-Español. Manila: Imprenta y Litografia 
de Santos y Bernal. 131 pp. 
1927 Cuenco, Jose Maria. English-Visayan Dictionary, 2nd ed. Cebu: Impr. Rosario. 
238 pp. 
1928 Rafferty, Patrick; S.J. Visayan-English Dictionary. Cagayan, Misamis Oriental. 
112 pp 
Annotation: The sources of this dictionary are the Diccionario Bisaya- 
Español by Juan Felix de la Encarnacion (Manila, 1866) and the English- 
Visayan Dictionary by Jose Maria Cuenco (Cebu, 1920). 
Generally, root words are the main entries, although a number of derivations 
and frequently used expressions are also entered as main entries or run-on 
entries.This was printed basically for the use of missionaries in Mindanao.
1933 Bacatan, Juan. Vocabulario binisaya-ininsik: mga masayon nga paagi alang sa 
pagtuon sa ininsik . . . (Translated to Chinese by Delfin Camos). Cebu: 
Gacura Mailing Store. 35 pp.
Content: Texts in Cebuano, Chinese and English. 
1935 Rudifera, Francis. Visaya-English and English-Visaya Dictonary. 
Manila Catholic Trade School. 255 pp 
1937 Gullas, Vicente. English-Visayan-Spanish Dictionary. Cebu City: Barba Press. 
462 pp. (Second edition, 1940.) 
Annotation: Includes the dictionary proper, pp.1 to 324; common words 
and expression in Visaya; general information on the Visayan dialect and 
rules on its ortography; selected poems in Cebuano and English; a list of 
some Filipino and world leaders; leaders in the field of education, some 
successful hacienderos and businessmen during the period, as well as 
the popular Roman Catholic priests of East Visayas and Mindanao. 
Entries in English (first column) are given their Visayan (second column) 
and Spanish (third column) gloss; where applicable, gender is indicated 
immediately after the Spanish lexical item entered; phonetic transcription 
is indicated immediately after the English entry 
1937 Quijano, Ignacio T. "Cebuano-Visayan Kinship Term." Philippine Magazine, 
Vol. 34 (August 1937), pp 359-360. 
Content: This lists kinship terms in Cebuano covering parent-child, sibling,
 grandparent-grandchildren, uncle-nephew, cousin, parent- and child-in- law,
 sibling-in-law, step relatives, and terms for marital relations. 
1940 Lynch, Ralph E.; S.J. Visayan-English Dictionary. Manuscript. 470 pp. 
(A copy at Ateneo de Manila University Library). 
1940 Rafferty, Patrick. Enlargement of Bisayan-English Dictionary. Manila: n.p. 
471 pp. 
1947 Dizon, Nicolas. Dictionary in English, Tagalog, Ilocano and Visayan. 
Honolulu: Juan de la Cruz Bookroom. 182 pp 
(Hidalgo: Polyglot grammar and vocabulary with "about 5000 words ...").
1949 Enriquez, Pablo Jacobo, Jose A. Bautista and Francis J. Jamolangue. 
English-Tagalog-Visayan (Cebuano-Ilonggo) Vocabulary. Manila: 
Philippine Book Company. 249 pp. 
Content: Contains some 8,000 lexical items which are classified into 
adjective, adverb, article, conjunction, interjection, preposition, noun, 
pronoun, root word, and verb. 
1950 Uy, Celerino V. Vocabulario sa pinulongang Kinatsila, Iningles ug Binisaya. 
Cebu City: Mercer Book Company. 38 pp. 
1953 Gullas, Vicente. English-Visayan-Spanish Dictionary, 3rd ed. 
Cebu City: La Prensa Press. 383 pp. (2nd edition, 1940). 
1953 Institute of National Language. A composite vocabulary of Philippine 
languages. Manila: Institute of National Language. 139 pp.
Content: Lists a total of 1,110 entries in English which are given their 
glosses in 24 Philippine languages including Cebuano as spoken in Cebu, 
Misamis Oriental and Occidental, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga and Davao. 
1953 Meiklejohn, Percy and Kathleen Meiklejohn (compilers). Cebuano-English 
dictionary. Musuan, Bukidnon: Summer Institute of Linguistics. 49 pp. 
1955 Cabonce, Rodolfo; S.J. Visayan-English Dictionary. Manuscript..231 pp. 
1962 Kuizon, Jose Germano. "The Sanskrit loan words in the Cebuano-Bisayan 
language and the Indian elements in the Cebuano-Bisayan culture." Thesis 
(M.A. Educ), San Carlos University, Cebu City. vii and 144 pp. 
1963 Cabonce, Rodolfo; S.J. Visayan-English, English-Visayan Dictionary. Peace 
Corps Philippines. 
1963 Ruijter, Juan; M.S.C. Cebuano-English Dictionary. Lawaan, Talisay, Cebu 
City:Sacred Heart Seminary. 11 and 338 pp. 
