The Filipino Language

Understanding the Filipino Language

I made this post for my students to understand the history of the  Filipino language better. I composed this after one of my students asked me why we do not speak Spanish when we were colonized by the Spaniards for 333 years. Another one asked me why it is not yet an intellectualized language. Moreover, other questions such as why we do not have Filipino words for many things especially in Math and Science surfaced. Based on my research below, we were not taught Spanish by the Spaniards so we would not learn a language that we could use to rebel against them. Instead, they were the ones who learned our language. In terms of understanding why they were not taught Filipino words in Math and Science, the answer points to the American colonization which period marked the utilization of the English language in education.This is also the reason why the growth of our language was impeded according to some scholars.

Early History

The strategic location of the Philippine archipelago in Asia was a factor in the early trade contacts of the native Filipinos with other nations including India, Arabia, China, and Japan (Antonio, Dallo, Imperial, Samson, & Soriano, 2007). Thus, along with the trade contact of the aforesaid countries (referred to as tribes by some scholars) exchanging different languages, language contact has also taken place. This explains why the roots of the Filipino language (Tagalog) can be traced back to Bahasa Indonesia as confirmed by linguistic evidence (Bautista, 1998).

However, before the above-mentioned language contact of the different nations, the Negritos from Borneo and Sumatra were deemed to be the earliest inhabitants in the country which were followed by the Malay who came to the island by bridges and eventually by boats. Contrary to this, the migrants from Taiwan (Austronesians) followed the Negritos. This is as proven by modern archeological evidence. Not only that, this was also supported by linguistic and genetic evidence. The forenamed Austronesians settled in barangays led by the datus.On the other hand, the next group of people who moved to the country was the Chinese merchants who sailed in an Arab ship of traders. They made Islam known to the people of the South which was spread out in Luzon. Among the mentioned groups, the Malayo-Polynesians or the migrants from Taiwan are believed to be the most dominant group in the country before the Spanish colonizers arrived. This is based on a text from International Business Publications, USA (2013).

The country’s contact with the Malay culture (Borneo) and Malacca (a Malaysian state) results in the manifestation of Arabic and Sanskrit (the language of Hinduism and classical India) influence on the Filipino language specifically on lexicon (vocabulary words) for religion and spiritual life (Gonzalez, 1999).

Alibata, the alphabet of Filipino is said to be similar to Sanskrit. Moreover, the game “sipa”, the gambling “cockfight”, and the dance “tinikling” are of Indian origin. Other words of Indian origin include sulat, maharlika, asawa, mana, tala, dalaga, halaga, laban, biyaya, hari, kuta, ina, rajah, and likha (Sagmit & Sagmit-Mendoza, 2007).

The Arabic on the other hand influenced the lexicon (vocabulary words) in law and religion (Gonzalez, 1999). As stated by Bautista, the Islam religion spread in Mindanao and reached Manila and Tondo which contributed words to the language of the Philippines.

Tracing the Roots of Influences

Chinese Influence

The Chinese had trade and political relations with the early Filipinos before the Spaniards colonized the country. Umbrellas, lead, gongs, porcelain, and metallurgy were introduced to the country by the Chinese merchants. No wonder, the Filipino-Chinese are the top corporate owners in the country (Ongsotto & Ramillo, 1998).

The Chinese had a great influence in the country. In fact, according to Rodel (2002), “Chinese influence was greater in the Philippines due to its merchant visitors who acted as cultural emissaries. Chinese influence had its greatest impact on the Filipino diet and the general material culture because of the goods that the traders brought to exchange for local forest and agricultural products” (p. 9).

The aforementioned influence on diet is reflected in Philippine cuisine. Gloria Chan-Yap for instance in her study of Hokkien Chinese influence on Tagalog cookery as cited by Fernandez (2002) categorized the Chinese influence on Philippine cuisine. One of the examples includes the names of cooking instruments such as bilao, siyanse, pohiya, and lansong.

On the other hand, in terms of Tagalog words from Fujian dialect, the following examples were given: guya, bimpo, bihon, am (rice broth), hibe, petsay, lawin, puthaw, susi, kilo, losin, sabun, lobu, isyo, ipoh, goma, ginto, tanso, and kuya. Overall, there were 381 Tagalog words of Chinese origin (Sagmit & Sagmit-Mendoza, 2007). Other food influences include pancit, sotanghon, and lumpia (Posadas, 1999). Moreover, miswa also is of Chinese origin (Ongsotto & Ramillo, 1998).

