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error: ISO 639 code is required (help) Tagálog 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.

History

The word Tagalog was derived from tagá-ílog, from tagá- meaning "native" and ílog meaning "river", thus, it means "resident beside the river." Since 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.

Classification

Tagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family.

It is closely 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, Fukien Chinese, English, Malay, Sanskrit (via Malay), Arabic (via Malay/Spanish), and Northern Philippine languages such as Kapampangan spoken on the island of Luzon.

Geographic Distribution

The 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 Status

After 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 wikang 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.

Dialects

Ethnologue 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 mo bang 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 mo bang i-explain sa akin? or pwede mo bang ipaliwanag sa akin?

Code Switching

When talking about something modern or technical, educated speakers may suddenly switch to English. This is because many Filipinos are bilingual and Tagalog can be awkward in such situations. For example, while in the middle of speaking Tagalog, a person might say, "My computer is running windows at 2GHz and has 256 MB of RAM." Of course, such a sentence in and of itself is not Tagalog. The point is that Tagalog and Filipino culture allows code switching, while it would be totally inappropriate to do so in many other languages.

Even in non-technical situations, Filipinos may speak English in conjunction with Tagalog for brevity, emphasis, or for phrases that lack a convenient analogue. This rapid, natural, and somewhat expected switch between languages can also be referred to as Taglish.

Derived Languages

Frequent 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.

Binaliktad

In urban areas, the phenomena of binaliktad (reversed) may be heard but is not very common. Equivalents in other languages are vesre and verlan. The following are some examples:

• Erpat from pater (father)
• Ermat from mater (mother)
• Sanpits from pinsan (cousin)
• Yosi from sigarilyo (cigarettes)
• Todits from dito (here)
• Wetpu from pwet (buttocks)
• Dehins from hindi/hinde (No, not) (Hindî is commonly, though by no means always, pronounced /hin·dê/.)
• Jeproks (well-dressed casually) from the Projects (The name of a middle class residential area in Quezon City)
• Japorms from porma (well-dressed)
• Oblo from loób (inside)
• Senglot from lasing (drunk) (Lasíng is mostly pronounced /la·séng/.)
• Ngetpa from pangit/panget (ugly) (Pangit is mostly pronounced /pa·nget/.)
• Astíg from tigás (hard, strong)
• Atík from kita (income)

Sounds

Tagalog has 21 phonemes; 16 consonants and five vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel.

Vowels

Before 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:

• /a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English "father"
• /ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to English "bed"
• /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine"
• /o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English "forty"
• /u/ a close back unrounded vowel similar to English "flute"

There are four main diphthongs; /aɪ/, /oɪ/, /aʊ/, and /iʊ/.

Consonants

Below 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.

Stress

Stress 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

• /a/ is raised slightly in unstressed positions
• Unstressed /i/ is usually pronounced as in English "bit"
• At the end of a word, /i/ can be pronounced as or .
• /e/ and /o/ can sometimes be pronounced as and
• Unstressed /u/ is usually pronounced as in English "book"
• The diphthong /aɪ/ at the beginning or middle of the word can also be pronounced
• The diphthong /aʊ/ at the beginning or middle of the word can also be pronounced
• /k/ has a tendency to become between vowels as in German "bach"
• /ɾ/ and /d/ are sometimes interchangeable as /ɾ/ and /d/ are allophones in Tagalog.
• A glottal stop that occurs at the end of a word is often omitted when it's in the middle of a sentence.

Historical Sound Changes

Tagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə. In Bikol & Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and . In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/. For example, Proto-Philippine *dələm (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 *hajək (kiss) became Tagalog ngalan and halík.

Proto-Philippine *R merged with /g/. *tubiR (water) and *zuRuʔ (blood) became Tagalog tubig and dugô.

Grammar

Main article: Tagalog grammar

Writing System

Baybayin

Main article: Baybayin

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 Alphabet

Until 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 accommodate 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.

Diacritics

Diacritics 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:

Acute accent or pahilís

Used to indicate primary or secondary stress on a particular syllable. It is usually omitted on words that are stressed on the penultimate syllable; talagá.

Grave accent or paiwà

Placed only on the last syllable. It indicates that there is a glottal stop at the end of the word and that penultimate syllable receives stress; mabutì.

Circumflex accent or pakupyâ

Placed only on the last syllable. It indicates that the final syllable of a word receives stress while there is a glottal stop that follows; sampû.

Ng and Mga

The genitive marker ng and the plural marker mga are abbreviations that are pronounced nang /naN/ and mangá /ma"Na/.

Vocabulary

Tagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of Austronesian origin with borrowings from Spanish, Min Nan Chinese (also known as Hokkien or Fujianese), English, Malay, Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil, Persian, Kapampangan, languages spoken on Luzon, and others, especially other Austronesian languages.

Tagalog Words of Foreign Origin Chart

It has been suggested that this article be merged with Tagalog words of foreign origin. (Discuss)

For the Min Nan Chinese borrowings, the parentheses indicate the equivalent in standard Chinese.

