regarding tagalog as a national language.
Renowl
By Ivar Gica
PEOPLE would be in a much better position to discuss the state of our national
language if they spoke or at least understood, to appreciate the beauty,
limpidness and otherwise richness of the other languages i.e., Bisaya, Iloko,
Bikol, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Waray, Pangalatok, Kapampangan, Tausog, Maranaw,
etc. If armed only with Tagalog, they would have no assertive basis for their
thesis and will result in hogwash and bigotry blurring the merits of the
development of a true, not superficial, national language.
Today, Tagalog, being presented as Pilipino is actually 100 percent Tagalog.
When latest figures show that Bisaya (Cebu Bisayan) is used by 41 percent of
the population that leaves 59 percent to represent those who speak either one
or a combination of Tagalog, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Bikol, Pangalatok,
Kapampangan, Waray, Maranaos, Tausog, Maguindanao, and the lumad dialects, etc.
- Tagalog is therefore, the minority language.
True, Tagalog like English is widely understood and used outside the Tagalog
regions; even spoken in intonations that bigots in Imperial Manila taunt. In
fact, Filipinos, unable to communicate in any of their own languages, utilized
English - 51 percent claiming familiarity with it. This has been widely
observed whenever persons - interviewed by various media for various reasons -
responded in English to Tagalog questions. An odd situation.
A national language, according to linguistic experts, should be the language
used daily in the work place and in homes. That's the 41 percent of Philippine
population. But that 41 percent still contributes a large portion to the
minority share annexed by Tagalogs because they can easily respond in Tagalog
when spoken to in Tagalog. But he reverts to his daily language as soon as the
dialogue in Tagalog was ended.
Therefore, "Pilipino" today is a superficial "national language." It does not
have the emanations of a national soul. That is why, despite mass media,
movies, compulsory teaching in schools over close to a century, Tagalog has not
grown as fast as, say, Bisaya which was spoken by only 27 percent of the
population in the mid 1950s.
It was convenient for Tagalog President Quezon to dictate the national language
without benefit of a survey or referendum. Although adventurous and had
mastered Spanish and English, he found no patriotism to venture into the
exploration of languages and cultures of his own country.
Greg and Diane Dekker, linguistics experts who have been studying Philippine
languages and dialects for years, postulate that a national language is largely
in response to several pragmatic considerations and other factors:
1.The number of citizens of any given country who speak a common language.
2.The degree to which the language represents the common concerns and interests
of its citizenry.
3.The desire of national leadership to use a unified language to make it easy
to promote education.
4.The need by all citizens of a country to seek a better way of life through
education.
It is not history that dictates the national language because even the telling
of history has its odd biases. It is the commonly accepted usage in the same
way how words find their way into lexicons. It is unfair to teach Tagalog in
schools masquerading as "Pilipino." It is even cruel to non-Tagalogs to be
subjected to government examinations in Tagalog.
I am familiar with my thesis being a polyglot: Tagalog, Bisaya, Hiligaynon,
Waray, functional understanding of Bikol from Sorsogon to Albay and some
foreign languages. People, similarly equipped, should share my sentiments.
(Email: ivar...@hotmail.com)
Rico
Tagalog: 16,911,871 first language speakers (1990 census), about 23.8% of the
population.
Cebuano: 14,713,220 in the Philippines (1990 census), about 24.4% of the
population.
Source: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Philippines
Totoo na halos magkasing-rami ang "first language speakers" ng Tagalog at
Cebuano. Medyo mali yung calculation nila ng percentage pero approximation lang
naman yun kaya more or less tama.
Now we have four choices for our national language policy:
1. Tagalog-based Filipino
2. Cebuano-based Filipino
3. Filipino English
4. Any combination of the three
Given the current situation, my vote goes to #1. Let's have only one official
language, Tagalog-based Filipino and offer Cebuano, Ilokano, English, Japanese,
Chinese, Spanish etc. etc. as electives.
Reasons.
* Metro Manila (approx. 12 MILLION daytime population) already speaks Tagalog.
* Philippine Popular Media, mostly based in Manila, already speaks Tagalog.
* We've been teaching Tagalog already for the past 50 or so years.
* Tagalog is already spoken as a second language by most Filipinos.
Other reasons.
* We need an official language, that a sizeable number of the population can
already speak fluently without having to go to school.
* We don't really need two official languages. Teach English to those who want
to learn English but DO NOT EXCLUDE people from mainstream society just because
they speak less than perfect English.
Ijou desu.
Rico
"Renowl" <ren...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020527043032...@mb-fu.aol.com...
> A national language is neither dictated by history nor bigots
> By Ivar Gica
Renowl, in your own words... what should dictate the national language?
Just JT
>
> Totoo na halos magkasing-rami ang "first language speakers" ng Tagalog at
> Cebuano. Medyo mali yung calculation nila ng percentage pero approximation
lang
> naman yun kaya more or less tama.
Kaya mo ipinagpipilit ang Tagalog dahil ika'y kasapi sa mga IMPERIALISTING
TAGALOG. Wala kang pakialam na mamatay ang wika ng iba nating kababayang di
kasapi sa IMPERIALISTING KATAGALUGAN.
English translation: to all Tagalog Imperialists: FOAD.
--
Tagakampamkano
Mr. Ma Yabang
mas maayo ang bisaya kay mas buwag-buwag man. ang tagalog kay naa ra
man diha sa maynila. wa ma nay gamit sa visayas ug mindanao. unya
ang mga bisaya sab mga katuohan kaayo nga mga tao ba kay but-an man.
dili mangurakot ba ug dili mga hambugiro. mga gwapa pa jud ang mga
dalaga. lami kaayo pisliton. sus oy.
kung bisaya ang national language, anha na siguro na muasinso ang
pilipinas. dali man gud magkasinabot ning mga bisaya. sample diri sa
estates. uy! bisaya diay ka bay? o bisaya pards. suod dayon amigo
bisa'g mao pay pagkaila. mao lagi na.
-MY
macky
Ngano diay ako My - dugay na ko sa Manila, tonto pa gihapon!
macky jr.
Rico
Rico
"Just JT" <Johnn...@HotMale.Com> wrote in message
news:3cf2b84c$1...@news.microsoft.com...