Tagalog language

History

The word Tagalog is derived from the endonym taga-log ("river dweller"), composed of tagá- ("native of" or "from") and ilog ("river"). Linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust speculate that the Tagalogs and other Central Philippine ethno-linguistic groups originated in Northeastern Mindanao or the Eastern Visayas.

The first written record of Tagalog is the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, which dates to 900 CE and exhibits fragments of the language along with Sanskrit, Old Malay, Javanese and Old Tagalog. The first known complete book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Christiana (Christian Doctrine), printed in 1593. The Doctrina was written in Spanish and two transcriptions of Tagalog; one in the ancient, then-current Baybayin script and the other in an early Spanish attempt at a Latin orthography for the language.

Throughout the 333 years of Spanish rule, various grammars and dictionaries were written by Spanish clergymen, including Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala by Pedro de San Buenaventura (Pila, Laguna, 1613), the Czech Paul Klein Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (beginning of the 18th century), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1835), and Arte de la lengua tagala y manual tagalog para la administración de los Santos Sacramentos (1850) in addition to early studies of the language; however, the indigenous poet Francisco Baltazar (1788–1862) is regarded as the foremost Tagalog writer, his most notable work being the early 19th-century epic Florante at Laura.

Historical changes

Tagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə. In Bikol and Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and [o]. In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/. For example, Proto-Philippine *dəkət (adhere, stick) is Tagalog dikít and Visayan & Bikol dukot.

Proto-Philippine *r, *j, and *z merged with /d/ but is /l/ between vowels. Proto-Philippine *ŋajan (name) and *hajək (kiss) became Tagalog ngalan and halík.

Proto-Philippine *R merged with /ɡ/. *tubiR (water) and *zuRuʔ (blood) became Tagalog tubig and dugô.

Official status

The first substantial dictionary of the Tagalog language was written by the Czech Jesuit missionary Pablo Clain in the beginning of the 18th century. Clain 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.

Tagalog was declared the official language by the first constitution in the Philippines, the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato in 1897.

In 1935, the Philippine constitution designated English and Spanish as official languages, but mandated the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages. After study and deliberation, the National Language Institute, a committee composed of seven members who represented various regions in the Philippines, chose Tagalog as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippines. President Manuel L. Quezon then, on December 30, 1937, proclaimed the selection of the Tagalog language to be used as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippines. In 1939, President Quezon renamed the proposed Tagalog-based national language as wikang pambansâ (national language). In 1959, the language was further renamed as "Pilipino". The 1973 constitution designated the Tagalog-based "Pilipino", along with English, as an official language and mandated the development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino. The 1987 constitution designated Filipino as the national language mandating that as it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.

Article XIV, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines specifies, in part:

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.

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

In 2009, the Department of Education promulgated an order institutionalizing a system of mother-tongue based multilingual education ("MLE"), wherein instruction is conducted primarily in a student's mother tongue until at least grade three, with additional languages such as Filipino and English being introduced as separate subjects no earlier than grade two. In secondary school, Filipino and English become the primary languages of instruction, with the learner's first language taking on an auxiliary role.

It is the first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and a second language by the majority.

Classification

Tagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family. Being Malayo-Polynesian, it is related to other Austronesian languages, such as Malagasy, Javanese, Malay (Malaysian & Indonesian), Tetum (of Timor), and Yami (of Taiwan). It is closely related to the languages spoken in the Bicol Region and the Visayas islands, such as the Bikol group and the Visayan group, including Hiligaynon and Cebuano.

Dialects

At present, no comprehensive dialectology has been done in the Tagalog-speaking regions, though there have been descriptions in the form of dictionaries and grammars of various Tagalog dialects. Ethnologue lists Lubang, Manila, Marinduque, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Tanay-Paete (Rizal-Laguna), and Tayabas as dialects of Tagalog; however, there appear to be four main dialects, of which the aforementioned are a part: Northern (exemplified by the Bulacan dialect), Central (including Manila), Southern (exemplified by Batangas), and Marinduque.

Some example of dialectal differences are:

Many Tagalog dialects, particularly those in the south, preserve the glottal stop found after consonants and before vowels. This has been lost in Standard Tagalog. For example, standard Tagalog ngayón (now, today), sinigáng (broth stew), gabí (night), matamís (sweet), are pronounced and written ngay-on, sinig-ang, gab-i, and matam-is in other dialects.

In Teresian-Morong Tagalog, [ɾ] is usually preferred over [d]. For example, bundók, dagat, dingdíng, and isdâ become bunrók, ragat, ringríng, and isrâ, e.g. "sandók sa dingdíng" becoming "sanrók sa ringríng".