Austronesian Comparison Chart

Below is a chart of Tagalog and thirteen other Austronesian languages comparing twelve words; the first twelve languages are spoken in the Philippines and the other two are spoken in Indonesia and in Hawai'i.

Contribution to other languages

Tagalog 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. Abaca is a type of fiber made from a banana plant, from abaká. Manila is a light brown cardboard material used for folders and paper usually made from abaca. Capiz, also known as window oyster, is used to make windows. A yo-yo is a toy.

Tagalog has contributed several words to the Spanish, like barangay (from balañgay meaning barrio), the abaca, cogon, yoyo, etc.

Examples

Common Phrases

• English: Ingglés (ing-GLES)
• Filipino: Pilipino (pih-lih-PIH-noh)
• Tagalog: Tagalog (tah-GAH-log)
• Hello: kumustá (koo-mus-TAH)
• Good morning!: Magandáng umaga! (mah-gan-DAHNG oo-MAH-gah)
• Good afternoon! (from 11 am to 1 pm): Magandáng tanghali! (mah-gan-DAHNG tahng-HAH-leh)
• Good afternoon! (from 1 pm to dusk): Magandáng hapon! (mah-gan-DAHNG HAH-pawn)
• Good evening!: Magandáng gabí! (mah-gan-DAHNG gah-BEH)
• Good-bye: paalam (pa-AH-lam)
• Please: Depending on the nature of the verb, either pakí- (pah-KEE) or makí- (mah-KEE) is attached as a prefix to a verb. ngâ (ngah) is optionally added after verb to increase politeness.
• Thank you: salamat (sah-LAH-mat)
• That one: iyan (ee-YAN)
• How much?: magkano? (mag-KAH-noh?)
• Yes: oo (O-awe)
• No: hindî (hin-DEH)
• Sorry: pasensya pô (pah-SEN-shah PO)
• Because: kasí (kah-SEH)
• Hurry!: Dalí! (dah-LEE), Bilís! (bih-LEASE)
• Again: mulí (moo-LEE), ulít (oo-LET)
• I don't understand: Hindî ko maintindihan (hin-DEE koh ma-in-TIN-dih-HAN)
• Where's the bathroom?: Nasaán ang banyo? (NA-sa-AN ang BAN-yoh?)
• Generic toast: Mabuhay! (mah-BOO-high)
• Do you speak English? Marunong ka bang magsalitâ ng Ingglés? (mah-ROO-nohng kah bang mag-sah-li-TAH nahng eeng-GLESS?)

Proverbs

Here are some proverbs in Tagalog.

Ang hindî marunong lumingón sa pinanggalingan ay hindî makararatíng sa paroroonan.
"He who does not look back from where he came will never reach his destination."

Ang isdâ ay hinuhuli sa bibig. Ang tao, sa salitâ.
"Fish are caught by the mouth. People, by their word."

Ang hindî magmahál sa kaniyáng wikà ay mahigít pa sa hayop at malansáng isdâ.
"He who doesn't love his language is worse than an animal or smelly fish." (José Rizal)

Nasa Dyos ang awà, nasa tao ang gawâ.
"God has compassion, man has action."

Magbirô lamang sa lasíng, huwág sa bagong gising.
"Joke around with someone who is drunk, not with someone who just woke up.

Magsama-sama at malakás, magwaták-waták at babagsák.
"United we stand, divided we fall."

Resources for Learning Tagalog

• Conversational Tagalog by Teresita V. Ramos ISBN 0824809440
• Intermediate Tagalog by Teresita V. Ramos ISBN 0824807766
• Learn Filipino: Book One by Victor Eclar Romero ISBN 1932956417
• Lonely Planet Filipino Tagalog (TravelTalk) ISBN 1591253640
• Lonely Planet Pilipino Phrasebook ISBN 0864424329
• Tagalog/English English/Tagalog Standard Dictionary by Carl R. Galvez Rubino ISBN 0781809614
• Tagalog Reference Grammar by Paul Schachter and Fe T. Otanes ISBN 0520017765
• Tagalog Slang Dictionary by R. David Zorc and Rachel San Miguel ISBN 9711181320
• Teach Yourself Tagalog by Corazon Salvacion Castle ISBN 0071434178
• UP Diksyonaryong Filipino by Virgilio Armario (ed.) ISBN 9718781986, and ISBN 9718781994
• English-Tagalog and Tagalog-English Dictionary by Maria Odulio De Guzman ISBN 9710807137
• New Vicassan's English-Pilipino Dictionary ISBN 9712704241

See also

• Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Official regulating body of the Tagalog language)
• Languages of the Philippines
• Filipino
• Cebuano
• Kapampangan
• Chabacano
• Pangasinan
• Visayan languages
• Bikol
• Ilokano
• Hiligaynon

External links

• Commission on the Filipino Language
• Northern Illinois University Tagalog page
• Tagalog dictionary
• Filipino (Tagalog) Learner's Home
• Tagalog: A Brief Look at the National Language
• Ethnologue entry for Tagalog
• A Tagalog tutorial site
• Kabayan Central is a Philippines-based online store which sells Filipino/Tagalog dictionaries and other books

• Austronesian languages
• Malayo-Polynesian languages
• Languages of the Philippines