Tagalog languageTagálog is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. Being part of the Austronesian languages, it is related to Indonesian, Malay, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Malagasy, Samoan, Tahitian, Chamorro, Tetum, and the Austronesian languages of Taiwan.
HistorySince there are no written samples of Tagalog before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, very little is known about history of the language. However there is speculation among linguists that the ancestors of the Tagalogs originated, along with their Central Philippine cousins, from northeastern Mindanao or eastern Visayas. The first known book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Cristiana (Christian Doctrine) of 1593. It was written in Spanish and two versions of Tagalog; one written in Baybayin and the other in the Latin alphabet. Throughout the 300 years of Spanish occupation, there have been grammars and dictionaries written by Spanish clergymen such as Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1835) and Arte de la lengua tagala y manual tagalog para la adminstración de los Santos Sacramentos (1850). Poet Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar (1788-1862) is often regarded as the Tagalog equivalent of William Shakespeare. His most famous work is the early 19th-century Florante at Laura. ClassificationTagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family. It is immediately related to the languages spoken in the Bicol and Visayas regions such as Bikol, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, and Cebuano. Languages that have made significant contributions to Tagalog are Spanish, Hokkien Chinese, English, Malay, Sanskrit (via Malay), Arabic (via Malay/Spanish), and Northern Philippine languages such as Kapampangan spoken on the island of Luzon. Geographic DistributionThe Tagalog homeland, or 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, and Rizal. Tagalog is also spoken natively by inhabitants living on the islands of Lubang, Marinduque, and the northern and eastern parts of Mindoro. According to the Philippine Census of 2000, 21,485,927 out of 76,332,470 Filipinos claimed Tagalog as their first language. An estimated 50 million Filipinos speak it in varying degrees in proficiency. Tagalog speakers are to be found in other parts of the Philippines as well as throughout the world; it is the sixth most-spoken language in the United States. Official StatusAfter weeks of study and deliberation, Tagalog was chosen by the National Language Institute, a committee composed of seven members who represented various regions in the Philippines. President Manuel L. Quezon then proclaimed Tagalog the national language or AskFactMaster.Com pambansâ of the Philippines on December 31, 1937. This was made official upon the Philippines' restoration of independence from the United States on July 4, 1946. From 1961 to 1987, Tagalog was also known as Pilipino. In 1987, the name changed to Filipino. Since 1940, Tagalog has been taught in schools throughout the Philippines. It is the only one out of over 160 Philippine languages that is officially taught in schools. DialectsEthnologue lists Lubang, Manila, Marinduque, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Tanay-Paete, and Tayabas as dialects of Tagalog. However, there appears to be four main dialects of which the aforementioned are a part; Northern, Central (including Manila), Southern, and Marinduque. While the dialects have their own peculiarities, they are generally mutually intelligible with each other. Perhaps the most divergent Tagalog dialect is the one spoken on Marinduque; it has many features found in Visayan languages such as different verbal affixes. Rural areas in the Tagalog-speaking areas tend to use conservative Tagalog, avoiding Spanish and English words in favor of native Tagalog ones. For example a rural Tagalog speaker might say maaari mong ipaunawa sa akin? (Could you explain it to me?) which sounds very dramatic to urban dwellers who would probably express the same phrase as pwede mong i-explain sa akin? Derived LanguagesFrequent contact between Tagalog speakers and Spanish speakers have given way to Philippine Creole Spanish or Chabacano. There are three known varieties of Chabacano which have Tagalog as their base: Caviteño, Ternateño, and Ermitaño. Ermitaño is said to be extinct, however a total of 210,000 speak Caviteño & Ternateño, according to the 2000 Census. BinaliktadIn urban areas, the phenomena of binaliktad (reversed) is also common. Equivalents in other languages are vesre and verlan. The following are some examples:
SoundsTagalog has 21 phonemes; 16 consonants and five vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel. VowelsBefore the arrival of the Spanish, Tagalog had three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, and /u/. This was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words. They are:
There are four main diphthongs; /aI/, /oI/, /aU/, and /iU/. ConsonantsBelow 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.
StressStress is phonemic in Tagalog. Primary stress occurs on either the last or the next-to-the syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress except when stress occurs at the end of a word. Phonology
Historical Sound ChangesTagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *e. In Bikol & Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and [o]. In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/. For example, Proto-Philippine *delem (dark) is Tagalog dilím and Visayan & Bikol dulom. Proto-Philippine *r, *j, and *z merged with /d/ but is /l/ between vowels. Proto-Philippine *ngajan (name) and *hajek (kiss) became Tagalog ngalan and halík. Proto-Philippine *R merged with /g/. *tubiR (water) and *zuRuq (blood) became Tagalog tubig and dugô. Grammar
Writing SystemBaybayin
Tagalog was written in an abugida called Baybayin prior to the arrival of the Spaniards 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 Kavi 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, the script gradually fell into disuse in favor of the Latin alphabet during Spanish colonial rule. Latin AlphabetUntil the the first half of the 20th century, Tagalog was widely written in a variety of ways based on Spanish orthography. When Tagalog became the national language, grammarian Lope K. Santos introduced a new alphabet consisting of 20 letters called ABAKADA in school grammar books called balarilà; A B K D E G H I L M N NG O P R S T U W Y. The alphabet was again expanded in 1976 to include the letters C, CH, F, J, Q, RR, V, X, and Z in order to accomdate words of Spanish and English origin. The most recent reform of the alphabet occurred in 1987. The number of letters was reduced from 33 to 28; A B C D E F G H I J K L M N Ñ Ng O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. DiacriticsDiacritics are normally not written in practice. However, they are usually used in dictionaries or in textbooks suited to those learning the language. There are three kinds of diacitics used in Tagalog:
Ng and MgaThe genitive marker ng and the plural marker mga are abbreviations that are pronounced nang /naN/ and mangá /ma"Na/. VocabularyTagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of Austronesian origin with borrowings from Spanish, Hokkien, English, Malay, Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil, Persian, Kapampangan, languages spoken on Luzon, and others, especially other Austronesian languages. Tagalog Words of Foreign Origin ChartFor the Hokkien borrowings, the parentheses indicate the equivalent in standard Chinese.
Austronesian Comparison ChartBelow is a chart of Tagalog and twelve other Austronesian languages comparing twelve words; the first eleven languages are spoken in the Philippines and the other two are spoken in Indonesia and in Hawai'i.
Contribution to other languagesTagalog itself has contributed a few words into English. The word boondocks which means 'rural' or 'back country', was imported by American soldiers stationed in the Philippines from the Tagalog bundok, which means "'mountain." Another word is cogon, which is a type of grass, used for thatching. This word came from the Tagalog word kugon. There is also ylang-ylang, which is a type of flower known for its fragrance. Tagalog has contributed balangay to Spanish, meaning barrio. ExamplesCommon Phrases
ProverbsHere are some proverbs in Tagalog. Ang hindî marunong lumingón sa pinanggalingan ay hindî makararatíng sa paroroonan. Ang isdâ ay hinuhuli sa bibig. Ang tao, sa salitâ. Ang hindî magmahál sa kaniyáng wikà ay mahigít pa sa hayop at malansáng isdâ. Nasa Dyos ang awà, nasa tao ang gawâ. Magbirô lamang sa lasíng, huwág sa bagong gising. Magsama-sama at malakás, magwaták-waták at babagsák. External links
Resources for Learning Tagalog
See Also
de:Tagalog nl:Tagalog es:tagalo pt:tagalo |
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