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Preface to the Revised Edition
More than 500 new words and expressions have been added to this completely updated and expanded version of Basic Tagalog. These are spread throughout the 44 lessons, the Appendices and the exercises as well as in the Tagalog-English/English-Tagalog vocabulary lists at the back of this book. The added vocabulary is meant to keep learners abreast of changes that have occurred in the language since the first edition of Basic Tagalog which was published in 1969.
This edition has retained all the grammar lessons and the tried-and-tested teaching methodology developed by the author, Paraluman S. Aspillera , for the original version. Her method has proven to be extremely effective for tens of thousands of foreigners and non-Tagalogs who have used this book to learn Tagalog, including many who have successfully learned to speak and write Tagalog through self-study on their own without a teacher. An audio CD has also been added to facilitate the correct pronunciation of Tagalog words and phrases. A succinct introduction to the language and a description of the character of Filipinos will hopefully provide learners with a better understanding of the language they are learning.
The lessons in this book are intended for a three-month period of intensive study followed by another three months of applied oral communication of at least two hours per day. In six months (or about 250 hours), it is expected that an average learner should be able to speak, write and understand simple, everyday, conversational Tagalog as spoken by most Filipinos.
I hope that the new and expanded edition of this book will further encourage both non-Tagalogs and non-Filipinos to speak the Tagalog language better. Only then shall they appreciate the individuality of the language that reflects the resilience and flexibility of Filipinos all around the world. In the end, such learning will improve daily interactions and communications between non-Filipinos and Filipinos—whether in business, educational, social or civic endeavors.
Yolanda Canseco Hernandez
INTRODUCTION
Tagalog—A Living Language
What is a living language? It is defined as a language that is “currently in use or valid.” Thus, it is alive, it is dynamic, it is vibrant.
Language is a system through which people express their thoughts, feelings and sentiments, either orally or in writing. It mirrors the kind of society they live in, their customs and traditions, and their aspirations as a nation.
Tagalog is a living language. It is the basis of the national language of the Philippines as mandated by the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines under Article XIV, Section 6, on “Language.” The provision states: “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages. 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 a language of instruction in the education system.”
While still considered a young but nonetheless maturing national language, Filipino is constantly being developed through its usage in various fields of endeavor. As the nation develops and progresses, Filipino also grows linguistically and lexically with the assimilation of new words, concepts and ideas into the language brought about by technological advances, changes in lifestyles, globalization trends and contacts with foreign cultures, political and religious upheavals, and media developments, among others.
Historical Influences and Contacts
Tagalog as a language has very ancient roots going back thousands of years, and even had its own writing system in ancient times, borrowed from the Sanskritic writing systems of the region. According to Filipino anthropologist F. Landa Jocano, “Writing as a system of communication was fairly well-developed in many parts of the archipelago when the Spaniards came during the early part of the 16th century.”
Documents unearthed by Spanish chroniclers Pedro Chirino and Francisco Colin show different types of alphabets or syllabary writing. The writing had vowel and consonant syllable signs which, according to anthropologist Robert Fox, conform “to a common phonemic pattern of Philippine (contemporary languages).”
Comparisons with other Asian language groups indicate that the Tagalog language along with other Philippine languages belong to the Malayan branch of the great Malayo-Polynesian or Austronesian linguistic family, which includes hundreds of languages now spread across almost half the globe from Taiwan through the Philippine Islands to Hawaii, Fiji and New Zealand in the Pacific, across the islands of Indonesia and the Malay peninsula to Madagascar.
Filipino linguist Juan Francisco cited many Indian influences on Philippine language and literature. He found about 336 terms derived from Sanskrit, out of which 150 were identified and used in the Philippine languages, specifically in the names of plants and animals. Many of these appear to have been borrowed from Malay.
Loan words from China have also crept into the Philippine vocabulary, particularly standard Tagalog. Linguist Arsenio E. Manuel, in his study Chinese Elements in the Tagalog Language (1948), compiled a “list of 381 Tagalog words of Chinese origins, excluding variants, derivatives and compounds.” These words pertain to food, abstract ideas or terms, metal smithing, kinship, and words concerning agriculture, business, tools, industries and games.
The few Arabic words in Tagalog came in with the arrival of Islam from the southern Philippine islands where the religion has had a foothold since 1380. However, the defeat of a sultan in Manila in 1571 meant the subsequent extinction of the faith in Tagalog-speaking areas and many Arabic words fell into disuse.
The Spanish has contributed a great deal to the Philippine languages, and many Spanish loan words have now been thoroughly naturalized. These include religious, governmental, social, legal and abstract terms, including many terms for foreign articles and luxuries. Contacts with traders during the Spanish period also led to a few Mexican words, mainly Nahuatl or Aztec, creeping into the Tagalog lexicon. Other parts of the country, specifically in the Zamboanga provinces in the Mindanao region, the dominant language of the Zamboangueño people has evolved from the marriage of Spanish and Cebuano into what is now known as Chavacano or Philippine Creole Spanish.
In his 1,027-page Diksyunaryo Tesauro Pilipino Ingles posthumously published in 1973, Dr. Jose Villa Panganiban—who was a professor, linguist, and former director of the Institute of National Language in Manila—included 27,069 main word entries, containing almost 217,500 lexical items. He listed 12,000 loan words derived from Spanish, English, Chinese and Indo-European languages. He also included synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms with other languages along with identities and cognacies between Tagalog and 12 other Philippine languages.
While the colonization of the Philippines by the Spaniards for more than 300 years had a profound impact on the lifestyles of the Filipinos, other colonizers especially the Americans left their marks on Philippine culture and society by introducing their own brand of education and government. English words which had no exact equivalent have been adapted into the Philippine languages and given a regional treatment for suitability in the language. Although most are still quoted, some are used and spelled as they are especially with the recent modification of the Filipino alphabet. The Japanese also occupied the islands in the 1940s but seemed to have furnished no words