How The 'cory Consti' Shaped The Filipino Language

[Sampaguita]

When we were under Spain for more than 300 years, the official language in the Philippines was Spanish. When the Katipuneros defeated the Spanish colonizers, the Americans took over and made English our official language. Thus, it was no surprise that our leaders included the concept of a “national language" based on an existing indigenous language when they drafted the 1935 Constitution. Then-President Manuel L. Quezon also created the precursor of what is now the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, which recommended Tagalog as the national language. The government’s reasoning: Tagalog is the most widely spoken among the local languages, there are books and dictionaries in Tagalog, and it is easy to write in Tagalog because it is phonetic or “kung anong bigkas, siyang baybay." Read the rest here

[Tom in Texas]

When we were under Spain for more than 300 years, the official language in the Philippines was Spanish. When the Katipuneros defeated the Spanish colonizers, the Americans took over and made English our official language. Thus, it was no surprise that our leaders included the concept of a “national language" based on an existing indigenous language when they drafted the 1935 Constitution. Then-President Manuel L. Quezon also created the precursor of what is now the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, which recommended Tagalog as the national language. The government’s reasoning: Tagalog is the most widely spoken among the local languages, there are books and dictionaries in Tagalog, and it is easy to write in Tagalog because it is phonetic or “kung anong bigkas, siyang baybay." Read the rest here

Interesting article... a few other "blurbs" I found interesting?The second edition of UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino was launched during the Sawikaan 2010 at the University of the Philippines-Diliman last July 29. In his introduction to the reference book during the launching program, leading Filipino literary critic Isagani R. Cruz said: “This dictionary, whether we like it or not, is the only dictionary in Filipino." He always tells his students to consult the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino if they have any doubts about the spelling of a particular word. It is often lamented that Filipinos are not united and that we are very regionalistic. There is a geographical reason for this – we are scattered in more than 7,000 islands that have different cultures and languages.... The Philippine archipelago has 175 indigenous languages, often mistakenly called “dialects." ... I shall be eagerly awaiting every five years the ever-expanding UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino that is slowly but surely embracing all Philippine languages. Doing this is one democratic way of uniting our nation.Even as English remains one of our two official languages alongside Filipino... the efforts of the team behind the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino should be recognized as a major step in the development of Filipino as the national language.