Tagalog (Filipino native language)

[gabrieldemanila]

We have a lot of loan words from Spanish but the spelling has been changed slightly to match how we spell words in Tagalog. Also, some words have been corrupted slightly over the years.

Filipinos of long ago do not differentiate the O and U sounds that much and the same goes for the E and I sounds. So in some cases, the way a borrowed word is spelled reflects this switching of vowels.

Other ways how the spelling is changed is that hard C are changed to K. Same goes for QU. Soft C and Z are changed to S. CH is changed to TS. J is changed to H. Spanish H is dropped from the word altogether. IA is changed to YA. ÍA is changed to IYA. LL is changed to LY (so calle = kalye). Ñ is changed to NY except in Santo Niño (so baño = banyo). RR and R is considered the same and both are rolled the same amount. V is changed to B. F is changed to P. It may be a bit weird but it's pretty easy to remember the tagalog word for something if you know its Spanish equivalent.

Examples of loaned words, spelled in Tagalog:

Professions - Ex. artista, abogado, presidente, empleyado, kargador, bumbero, barbero, inhinyero, tsuper (chofer), kundoktor (condoctor), doktor.

Days - Lunes, martes, miyerkules, huwebes, biyernes, sabado (not domingo though)

Numbers when using it to tell time, speed limits, score tests and monetary amounts above 10 Pesos.

Kitchen and dining items - kutsara, tinidor, kutsilyo, plato, tasa, baso, mesa, silya.

Food - mansanas, ubas, kastanyas, asado, bistek, embutido, empanada, sibuyas, kalabasa, picadilyo, menudo, mantikilya, mantika, asukal (from azucar), paminta (from pimienta).

Vehicles - kotse, bus, bisikleta, tren, eroplano, barko.

Religious names and items - San Jose, Birhen, Santa Maria, Santo Niño, Santo Tomas, altar, krus, ostya, kampana, kampanilya.

And some other odd words - asul, berde, telon, asar, merienda, pasaporte, kalye, diretso, andar, maneho, pasado, pasada, parada, kama, kuryente, sala, kwarto, sobra, grabe, bintana, eskwela, kwaderno, lapis, papel (both as paper and as role), estudyante, tisa, examen, oso, lobo, elepante, kuneho, amo (master), iho, iha, madre, tiyo, tiya, etc.