Tagalog Facebook

Wow! Pati Facebook nakisabay na sa pagsasatagalog! Sana magsunud-sunuran na rin ang ibang mga dambuhala ng Internet.

Silipin ang http://tl-ph.facebook.com/.

Google is really pioneering the Tagalog software generation

 We’ll as you can see on my previous posts (Google Translations in Tagalog & Google Adwords), Google is really pioneering the Tagalog software generation. Now, several weeks ago, I’ve downloaded Google Chrome, and I was surprised again when I saw that it was in Tagalog. It really is.

However I still hate it for using Filipino as its name, and being very much Taglish in essence. But its actually better than Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 8 in my opinion.

I wonder when would i.ph, Yahoo!, Microsoft and other services would catch up.

Tagalog Google Adwords

As always, Google again insults the language by using Taglish. Please, Google, I request that you start using real Tagalog in order to stop confusing people, especially Tagalog noobs. Please.

See these links:

1. https://adwords.google.com/select/Login (only works if you are from the Philippines)
2. http://www.google.com/intl/tl/privacy.html

i.ph: Multilingual interfaces

Shouldn’t we have these?  Especially Tagalog and Cebuano interfaces since not all people here blog in English. What do you think? PS: If you happen to be an i.ph developer/administrator, and think that this idea is cool, I would be happy to help in the software translations for both languages.

Google translations in Tagalog

Ang impit itigil ay isang tunog na ay napaka-pangkaraniwan sa Philippine wika at din sa iba pang mga wika mundo pa na ito ay hindi bilang karaniwan sa wikang Ingles bilang, sa pinaka-Dialects ng Ingles, ito ay isang napakabihirang tunog; kaya para sa mga average anglophone, ito ay magiging biro.

 

Ang impit stop ay kinakatawan ng IPA simbolo / ʔ / (tila tulad ng isang dotless tandang pananong). In general English, the best example of a word where the glottal stop can be found is in the word “uh-oh” where the glottal stop exists between the separation of the vowels. Sa pangkalahatan English, ang pinakamahusay na halimbawa ng isang salita na kung saan ang impit stop ay matatagpuan ay sa salitang “uh-oh” kung saan ang impit hihinto sa pagitan ng umiiral na ang paghihiwalay ng vowels. Whilst in British English, the sound is more prevalent (eg British renditions of “battle” and “button” where the glottal stop replaces /t/; so this may be easier for you Englishmen. Habang sa British English, ang tunog ay mas karaniwan (eg British renditions ng “labanan” at “button” na kung saan ang impit ihinto ang pumapalit / t /; kaya ito ay maaaring maging mas madali para sa iyo Englishmen.

Tagalog phonology: glottal stop and stress

As I have promised before in previous posts, I am going to discuss to you people the glottal stops and word stressing in the Tagalog language. This would be quite hard. And I know that’s not an inviting start, yet I have to be honest.

As in most of my posts, this will extensively use IPA symbols so please refer to http://felipeaira.i.ph/blogs/felipeaira/2008/06/26/ipa-chart-for-tagalog/. This also contains audio files which may be only visible/audible in some browsers.

Introduction

The glottal stop is a sound that is very common to Philippine languages and also to other world languages yet this is not as common in the English language as, in most dialects of English, this is a very rare sound; so for the average anglophone, this would be quite hard.

The glottal stop is represented by the IPA symbol /ʔ/ (somewhat like a dotless question mark). In general English, the best example of a word where the glottal stop can be found is in the word “uh-oh” where the glottal stop exists between the separation of the vowels. Whilst in British English, the sound is more prevalent (e.g. British renditions of “battle” and “button” where the glottal stop replaces /t/; so this may be easier for you Englishmen.

________________________________________________ 

The stress or, sometimes called, accent or emphasis is, as its other name suggests, the syllable of the word on which an emphasis is given. The following audio files demonstrate stress in the English words “catholic” and “object” respectively. In the first audio file, “catholic” is first pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, secondly, on the second syllable, and, thirdly, on the last syllable. In the second audio file, “object” is first pronounced with the stress in the first syllable whilst the second pronunciation of it has its stress on the last syllable. On the side note, the second audio file also demonstrate the significance of stresses in English; although, most of the time, the stress of English words are in the first syllable, a great number of English nouns with the first syllable stressed that can be used also as verbs put their stresses on the last syllable when it is used as a verb (e.g. “This is an object.” to “I object this proposal.”).

