English / Filipino Dictionary - Ingles / Filipino Diksiyonaryo

About The English / Filipino Dictionary

Shortly before the Philippines gained independence from the United States, Filipino lawmakers agreed that a national language was needed to replace English and to unify the multilingual and multicultural archipelago. One idea was to use one of the 135 local languages as the national language. Another was to construct a fusion language out of the different local languages.

The Philippine government wanted to choose a language among the many languages spoken in the archipelago, Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, just to name a few. For many reasons, Tagalog was chosen as the national language of the Philippine Commonwealth.

Tagalog is the native language of the Tagalog ethnic group in the Philippines. It has several dialects, the most prominent of which is Manila Tagalog. Considered to be standard Tagalog, it is the language used in the national media, and the lingua franca of Filipinos both in the Philippines and outside the country.

In 1937, Tagalog was proclaimed the basis of the national language, making it the de facto national language. It was promoted throughout the country and taught in grade school and high school.

In 1959, Tagalog was given the name Pilipino to lend it a national character.

In 1987, the national language was once again given a new name—Filipino. According to the politicians who advocated the change, Pilipino was no different from Tagalog, while Filipino "shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages." and eventually become a fusion language.

How exactly Filipino was to be "further developed and enriched" was not clearly defined. It has been taken to mean that Filipino was to be more conducive to borrowings from other languages, which included preserving their original spelling. However, in the great scheme of things, these are only superficial changes. Filipino is still, at its core, Tagalog. Specifically, the standardized form of Tagalog spoken in Metro Manila.

Thirty years later, Filipino is still the same as Tagalog, which unless otherwise specified, is generally understood as standard or Manila Tagalog. The grammar is identical. No substantial body of words has been added from other local languages. And although alternating between Tagalog and other languages in a conversation—also known as code-switching—is common, no fusion language has emerged.