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QUO VADIS FILIPINO LANGUAGE?
By Engineer Jes B. Tirol

Proem

The month of August is designated as Buwan Ng Wika or language month.  Presumably the language meant is the so-called Filipino Language.

At its present stage of development, it is but proper to ask, “Quo vadis (Where are you going) Filipino language?”

As it is now, the so-called Filipino Language is the largest pidgin English language in the world.

Pidgin Language

Pidgin English is defined in the dictionary as a jargon composed of English and elements of local non-English dialects, used as the language of indigenous people.
The greatest promoter of pidgin English that is passed on as the Filipino language, are the television stations.  The announcers speak without any compunction or sense of guilt using a mixture of English and Tagalog otherwise known as “Taglish.”

The spoken Taglish is now generally understood.  The problem is, how would you write those words?  For example, a TV advertisement says, “Pare joke lang (Mister, its only a joke).”  The word “joke” is pronounced in English.  However, in standardized Filipino language, “joke” should be pronounced as “JO + KE.”  We are told that it should be spelled “dyok,” which actually do not capture the sound of the English “joke.”  The written Filipino language could not capture most of the sounds of the English language.

Constitutional Provisions

The 1935 Constitution says in Art.XIV, Section 3, “The Congress shall take steps toward the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages…” President Manuel Quezon surreptitiously managed to make Tagalog as the base native language and called it “Pilipino” (with a P).

The 1973 Constitution says in Art. XV, Section 3 (2), “The National Assembly shall take steps towards the development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino (with an F).”
The 1986 Constitution presently in effect, provides in Art. XIV, Section 6, “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino (with an F).  As it evolves, it shall be further developed and  enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.”

In Section 7 it says, “For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.” Therefore the official languages in the Philippines are “Filipino” and “English.”

The Trouble

Filipino is now a pidgin English.  It uses English words with Tagalog spelling and connectives.  The grammar is basically the English grammar. If you will hear spoken Filipino, you will realize that it is a vandalized form of the English language.

The two languages could not co-exist with each other.  If you will insist on Filipino, your English language will be destroyed.  If you will insist on English, then your Filipino will be destroyed.  Why?  It is because you could not mix a developed agglutinative language (Tagalog) with a developed inflectional language (English).  You could not mix their grammars.  One language must give way.

English Experience

The Old English spoken in the British Isles between 450 A.D. and 1050 A.D. was a mixture of Kentish, Saxon, and other Germanic languages.  They were inflectional languages.  In year 1066, The Normans led by William the Duke of Normandy conquered England.  They spoke French, another inflectional language.

The English language borrowed heavily from the French language of their conquerors.  The new language developed was known as Middle English.  Eventually the French language of the conquerors was absorbed and a new language was developed.  By the year 1475, the Modern English emerged with its grammatical standards.  The invading French language was Anglicized and obliterated.

In our case in the Philippines, it could not happen because we refuse to relinquish the English language.
We have already seen how the Filipino language led by the “Taglish” of television and erroneous textbooks have damaged the English language in the Philippines.  However, our leaders and government officials would insist in using the proper English language.  This has resulted in a situation of no proper language learned by the students.

To solve this impasse, let us return to basics. Learn well your mother language and never mind if you would not know the invented Filipino language or the invader’s English language.



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