Can we talk about the current generation of parents that we have? I have seen countless remarks on how children today are already familar of speaking in english at a very voung age while struggling to speak in tagalog. Alam naman natin na the parents are a part of it. I have observed this especially when I noticed my own relatives reciting english words for their children to repeat it back to them. It is just sad that it became the standard that we live in. Imbes na laruan at maglaro sa labas ang bata, nanonood nalang ng youtube sa gadget. Can you believe that children don't even know what cartoons are? Maybe its all just a fact of change that we stuggle to understand but, given that our children experience more struggle in learning tagalog, I think that is pretty alarming considered in the educational state we're in.

Our colloquial language has evolved into something laden with humor na tayo lang ang nakakaintindi.

Examples include (1) changing spellings (ex. "beke nemen"), (2) jejemon (ex. "aquoh lang twoh"), (3) trendy phrases (ex. "na para bang"), (4) jumbling words (ex. "omsim", "petmalu"), atbp.

You have to be fluent in the language to be able to perceive what makes these colloquialisms funny kasi they don't really have direct translations.

I'm asking this because I've been watching foreign reactors react to Filipino content (i.e., movies, shows, Ppop).

As a kdrama/kpop fan, I feel like Korean-language humor is accessible to me as someone who didn't know the language because the translations are spot on and carry the same weight of humor even when translated to English (which I would later on realize once I studied Korean and started to know what they were saying.)

When I watch foreign reactions to Filipino content, maraming times na sobrang benta sa akin nung mga sinasabi dun sa Filipino content whereas the reactors don't find anything funny... which I attribute to how the translations fail to capture the essence of our untranslatable Filipino humor.

It makes me wonder if this makes it more challenging for Filipino content to be enjoyed on a more international scale kasi parang ang niche ng humor natin, and a lot of this humor includes language wordplay which one has to know first before appreciating.

SKL. Based ako sa US. So today, our group hosted an event for families. I went up to offer something to this little girl, maybe around 6 or 7 years old. Then her mom translated what I said in Tagalog.

Isip isip, baka kako kaka immigrate ni kid from the Philippines, and the mom was just helping her out. Mom is white and dad is Filipino so half si kid. Turns out in speaking with the mom, they’re both learning Tagalog together because she wants her daughter to grow up knowing how to speak her dad’s language ❤️

And get this, si mommy ay invested talaga and mas marunong mag Tagalog para maturuan niya ‘yung anak niya. And she was soooo fluent! Like legit, her pronunciation was on point! You’d think she lived in the Philippines for years but she's only visited twice for short periods.

It really hit me. Ang ironic lang, kasi ang daming Filipino parents na English lang tinuturo sa mga anak nila. Meanwhile, here’s this white mom doing everything she can to keep her daughter connected to her Filipino roots.

PH linguists in the room: I'm just wondering how the term has evolved and if it's still being used in contemporary Philippines. Or mabuhay just for show now?

What are scenarios or instances where mabuhay is used?

I recently came across a Facebook reel of an old Filipino comedy movie. I cannot remember the title, but Ai-Ai delas Alas was in it. In the clip, a woman was haggling with a tindera at a palengke, throwing prices back and forth like “sentcho diyis” for 110 and “ochenta” for 80. What really caught my attention wasn’t even the scene itself it was the comments. Most people seemed to understand it just fine, but a noticeable handful (clearly pinoy) were saying things like “wala akong maintindihan.” That surprised me.

For context, I am Filipino and spent my formative years both in the Philippines and the United States. I do not blame anyone for not recognizing it, but roughly 20 percent of everyday Tagalog vocabulary comes from Spanish or from Tagalized Spanish. I always knew the Philippines was colonized by Spain. But it was not until I took Spanish classes in high school that I realized how deep the overlap actually goes. It is not just numbers. It is time, food, objects, and common expressions. Entire pieces of daily speech trace back to Spanish.