In many southern dialects, the progressive aspect infix of -um- verbs is na-. For example, standard Tagalog kumakain (eating) is nákáin in Quezon and Batangas Tagalog. This is the butt of some jokes by other Tagalog speakers, for should a Southern Tagalog ask nákáin ka ba ng patíng? ("Do you eat shark?"), he would be understood as saying "Has a shark eaten you?" by speakers of the Manila Dialect.

Some dialects have interjections which are considered a regional trademark. For example, the interjection ala e! usually identifies someone from Batangas as does hane?! in Rizal and Quezon provinces.

Perhaps the most divergent Tagalog dialects are those spoken in Marinduque. Linguist Rosa Soberano identifies two dialects, western and eastern, with the former being closer to the Tagalog dialects spoken in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon.

One example is the verb conjugation paradigms. While some of the affixes are different, Marinduque also preserves the imperative affixes, also found in Visayan and Bikol languages, that have mostly disappeared from most Tagalog early 20th century; they have since merged with the infinitive.

Northern and central dialects form the basis for the national language.

Geographic distribution

The Tagalog homeland, Katagalugan, covers roughly much of the central to southern parts of the island of Luzon—particularly in Aurora, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Rizal and large parts of Zambales. Tagalog is also spoken natively by inhabitants living on the islands, Marinduque, Mindoro, and medium areas of Palawan. It is spoken by approximately 64 million Filipinos, 96% of the household population; 22 million, or 28% of the total Philippine population, speak it as a native language.

Tagalog speakers are found in other parts of the Philippines as well as throughout the world, though its use is usually limited to communication between Filipino ethnic groups. In 2010, the US Census bureau reported (based on data collected in 2007) that in the United States it was the fourth most-spoken language at home with almost 1.5 million speakers, behind Spanish or Spanish Creole, French (including Patois, Cajun, Creole), and Chinese. Tagalog ranked as the third most spoken language in metropolitan statistical areas, behind Spanish and Chinese but ahead of French.

Accents

The Tagalog language also boasts accentations unique to some parts of Tagalog-speaking regions. For example, in some parts of Manila, a strong pronunciation of i exists and vowel-switching of o and u exists so words like "gising" (to wake) is pronounced as "giseng" with a strong 'e' and the word "tagu-taguan" (hide-and-go-seek) is pronounced as "tago-tagoan" with a mild 'o'.

Batangas Tagalog boasts the most distinctive accent in Tagalog compared to the more Hispanized northern accents of the language. The Batangas accent has been featured in film and television and Filipino actor Leo Martinez speaks this accent. Martinez's accent, however, will quickly be recognized by native Batangueños as representative of the accent in western Batangas which is milder compared to that used in the eastern part of the province.

Code-switching

Taglish and Englog are names given to a mix of English and Tagalog. The amount of English vs. Tagalog varies from the occasional use of English loan words to outright code-switching, where the language changes in mid-sentence. Such code-switching is prevalent throughout the Philippines and in various languages of the Philippines other than Tagalog.

Code Mixing also entails the use of foreign words that are Filipinized by reforming them using Filipino rules, such as verb conjugations. Users typically use Filipino or English words, whichever comes to mind first or whichever is easier to use.

"Magshoshopping kami sa mall. Sino ba ang magdadrive sa shopping center?""We will go shopping at the mall. Who will drive to the shopping center?"

City-dwellers, the highly educated, and people born around and after World War II are more likely to do this.

The practice is common in television, radio, and print media as well. Advertisements from companies like Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, McDonald's, and Western Union have contained Taglish.

Phonology

Tagalog has 33 phonemes: 19 of them are consonants and 14 are vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple, being maximally consonant-ar-vowel-consonant, where consonant-ar only occurs in borrowed words such as trak "truck" or sombréro "hat".

Vowels

Tagalog has ten simple vowels, five long and five short, and four diphthongs. Before appearing in the area north of Pasig river, Tagalog had three vowel qualities: /a/, /i/, and /u/. This was later expanded to five with the introduction of words from Northern Philippine languages like Kapampangan and Ilocano and Spanish words.

They are:

/a/ an open central unrounded vowel roughly similar to English "father"; in the middle of a word, a near-open central vowel similar to Received Pronunciation English "cup"

/ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to General American English "bed"

/i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine"

/o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to General American English "sole" or Philippine English "forty"

/u/ a close back rounded vowel similar to English "flute"

Nevertheless, simplification of pairs [o ~ u] and [ɛ ~ i] is likely to take place, especially in some Tagalog as second language, remote location and worker class registers.