Glottal stop

The glottal stop is a very significant sound in the Tagalog language. In many words, the mere absence of a glottal stop will determine the meaning of a word; this is because many Tagalog words differ in meaning depending on the stress and the presence of the glottal stop.

For non-native speakers, the glottal stop can be hard to produce and distinguish. However, for native speakers who use this all their life, the sound is easily distinguishable.

The glottal stop in Tagalog can exist before the word, in the middle of the word, and in the end of it. Perhaps the hardest of all to discern is the glottal stop before the word, even for native speakers. Examples of these words are “aso” [ˈʔaːso] (dog), “ikaw” [ʔiˈkaʊ] (you) and “Ingles” [ʔiŋˈglɛs] (English). Hear the next audio.

The glottal stop in the middle of Tagalog words is a lot easier to discern and create, and perhaps the easiest of all for two reasons: first, after every vowel that is followed by another vowel, a glottal stop exists between those two vowels (That is in most dialects as some renditions of Manila Tagalog omits intervocalic (between vowels) glottal stops.); secondly, a glottal stop that exists between a consonant and a vowel is always marked by a hyphen (-).

Examples of intervocalic glottal stops are “iuutang” [ˈiʔʉ̞ʔˌʉ̞ːtaŋ] (will owe someone on one’s behalf), “kain” [ˈkɐːʔen] (eat), “iuulam” [ˈiʔʉ̞ˌʔʉ̞ːlam] (will make as viand), and “saan” [ˈsɐʔan] (where; lit.: in what). Hear the next audio.

Examples of postconsonantal glottal stops are “pag-asa” [ˈpɐgˌʔaːsa] (hope; lit.: reliance) and “tag-init” [ˈtɐgˌʔiːnet] (summer; lit.: hot season). Hear the next audio.

Final glottal stops along with stresses usually determine the meaning of a Tagalog word, such as “basa” which can be pronounced as /ˈbɐːsa/ (read) or /bɐˈsaʔ/ (wet), “baba” which can be pronounced as /ˈbɐːba/ (chin) or /bɐˈbaʔ/ (underneath), and “tayo” which can be pronounced as /ˈtɐːjo/ (we/us) or /tɐˈyoʔ/ (stand). Hear the next audio.

Stress

Stressing would be even more significant than glottal stopping since, just as the glottal stop, stresses can determine the true meaning of a word written and almost pronounced at the way but the degree of which the stresses change the meaning of words is very greatly higher than that of the glottal stop.

As you may have noticed, the adding of the final glottal stop is linked with stressing; when the final glottal stop is added, the stress shifts to the last syllable. Well, that’s the case most of the time but not all the time (e.g. “ako” which can be pronounced as /ɐˈkʰo/ (I/me) or /ˈɐːkoʔ/ (claim)).

Knowing how a word is stressed is a lot easier than knowing if the word has a preposted or final glottal stop. Most Tagalog, as well as most other Philippine-languages, words are stressed on the second syllable. This also includes foreign derived terms especially the old ones like Spanish “libro” (book). Whilst a minority of Tagalog words are stressed on the first syllable, most of those have second-syllable-stressed counterparts, and are the words which change in meaning depending on the stress.

That rule applies especially to root words. Words created out of affix-root word combinations have different rules depending on the affix affixed.

If the affix itself can be understood in different ways, almost all of the time the affixed word can be stressed on different ways depending on the meaning of the affix used. Examples follow.