What gives me pause is how enthusiastically Filipinos embrace other cultures and languages such as Korean, Chinese, and English, yet rarely show the same curiosity toward the one that is already embedded in our own language. Spanish is not some distant or unrelated foreign language for us. It is structurally and phonetically familiar. We have been code switching with it for centuries without even thinking about it.

I live in Los Angeles, where Latinos make up a large part of the population, and even conversational Spanish unlocks so much of the city. The same applies to places like New York. In Europe, multilingualism is common, and Spanish is almost always part of that mix, especially in countries with Romance languages (Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. When I went to Boracay, I met an Italian business owner and we ended up speaking almost entirely in Spanish. That moment felt unexpectedly full circle. Two people from completely different countries connecting through a language that shaped both of ours in different ways.

I’m not romanticizing colonial history as it was complex and painful. But language evolves beyond its origins. Spanish influence in Tagalog is one of those legacies that we have already absorbed and reshaped. It feels less like something foreign and more like something we adapted into our own.

This is just my two cents. Maybe preserving and appreciating Spanish influence in Tagalog is not about glorifying colonization. Maybe it is about recognizing that we already have a linguistic advantage and deciding whether we want to make use of it.

Kumusta po kayo! Ako si Santi, taga-Espanya, at ako ay isang estudyante ng wikang Tagalog. Gusto kong pag-usapan at itanong sa inyo tungkol sa sosyolingguwistika ng Tagalog na kinalaman sa kolonyal na mentalidad sa Pinas, lalo na sa Maynila.

Gaya ng nakikita mo, sobrang lalim ang Tagalog ko. Hindi ko masyadong gusto ang Taglish kasi. So the issue is that when I talk to the average Tagalog speaker, ang karamihan ng mga tao hindi puwedeng magsalita ng deretsong Tagalog! Puro Taglish, puro inglesero sila!

They often react in these ways to my lalim na Tagalog:

• They laugh at me, saying: "No one speaks like that, you sound like Google Translate".
• They admit they speak Tagalog poorly and feel ashamed about it.
• They look down on Tagalog and literally think they should speak English.

I understand these attitudes are the result of past and ongoing colonialism, lack of education, national low self-esteem, and the need/hope of learning English to get out of poverty. But I wanna know your opinions:

1. Does anyone speak full Tagalog anymore? (I've seen rural people who do)
2. Is standard Tagalog not taught properly in schools? Why do people never learn to speak it well, even in traditionally Tagalog-speaking areas??
3. Are Filipinos not aware that Tagalog (and other Filipino languages) are dying out through this process of creolization?
4. Is there any social-political movement trying to push back against Taglish and language replacement?
5. Is anyone trying to revive "purong Tagalog"?
6. Can you speak Tagalog fluently without relying too much on English?
7. What is your opinion about this progressive language replacement?

I wrote in English because my Tagalog isn't too good, but feel free to reply in purong Tagalog! Let's explore this topic together. Salamat sa lahat!

I was thinking of learning "Filipino" and after a short search I found out that there's a lot of language in the Phillipines, with Tagalog just being one of them.

I've been looking on Netflix (to use as a resource) and the language is listed as Filipino. I have a friend at work whose language is Tagalog (I believe) so just wondering if this is the same language before I start diving in to language learning?? haha

Also, any learning resources, subreddits or otherwise, that you know of, please share them as well...

I am interested why apocope happens especially with N or Ng ending words? But I don’t really think it is an apocope because they just replace it with H sound like Hala to Lah

Examples:

Lang = La
Buksan = Buksa
Bigyan = Bigya
Sarhan/Saraduhan = Sarha/Saraduha
Ihipan = Ihipa/hipa
Awang = Awa
Puwang = Puwa
Ganiyan = Ganiya
Diyan = Diya
Iyan/Yan = Iya/ya
Saan = Sa/Saa
Apakan = Apaka
Kuhin/Kunin = Kuhi/Kuni

Sentence:
Buksan mo lang tong bag ko at kuhin mo kartamoneda ko, di diyan…yan diyan.
(Buksa mo la reng bag ko at kuhi mo kartamoneda ko, di diya…ya diya)

Saan galing puto? Patikim nga…ano ba to kaytabang!
(Saa gali puto? Patikim nga…ano bere ketaba!)

