LANGUAGES.
The Tagál and Bisayan are the most widely spread of the languages
of the Philippines, but each has such a variety of idioms that the
inhabitants of different islands and districts frequently are not
intelligible to one another, still less the indigenous races who
occupy the mountainous districts. The more remarkable divisions
are the dialects of Pampangas, Zambal, Pangasinan, Ilocos, Cagayan,
Camarines, Batanes, and Chamorro, each derived from one of the two
principal branches. But the languages of the unconverted Indians are
very various, and have little affinity. Of these I understand above
thirty distinct vocabularies exist. The connection between and the
construction of the Tagál and Bisayan will be best seen by a comparison
of the Lord's Prayer in each, with a verbal rendering of the words:--
Tagál.
Ama nanim [15] sungma [16] sa langit ca [17], sambahin [18]
Father our (to us) art in heaven thou, worshipped (be)
ang ngalan mo; mupa sa anim ang caharian mo; sundin angloob
the name thine; come to us the kingdom thine; done (be) the will
mo dito sa lupa para na sa langit; bigianmo camin ngai-on nang
thine here in earth so as in heaven; given (be) us now the
anim canin sa arao-arao [19] at patauarvin-mo camis nang animg
our rice of day day, and forgiven (be) us the our
manga-otang, para nang pagpasawat nanim sa
faults, as if pardoned (are) our those
nangagcacaoton sa anim; at huvag-mo caming
who have committed faults against us; and let not us
ipahuintulot [20] sa tocso; at yadia-mo camis sa dilan masama.
fall in temptation; and deliver us in all ill.
Bisayan.
Amahan namu nga itotat ca sa langit, ipapagdayat [21] an imong
Father our who art thou in heaven, praised be the thy
ngalun; moanhi [22] canamun an imong pagcahadi [23]; tumancun
name; come to us the thy kingdom; done (be)
an imong buot dinhi si yuta maingun sa langit; ihatag mo damsin
the thy will here in earth as in heaven; given (be) us
an canun namun sa matagarvlao, ug pauadin-mo [24] canir san
the rice our on every day, and pardoned (be) us the
mga-sala namu, maingun ginuara [24] namun san mganacasala danum;
sins our, as pardoned our those sin against us;
ngan diri imo tugotan cami maholog sa manga-panulai sa amun
not by thee permitted (be) us fall in temptations of our
manga caauai [25]; apan baricun-mo cami sa manga-maraut ngatanan.
enemies; also delivered (be) us of evil all.
The following table of numerals (extracted from De Mas) will show the
affinities between several of the idioms of the Philippines with one
another, and with the Malay language:--
-- ILOCOS. TAGÁL. BISAYAN. CAGAYAN. MALAY.
1 Meysa. isá; sang; ca. usá. tadd ay. salu; sa.
2 Dua. dalauá. duhá. dua. dua.
3 Tal. tat-ló. toló. tálu. tigga talu.
4 Eppa. ápat. upát. áppa. ámpat.
5 Lima. lima. lima. lima. lima.
6 Niném. ánim. unúm. ánnam. anam.
7 Pitó. pitó; pipito. pitó pitar. túgàu.
8 Oaló. ualo. ualó. ualu. diapan;
dalapan.
9 Siam. siam. siam. siam. sambilan.
10 Sangapulo. sampu; povo; sang napulo. mafulu. pulo; napulo.
povo.
11 Sangapulo qet labin isa. napulo ugusa. caraladay. sa blas.
maysa.
12 Sangapulo qet labin dalava. napulo ugdua. caradua. dua blas.
dua.
20 Duàpulo. daluanpú; caloháan. dua fulù. dua pulo.
dulavangpovo.
30 Talcopulo. tat lonpu. catloan. talu fulù. tiga pulo.
50 Limapulo. limanpu. caliman. lima fulu. lima pulo.
100 Sangagasùt. isam daán; usa cagatós. magattu. ratus; sarátus.
dan-sandang.
200 Dua nga gasùt. dalauan daán. dua cagatós. duagattu. dua ratus.
1,000 Sang aribo. libo; isan libo. usa ca libó. marifu. ribu; saribu.
10,000 Dua nga ribo. sampon libo. napálo calibo. mafulu rifu. lagsa.