    Ka-

        Meanings:

           1. partner (comparable to English “-mate”)

               kamag-aral [kɐˈmɐgʔaˌɾaːl] (schoolmate)

            2. at a very high degree

               kaganda [ˈkɐːganˌdaː] (very beautiful)

    Ka-an & -an

        Words:

             1. kaharian [ˈkɐhɐˌɾiːʔɐn] (kingliness {degree}) or [kɐhɐˈɾiːʔɐn] (kingdom {physical domain})

             2. hugasan [hʉ̞ˈgɐːsan] (cleanse {imperative}) or [hʉ̞gɐˈsan] (cleaning place {physical})

             3. ikutan [iˈkʉ̞ːtan] (revolve upon {imperative}) or [ikʉ̞ˈtan] (revolving place {physical})

Greater significance of stresses can be found on verb roots. On a traditional Tagalog grammar point of view, the Tagalog language has one participle — the past participle. Almost all Tagalog verb roots have their stresses on the first syllable, just as how most English nouns are stressed, which is opposite to the stress of most Tagalog words which are in the second syllable. The past participle of Tagalog verb roots, which’s first syllable is stressed, are expressed through shifting its stress to the second syllable. See the following examples.

1. gamit: /ˈgɐːmet/ (use) vs. /gɐˈmet/ (used)
2. patay: /ˈpɐːtaɪ/ (kill) vs. /pɐˈtaɪ/ (killed)
3. halo: /ˈhɐːloʔ/ (mix) vs. /hɐˈloʔ/ (mixed)

As you may have noticed, stressed syllables, especially secondarily stressed ones, lengthen their vowels (vowel lengthening is expressed through IPA symbol /ː/); this will be discussed on future posts. However, verbs may be only discussed by me in the very far future.

Purism and Tagalism

“It is recognised by the KWF that “purism” and “Tagalism” are hindrances on the development of the national language.”

— Comission on the Filipino Language

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It is recognised by the Comission on the Filipino Language (KWF) that Purism and Tagalism are hindrances on the development of the Filipino language. You can very well see that! But it must be remembered that “it is recognised that the Filipino language and the Comission on the Filipino Language are hindrances on the devevelopment of the languages of the nation“.

That quote is the result of two great idiocies:

1. that Purism and Tagalism are the same

2. and that the nation only has one langauge, and that Cebuano, Bikol Central, Tausug and others are dialects.

And because those are idiocies, those are also wrong. And why is that? Firstly, Purism and Tagalism are not the same; Purism is the preference of using native terms rather than using its foreign-derived counterparts while Tagalism is the belief that the Tagalog people are the superior and/or the belief that Tagalog is the only language, the only one that should be spoken and/or is the most developed language of the Philippines. This is comparable to Hitler’s belief that the Aryans or Germans are the most superior and modern race, and are those who must rule over the entire human race. Secondly, it is a common mistake that the native languages of the Philippines besides Tagalog are only dialects of Tagalog and/or Filipino. Wrong! Those are absolutely languages. If those are dialects, then it means that the speakers of the Iloko, Tagalog and Waray languages understand one another; and that is not happening.

I also wrote this post to inform you all that the Philippine languages are dying, and the culprit, the Filipino language. On the Tagalog language, the murder by the Filipino language can be seen there on the wave of foreign-derived terms in the Tagalog language, death of the native counterparts of those, and the idiocy of the speakers on their own language where a native Tagalog is even more knowledgeable of the English language than one’s own language. While in other Philippine languages, the damage is even bigger. See a direct quote from http://pnlpfaq.pbwiki.com/Q61.

The Philippine National Language Policy is killing our non-Tagalog languages. While in 1948 only 18% of Filipinos spoke Tagalog as a first language, by 1995 this had gone up to 29.29% or one third of the population. On the other hand, while in 1948, 25% of Flipinos spoke Cebuano, by 1995 this had gone down to 21.17%. In 1948 13% of Filipinos spoke Ilocano and another 13% spoke Ilonggo. By 1995 the percentage of Filipinos speaking these two languages had gone down to 9.31% and 9.1%% respectively.

 

In 1948, Bicol was spoken by 8% of the population. By 1995 this was down to 5.69%. Waray was spoken by 6% of Filipinos in 1948. By 1995 only 3.81% of Flipinos spoke Waray. Pampangan or Kapampangan was spoken by 3% of Filipinos in 1948. By 1995 this had gone down to 2.9%. Pangasinense suffered the biggest loss. in 1948, 3% of Filipinos spoke Pangasinense. By 1995 this had gone down to a miserable 1%. The biggest lose of speakers were for Waray, Bicol and Pangasinense but all non-Tagalog languages suffered tremensdous losses.

