Tagalog: The National Language of the Philippines
Tagalog is one of the languages spoken by Filipinos in the Republic of the Philippines. According to Paz M. Belvez, “After a thorough and earnest effort in studying the case, the committee recommended Tagalog to be the basis of the national language. Hence, the Executive Order No. 134 s. 1937 stating that the national language will be based on Tagalog” (Para. 4). It served as the country’s official language along with English. Philippines was surrounded by different countries and that allowed them to trade and correspondence. This kind of activities gave them opportunities to be influence by other languages throughout the history. The word Tagalog was a short term for Taga-ilog which means river dweller. According to the location, presented in Ethnologue, “Tagalog speakers are mostly found in Manila, a Luzon area”.
It was thought that Indonesians were the first groups to have come in the Philippines around 1500 B.C. There was a connection between Tagalog and Bahasa Indonesia. It was possible that the language may came from those groups. But another groups like Malay people are also thought to have come much earlier. According to Philippine History, presented in Pinas, “The Malayan tribes that came later had more highly developed material cultures” (Para. 1). They made up the largest percentage of population in the country.
Before the arrival of other explorers, they build small towns and called it Barangays. A Datu was assigned to lead their barangay. They lived together so they would have higher chance of safety and protection from other dwellers. But they weren’t united as one government and just settle into smaller groups. This caused creating many languages and speak diff...
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...l dialects that differ, especially at the phonological and lexical levels” (Para. 2).
The Tagalog continued to borrow words from different Languages especially English and Spanish languages. This kind of process can make it hard to distinguish which words are the original Tagalog. Often, those borrowed words could never have the same meanings as the others. According to Dr. Teresita V. Ramos, “One of the factors that complicate the language situation in the Philippines is diversity. Linguists say there are 75 to 150 native languages spoken by Filipinos” (Para. 2). In the end, Tagalog language have develop a lot since the time of trading and colonization. It have been influenced by English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and many others. However, Filipino people have managed to owned, maintained, separated their languages from one language to another.
The Philippines was annexed because they needed guidance in leading their new nation. Owning our children is like the United States annexing the Philippines. The Philippine Islands our like children who are small and weak, but with the United States is like the parents that help the children grow and prosper into strong people. “That there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellowmen for whom christ also died” (Doc C). The
...al Sam Gillis.” Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1982. 87. Print.
In 1900, Senator Albert Beveridge, a Republican from Indiana, gave a speech in response to “The Philippine Question”. Beveridge was asked by senators and members of the House of Representatives to give a speech on the Philippines. At this time, the United States was in discussion of what the future steps would be after the Spanish-American War, which resulted in a win and subsequent acquisition of the Philippines. Senator Beveridge responded to the idea that the United States should stay in the Philippines for its available resources for the United States, its impact it gives the United States in the Pacific Ocean, and the destiny the United States has in spreading democracy. Senator Albert Beveridge makes a strong argument of why the United States should stay in the Philippines; his arguments of commerce, world powers, and race are all strong for the United States, but there is a strong resistance from the Filipino people and their vocal leader Emilio Aguinaldo.
The United States should not annex the Philippine islands, the Philippines, already a country of their own should not be forced to adapt to American culture and civilization. Prior to the annexation of the Philippines, America had major conflict with Spain in order to free Cuba from their brutal tactics for dominance. Tension continued to rise, until President Mckinley decided to take action and go to war against Spanish forces to enable a more stable government as well as provide protection for the citizens of Cuba. After months of fighting, the Spanish admitted defeat and began discussing peace terms of the Treaty of Paris. In this treaty Cuba was guaranteed independence, also the Spanish were forced to give up Guam and Puerto Rico. They Spanish also complied to selling the Philippines to the U.S for 20 million. However, the Filipinos wanted independence, not just a change in who governed them, this desire led many Philippine citizens to break out, beginning the Philippine- American war, which lasted three years, and caused the death of over two hundred thousand American and Filipino citizens.