1964 Kuizon, Jose Germano. "The Sanskrit loan-words in the Cebuano-Bisayan 
language." Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 23 (1): pp. 111-157. 
Annotation: Studies the Sanskrit loan-words in the Cebuano-Bisayan 
language by describing their phonetic, phonemic, morphological, and
semantic changes as they pass through the Javanese and the Malayan
routes; gives the phonologicalsystems of Sanskrit, Javanese, and 
Cebuano-Bisaya.
1965 Nelson, Andrew. Basic Cebuano-English and English-Cebuano Vocabulary. 
Manila: n.p. 53 pp. 
Annotation: Part 1 contains the Cebuano-English word list; part 2, the 
English-Cebuano word list; and part 3, the miscellaneous terms entered in 
Cebuano and classified --i.e., anatomical nouns, names of animals, flowers, 
food; terms related to politics and government, education, geology, marine 
life, religion, tools and implements, morality and emotions, occupation, law,
 time; numerals in Cebuano and Spanish. 
1966 Hermosisima, Tomas V. and Pedro S. Lopez, Jr. Dictionary Bisayan-English-
Tagalog: Standardized Spelling. Manila: Pedro S. Ayuda. viii and 648 pp. 
Annotation: This posits the standardization of the usage of vowels "o" and "u" 
and "e" and "i". Roots, derivations, and some idioms are entered; main 
entries in Cebuano are followed by their Cebuano synonyms, then by their
lexical class and then comes the English and Tagalog equivalent; derivatives
and their lexical classification are entered as run-on entries. 
1967 Ruijter, Juan; M.S.C. English-Cebuano Dictionary. Lawaan, Talisay, Cebu 
City:Sacred Heart Seminary. 340 pp. (A copy of this is at the Xavier 
University Library) 
1968 Enriquez, M. Jacobo, Jose A. Bautista and Francis J. Jamalangue, Jr. 
English-Tagalog-Visayan (Cebuano-Ilongo) Vocabulary, Revised ed. Manila: 
Philippine Book Co. 249 pp. 
1969 Araneta, Fidel. "Mga pulong langyaw nga giawat sa Binisaya." Ang Dagang 
Bisaya, I:2, 19, and 25. 
Annotation: Enumerates words borrowed from Chinese, Javanese, and 
Sanskrit assimilated into the Cebuano language; cites some English words 
which are difficult to translate, and taken as is by the Bisayans; lists 
English words adopted in the Cebuano lexical inventory; traces the 
etymology of the words Pinoy, Kano, and Kura.
1970 Guerrero, Amparo T., Nasario D. Bas and Reynaldo de Dios. English- 
Filipino-Visayan (Ilongo-Cebuano) vocabulary. Manila:Manalili 
Bookseller. 422, 20pp. 
Annotation: Contains 25,000 lexical items aimed at propagating the 
national language, as well as enriching the Philippine major languages; 
main entries in English are followed by word classification, then by the 
Tagalog, Hiligaynon, and the Cebuano gloss; most derivations are 
entered as run-on entries. 
1970 Yap, Elsa Paula and Ma. Victoria Bunye. Cebuano-Visayan Dictionary. 
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. xxv and 508 pp. 
Annotation: This is a companion dictionary for the text Cebuano for 
Beginners by the same authors. The introduction gives the phonemes and 
their corresponding sounds as well as some basic notes on word 
classification in Cebuano. Entries are root words followed by their lexical 
categories; the affixes that can occur with them are entered after the word 
class, they are enclosed in virgules; derivations follow in brackets; then 
the English definition of the term is given. 
1971 Bas, Nazario D. Cebuano pronouncing dictionary with meanings in Pilipino 
and English. Manila: Liwayway Publishing, Inc. 462 pp. 
Annotation: Entries in Cebuano, root words and derivations; phonetic 
transcription follows each entry; the word class follows, then the Pilipino 
and English translations. 
1971 Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. Pinaglakip na Talasalitaan (Composite 
vocabulary).Quezon City: JMC Press, Inc., ix and 211 pp. 
Content: Lists about 8,227 lexical entries from the composite vocabulary 
of Bikol, Pampango, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Pangasinan, Waray, Cebuano, 
and Tagalog;entries in Tagalog were chosen on the basis of frequency of 
usage in the print media; afterwhich the equivalent terms in the seven 
other languages are listed. 
1972 Dingcong, Priscilla L. and Epifania M. Militar. Tagalog-Cebuano cognate words 
with identical and different meanings.Manila:Institute of National 
Language.93pp.
 
Content: This is a listing of 2,109 lexical items from Tagalog and 
Cebuano,1,652 of which have the same form and meaning (cognates) 
while 457 have the same forms but different meanings. the wordlist has an 
English gloss. 
1972 Fresnida, Leonora R. "Deceptive cognates of Bikol and Visayan dialects." 
Seminar paper (M.A.T.) University of the Philippines, Q.C. 120 pp. 