If the above trends continue our non-Tagalog languages will either disappear from the face of the earth or be rendered extremely marginal in just 100 years, some in 50 years.

And that is true! Our languages are dying! Being killed by English and the Filipino language! What’s that national language of yours? Is it not that “national” means “for the nation”? Is this “national”? Does “national” mean murder of the languages, murder of our literature, murder of our culture, murder of our history, murder of our individuality?

And, even more surprising there is, like what I have been saying all along, that the Tagalog language was chosen as the basis of the Filipino language because it was allegedly the most used language of the Philippines but look at that: there are more speaker of Cebuano before the promulgation of the Filipino language, and, even now, the Visayans are the largest ethnic group of the Philippines; Visayans compose 40% of the Philippine population, and the Tagalogs are only second in numbers. Fortunately, it seems that the Kapampangan language was not damaged that much, and the number of their speakers still remains. Do not worry, I will still write posts about linguicide (language murder).

Matanglawin

  Ang Matanglawin ay isang napakaganda at nakakapagbigay-aral na palabas na pinupunong-abalahan ni Kim Atienza. Isa ito sa mga mabibilang na rami ng mga palabas sa Pilipinas na hindi tungkol sa mga taunsining (artista). Ang hindi ko nga lamang napupusuan sa palabas na ito ay ang maling paggamit nito ng Baybaying Tagalog. Sana, maiwasto na nila ito upang hindi makapagbigay pa ng mga maling kaalaman sa mga manonood nito ukol sa Baybaying Tagalog.

Pagkamakadalisay at Pagkamakatagalog

“Kinikilala ng KWF na ang “purismo” at “Tagalismo” ay mga hadlang sa pagpapaunlad ng wikang pambansa.”

— Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

_______________________________________________________________

Kinikilala ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipinong (KWF) ang Pagkamakadalisay (purismo) at Pagkamakatagalog (Tagalismo) ay nakakahadlang sa pag-unlad ng wikang Filipino. Kitang-kita mo ‘yan! Ngunit kailangan ding alalahaning “kinikilalang ang wikang Filipino at Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino ay mga hadlang sa pagpapaunlad ng mga wika ng bansa“.

Ang katagang iyan ay bunga ng dalawang malaking katangahang:

1. iisa ang Pagkamakadalisay at Pagkamakatagalog

2. at iisa lamang ang wika ng bansa, at ang Sinugbuanon, Bikol Central, Tausug at iba pa ay mga wikain (diyalekto).

At dahil nga mga katangahan ang mga iyon, mali rin ang mga iyon. Bakit naman? Una, hindi iisa ang Pagkamakadalisay at Pagkamakatagalog; ang Pagkamakadalisay ay ang pagkiling sa paggamit ng mga katutubong salita kaysa sa paggamit ng mga banyagaing katumbas nito habang ang Pagkamakatagalog ay ang paniniwalang ang mga taong Tagalog ang nakakataas at/o paniniwalang Tagalog lamang ang tanging wika, dapat winiwika at/o pinakamaunlad na wika ng Pilipinas. Maihahambing ito sa paniniwala ni Hitler na ang mga Aryan o Aleman ang pinakamataas at makabagong lahi, at ang mga dapat mamuno sa sangkatauhan. Ikalawa, karaniwang pagkakamaling ang mga wikang katutubo ng Pilipinas bukod sa Tagalog ay mga wikain lamang ng Tagalog at/o Filipino. Mali! ang mga iyon ay mga ganap na wika. Kung mga wikain ang mga iyon, nangangahulugang nagkakaintindihan ang mga mananalita ng wikang Iloko, Tagalog at Waray sa isa’t isa; at hindi nangyayari iyon.

Isinulat ko rin ang talastas na ito upang ipaalam sa inyong lahat na namamatay ang mga wikang Pilipino, at ang salarin, wikang Filipino. Sa wikang Tagalog, makikita ang pagpatay ng wikang Filipino riyon sa pagdagsa ng mga banyagaing salita sa wikang Tagalog, pagkamatay ng mga katutubong katumbas ng mga iyon, at katangahan ng mga mananalita sa sarili nilang wika kung saan higit na maalam pa ang isang katutubong Tagalog sa wikang Ingles kaysa sa sarili niyang wika. Sa ibang mga wikang Pilipino naman, higit na malaki ang pinsala. Tingnan ang isang tahasang pagsisipi mula sa http://pnlpfaq.pbwiki.com/Q61.

