Filipino language

Filipino is the standard register of the Tagalog language and the national language of the Philippines, sharing official status with the English language. As of 2007, Tagalog is the first language of 28 million people, or about one-third of the Philippine population, while 45 million speak Filipino as their second language. Filipino is among the 185 languages of the Philippines identified in the Ethnologue. Officially, Filipino is defined by the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) as "the native language, spoken and written, in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago." Filipino is ideally a pluricentric language. Indeed, there have been observed "emerging varieties of Filipino which deviate from the grammatical properties of Tagalog" in Davao City and Cebu, which together with Metro Manila form the three largest metropolitan areas in the Philippines. In reality, however, Filipino has been variously described as "simply Tagalog in syntax and grammar, with no grammatical element or lexicon coming from ... other major Philippine languages," and as "essentially a formalized version of Tagalog." In most contexts, Filipino is understood to be an alternative name for Tagalog, or the Metro Manila dialect of Tagalog.

History

There was no common language in the Philippine archipelago when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. The three major linguae francae were Kapampangan, Ilocano, and Visayan. As the Philippine languages are all closely related and therefore easy for Filipinos to learn, most speakers of smaller languages spoke two or more such regional languages. By 1898 the common language was Spanish, spoken by around 70% of the population.

The first dictionary of Tagalog language was written by the Czech Jesuit missionary Paul Klein in the beginning of the 18th century. Klein spoke Tagalog and used it actively in several of his books. He wrote the first dictionary, which he later passed over to Francisco Jansens and José Hernandez. Further compilation of his substantial work was prepared by P. Juan de Noceda and P. Pedro de Sanlucar and published as Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala in Manila in 1754 and then repeatedly reedited with the last edition being in 2013 in Manila.

On November 13, 1936, Commonwealth act No. 184 created the National Language Institute and tasked it with making a study and survey of each existing native language, hoping to choose which was to be the base for a standardized national language. The three main contenders were Tagalog, Visayan, and Ilocano.

On 14 July 1936, the Surián ng Wikang Pambansâ (National Language Institute) selected Tagalog as the basis of the Wikang Pambansâ (National Language) based on the following factors:

1. Tagalog is widely spoken and is the most understood in all the Philippine Regions;
2. It is not divided into smaller daughter languages, as Visayan or Bikol are;
3. Its literary tradition is the second richest of all Filipino languages , most developed and extensive (mirroring that of the Tuscan language vis-à-vis Italian). More books are written in Tagalog than in any other autochthonous Philippine language but Spanish, but this is mainly by virtue of law and privilege;
4. Even though Spanish had always been the language of Manila, the political and economic center of the Philippines during the Spanish and American eras, Tagalog was the prehispanic language option.
5. Spanish was the language of the 1896 Revolution and the Katipunan, but the revolution was led by people who also spoke Tagalog.

On December 13, 1937, President Manuel L. Quezon issued Executive order No. 134, s. 1937, approving the adoption of Tagalog as the basis of the national language of the Philippines, and declared and proclaimed the national language so based on the Tagalog dialect, as the national language of the Philippines.

In 1959, the language became known as Pilipino in an effort to dissociate it from the Tagalog ethnic group.

Later, the 1973 Constitution provided for a separate national language to replace Pilipino, a language which it termed Filipino. However, Article XV, Section 3(2), mentions neither Tagalog nor Pilipino as the basis for Filipino, instead calling on the National Assembly to:

take steps toward the development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino.

This move has drawn much criticism from the nation's other ethnic groups.

In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language. Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:

as Filipino evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.

And also states in the article:

Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.

and:

The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein.

Republic Act No. 7104, approved on August 14, 1991, created the Commission on the Filipino Language, reporting directly to the President and tasked to undertake, coordinate and promote researches for the development, propagation and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages. On May 13, 1992, the commission issued Resolution 92-1, specifying that Filipino is the

indigenous written and spoken language of Metro Manila and other urban centers in the Philippines used as the language of communication of ethnic groups.

However, as with the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, 92-1 neither went so far as to categorically identify nor dis-identify this language as Tagalog. Definite, absolute, and unambiguous interpretation of 92-1 is the prerogative of the Supreme Court in the absence of directives from the KWF, otherwise the sole legal arbiter of the Filipino language.