The four diphthongs are /aj/, /uj/, /aw/, and /iw/. Long vowels are not written apart from pedagogical texts, where an acute accent is used: á é í ó ú.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Tagalog consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

/k/ between vowels has a tendency to become [x] as in Spanish "José", whereas in the initial position it has a tendency to become [kx], especially in the Manila dialect.

Intervocalic /ɡ/ and /k/ tend to become [ɰ], as in Spanish "agua", especially in the Manila dialect.

/ɾ/ and /d/ were once allophones, and they still vary grammatically, with initial /d/ becoming intervocalic /ɾ/ in many words.

A glottal stop that occurs in pausa (before a pause) is omitted when it is in the middle of a phrase, especially in the Metro Manila area. The vowel it follows is then lengthened. However, it is preserved in many other dialects.

/ɾ/ can be pronounced [r] on stressed syllables, or [ɹ] pronounced by some speakers in the urban areas.

/tʃ dʒ ʃ/ are written ts, dy, sy.

Glottal stop is not indicated. Glottal stops are most likely to occur when:

the word starts with a vowel, like "aso" (dog)

the word includes a dash followed by a vowel, like "mag-aral" (study)

the word has two vowels next to each other, like "paano" (how)

the word starts with a prefix followed by a verb that starts with a vowel, like "mag-aayos" ([will] fix)

Lexical stress

Lexical stress, coupled with glottalization, is a distinctive feature in Tagalog. Primary stress or the default position occurs on either the final or the penultimate syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress except when stress occurs at the end of a word.

Tagalog homonyms are often distinguished in meaning from one another by the position of the stress and presence of the glottal stop. In general, there are four types of phonetic emphases, which in formal or academic settings are indicated with a diacritic (tuldík) placed above the vowel. The penultimate primary stress position (malumay) is the assumed, default stress type and is therefore left unwritten except in dictionaries. Note that the name of each stress type has its corresponding diacritic in the final vowel.

Baybayin

Tagalog was written in an abugida, or alphasyllabary, called Baybayin prior to the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, in the 16th century. This particular writing system was composed of symbols representing three vowels and 14 consonants. Belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts, it shares similarities with the Old Kawi script of Java and is believed to be descended from the script used by the Bugis in Sulawesi.

Although it enjoyed a relatively high level of literacy, Baybayin gradually fell into disuse in favor of the Latin alphabet taught by the Spaniards during their rule.

There has been confusion of how to use Baybayin, which is actually an abugida, or an alphasyllabary, rather than an alphabet. Not every letter in the Latin alphabet is represented with one of those in the Baybayin alphasyllabary. Rather than letters being put together to make sounds as in Western languages, Baybayin uses symbols to represent syllables.

A "kudlit" resembling an apostrophe is used above or below a symbol to change the vowel sound after its consonant. If the kudlit is used above, the vowel is an "E" or "I" sound. If the kudlit is used below, the vowel is an "O" or "U" sound. A special kudlit was later added by Spanish missionaries in which a cross placed below the symbol to get rid of the vowel sound all together, leaving a consonant. Previously, the consonant without a following vowel was simply left out (for example, bundok being rendered as budo), forcing the reader to use context when reading such words.

Example:

Baybayin is encoded in Unicode version 3.2 in the range 1700-171F under the name "Tagalog".

Abecedario

Until the first half of the 20th century, Tagalog was widely written in a variety of ways based on Spanish orthography consisting of 32 letters called 'ABECEDARIO':

Abakada

When the national language was based on Tagalog, grammarian Lope K. Santos introduced a new alphabet consisting of 20 letters called ABAKADA in school grammar books called balarilà:

Revised alphabet

In 1987 the department of Education, Culture and Sports issued a memo stating that the Philippine alphabet had changed from the Pilipino-Tagalog Abakada version to a new 28-letter alphabet to make room for loans, especially family names from Spanish and English:

ng and mga

The genitive marker ng and the plural marker mga are abbreviations that are pronounced nang [naŋ] and mangá [mɐˈŋa]. Ng, in most cases, roughly translates to "of" (ex. Siya ay kapatid ng nanay ko. She is the sibling of my mother) while nang usually means "when" or can describe how something is done or to what extent (equivalent to the suffix -ly in English adverbs), among other uses. Mga (pronounced as "muh-NGA") denotes plurality as adding an s, es, or ies does in English (ex. Iyan ang mga damit ko. (Those are my clothes)).

Nang si Hudas ay nadulás.—When Judas slipped.