1972 Wolff, John U. A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan. Ithaca, N. Y.: Southeast Asia 
Program, Cornell University and Linguistic Society of the Philippines. 2 
volumes:Vol. I, xx, and 537 pp; Vol. II, 537a to 1141 pp.; Addenda, 
1141-1163; Bibliography, 1164. 
1974 Lopez, Cecilio. "Comparative Philippine word-list." The Archive, Special 
Monograph Issue No. 1. 
Content: This lists about 2236 entries in Tagalog which are given their 
cognates in 22 other languages, including Cebuano. 
1974 Verstraelen, Marie Eugene and Mimi B. Trosdal. "Lexical Studies on the 
Cebuano Language." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 2 
(4):231-237; 4 (2): 130-139. 
Annotation: This lists 314 Cebuano lexical items which are given their 
etymological correspondences in related languages -viz., Arabic, Bahasa 
Indonesia, Old and Modern Javanese, Sanskrit, Tagalog, Ilokano, and 
other Philippine languages. Each Cebuano entry is followed by its English 
equivalent, then by its correspondence in related languages, and by some 
relevant linguistic data like soundshifts. 
1975 Constantino, Ernesto A. An English-Sebuano dictionary. Mimeo. 
Diliman, Quezon City:University of the Philippines. 296 pp. 
Content: Lists about 300 English entries and their respective denotation 
in Cebuano. 
1977 Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. Dikyunario ng Wikang Pilipino. 
(Entries from the major languages including Cebuano).
1978 Dubois, Carl D., Anselmo Guinang and Charing Roque. Diksyonaryo te menobo:
 Sarangani Manobo-Cebuano Visayan-Pilipino-Sarangani B'laan-English.
 Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics and Ministry of Education and
 Culture.40 pp. 
1979 Elkins, Richard F., Betty Elkins and Melinda Laviña (compilers). Is merara 
he diksyonari te heepat he kinugiyan (A short four-language dictionary: 
English-Western Bukidnon Manobo-Cebuano Visayan-Pilipino). Manila: 
Summer Institute of Linguistics and Ministry of Education and Culture. 
viii and 106 pp. 
1981 Post, Ursula, Mary Jane Gardner and Maximo Agayoc, Jr. (compilers). 
Sa mababa ha diksyunari hu haepat ha inigkagiyan (A short four- 
language dictionary: English-Binukid-Cebuano Visayan-Pilipino). 
Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics and Ministry of Education and 
Culture. 313 pp. 
1983 Cabonce, Rodolfo; S.J. An English-Cebuano Visayan dictionary. 
Manila:National Bookstore. 1135 pp. 
1983 Guilingan, Isis P., Merlinda L. Redulla, Jesus S. Tomales and Cirilo A. 
Lonsido. Diksyunari Sindangan Subanen-Cebuano Visayan-Pilipino- 
English. Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics and Department of 
Education Culture and Sports. 277 pp. 
1984 Elkins, Richard F., Betty Elkins and Umiling Engguling (compilers). 
Malepet ne diksyunari te hep-at ne Ialag (A short four-language 
dictionary: Matigsalug Manobo-Cebuano Visayan-Pilipino-English). 
Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics and MECS. 
1985 Eleobido, Aida C. "Diksyonaryong Pilipino-Sebuano: Isang modelo para sa antas
sekondarya." Thesis (M.A.), University of the Philippines, Diliman, 
Quezon City. 
Annotation: This is a discourse on how to make a model Pilipino- 
Sebuano dictionary; database of 100 words yielded 535 entries; each 
entry is defined, affixed for derivations, and illustrated by sentence usage. 
1987 Quirino, Demetrio A., Jr., et. al. English-Filipino synonyms: Including Tagalog, 
Cebuano, et. al. Quezon City:Royal Publication. 350 pp.
Content: This is a compilation of Filipino synonyms in Tagalog, Cebuano, 
Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray, Pampango, Maranao, Maguindanao, 
and other native languages.
1987 Tungol, Mario Guese. Modern English-Pilipino-Cebuano Dictionary. E.Macapagal,
et. al. (consulting editors). Manila: Merriam & Webster. 304 pp 
1990 Garcia, Ben E. Visayan-English vocabulary. Cebu City: the author. 296 pp. 
  Trosdal, Mimi B. Cebuano-English Dictionary. Cebu City: J. Clavano Printers. 
xlvi and 493 pp. 
Annotation: Root words are entered and their lexical functions are 
indicated in virgules opposite them; then comes the English gloss; 
etymoligies are enclosed in brackets; derivations are entered as run-on 
entries; the introduction treats phonology, morphology (microsyntax), 
syntax, parole, and cultural ways; special articles are included -"The 
Cebuanos," "The semantic-cultural content of a lexical entry," and 
"A brief history of the Cebuano-bisayan language." 

Next Page : Undated Works       


Maintained by Mark Rubrico