Filipino was presented and registered with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), by Ateneo de Manila University student Martin Gomez, and was added to the ISO registry of languages on September 21, 2004 with it receiving the ISO 639-2 code fil. In June 2007, Ricardo Maria Nolasco, Chair of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino Language), acknowledged that Filipino was simply Tagalog in syntax and grammar, with as yet no grammatical element or lexicon coming from Ilocano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, or any of the other Philippine languages. He said further that this is contrary to the intention of Republic Act No. 7104 that requires that the national language be developed and enriched by the lexicon of the country's other languages, something that the commission is working towards. On 24 August 2007, Nolasco elaborated further on the relationship between Tagalog and Filipino in a separate article, as follows:

Are "Tagalog," "Pilipino" and "Filipino" different languages? No, they are mutually intelligible varieties, and therefore belong to one language. According to the KWF, Filipino is that speech variety spoken in Metro Manila and other urban centers where different ethnic groups meet. It is the most prestigious variety of Tagalog and the language used by the national mass media.
The other yardstick for distinguishing a language from a dialect is: different grammar, different language. "Filipino", "Pilipino" and "Tagalog" share identical grammar. They have the same determiners (ang, ng and sa); the same personal pronouns (siya, ako, niya, kanila, etc.); the same demonstrative pronouns (ito, iyan, doon, etc.); the same linkers (na, at and ay); the same particles (na and pa); and the same verbal affixes -in, -an, i- and -um-. In short, same grammar, same language.

On 22 August 2007, it was reported that three Malolos City regional trial courts in Bulacan decided to use Filipino, instead of English, in order to promote the national language. Twelve stenographers from Branches 6, 80 and 81, as model courts, had undergone training at Marcelo H. del Pilar College of Law of Bulacan State University following a directive from the Supreme Court of the Philippines. De la Rama said it was the dream of Chief Justice Reynato Puno to implement the program in other areas such as Laguna, Cavite, Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Rizal, and Metro Manila.

Filipino vs. Tagalog

In practical terms, Filipino is the formal name of Tagalog, or even a synonym of it. It is sometimes described as "Tagalog-based", part of a political fiction that the national language is based on an amalgam of Philippine languages rather than on Tagalog alone. It is usually called Tagalog within the Philippines and among Filipinos to differentiate it from other Philippine languages, but it has come to be known as Filipino to differentiate it from the languages of other countries; the former implies a regional origin, the latter a national. This is similar to the concept of the names given to the Spanish language, where Castilian tends to be used within Spain, and Spanish in international settings.

In connection with the use of Filipino, or specifically the promotion of the national language, the related term Tagalista is frequently used. While the word Tagalista literally means "one who specializes in Tagalog language or culture" or a "Tagalog specialist", in the context of the debates on the national language and "Imperial Manila", the word Tagalista is used as a reference to "people who promote or would promote the primacy of Tagalog at the expense of [the] other [Philippine] indigenous tongues".

Official status

Filipino is constitutionally designated as the national language of the Philippines and, along with English, as one of the two official languages.

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

• New Vicassan's Englishâ€"Pilipino Dictionary by Vito C. Santos, ISBN 971-27-0349-5
• Learn Filipino: Book One by Victor Eclar Romero ISBN 1-932956-41-7
• Lonely Planet Filipino/Tagalog (Travel Talk) ISBN 1-59125-364-0
• Lonely Planet Pilipino Phrasebook ISBN 0-86442-432-9
• UP Diksyonaryong Filipino by Virgilio S. Almario (ed.) ISBN 971-8781-98-6, and ISBN 971-8781-99-4
• Englishâ€"Pilipino Dictionary, Consuelo T. Panganiban, ISBN 971-08-5569-7
• Diksyunaryong Filipinoâ€"English, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, ISBN 971-8705-20-1
• New Englishâ€"Filipino Filipinoâ€"English Dictionary, by Maria Odulio de Guzman ISBN 971-08-1776-0
• Lim Englishâ€"Filipino Filipinoâ€"English Dictionary, by Ed Lim (2008), Lulu.com ISBN 978-0-557-03800-8
• "When I was a child I spoke as a child": Reflecting on the Limits of a Nationalist Language Policy by Danilo Manarpaac. In: The politics of English as a world language: new horizons in postcolonial cultural studies by Christian Mair. Rodopi; 2003 ISBN 978-90-420-0876-2. p. 479â€"492.
• Free Filipino Flashcards by CoboCards

External links

• Commission on the Filipino Language
• Language planning in multilingual countries: The case of the Philippines, discussion by linguist and educator Andrew Gonzalez
• The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines, by Andrew Gonzalez, FSC
• Tagalog: A Brief Look at the National Language
• Tagalog dominance must be balanced by support for all languages â€" Part 1 (archived from the original on 2007-09-02), Part 2 (archived from the original on 2007-09-03), Part 3 (archived from the original on 2008-12-30).
• Kalyespeak.com â€" Learn Filipino Free Language Learning with Audio Lessons and Podcasts
• TowerofBabelfish.com â€" Learn Tagalog/Filipino A guide to Tagalog / Filipino
• The Nationalization of a Language: Filipino by C. J. Paz, University of the Philippines
• The Filipino language that might have been

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