Gumising siya nang maaga.—He woke up early.

Gumalíng nang todo si Juan dahil nag-ensayo siya.—Juan greatly improved because he practiced.

In the first example, nang is used in lieu of the word noong (when; Noong si Hudas ay madulas). In the second, nang describes that the person woke up (gumising) early (maaga); gumising nang maaga. In the third, nang described up to what extent that Juan improved (gumaling), which is "greatly" (nang todo). In the latter two examples, the ligature na and its variants -ng and -g may also be used (Gumising na maaga/Maagang gumising; Gumaling na todo/Todong gumaling).

The longer nang may also have other uses, such as a ligature that joins a repeated word:

Naghintáy sila nang naghintáy.—They kept on waiting" (a closer calque: "They were waiting and waiting.")

pô/hô and opò/ohò

The words pô/hô and opò/ohò are traditionally used as polite iterations of the affirmative "oo" ("yes"). It is generally used when addressing elders or superiors such as bosses or teachers.

"Pô" and "opò" are specifically used to denote a high level of respect when addressing older persons of close affinity like parents, relatives, teachers and family friends. "Hô" and "ohò" are generally used to politely address older neighbours, strangers, public officials, bosses and nannies, and may suggest a distance in societal relationship and respect determined by the addressee's social rank and not their age. However, "pô" and "opv" can be used in any case in order to express an elevation of respect.

Example: "Pakitapon naman pô/ho yung basura". ("Please throw away the trash.")

Used in the affirmative:

Ex: "Gutóm ka na ba?" "Opò/Ohò". ("Are you hungry yet?" "Yes").

Pô/Hô may also be used in negation.

Ex: "Hindi ko pô/hô alam 'yan."("I don't know that.")

Vocabulary and borrowed words

Tagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of native Austronesian origin - most of the words that end with the diphthongs -iw, (e.g. saliw) and those words that exhibit reduplication (e.g. halo-halo, patpat, etc.). However it has a significant number of Spanish loanwords. Spanish is the language that has bequeathed the most loanwords to Tagalog. According to linguists, Spanish has even surpassed Malay in terms of loanwords borrowed. About 40% of everyday (informal) Tagalog conversation is practically made up of Spanish loanwords.

Tagalog also includes many loanwords (including some False Cognates in other languages) from English, Indian (Vedic Sanskrit, Sanskrit and Tamil), Chinese (Hokkien, Yue Chinese (Cantonese), Mandarin), Japanese, Arabic, Persian.

Due to trade with Mexico via the Manila galleons from the 16th to the 19th centuries, many words from Nahuatl were introduced to Tagalog, but some of them were replaced by Spanish loanwords in the latter part of the Spanish colonization in the islands.

The Philippines has long been a melting pot of nations. The islands have been subject to different influences and a meeting point of numerous migrations since the early prehistoric origins of trading activities, especially from the time of the Neolithic Period, Silk Road, Tang Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu Kingdom and Manila Galleon trading periods. This means that the evolution of the language is difficult to reconstruct (although many theories exist).

In pre-Hispanic times, Trade Malay was widely known and spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia.

English has borrowed some words from Tagalog, such as abaca, barong, balisong, boondocks, jeepney, Manila hemp, pancit, ylang-ylang, and yaya, although the vast majority of these borrowed words are only used in the Philippines as part of the vocabularies of Philippine English.

Tagalog has contributed several words to Philippine Spanish, like barangay (from balan͠gay, meaning barrio), the abacá, cogon, palay, dalaga etc.

Austronesian comparison chart

Below is a chart of Tagalog and twenty other Austronesian languages comparing thirteen words.

Religious literature

Religious literature remains one of the most dynamic contributors to Tagalog literature. The first Bible in Tagalog, then called Ang Biblia ("the Bible") and now called Ang Dating Biblia ("the Old Bible"), was published in 1905. In 1970, the Philippine Bible Society translated the Bible into modern Tagalog. Even before the Second Vatican Council, devotional materials in Tagalog had been in circulation. There are at least four circulating Tagalog translations of the Bible

the Magandang Balita Biblia (a parallel translation of the Good News Bible), which is the ecumenical version

the Bibliya ng Sambayanang Pilipino

the 1905 Ang Biblia is a more Protestant version

the Bagong Sanlibutang Salin ng Banal na Kasulatan (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures)

When the Second Vatican Council, (specifically the Sacrosanctum Concilium) permitted the universal prayers to be translated into vernacular languages, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines was one of the first to translate the Roman Missal into Tagalog. The Roman Missal in Tagalog was published as early as 1982.