The Philippine National Language Policy is killing our non-Tagalog languages. While in 1948 only 18% of Filipinos spoke Tagalog as a first language, by 1995 this had gone up to 29.29% or one third of the population. On the other hand, while in 1948, 25% of Flipinos spoke Cebuano, by 1995 this had gone down to 21.17%. In 1948 13% of Filipinos spoke Ilocano and another 13% spoke Ilonggo. By 1995 the percentage of Filipinos speaking these two languages had gone down to 9.31% and 9.1%% respectively.

 

In 1948, Bicol was spoken by 8% of the population. By 1995 this was down to 5.69%. Waray was spoken by 6% of Filipinos in 1948. By 1995 only 3.81% of Flipinos spoke Waray. Pampangan or Kapampangan was spoken by 3% of Filipinos in 1948. By 1995 this had gone down to 2.9%. Pangasinense suffered the biggest loss. in 1948, 3% of Filipinos spoke Pangasinense. By 1995 this had gone down to a miserable 1%. The biggest lose of speakers were for Waray, Bicol and Pangasinense but all non-Tagalog languages suffered tremensdous losses.

If the above trends continue our non-Tagalog languages will either disappear from the face of the earth or be rendered extremely marginal in just 100 years, some in 50 years.

At totoo iyan! Namamatay ang mga wika natin! Pinapatay ng Ingles at wikang Filipino! Ngayon ano na ‘yang wikang pambansa mo? Hindi ba ngangangahulugan ang “pambansa” ng “alang-alang (para) sa bansa”? “Pambansa” ba ito? “Pambansa” ba ang pagpatay ng mga wika, pagpatay ng ating panitikan, pagpatay ng ating kalinangan (kultura), pagpatay ng ating kasaysayan, pagpatay ng ating kasarinlan?

At nakakagulat pa nga riyan, gaya ng aking sinabi rati pa, piniling batayan ang wikang Tagalog ng wikang Filipino dahil ito raw ang pinakalaganap na wikang Pilipino ngunit tingnan niyo ‘yan: higit na marami pa ang nagsasalita ng Sinugbuanon bago maisapatupad ang wikang Filipino, at maging ngayon ang mga Bisaya ang pinakamalaking panaong pangkat ng Pilipinas; binubuo ng mga Bisaya ang 40% ng mga tao sa Pilipinas, sumusunod lamang ang mga Tagalog dito sa rami. Sa kabutihang palad, mukhang hindi napinsala nang gaano ang wikang Kapampangan, at nananatili pa rin ang dami ng kanilang mga mananalita. Huwag mag-alala, magsusulat pa ako ng mga talastas tungkol sa pagpatay-wika.

oo sound changes

You may remember before my posts about “oo” vowel clusters”. (http://felipeaira.i.ph/blogs/felipeaira/?s=exceptions&ct=1c48b59f054cd88cba596e3cf3f409d3322bd57c6e8750402cc994bd1c53372d56340416) Now I am going to discuss sound changes concerning it.

iy → o

This is a sound change whereas “iy” within words change to “o”. Why? It is easier to pronounce. The following are examples of shifted and unshifted forms. Remember both are in mainstream use although the shifted ones are  more popular. Also, personally, I tend to use the unshifted ones since they are the original form.

• diyon → doon (of this)
• niyon → noon (of that)

oo → o/u

This sound change is a simplification of “oo” due to omission of the glottal stop between “oo”, which is common not only to “oo” vowel clusters; I will discuss glottal stop omission in future posts. These are generally used only in vernacular and informal writing, and should be avoided when writing formally. You: If this is not “correct”, why are you teaching this? I: Since you are doomed to encounter these forms; not all Tagalog write formally or wittingly.

In this sound change, “oo” becomes “o” or “u” regardless of its position with in the word.