To start with, Filipinos and Filipino-Americans have their commonalities but they also have differences. They both have the same roots, Filipino. Their distinction is that a Filipino is a native of the Philippines which is born and raised there while a Filipino-American is a citizen of the United States by birth or naturalization which has a Filipino ancestry. The first Filipino immigrants who lived in America permanently are called the 1st generation Filipino-Americans. In the article “Filipino Americans” (1998), Marina Claudio-Perez states that “The child of a Filipino immigrant is referred to as second-generation Filipino American” (par. 1). Claudio-Perez continues and says, “Filipino Americans are often shortened into Pinoy. Some Filipinos believe that the term Pinoy was coined by the early Filipinos...
There are four languages spoken overall there and they are Dutch, English, Spanish, and Papiamento. Papiamento is not a dialect but a language that is evidence to the many influences of older languages and Aruba’s culture and traditions. It has traces of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and local Indian languages. It is a language that began in Curacao in the 1500’s in an attempt to help slave owners communicate with their slaves. It’s a comparatively easy language to learn with a limited vocabulary and a spicy rhythm that makes it “fun”. The challenging aspect of Papiamento is the importance of proper emphasis on the right syllable. If this is done incorrectly another meaning to the word intended may be interpreted. Some examples of Papiamento are as follows; Very good is Hopi bon, Good Morning is Bon dia, Good Afternoon is Bon tardi, Good Evening is Bon nochi, and Have a good day is Pasa bon dia. Even with a limited knowledge of Spanish and French, one can find similarities and traces of the two within these few phrases .
The first inhabitants of the Philippines arrived from the land bridge from Asia over 150,000 years ago. Throughout the years, migrants from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia made their way to the islands of this country. In the fourteenth century, the Arabs arrived and soon began a long tradition of Islam. Many Muslims are still living in the Philippines today.
The world is always in constant changing. Living creatures had had to adapt to new environments and living conditions. Therefore, every species have faced a process of evolution. The human race was not excluded of such changes, and has suffered numerous transformations since the beginning of times. Moreover, this process of change affected humans not only physically, but also affected their communities, organizations, values and every other aspect of their cultures. One of the aspects of cultures that would inevitable change with the time is the language. Language can be understood as a group of symbols that contain meaning, and is used as a form of communication in the human´s communities. Each language has an enormous part of cultural content and is vital to the development of such. However, the bond between languages and cultures led languages to go through continuous changing; some even face extinction with the time. The English language is not saved from suffering this constant evolution; nevertheless, it has managed to become one of the most predominant languages in the world. To understand the strong influence of the English language is necessary to observe the changes that it has suffered through the years; also, is important to know the reasons that led to the disappearance of other languages, and to make an analysis of if it was whether the culture that changed the language or vice verse.
Tagalog is ones of the many dialects derived from the Malay language family and belongs to the Malayan branch of the great Malayo-Polynesian linguistic family. The Malay language is not specifically a language of any nation, but of communities spread throughout the Pacific islands such as Sumara, Sunda, Java, Bornea, Flores, Timor, and the Philippines. In the early sixteenth century Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, and his Malay interpreter both noticed how the interpreter could easily be understood from one island to the next, indicating that there was a similarity between the different dialects of the Malay language.
The main focus of this study is going to be the process colonization of the Philippines and how the Spanish colonized the Philippines, primarily focusing in the customs and cultures. The pre-colonized and post-colonized Philippines will be discussed and compared with one another to determine the degree of change that occurred with the Filipino culture. The analysis of the information will explain how events that followed colonization erased aspects of the Filipino culture.
To understand Thai culture, belief and value, it is important to understand the language use in Thai society. According to sociolinguistic point of view, Thailand is considered the “Diglossia Society”, where there are variety of languages use to serve a specialized function and are used for particular purpose. The purpose of the different language is to serve the different types of people. The standard Thai language is used with normal domain or normal people. Another language is used for “ High Function” or with the higher status domains such as with the monk and with the King and the Royal family. This kind of language is called “ Kam Racha Sap” /
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