Jehovah's Witnesses were printing Tagalog literature at least as early as 1941 and The Watchtower (the primary magazine of Jehovah's Witnesses) has been published in Tagalog since at least the 1950s. New releases are now regularly released simultaneously in a number of languages, including Tagalog. The official website of Jehovah's Witnesses also has some publications available online in Tagalog.

Tagalog is quite a stable language, and very few revisions have been made to Catholic Bible translations. Also, as Protestantism in the Philippines is relatively young, liturgical prayers tend to be more ecumenical.

Lord's Prayer

In Tagalog, the Lord's Prayer is exclusively known by its incipit, Amá Namin (literally, "Our Father").

Amá namin, sumasalangit Ka

Sambahín ang ngalan Mo.

Mapasaamin ang kaharián Mo.

Sundín ang loób Mo,

Dito sa lupà, gaya nang sa langit.

Bigyán Mo kamí ngayón ng aming kakanin sa araw-araw,

At patawarin Mo kamí sa aming mga salâ,

Para nang pagpápatawad namin,

Sa nagkakasalà sa amin;

At huwág Mo kamíng ipahintulot sa tuksó,

At iadyâ Mo kamí sa lahát ng masamâ.

[Sapagkát sa Inyó ang kaharián, at ang kapangyarihan,

At ang kaluwálhatian, ngayón, at magpakailanman.]

Amen

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

This is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Pángkalahatáng Pagpapahayag ng Karapatáng Pantao)

Bawat tao'y isinilang na may layà at magkakapantáy ang tagláy na dangál at karapatán. Silá'y pinagkalooban ng pangangatwiran at budhî na kailangang gamitin nilá sa pagtuturingan nilá sa diwà ng pagkakapatiran. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Numbers

The numbers (mga bilang) in Tagalog language are of two sets. The first set consists of native Tagalog words and the other set are Spanish loanwords. For example, when a person refers to the number "seven", it can be translated into Tagalog as "pito" or "syete" (Spanish: siete).

Months and days

Months and days in Tagalog are also localised forms of Spanish months and days. "Month" in Tagalog is buwán (also the word for moon) and "day" is araw (the word also means sun). Unlike Spanish, however, months and days in Tagalog are always capitalised.

Time

Time in Tagalog language are also Tagalized form of Spanish time. "Time" in Tagalog is panahon or more commonly, oras. Unlike Spanish, time in Tagalog are capitalized whenever they appear in a sentence.

Common phrases

*Pronouns such as niyo (2nd person plural) and nila (3rd person plural) are used on a single 2nd person in polite or formal language. See Tagalog grammar.

Proverbs

Ang hindî marunong lumingón sa pinánggalingan ay hindî makaráratíng sa paroroonan. (José Rizal)
One who knows not how to look back from whence he came, will never get to where he is going.

" Tao ka nang humarap, Bilang Tao kitang haharapin" A proverb in Southern Tagalog that made people aware the significance of sincerity in Tagalog communities. It says " as a human you reach me, i treat you as a human and never act as a traitor.

Hulí man daw at magalíng, nakákahábol pa rin. (Hulí man raw at magalíng, nakákahabol pa rin.)
If one is behind but capable, one will still be able to catch up.

Magbirô ka na sa lasíng, huwág lang sa bagong gising.
Make fun of someone drunk, if you must, but never one who has just awakened.

Aanhín pa ang damó kung patáy na ang kabayo?
What use is the grass if the horse is already dead?

Ang sakít ng kalingkingan, ramdám ng buóng katawán.
The pain in the pinkie is felt by the whole body.
(In a group, if one goes down, the rest follow.)

Nasa hulí ang pagsisisi.
Regret is always in the end.

Pagkáhabà-habà man ng prusisyón, sa simbahan pa rin ang tulóy.
The procession may stretch on and on, but it still ends up at the church.
(In romance: refers to how certain people are destined to be married. In general: refers to how some things are inevitable, no matter how long you try and postpone it.)

Kung 'dî mádaán sa santóng dasalan, daanin sa santóng paspasan.
If it cannot be got through holy prayer, get it through blessed force.
(In romance and courting: santóng paspasan literally means 'holy speeding' and is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. It refers to the two styles of courting by Filipino boys: one is the traditional, protracted, restrained manner favoured by older generations, which often featured serenades and manual labour for the girl's parents; the other is upfront seduction, which may lead to a slap on the face or a pregnancy out of wedlock. The second conclusion is known as pikot or what Western cultures would call a 'shotgun marriage'. This proverb is also applied in terms of diplomacy and negotiation.)