History of Filipino Language

History of Filipino
Language
When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, they found a region
dominated by three main languages – Tagalog, Ilocano, and
Visayan. These three are distinct languages but have enough in
common that almost everyone in the country spoke at least two
of them, and thus communication was very easy.
Philippines borrowed words, phrases, and structures from

Spanish over the years.Today, colloquial Tagalog vocabulary
consists of 40% adopted Spanish words and Tagalog words
derived from the Spanish language.
Since the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands, most

regions speak various dialects with some or many similarities to
each other. Tagalog is spoken by 33% of the population and is
widely spoken in the capital of the Philippines, Metro Manila.
Tagalog (Filipino) belongs
to the Malayo-Polynesian br
anch of the Austronesian la
nguage family. The name of
the language is derived fro
m tagá-ílog, from tagá–
‘native’+ ílog ‘river’
The earliest evidence of written Tagalog
dated from about 900 AD in the Laguna
Copperplate Inscription, the oldest
written document found in the
Philippines. The inscription contains an
assortment of early or pre-colonial
languages like Sanskrit, Malay, Javanese
and Tagalog.The first known book
written in the Tagalog language is a
Christian Doctrine. Dating from the late
16th century, versions were written in
both Spanish and Tagalog.
In 1936, the National Language Institute of the Philippines sel
ected Tagalog as the basis of the National Language over oth
er large contenders such as Visayan and Ilocano. Their reason
s were
1. Tagalog was widely spoken and was the most understood i

n all the Philippine Regions.
2. It is not divided into smaller daughter languages, as Visaya
n or Bicol
3. Its literary tradition is the richest, most developed and ext
ensive (mirroring that of the Tuscan language vis-à-vis Italian)
.
4. More books arewritten in Tagalog than in any otherPhilippi
ne language, but this is mainly by virtue of the law
5. Tagalog has always been the language of Manila, the
political and economic centre of the Philippines during
the Spanish and American Eras;
6. Tagalog was the language of the 1896 Revolution and
the Katipunan.
This selection caused many disputes and uproars among

Filipinos. Non-Tagalog speaker found it unfair that the
native language of the ethnic Tagalog community was
established as the national language of their country.
They perceived it as a cultural threat and a means of
domination by the Tagalogs against other regional groups
It is spoken by 21.
5 million people as
a first language an
d as a second langu
age by a great majo
rity of Filipinos.
Filipino and Tagalog are es
sentially identical in all
aspects: grammatical system
, spelling, sentence struct
ure and vocabulary. It’s
just that the 1987 Constitu
tion designated and affirme
d Filipino as the Philippin
es’ official language
The change to Filipino
recognized and embrace
d the existence of man
y English and Spanish
derived words and lett
ers including as f, j,
c, x and z in common P
hilippine vocabulary.
THE RELUCTANT SEPARA
TION BETWEEN TAGALOG
AND FILIPINO
In a country divided into many ethnic groups
depending on regions, there are about 170
dialects and 8 major languages that boast of a
million or more users with Tagalog being one of
them.
Since it’s the language spoken among natives of

Central Luzon that houses the capital city of
Manila, Tagalog is looked upon in a higher level
among all languages as far as social, historical and
political aspects are concern.
Logically it has gained the edge, thus, during the
drafting of the 1935 constitution under then
President Manuel L. Quezon, Tagalog was declared
as the national language of the Philippines.
Some language experts consider Filipino as a

version of “Tagalog plus others”
This is because Filipino has become the ever-

evolving Tagalog with the inclusion of many new
and invented words mostly foreign in origin.
Today Filipino (Tagalog) and E
nglish are the two official la
nguages of the Philippines, wi
th seven other regional langua
ges recognised officially. The
Philippines has one of the den
sest concentrations of distinc
t languages in the world, and
that linguistic tradition has
helped shaped modern day Filip
ino.
Filipino is a variety of Tagalog spoken in urban
Manilla, and most Filipinos speak it along
with their own regional language, and
frequently English as well
TAGALOG(1937)
-PILIPINO(1959) -
FILIPINO(1987)

History of Filipino Language

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History of Filipino Language

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History of Filipino

Philippines borrowed words, phrases, and structures from

Since the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands, most

1. Tagalog was widely spoken and was the most understood i

This selection caused many disputes and uproars among

Since it’s the language spoken among natives of

Some language experts consider Filipino as a

This is because Filipino has become the ever-

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