100,000 Sang agasùt isandaán libo; usa cagatós magatu farifu. kati; sakiti.
aribo. sang yolo. calibo.
1,000,000 ......... sangañgaonúgao. ......... ......... .........
A vocabulary of the Tagal was printed in 1613 by Padre San
Buenaventura; and a folio Vocabulario by Fr. Domingo de los Santos,
in Sampaloc (Manila), 1794. This vocabulary consists of nearly 11,000
terms, the same word conveying so many meanings that the actual number
of Tagal words can scarcely exceed 3,500. The examples of distinct
interpretations of each are innumerable.
Another Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala, by "various grave and learned
persons," corrected and arranged by the Jesuit Fathers Juan de Noceda
and Pedro de San Lucar, was published in Valladolid in 1832. The editor
says he would fain have got rid of the task, but the "blind obedience"
he owed to his superior compelled him to persevere. Rules for the
accurate grammatical construction of the language cannot, he says,
be given, on account of the exceptions and counter-exceptions. The
confusion between active and passive participles is a labyrinth he
cannot explore. There are more books on the language (artes), he
avers, than on any dead or living language! He has consulted no less
than thirty-seven, among which the first place is due to the Tagál
Demosthenes (Father Francis de San José), to whose researches none have
the knowledge of adding anything valuable. He professes to have given
all the roots, but not their ramifications, which it is impossible to
follow. But the Vocabulario is greatly lauded by the "Visitador," as
"an eagle in its flight," and "a sun in its brilliancy." It is reported
to have added three thousand new words to the vocabulary. The editor
himself is modest enough, and declares he has brought only one drop
to a whole ocean. The work, which had been in many hands, occupied
Father Noceda thirty years, and he allowed no word to pass until
"twelve Indians" agreed that he had found its true meaning. He would
not take less, for had he broken his rule and diminished the numbers,
who knows, he asks, with what a small amount of authority he might
have satisfied himself? There can be no doubt that to find absolute
synonymes between languages so unlike as the Castilian and the Tagáloc
was an utterly impossible task, and that the root of a word of which
the editor is in search is often lost in the inflections, combinations
and additions, which surround and involve it, without reference to
any general principle. And after all comes the question, What is the
Tagáloc language? That of the mountains differs much from that of
the valleys; the idiom of the Comingtang from those of the Tingues.
The word Tagála, sometimes written Tagál, Tagálo, or Tagáloc, I
imagine, is derived from Taga, a native. Taga Majayjay is a native
of Majayjay. A good Christian is called Ang manga taga langit, a
native of heaven; and it is a common vituperation to say to a man,
"Taga infierno," signifying, "You must be a native of hell."
The Tagál language is not easily acquired. A Spanish proverb says there
must be un año de arte y dos di bahaque--one year of grammar and two
of bahaque. The bahaque is the native dress. The friars informed me
that it required several years of residence to enable them to preach
in Tagál; and in many of the convents intercourse is almost confined to
the native idioms, as there are few opportunities of speaking Spanish.
The blending of nouns and verbs into a single word, and the difficulty
of tracing the roots of either, is one cause of perplexity, the paucity
of words requiring many meanings for the same sound. Thus ayao means,
enough, passage of merchandise, dearness, and is a note of admiration;
baba signifies brace, beard, lungs, perchance, abscess; bobo, a net,
to melt, to frighten, to spill; alangalang, courtesy, elevation,
dignity. Hence, too, the frequent repetitions of the same word. Aboabo,
mist; alaala, to remember; ñgalañgala, palate; galagala, bitumen;
dilidili, doubt; hasahasa, a fish.
So a prodigious number of Tagál words are given to represent a verb
in its various applications, in which it is difficult to trace any
common root or shadow of resemblance. Noceda, for the verb give (dar,
Spanish) has 140 Tagál words; for (meter) put, there are forty-one
forms; for (hacer) do, one hundred and twenty-six. The age of the
moon is represented by twelve forms, in only two of which does the
Tagál word for moon occur.
It is scarcely necessary to say that a language so rude as the
Tagál could never become the channel for communicating scientific
or philosophical knowledge. Yet M. Mallat contends that it is rich,
sonorous, expressive, and, if encouraged, would soon possess a
literature worthy of a place among that of European nations!