Spanish Influence

The colonization of the country under Spain for 333 years influenced the languages of the Philippines. A case in point is the existence of Spanish-based Creole such is the case of Zambangueño. Moreover, their influence in majority of the local languages in the country is more evident in the lexicon (vocabulary) utilized for political control. Consider the case of Ibanag (Cagayan Valley) which has a great number of lexicon from the Spanish language. The extensive influence of Spanish on content words (nouns and verbs) to the Filipino language is in fact considered by the dean of Philippine linguists, the late Cecilio Lopez in an articleon the influence of Spanish languages as an “overlay” meaning overspread since the stated content words mostly originated from Spanish (Lopez, 1965, as cited in Baldauf & Kaplan, 2006).

However, despite the previously mentioned contribution of the Spanish language to the lexicon of the Filipino language, Spanish has little impact on the phonological (sound), and syntactic (word order) systems (Reid, 1994).

The degree of influence of the Spanish language on the Filipino language (Tagalog) arose from the way the colonizers (Spaniards) utilized Tagalog as their primary means of exchanging information with the native Filipinos.(Himmelman, 2005).

The Spanish colonizers were reluctant to teach Spanish to the natives although some natives such as the Ladinos (native translators) were able to learn Spanish because they went to school. The Spanish colonizers were thought to be more concerned with religion than with languages. Thus, even if the decree of the Spanish court recommended the widespread use of Spanish, the dominant religious orders who were leading the country at that time ignored the order. Only the elite natives were linguistically hispanised. The members of the Spanish colonial government learned the local languages to spread religion to the masses (Smolicz, 1998).  As a matter of fact, even the colonizers way of preaching was in local languages (Ambrosio, 2008). The catholic friars chose to become fluent in local languages to Christianize the people. In this way, they could convert the natives while preventing them from learning Spanish as a common language which would allow them to rebel against them (Ocampo, 2016).

Hence, the church was able to preserve part of native culture. The lexicons compiled by the friars were found useful by Filipino students during that time who had the first contact with the Spanish such as Francisco de San Antonio’s Tagalog vocabulary. Although Spanish was spoken by the minority, language use made it widespread and influential.  Almost every major Filipino language benefited from its contact with Spanish. Most of the Spanish lexicon was integrated into each local language as time passed by. For some words the original meaning were retained while in some, different and new connotations and denotations were formed over time. The examples are Kumusta ka which come from the Spanish words como, estas or Isara ang Bintana from cerrar ventanna. (Ambrosio, 2008).

The Spanish influence on the Filipino language is also evident in the last names of the Filipinos. Most Filipinos have Spanish last names such as Gonzalez, Santos, Rodriguez, and Torres (Ocampo, 2016). This can be traced back to the time when the elite natives or the Indios who were richer together with the Chinese mestizoz adapted the manners and etiquette of the altasociedad. Thus, they adapted Spanish names and hispanized their Indio and Chinese names. The rest of the population also had to do the same when the Spanish government decreed Spanish surnames for all Filipinos (Ambrosio, 2008).

In terms of grammar, there are a number of grammars in Spanish. Tagalog grammars were said to be casted in the framework and terminology of Latin grammars such as the one by Blake (1925). These details are as stated by Himmelman (2005).

Even the Filipino vowels had Spanish influence. As stated in Ross (1997), Tagalog had just three vowels /i a u/ before the colonization of Spain. These three vowels became five /i e a o u/ under Spanish colonization.

As for  loanwords, some of the examples from Spanish are sibuyas from the Spanish word cebollas, balkon from balcon, dalandan from naranja, sinigwelas from ciruela, kabayo from caballo, etc. (Sagmit & Sagmit-Mendoza, 2007).

Other loan words come from food flavors and dishes. Based on the assumption of culinary historians, the paste of vinegar, oil, chili, herbs, and spices, all of which flavors Mexican dishes such as puerco en adobo and chuletas de puerco adobadas were used in Filipino national dish, adobo. Aside from adobo, paella valenciana and leche flan are also of Spanish origin. Moreover, tomatoes, garlic, and the technique of sauteing (guisado) were believed to be brought by the Spaniards to the country (Posadas, 1999).

In the aspect of food preparation, the Philippines have adopted the colonizers’ art of cooking. Some of the examples are mechado, menudo, cocido, pochero, arroz a la Valenciana, paella, pastel de lengua, sarciado, among others (Sagmit & Sagmit-Mendoza, 2007).