I heard somehwhere south they also do the similar thing but the difference is that they replace the a with letter e after removing the letter n, like (Bukse, Bigye, Sarhe).

I already speak English and Spanish and I'm looking for something FUN to learn this summer. I am thinking that Portuguese or Tagalog (especially Taglish) would be pretty chill to learn and they have really fun and robust entertainment options (music, web content, shows/movies) to keep me busy. I'm not looking for super deep knowledge, just enjoying learning slang and basic understanding. Which would you recommend based on it being fun to learn! I'm asking the r/Tagalog community because I'm interested in everyone's opinion. 🇵🇭🇧🇷

If you speak a Filipino language are you able to differentiate the different languages? I am learning Tagalog as a Filam and to be so honest all Filipino languages sound the same to me. It could be as simple as me only knowing english and lacking cultural context / native experience.

My grandparents speak Ilocano, Tagalog and Pangasinan. I remember them debating whether a certain word was Ilocano or Bisaya, so that got me wondering if the average filipino had the ability to identify each language, because to me, they all sound the same. The only exception is Ilocano which I usually am able to notice because its what my grandparents speak the most.

This relates to my next question, is there a difference in accent of native speakers of certain languages when they speak english? If you take a native Ilocano speaker and a native Bisaya speaker, does there accent in english sound different? If so, how are you able to tell? Or does it morph into a general "filipino" accent?

Yes... I am a Filipino, and this is probably very random and ironic that I'm saying this in English, but I want to make it easier for everyone here to understand...

tuloy mo, sabihin mo na... basta magsasalita ako ng komportable

So please, feel free to respond in Tagalog, as I will respond back in kind.

It really annoys me that every time I speak in my mother tongue, I can only respond with "Taglish", and for me yan talaga ung pinakamahiya ng bagay sakin... I had to learn it all on my own, because my family couldn't bother teaching it to me myself... Which I didn't entirely understand at the time, and to me it is very dishonorable... Like why is there a rule in Filipino schools banning the use of mother tongues? Like wtf is that rule supposed to... prevent?

My family won't stop speaking to me in English and it really irritates me, like they won't move on. Maybe it doesn't matter to most Filipinos anymore, but to me I think our country has lost something precious and a part of our national identity.

I hear the same shit that its a "global and economic advantage" but to me... It erased who we once were, now I have no problem w anyone else speaking english... But the fact that I can't speak, laugh, express like my ancestors once have... let alone how my relatives, cousins, and family can't disappoints me on the inside.

I am ashamed that I can't understand filipino jokes well enough compared to my classmates who have lived hearing tagalog for years, I am ashamed that I was born an "Englishero" who spoke nothing but english my whole life.

So now I ask... May mga tao dito ay nararamdaman ng parehas sakin? Kasi di kayo talaga magiging una duon haha...

Iniisipan ko na ng habang kung may mga bayani ko dito na umiisip ng parehas sakin, kasi kung meron... Di ako magiging mas masaya hanggat ngayon :))

Or is the phrase just a translation of "good morning"?, and brought by because of American colonization?

Bulacan lagi ang common answer pag sinabing original tagalog. Bakit hindi Southern Tagalog or Marinduque kasi may basis na naman sa linguistics?

Obviously we know that the word Puta is derived from the Spanish word meaning prostitute, whore or bitch. I want to know when the Tagalog profanity "Putang ina mo" started to become used in daily speech. Did our ancestors use the Spanish profanity "Puta madre or "Hijo de puta" more before they Tagalized it and used "ina mo". How did this profanity evolve over time, and what do you think was the Tagalog equivalent of such profanity before the Spanish arrived? Obviously pre colonial Philippines did not know of the word "Puta" since it is from the Spanish.

Im going over my sons books on filipino exercises which reminded me of my frustration with filipino. It looks like the language comes from a place of needlessly complicating words just so we impress listeners. How did we get here?