A folio dictionary of the Bisayan and Spanish language, as spoken
in the island of Panay, was published in 1841 (Manila), having been
written by Father Alonzo de Mentrida. The Spanish and Bisayan, by
Father Julian Martin, was published in the following year.
The letters e, f, r, and z are wanting, and the only sound not
represented by our alphabet is the ñg. The Tagála Indians employ the
letter p instead of the f, which they cannot pronounce. Parancisco
for Francisco, palso for falso, pino for fino, &c. The r is totally
unutterable by the Tagálos. They convert the letter into d, and
subject themselves to much ridicule from the mistakes consequent upon
this infirmity. The z is supplanted by s, which does not convey the
Castilian sound as represented by our soft th.
In many provinces, however, of Spain, the Castilian pronunciation of z
is not adopted. There is in the Tagál no vowel sound between a and i,
such as is represented in Spanish by the letter e.
In teaching the Tagal alphabet, the word yaou, being the demonstrative
pronoun, is inserted after the letter which is followed by the vowel a,
and the letter repeated, thus:--Aa yaou (a), baba yaou (b), caca yaou
(c), dada yaou (d), gaga yaou (g), haha yaou (h), lala yaou (l), mama
yaou (m), nana yaou (n), ñgañga yaou (ñg), papa yaou (p), sasa yaou
(s), tata yaou (t), vava yaou (v). The ñg is a combination of the
Spanish ñ with g.
Nouns in Tagal have neither cases, numbers, nor genders. Verbs have
infinitive, present, preterite, past, future, and imperative tenses,
but they are not changed by the personal pronouns. Among other
singularities, it is noted that no active verb can begin with the
letter b. Some of the interjections, and they are very numerous in
the Tagaloc, are of different genders. How sad! addressed to a man,
is paetog! to a woman, paetag!
The Tagáls employ the second person singular icao, or co, in addressing
one another, but add the word po, which is a form of respect. In
addressing a woman the word po is omitted, but is expected to be used
by a female in addressing a man. The personal pronouns follow instead
of preceding both verbs and nouns, as napa aco, I say; napa suja,
it is good.
One characteristic of the language is that the passive is generally
employed instead of the active verb. A Tagal will not say "Juan
loves Maria," but "Maria is loved by Juan." Fr. de los Santos says
it is more elegant to employ the active than the passive verb, but I
observe in the religious books circulated by the friars the general
phraseology is, "It is said by God;" "it is taught by Christ," &c.
Though the Tagál is not rich in words, the same expression having
often a great variety of meanings, there is much perplexity in the
construction. The padre Verduga, however, gives a list of several
species of verbs, with modifications of nouns subjected to the rules
of European grammar.
In adopting Spanish words the Tagals frequently simplify and curtail
them; for example, for zapato (shoe) they use only pato; Lingo for
Domingo; bavay, caballo (horse). The diminutive of Maria is Mariangui;
whence Angui, the ordinary name for Mary.
In looking through the dictionary, I find in the language only
thirty-five monosyllables, viz., a, ab, an, ang, at, ay, ca [with
thirteen different meanings--a numeral (1), a personal pronoun (they),
four substantives (thing, companion, fright, abstract), one verb (to
go), and the rest sundry adjectival, adverbial, and other terms],
cay, co, con, cun, di, din, ga, ha, i, in, is, ma (with eighteen
meanings, among which are four nouns substantive, eight verbs, and
four adjectives), man, mi, mo, na, ñga, o, oy, pa (seven meanings),
po, sa, sang, si, sing, ta, ya, and yi.
Watches are rare among the Indians, and time is not denoted by the
hours of the clock, but by the ordinary events of the day. De Mas gives
no less than twenty-three different forms of language for denoting
various divisions, some longer, some shorter, of the twenty-four hours;
such as--darkness departs; dawn breaks; light advances (magumagana);
the sun about to rise (sisilang na ang arao); full day (arao na);
sun risen; hen laying; (sun) height of axe; height of spear (from
the horizon); midday; sun sinking; sun set (lungmonorna); Ave Maria
time; darkness; blackness; children's bed-time; animas ringing;
midnight near; midnight; midnight past (mababao sa hating gaby). And
the phraseology varies in different localities. As bell-ringing and
clock-striking were introduced by the Spaniards, most of the terms
now in use must have been employed before their arrival.