Other words that we adopted from Spanish are: bicicleta, guapo, carne, coche, fiesta, silla (Gaspi & Marfori, 2016). Pandanggo, a spanish dance, menudo, and lechon were also all adopted from the Spaniards (Ambrosio, 2008).

American Influence (The Arrival of the English Language)

When the colonies of Spain (the Caribbean, South and Central America, and Mexico) rose up against Spain, the aforesaid colonial power lost its control over its colonies. Nevertheless, a new powerful force, the Americans declared war against them. They seized the remaining colonies of Spain (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines) for $20 million. The Filipinos, however, waged war against the Americans as they had been fighting for independence since Spanish colonization. The Filipinos lost in the battle. The Americans began their “benevolent assimilation project” soon after, while pacifying the resistance of the Filipinos which they regard as unsanitary and uncivilized.  Furthermore, for the Americans, the Filipinos were incapable of self-government. Consequently, the Americans restructured the educational system (Ocampo, 2016).

Unlike the Spaniards whose focus was religion, the Americans were more concerned with the prescription of their decorum and conduct using the English language.  They brought in the teaching of English to the country. English became the language of public school system. Eventually, it displaced the Filipino languages. In the 1920s and 1930s, it became a major part of the curriculum. Nonetheless, the Filipino language which was used at that time as the home language was not obliterated despite the pressure of establishing literacy in English although the Filipino language was at a disadvantage for its stunted growth. The result of the Americans’ policy on language was having 39.5% of the population speaking English, 2.1 % speaking Spanish, and 44.4 % speaking Filipino which was not even half of the population (Smolicz, 1998).

Some of the disadvantages   brought about by the introduction of English as the medium of education include the de-Filipinization of the youth as mirrored by their reverence to American culture, regarding it as superior. Moreover, the use of English is also believed to cause low self-esteem in Filipinos. It also makes them feel inferior since doing well is associated with the use of foreign language which foreigners can do better. Another disadvantage is Filipinos’ unreflectiveness and mental laziness. This is explained by the way Filipinos usually think using the native language and express their thoughts using English. This leads to inaccuracy and imprecision in expression as well as underdeveloped intellect. The deeply-rooted connection of the American and Philippine culture could be traced back to the American influence on education where Filipinos were taught in the American way. Even up to the present day, the colonial influences are reflected on the Filipino high society’s way of living which serves as a model for the rest of the Filipinos in the country (Licuanan, 1994).

The above-mentioned influence of English on the Filipino language is more extensive than Spanish in terms of cultural importations and words in Philippine languages. It remains prevalent in the Philippine educational system (Baldauf & Kaplan, 1999).

The Filipinos adopted the American words and phrases in the national language such as the following: bulakbol (idler, loafer, or bum, basket, paul (foul), parbol (foul ball), ining (inning), bistik (beefsteak) kendi (candy), ispiker, (speaker), plorlider (floor leader), among others. Names were also Americanized such as Pedro (Peter), Tomas, (Tommy), Juan (Johnny), Maria (Mary), Rosa (Rose), Beatriz (Betty) and Victoria (Vicky) (Sagmit & Sagmit-Mendoza, 2007).

Other loan words from English are nurse, teacher, tricycle, computer, boxing, traffic, and alcohol (Gaspi&Marfori, 2016).

Japanese Influence

When the Japanese conquerors outnumbered the American forces in 1942, the Japanese attempted to wipe out the residues of American influence by way of propaganda where they were portrayed as good and which purpose is to influence the neutral (neither pro-American nor pro-Japanese) to win more supporters in the country. The Japanese propaganda included the monopoly on all forms of media and establishments under the Japanese Empire. The Japanese also incorporated the Department of Education, Health, and Public Welfare in the country and was given authority to open schools and control Philippine education by the strict teaching of the Japanese language, culture, and ideology. The textbooks which feature subjects against their interest were destroyed. Tagalog and Niponggo became the official languages (Buhain, 1998).

Tagalog was eventually adopted by the Japanese as the official language to pacify the national sentiment of the Filipinos since the Philippine Government wanted to make it the standard dialect in the country. (Jones, 2001).

Some of the words that originated from the Japanese are jankenpon meaning jack en poy, karaoke, and dandan or dahandahan (gradually) (Gaspi & Marfori, 2016).

English  Poem for Buwan ng Wika: English Poem about Filipino Language for Buwan ng Wika

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