Filipino language
Filipino (English: /ˌfɪlɪˈpiːnoʊ/ , FIH-lih-PEE-noh;[1] Wikang Filipino, [ˈwi.kɐŋ fi.liˈpi.no̞]) is a language under the Austronesian language family. It is the national language (Wikang pambansa / Pambansang wika) of the Philippines, lingua franca (Karaniwang wika), and one of the two official languages (Wikang opisyal/Opisyal na wika) of the country, with English.[2] It is a standardized variety of Tagalog[3] based on the native language, spoken and written in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago.[4] The 1987 Constitution mandates that Filipino be further enriched and developed by the other languages of the Philippines.[5]
This article is about the national language and one of the two official languages of the Philippines. For other languages, see Languages of the Philippines. For the language from which Filipino evolved and developed, see Tagalog language.Filipino
All of the regions of the Philippines, especially in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers in the archipelago
see Tagalog language
Philippines
Malaysia
United Arab Emirates
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Filipino, like other Austronesian languages, commonly uses verb-subject-object order, but can also use subject-verb-object order. Filipino follows the trigger system of morphosyntactic alignment that is also common among Austronesian languages. It has head-initial directionality. It is an agglutinative language but can also display inflection. It is not a tonal language and can be considered a pitch-accent language and a syllable-timed language. It has nine basic parts of speech.
Background[edit]
The Philippines is a multilingual state with 175 living languages originating and spoken by various ethno-linguistic groups. Many of these languages descend from a common Malayo-Polynesian language due to the Austronesian migration from Taiwan. The common Malayo-Polynesian language split into different languages, and usually through the Malay language, the lingua franca of maritime Southeast Asia, these were able to adopt terms that ultimately originate from other languages such as Japanese, Hokkien, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Arabic. The Malay language was generally used by the ruling classes and the merchants from the states and various cultures in the Philippine archipelago for international communication as part of maritime Southeast Asia. In fact, Filipinos first interacted with the Spaniards using the Malay language. In addition to this, 16th-century chroniclers of the time noted that the kings and lords in the islands usually spoke around five languages.
Spanish intrusion into the Philippine islands started in 1565 with the fall of Cebu. The eventual capital established by Spain for its settlement in the Philippines was Manila, situated in a Tagalog-speaking region, after the capture of Manila from the Muslim Kingdom of Luzon ruled by Raja Matanda with the heir apparent Raja Sulayman and the Hindu-Buddhist Kingdom of Tondo ruled by Lakan Dula. After its fall to the Spaniards, Manila was made the capital of the Spanish settlement in Asia due to the city's commercial wealth and influence, its strategic location, and Spanish fears of raids from the Portuguese and the Dutch.[6]
The first dictionary of Tagalog, published as the Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, was written by the Franciscan Pedro de San Buenaventura,[7] and published in 1613 by the "Father of Filipino Printing" Tomás Pinpin in Pila, Laguna. A latter book of the same name was written by Czech Jesuit missionary Paul Klein (known locally as Pablo Clain) at the beginning of the 18th century. Klein spoke Tagalog and used it actively in several of his books. He wrote a dictionary, which he later passed to Francisco Jansens and José Hernández.[8] Further compilation of his substantial work was prepared by Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlúcar and published as Vocabulario de la lengua tagala in Manila in 1754 and then repeatedly[9] re-edited, with the latest edition being published in 2013 in Manila.[10]
Spanish served in an official capacity as language of the government during the Spanish colonial period. During the American colonial period, English became an additional official language of the Philippines alongside Spanish; however, the number of speakers of Spanish steadily decreased.[11] At present, Spanish was designated an optional and voluntary language under the 1987 Constitution, along with Arabic.
Commemoration[edit]
Since 1997, a month-long celebration of the national language occurs during August, known in Filipino as Buwan ng Wika (Language Month). Previously, this lasted only a week and was known as Linggo ng Wika (Language Week). The celebration coincides with the month of birth of President Manuel L. Quezon, regarded as the "Ama ng Wikang Pambansa" (Father of the national language).
In 1946, Proclamation No. 35 of March 26 provided for a week-long celebration of the national language.[15] this celebration would last from March 27 until April 2 each year, the last day coinciding with birthday of the Filipino writer Francisco Baltazar, author of the Tagalog epic Florante at Laura.
In 1954, Proclamation No. 12 of March 26 provided that the week of celebration would be from March 29 to April 4 every year.[30] This proclamation was amended the following year by President Ramon Magsaysay by Proclamation No. 186 of September 23, moving the dates of celebration to August 13–19, every year.[31] Now coinciding with the birthday of President Manuel L. Quezon. The reason for the move being given that the original celebration was a period "outside of the school year, thereby precluding the participation of schools in its celebration".[31]
In 1988, President Corazon Aquino signed Proclamation No. 19, reaffirming the celebration every August 13 to 19. In 1997, the celebration was extended from a week to a month by Proclamation 1041 of July 15 signed by President Fidel V. Ramos.[32]