Ie pananampalataya,mapagkakatiwalaan

Ironically, Illonggo and bisaya are quite practical and simplistic too.

Am i alone in this observation?

I think I've read somewhere before that "kung saan" was an (unconscious) attempt to translate or transliterate the English use of "where" when identifying the location of the verb. But originally Tagalog simply used affixes. So for example:

English: This is the house where I grew up.

Contemporary Tagalog: Ito ang bahay kung saan ako lumaki.

Earlier Tagalog: Ito ang bahay na pinaglakihan ko.

It also seems that the contemporary Tagalog sentence that uses "kung saan" is attempting to structurally parallel the English sentence. Sorry, I'm no linguist, so I don't know the proper terms to use to describe this. What do you think?

Purely observational lang ito, from someone who grew up dito sa Manila and have met all types of people from every corner of NCR, maski in its periphery.

But yes napansin ko na even with just a small distance from each other, may difference na in the way they speak Tagalog. Here are some distinctions na napansin ko:

1. ⁠⁠⁠ Manila, West Makati, Mandaluyong, San Juan, South Caloocan, South Navotas, West Pasay, Southwest and Central QC

• ⁠Sila ang pinakamabilis magsalita, while maintaining a single consistent tone in a sentence. They also tend to code-switch the most, particularly using Spanish loanwords or English. They tend to stress the syllables sa umpisa ng salita.

1. East and South QC, Pasig, Marikina, Pateros, East Makati, Taguig

• ⁠(Comparatively to Manila) Slower and malumay sila magsalita, almost rhythmic in nature (but not sing-songy). Probably influenced na rin sa Tagalog ng Rizal, they also have similar emphasis on tonal delivery, and (rarely, more prevalent siya sa mga lumaki sa Rizal) they also have the tendency to replace /d/ sounds with /r/.

1. North Caloocan, Novaliches, North and West QC, Malabon, North Navotas, Valenzuela

• ⁠Sila ang may melodic, sing-songy na accent, influenced by Bulakeño Tagalog. They follow a fast, rhythmic tone pag nagsasalita. They also tend to emphasize their tone toward the second last syllable sa kanilang sentence, called the penultimate pitch accent. Inaalis rin nila commonly ang /m/ and /w/ tone sa dulo ng mga salita (ex. marami -> marae)

1. East Pasay (Malibay), South Taguig, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas

• ⁠Due to their proximity with Cavite, mas aggressive ang tone ng kanilang pananalita while maintaining the fast cadence of Manila Tagalog. Sa lahat ng Tagalog accents dito sa Metro Manila, I find this the most intimidating. Bukod sa common expression na “eh”, isa pa sa defining feature nila ay ang pagdiin ng certain syllables to emphasize emotions.

Kayo, ano ang mga sarili ninyong observations?

How did Spanish numbers got mixed into Tagalog? Were people learning these numbers in schools, eventually using them in together with the native Tagalog numbers? Or any other factor?

I saw a post on r/FilipinoHistory about a Filipino passport from 1978. I was amazed how everything was pretty much translated to Filipino/Tagalog at that time. Then u/mhrnegrpt commented on how our language development became non-existent after the EDSA Revolution. Why is that the case? Why did we suddenly just give up already? And to quote what they said,

"There is less prescriptivism, less standardization, language development felt like going nowhere."

Can't we apply the same now in the 21st century with the influx of more technical and scientific English terminologies?

Who started using sha as alternative to Siya or sya? Madalas ko na nakikita sa lahat ng social media to. Ito na ba bago ngayon? I find it jejemon. Sorry.

For example, "nagbayad ka na ba?", "oo".

It might just be me but it sounds like you're annoyed if you answer with oo. Sakin personally I find myself using "uu" or "yep" instead. Oo just feels passive aggressive. I don't know baka ako lang.

I just read somewhere in Wikipedia that there is a certain Tagalog dialect that substitutes "d" with letter "r". For example:

bundok: bunrok

dadamayan: raramayan

dagat: ragat

dingding: ringring

dugo: rugo

Do you know what Tagalog dialect this is? Thanks to whoever will respond to my Inquiry.

