Filipina Soul

I can speak, read, write and comprehend the English language fairly well. I should. I’ve been taught it since first grade. In fact, most Filipinos can, because it is part of our curriculum whether one attends an urban or rural public school. Besides, I’ve been watching Sesame Street since, uhhm, like 30 years back or more! (gasp!) and most kids my age grew up learning phonetics that way. But for all my ability to speak this foreign language, I still think (and dream!) in my native tongue. In fact, there have been times when I replied in Tagalog to a non-Filipino, much to my shock and embarrassment! And sometimes, when I’m talking fast, scared or nervous, I still find it hard to express my thoughts in unbroken English that would convey exactly what I mean, and I’m at a loss for words. Now, if I’m  talking to a kababayan, then I can easily cross back to Tagalog or speak Taglish.

What is Taglish? It’s infusing English words into the Tagalog language. It’s so commonly spoken across the country, that Wikipedia says it’s “arguably” our lingua franca!

An intriguing aspect of Taglish is the fact that any English verb, and even some nouns, can be converted into a Tagalog verb by following the normal verb tense constructions of Tagalog. This is done usually by the addition of one or more prefixes or infixes and by the doubling of the starting sound of the base form of the verb or noun. The English verb drive can be transformed into the Tagalog magda-drive meaning, “will drive”. The English noun Internet can be converted into the Tagalog nag-Internet, meaning “have used the Internet” or even “have logged-on into the Internet”.

Some examples:

Pa-use naman ng computer para mag-internet (May I use the computer so I can log on to the internet?)

May report akong due later. (I have a report due later.)

Ang cool nito, di ba? (This is so cool, right?!… or rather, ain’t this cool!)

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