Repetitions of the same syllable are common both in the Tagál and
Bisayan languages. They are not necessarily indicative of a plural
form, but frequently denote sequence or continuation, as--lavay
lavay, slavery (continued work); iñgiliñgil, the growl of a dog;
ñgiñgiyao ñgiñgiyao, the purring of a cat; cococococan, a hen calling
her chickens; pocto pocto, uneven, irregular (there is a Devonshire
word, scory, having exactly the same meaning); timbon timbon, piling
up; punit punit, rags; añgao añgao, an infinite number; aling aling,
changeable; caval caval, uncertain. Some Spanish words are doubled to
avoid being confounded with native sounds; as dondon for don. These
repetitions are a necessary consequence of the small number of
primitive words.
Though the poverty of the language is remarkable, yet a great variety
of designations is found for certain objects. Rice, for example,
in the husk is palay (Malay, padi); before transplanting, botobor;
when beginning to sprout, buticas; when the ear appears, basag; in a
more advanced stage, maymota; when fully ripe in ear, boñgana; when
borne down by the wind or the weight of the ear, dayapa; early rice,
cavato; sticky rice, lagquitan; ill-formed in the grain, popong; rice
cleaned but not separated from the husks, loba; clean rice, bigas;
waste rice, binlor; ground rice, digas; roasted rice, binusa; roasted
to appear like flowers, binuladac; rice paste, pilipig; fricasseed
rice, sinaing; another sort of prepared rice, soman. There are no less
than nineteen words for varieties of the same object. And so with
verbs:--To tie, tali; to tie round, lingquis; to tie a belt, babat;
to tie the hands, gapus; to tie a person by the neck, tobong; to tie
with a noose, hasohaso; to tie round a jar, baat; to tie up a corpse,
balacas; to tie the mouth of a purse, pogong; to tie up a basket,
bilit; to tie two sticks together, pangcol; to tie up a door, gacot;
to tie up a bundle (as of sticks), bigquis; to tie up sheaves of grain,
tangcas; to tie up a living creature, niquit; to tie the planks of a
floor together, gilaguir; a temporary tie, balaguir; to tie many times
round with a knot, balaguil; tight tie, yaguis; to tie bamboos, dalin;
to tie up an article lent, pañgayla. Of these twenty-one verbs the
root of scarcely any is traceable to any noun substantive. For rice
there are no less than sixty-five words in Bisayan; for bamboo, twenty.
There are numerous names for the crocodile. Buaya conveys the idea
of its size from the egg to the full-grown animal, when he is called
buayang totoo, a true crocodile. For gold there are no less than
fifteen native designations, which denote its various qualities.
Juan de Noceda gives twenty-nine words as translations of mirar
(to look); forty-two for meter (to put); seventy-five for menear (to
move); but synonymes are with difficulty found in languages having
no affinity, especially when any abstract idea is to be conveyed.
In family relations the generic word for brother is colovong; elder
brother, cacang: if there be only three, the second is called colovong;
the third, bongso: but if there be more than three, the second is
named sumonor; the third, colovong. Twin brothers are cambal. Anac
is the generic name for son; an only son, bogtong; the first-born,
pañganay; the youngest, bongso; an adopted son, ynaanac. Magama
means father and son united; magcunaama, father and adopted son;
nagpapaama, he who falsely calls another his father; pinanamahan,
a falsely called father; maanac, father or mother of many children;
maganac, father, mother and family of children (of many); caanactilic,
the sons of two widowers; magca, brothers by adoption.
A common ironical expression is, Catalastasan mo aya a! (How very
clever!)
The Indian name for the head of a barrio, or barangay, is dato,
but the word more commonly used at present is the Castilian cabeza;
so that now the Indian generally denominates this native authority
cabeza sa balañgay. The Tagal word for the principal locality of a
district is doyo, in Castilian, cabazera.
The word cantar has been introduced for the music of the Church, but
many of the ancient Indian words have been retained, such as Pinanan
umbitanan ang patay.--They sing the death-song; dayao, the song of
victory; hune, the song of birds. The noise of the ghiko lizard is
called halotictic.
