FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


CHANGE IN THE WAY FILIPINOS SPEAK?

The Pilipino language based on the Tagalog dialect as spoken by majority of Filipinos in the Philippines nowadays has turned out to be a hodgepodge of words from other Filipino dialects, foreign languages, and coined words.

Here’s a sampling:

The English word “every” such as in everyday translated into Tagalog as “bawa’t” is now translated as “kada” from the Spanish word cada.

The English word “evacuate” translated into Tagalog as “ilipat” is now translated as “ilikas” borrowed from the Kapampangan dialect.

The English word “homosexual” translated into Tagalog as “bakla or binabae” is now translated as “bading” perhaps a shortened combination of words.

The English word “impression” translated into Tagalog as “palagay” is now translated as “dating” used to mean arrival.

The English word “outing” translated into Tagalog as “pasyal” is now translated as gimmick borrowed from English that means a deal or a ploy.

The English word “business” translated into Tagalog as “pinagkakakitaan” is now translated as “racket” borrowed from English that commonly means criminal activity.

I have no idea whether these changes in the way today’s Filipinos speak is a sign of progress or otherwise. But what has so grammatically changed based on the BALARILA, the Filipino national language manual is the common use of the Tagalog pronoun “siya” to refer to all kinds of persons, objects, and things. The pronoun “siya” originally pertains only to people and the pronouns “ito” or “iyan” refer to animals, objects or things.

In so doing, there is no more distinction among people, animals and things in the universal use of the pronoun “siya” .Is this the way Philippine culture goes?

End