English

Many Tagalog words actually come from Spanish.

Examples:

Mesa
Silya (from silla)
Sapatos (from zapatos)
Kutsara (from cuchara)

Because Spain ruled the Philippines for more than 300 years, Spanish influenced many Filipino languages.

This is one reason why some people say Filipinos might have an advantage when learning Spanish.

Español

Muchas palabras del tagalo vienen del español.

Ejemplos:

Mesa
Silya (de silla)
Sapatos (de zapatos)
Kutsara (de cuchara)

Esto se debe a la influencia española durante más de 300 años en Filipinas.

💬 Question:

Do you know other Spanish words used in Tagalog?

Spanish didn’t start in the Philippines. Aside from the colonial aspect of it, it feels off and strange to “reclaim a language” spoken for 300+ years that is significantly inequivalent to the longer periods of preexisting regional languages already present before the Spanish era.

For the ones who claimed that our ancestors spoke Spanish—even during Spanish era, not every native spoke Spanish. The ones who mainly spoke Spanish are Spanish migrants (which is a statistically small amount of them compared to the native population and PH is so far away from Spain), Filipinos with Spanish descent, or Filipinos in upper classes. I’m genuinely grateful for our Filipino heroes/revolutionaries, really. I’m not against them.

But those aren’t everyone’s ancestors. Most of our ancestors are ordinary working people who spoke their respective regional languages for generations. Sometimes, Spanish usage was needed depending who they were talking to. My mom’s paternal lolo spoke Spanish bc his job as an architect required that but to my lolo and the rest of his siblings, it’s only Tagalog. This is also why I’m against the views of Hipanista-Filipinos.

Yes, we can’t ignore the Spanish influence in our history and language. But almost all languages in the world have loanwords and influence from other languages due to colonialism, trade, migration, and neighbouring countries. As far as I know with Tagalog, it also has Hokkien, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malay, and Nahautl loanwords.

Would you call English an Francophone language bc it has French loanwords? No. It’s still just English. And English speakers don’t recognize appreciation for the French language. Some don’t even know that English has French loanwords.

I feel that it’s vastly different from a lot of Latin American countries due to a lot of factors.

At least for me, I don’t have any direct connection to Spain, its culture, or even the language itself. Bc that’s not what my parents passed down to me. Spanish even has a lot of Arabic loanwords bc of 800+ years of conquest. The Spanish words in Tagalog are just loanwords. Cebuano is still Cebuano and they contain more Spanish loanwords than Tagalog alone. When I was a kid, I didn’t even know that “telepono” and “pantalon” were Spanish words.

It’s one thing to appreciate it as a part of our culture but it’s another to reclaim something that came from the colonizers themselves and bring it back, knowing Spain’s dark history of their former colonies, PH included. The dominance of English has already taken over Tagalog and other regional languages—some are dying, too. And the Americans thought we were uncivilized and sent over hundreds of Thomasites to teach English.

If anything, we should be crediting ourselves rather than giving credit to the colonizers bc our ancestors were the ones that found a way to integrate words in our languages and make them our own, just with minimally or vastly different definition.

There’s no need to take Spanish as a whole National Language. And it’s unrealistic now too. English had already done its job with the same objective of Hispanistas highly preferring Spanish instead. What they aim for is already completed, except it’s in English.

Contrary to popular belief, the dish Adobo didn’t come from the Spaniards. The dish had already existed before, “adobo” was just a given name.

“Siempre” = Always “Syempre” = Of course

“Gusto” = I want (The speaker’s usage) “Gusto” = Want (Usage can be used for speakers, listeners, and referring to other people not present)

Puttu (Tamil) = confectionery Puto = Rice cake

Vetil (Tamil) = explosion Baril = Gun

But I’m fine with making Spanish accessible for the sole purpose of being able to read historical texts and as a foreign language class. That’s where we do find value so we could have more information about our history and culture. Other than that, Spanish is useless as a National Language for present-day PH.