This "Buwan Ng Wika", I'm Trying to Learn More About the Southeast Asian Influence Found in Various Filipino Languages

Knowing the history of the Philippines means tracing back its ancestors. I saw this video on Youtube where I did manage to do some lucky guesses. When I heard of Tealive's Bryan Loo of Loob Holdings, I wasn't surprised that loob in Malaysian still means inside. This video is of a Filipino woman (Tagalog) and a Malaysian man speaking to each other. If anything, to say that the Philippines can't learn from Malaysia or Indonesia is wrong. It's because of the history of the settlers themselves!

From the Day Translations Blog, I found 10 interesting facts about the Filipino language. I would like to share one aspect of the Filipino language that I find interesting:

6. The precursor of Filipino, the Tagalog language is not a pure language. It developed from various influences.
The early ancestors of the Filipinos were Negritos or Aetas from Asia who came to the Philippines through land bridges. They were small people with wide noses, black skin, thick lips, and slinky hair. Two types of Indonesians followed them. The first to arrive were tall, with thin lips, high noses, large foreheads, and light skin. The second wave of Indonesian immigrants were shorter, with darker skins, heavy jaws, thick lips and large noses. After the Indonesians, Malays migrated to the Philippines as well. It is one of the reasons why it is difficult to define the identity of the Filipino through physical looks, unlike the Chinese or Japanese.
These groups of people influenced the early development of the Tagalog language. Researchers found evidence of Bahasa Indonesia, Malay and even Sanskrit. They later replaced the language with Castilian Spanish. They used it as a medium of instruction for the elite, while the rest couldn’t learn Spanish. Later, Tagalog became peppered with loan words from Spanish as well as loan words from Chinese and English.

I also remembered trying to decode the song "Dayang Dayang" (read here). Often mistaken as an Indian song (probably due to the parody by the late Yoyoy Villame), it's actually a song written in an indigenous language. Some say it's from Mindanao while others say it's from Malaysia or Indonesia. Some say there was a singer named Hainun Pangilan. There was the Indonesian singer Virvina Vica. The Sinama language is found in Southeast Asia. The song "Dayang Dayang" has many versions. I guess the popularized version (which I think is mistakenly attributed to Bollywood actress, Rai Aishwarya) is spoken in another Indonesian language.

I wasn't too surprised to find so many common terms that have the same meaning. Sure, there are some spelling differences like takut and takot for scared. The language of Indonesia and Malaysia can also be found among Taiwanese natives. No surprise that various indigenous dances in Asia are very similar to the indigenous dances in the Philippines. Why should it be surprising that Filipino languages have a lot of things in common with its Southeast Asian neighbors?

[OPINION] Why Do Some Filipino Boomers (Some Are EVEN Fact-Checkers) Insist that the Marcos Years Were Under a "Parliamentary System"

This is a screenshot I got on Facebook. The Tweet is courtesy of Raissa Espinosa-Robles, who I hear is a marites or a gossiper. I'm not denying that there are some truths in what she said. It's true that the Marcos Years have their well-documented human rights abuses. However, Mrs. Robles still continues to insist in the myth of a parliamentary system under Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s regime. It's not just Mrs. Robles but also some Filipino boomers who keep saying, "Are you crazy? We had a parliamentary system under Marcos." I could show them some evidence like Marcos' severe lack of legitimacy to disprove the parliamentary systme. I even wrote about the snap elections because Marcos was a president with powers (read here ). Under a parliamentary system, the president is purely ceremonial. The president is just a door opener and credentials receiver! Benigno Simeon A. Aquino Jr. and Salvador "Doy" Laurel both challenged the legitimacy of Marcos...

The 1986 Snap Elections Would Also Disprove the Myth of the "Marcos Parliament"

Anti-charter change proponents love to use Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. among their reasons, to defend their stand. The argument is that "charter change must be evil" because Marcos used it--a fallacy of Guilt by Association . Please, even Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo's supporter Andrew James Masigan supports charter change! Now, we must look at Marcos and remember another significant event. It's the 1986 snap elections and why it's also proof that we never had a parliamentary form of government. February 7, 1986, was when Marcos declared snap elections. Two years before the snap election, Marcos even declared that the Philippines was never a parliamentary government under him : The adoption of certain aspects of a parliamentary system in the amended Constitution does not alter its essentially presidential character . Article VII on the Presidency starts with this provision: ‘the President shall be the Head of State and Chief Executive of the Republic of the Ph...

The Late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Cojuangco Aquino's Chinese New Year Proclamation

It's disheartening that the Facebook page Tuloy Lang Tayo (which fortunately only has 358 followers) said that Chinese New Year should be discredited. The page is also supportive of Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" S. Gerona-Robredo. Does the owner of the page even know that the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino was the person who declared Chinese New Year, a holiday? The Asia Society gives this detail on Noynoy's declaration: It was the very first time that the Chinese New Year was celebrated in the Philippines as a special non-working holiday which gave the opportunity to both Chinese-Filipinos and Filipinos in the country to enjoy the celebration. This became possible because of the Proclamation declared by President Benigno S. Aquino III , stating that this "is a manifestation of our solidarity with our Chinese-Filipino brethren who have been part of our lives in many respects as a country and as a people." Further details from Asia Society als...