The following may serve as specimens of Tagál polysyllabic words:--
Anagnalaláqui son.
Ananababai daughter.
Cababulaánang lie.
Malanuingiolog thunder.
Pagsisisi | suffering.
Paghahanducan |
Pagsisingsiñgan finger.
Pagpapahopa peace.
Palayanglayañgan swallow.
Pañgañganyaya damage.
Sangtinacpan the world.
Solonmañgayao comet; exhalation.
Magbabaca | warrior, from baca to light.
Tagupagbaca |
Tangcastancasan faggot.
Masaquit angmangapilipis anco my head aches.
Hahampasinguita I will flog thee (thou
shalt be flogged by me).
Guiguisiñgincata I will wake thee (thou
shalt be waked by me).
Magpasavalabanhangan everlasting.
Pananangpahataya faith.
Mapagpaunbabao deceitful.
Mapagpalamara ungrateful.
Odd numbers in Tagál are called gangsal, even numbers tocol.
Affirmative, Yes! Oo; tango.
Negative, No! Di; dili; houag; dakan.
Many Malayan words are to be traced, some in their pure, others in
a corrupted form, not only in the Tagal and Bisayan, but in other
idioms of the Philippines. [26] Such are Langit, heaven; puti, white;
mata, eye; vato, stones; mura, cheap; and some others. Slightly
modified are dita for lina, language; babi, for babuy, pig; hagin
(Tag.) and hangin (Bis.) for angin, wind; masaguit for sakit, sick;
patay for mati (Mal.), mat (Pers.), dead; nagcasama for samasama,
in company; matacut for takot, fear; ulan for udian, rain; and a
few others. The Malay word tuan, meaning honourable, and generally
employed to signify the obedience and deference of the speaker to the
person addressed, is mostly used by the Tagals in an ironical sense. Ay
touan co! Honourable man indeed! "Do not tuan me," is equivalent to,
"None of your nonsense."
The monks have introduced most of the Castilian words of Greek and
Latin origin necessary for the profession of the Catholic faith,
or the celebration of its religious rites, for few of which could
any representatives be found in the aboriginal tongues.
Considering the long possession of many portions of the Philippines by
tribes professing Mahomedanism, the number of current Arabic words is
small: I heard salam, salute; malim, master; arrac, wine or spirits;
arraes for reis, captain. And among the Mussulmans of Mindanao, Islam,
koran, rassoul (prophet), bismillah, kitab, and other words immediately
connected with the profession of Islamism, were quite familiar.
The only Chinese word that I found generally in use was sampan,
a small boat, meaning literally three planks.
Many of the sounds in the Tagal are so thoroughly English that
they fell strangely on my ear. Toobig is water; and asin, salt, when
shouted out to the Indian servants at table, somewhat startled me, and
I could not immediately find out what was the excess denounced, or the
peccadillo committed. Most of the friars speak the native idioms with
fluency, never preach in any other, and living, as most of them do,
wholly surrounded by the Indian population, and rarely using their
native Spanish tongue, it is not to be wondered at that they acquire
great facility in the employment of the Indian idioms. Most of the
existing grammars and dictionaries were written by ecclesiastics to
aid in the propagation of the Christian doctrine, and small books
are printed (all on religious subjects) for the instruction of the
people. I could not discover that they have any historical records
or traditions brought down from a remote antiquity.