Real Talk: Chinese Filipinos ARE Still Filipinos

It's the Chinese New Year once again. Some ignorant people have their ill feelings towards Chinese Filipinos, never mind the long history of Chinese immigrants who have become Filipinos. A simple classroom history lesson to a Google search, will tell us what it meant to be a Filipino. What does it mean to be a Filipino? It's often said that Filipino is more of a nationality than a race. Here's the definition of what it means to be a Filipino: 1 : a native of the Philippine Islands 2 : a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines 3 : the Tagalog-based official language of the Republic of the Philippines Filipino adjective According to the current constitution, these define what makes one a Filipino: Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines: [1] Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution; [2] Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines; [3] Those born before January 17, 1973, of Fili...

The "Star Witness" Davidson Rusia

It's Time to Free Paco Now Comparing one's perspective when one was in high school vs. the present can be a daunting thing. For example, I could get told that, "Maybe the person wants to be friends with you already. Maybe he realized that you were only teenagers and your fight was nothing more than a childish quarrel." As a 13-year-old who got into the case--I once admired what Davidson Rusia did. However, after hearing that Paco Larrañaga was innocent--I was really shocked. Yes, Paco was really in Manila when the crime happened (read here ). Why was David even allowed to testify when he wasn't even qualified? That's what the documentary Give Up Tomorrow highlighted. Atty. Florencio Villarin, who may be retired now due to his advanced age, also stated that in Case Unclosed. A lot of people were interested in what he had to say. At first, I thought Paco was wrongly tagged along with guilty people. However, what Solita Collas-Monsod said in Give Up Tomorrow , ...

Learn the Facts, Not Gossip, from Reading Lee Kuan Yew's "From Third World to First"

The Straits Times I could remember ordering the book From Third World to First ( sometime after electricity and Internet connection got restored) in January. I wanted a copy of the book but it's that hard to secure. So, I used Shoppee to order the book shipped from Indonesia . There's so much misinformation that I read on Facebook about Singapore. No, I'm not just talking about using the late Flor Contemplacion as an excuse. Instead, it's all about Singapore's development. I felt that my best "Christmas Gift" (it was bought with my savings, not given) was having a copy of this book. It was written by none other than the great statesman, the late Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. There are a lot of misconceptions about Singapore's progress. Some people have written on Facebook gossip about Singapore's progress. These are the following gossips I could read on Facebook such as: Singapore only opened to foreign di...

Indigenous Dance in Dayuan District, Taiwan

In the quest to know more about Southeast Asia's indigenous people--Taiwan can become a hit destination. This would look like a group of Filipino indigenous dancers but they're from Taiwan. This long dance number may show how the Taiwanese government may have been treating indigenous tribes better than the Philippines. One article I wrote was about how some Filipino natives now have to travel to Taiwan to learn indigenous weaving . Just watching this video makes me think of what the Inquirer cited about Taiwanese indigenous people: TAIPEI—In communities of the indigenous Amis tribe across Taiwan, locals say lima for five, pito for seven and mata for eye, just like Filipinos . In southern Taiwan’s Alishan mountain, the Tsou tribe calls the community’s meeting hut a kuba, strikingly similar in design to the Philippines’ kubo . Whether in language, architecture or way of life, links among indigenous peoples of the Philippines and Taiwan are undeniable, with...

Why I Think Banning the Mention of Hitler on Facebook is STUPID

Getty Images It's crazy how reporting a comment with the word "Hitler" can get anyone banned. For example, this is what I found on Quora : They should be allowed. there are quotes of his that are not in praise of hitler but showing how he thought so that people are critical of their current leaders . For example, here’s a quote by him “ How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.” This is a perfect example of why Hitler quotes should be allowed; to show how dictators think and how people should be critical. Yes, he started a giant war and murdered people but censoring what he said will only help the next dictator start more wars and murder more people because people forgot about Hitler . This is why the First Amendment is so important: it’s about communication and freedom so that we all make better decisions in the future. I just told someone that Adolf Hitler seized the means of production and I got a strike. Like what? I wonder what ...

The Paternity of Sergio Osmeña Sr.

More than 10 years ago while I was a college student, I remembered one of the topics raised was who in the world was the father of the late Sergio Osmeña Sr.? I remembered my Humanities subject while I studied at the University of San Carlos (USC) during my summer classes. I immediately took summer classes after I finished my associate's degree and proceeded to take my bachelor's degree in business administration. We had a field trip at Casa Gorordo in Cebu where one of the curators said, "Just who was his father?" There was a wild guess it was the late Pedro Lee Singson Gotiaoco. The Freeman I heard from someone, back in college, that neither Tomas Osmeña nor the late John Gokongwei Jr. admits to being related to each other. Gokongwei Jr. is a great-grandson of Gotiaoco. A Sunstar article about Juana Osmeña mentions this one about the past 145 years ago which may verify their mutual claims: SCIENCE has settled almost a century-and-a-half-old mystery -- history and g...

The Chiong Sisters' "Still Alive" Conspiracy Theory Was Around Last 2005?

No, the girls below are not the same people above. Granted, I never saw Give Up Tomorrow nor realize that Juan Francisco G. Larrañaga aka Paco was innocent until 2018. I was shocked to realize, from a friend, that he was with Paco on the night of the crime. From the New Scientist website, it talks about how innocents die without DNA tests . Hubert Jeffry P. Webb's life was wasted because of one foolish judge's decision not to grant a DNA test of the semen sample found in the late Carmela Vizconde's body. Here's a very interesting excerpt that points out the conspiracy theory that either one (or both) of the Chiong sisters may still be alive: Conspiracy theories surround the case. A policeman who worked on the case said last week he thought Larrañaga was innocent. Only one body was found, which was identified as Marijoy’s, but there are serious doubts about whether it is in fact her – even from the original trial judge . What’s more, there are rumours that one or both s...

A Business Graduate's Random Blog on History and Gossip

Search This Blog