The more my attention has been directed to the study of the idioms
of distant countries, the more I am struck by the absurd fancies
and theories which have obtained so much currency with regard to
the derivation and affinities of languages. The Biscayans firmly
hold their Euscaran idiom to have been the tongue of Adam and Eve in
Paradise, and consequently the universal language of primitive man
and the fountain-head of all others. More than one Cambrian patriot
has claimed the same honour for the Welsh, insisting that all the
dialects of the world have been derived from the Cymri. But it would
be hard to prove that a single word has descended to the present times
from the antediluvian world. Intercourse and commerce seem the only
channels through which any portion of the language of any one nation
or tribe has passed into the vocabulary of any other. The word sack
is said to be that of the most general diffusion. A French writer
contends it was the only word preserved at the time of the Babel
confusion of languages, and it was so preserved in order that the
rights of property might be respected in the general anarchy. In the
lower numerals of remote dialects there are many seemingly strange
affinities, which may be attributed to their frequent use in trading
transactions. Savages, having no such designations of their own, have
frequently adopted the higher decimal numbers employed by civilized
nations, of which the extended use of the word lac for 10,000 is an
example. Muster, among trading nations, is, with slight variations,
the almost universally received word for pattern; so the words account,
date, and many similar. How many maritime terms are derived from the
Dutch, how many military from the French, how many locomotive from the
English! The Justinian code has impregnated all the languages of Europe
with phrases taken from the Roman law. To the Catholic missal may be
traced in the idioms of converted nations almost all their religious
phraseology. In the facilities of combination which the Greek in so
high a degree possesses science has found invaluable auxiliaries. Our
colonies are constantly adding to our stores, and happily there is not
(as in France) any repugnance to the introduction of useful, still
less of necessary words. Bentham used to say that purity of language
and poverty of language were nearly synonymous. It is well for the
interests of knowledge that the English tongue receives without
difficulty new and needful contributions to the ancient stock. The
well of pure English undefiled is not corrupted, but invigorated,
by the streams which have been poured into it from springs both
adjacent and remote. Language must progress with and accommodate
itself to the progress of knowledge, and it is well that a language
clear, defined and emphatic as our own--derived from many sources,
whence its plasticity and variety--having much monosyllabic force
and polysyllabic cadence--condensed and yet harmonious--should be
the language having now the strongest holds and the widest extension.
Among the evidences of progress which the world exhibits, not
only is the gradual extinction of the inferior by the advance of
the superior races of man a remarkable fact, but equally striking
is the disappearance of the rude and imperfect idioms, and their
supplantation by the more efficient instruments of advancement and
civilization found in the languages of the cultivated nations. The
attempts which have been made to introduce the phraseology of advanced
arts and sciences into tongues which only represent a low stage of
cultivation, have been lamentably unsuccessful. No appropriate niches
can be found in barbarian temples for the beautiful productions of
the refined genius of sculpture. The coarse garments of the savage
cannot be fitly repaired with the choice workmanship of the gifted
artisan. And few benefits can be conceived of more importance to the
well-being of the human family than that the means of oral intercourse
should be extended, and that a few widely spread languages (if not a
universal one, whose introduction may be deemed an utterly hopeless
dream) will in process of time become the efficient instrument of
communication for the whole world.
The poetry of the Tagals is in quantity of twelve syllables. They
have the Spanish asonante, but words are considered to rhyme if they
have the same vowel or the same consonant at a terminal, as thus:--
In beautiful starlight
Heaven's concave is drest,
And the clouds as they part
Make the brightness more bright.
So stick would rhyme with thing, knot with rob; and the Indian always
chant their verses when they recite them, which, indeed, is a generally
received Asiatic custom. The San tze King, or three-syllable classic,
which is the universally employed elementary book in the schools of
China, is always sung, and the verse and music naturally aid the
memory. The music of the song sung by the Tagálas to tranquillize
children, called the helehele, De Mas says, resembles that of the Arab.
I have found a few proverbs in verse, of which these are examples:--
Isda acong yaga saprap Weak men, by the helping aid
Galataliptip calapad Of the mighty, strong are made.
Caya naquiqui pagpusag
Ang cala goyo y apahap.
Aba ayá casampaga It is a very careless hen,
Nang ponay na olila Who will not stretch her pinions when
Un umumbo y pagscap na The young brood for protection fly
Valan magsopcop na ma. From storms and rains and threatening
sky.
Ycao ang caou co In going and coming on life's long
Pacacaou so tomanda y stage,
Maguinguin bata pa You may say as a certain truth,
Ang catacayac That men may travel from youth to age,
Sucat macapagcati nang dagat. But never from age to youth.
Coya ipinacataastaas. Many few make a many.
Nang domagongdong ang cagpac. The higher the flight the greater the
fall. Tolluntur in altum ut lapsu
graviore ruant.--Claud.
Note.--The chapter I had written on the language of the Philippines
was, with many others of my MSS., submerged in the Red Sea by the
Alma wreck, and much of their contents is utterly illegible; nor have
I been able, from any materials accessible to me in this country, to
present anything like a satisfactory sketch. Under the circumstances,
my short-comings will, I doubt not, be forgiven.