Filipino and Spanish

Filipino and Spanish
 

I just wish to share a few thoughts on my experience as a Filipino learning the Spanish language.

First, the perks: Since many Filipino words were derived from Spanish (owing to our country's colonial history), Filipino speakers already have a head start when it comes to vocabulary. Here are a few Filipino words that mean the same as their similarly-sounding Spanish counterparts: nobyo, mundo, tinidor, kabayo (caballo), banyo, relo, sobre, takilya, huwes (juez), berde. Filipino speakers typically know English, too, so that contributes further to one's starting vocabulary in Spanish.

Furthermore, grammar rules that may be uncommon in English, such as the noun-adjective order and the verb-subject order in passive voice, are normal in the Filipino language. For me, this helped me "accept" these grammar rules rules quite quickly.

Of course, it does have its share of inconveniences. We deal with false cognates that others may not have to encounter. Most confusing are Sp. siempre (always) and Fil. siyempre (of course), Sp. seguro (sure) and Fil. siguro (maybe), and Sp. demasiado (too much) and Fil. 'di masyado (not too much).

And some words that are otherwise unremarkable in the Spanish language are used as offensive words in Filipino. For example, the Spanish-derived salbahe and mutsatsa (muchacha) are almost exclusively used for offensive purposes in the Filipino context.

For those whose native languages are other than English and Spanish, what were your language-learning experiences coming from your native language?

Astonishingly good English CK! Where/how did you learn to write so flawlessly?

Thanks! English is used as a medium of instruction and written communication here in the Philippines, so we Filipinos learn the language from an early age. Plus, the English language is a major subject in the curriculum in all levels of education.

Hi Coffe Kitten!

Most of the times Spanish words are given a local meaning (in the philippines) which is very different from the original Spanish meaning. For example:
Todas = finished
Todo = to include or be included.
Sutil = Stubborn
por venir = for the future

Yes, this just flows. I mean non-natives never say things like "First the perks:" That is 100% native! Moreover it's just good writing: clear, concise, expressive. Fantastic. Just apply to Spanish whatever you've done with English and you'll sound like a native in no time I'm sure.

vita32: Not to mention the Filipino words kubeta (toilet), lamyerda (to go out and have fun), and kesehoda (who cares). I learned only recently that the latter two were derived from Spanish profanity!

BenCondor: Thanks for the encouragement. :)

Coffee Kitten, I had an embarrassing moment back in college (here in U.S.), when I had a classmate from South America and I asked her the meaning of some Spanish words that I heard my brothers say to their friends, I will not repeat it here but the lady was embarrassed and would not tell me the meaning. She just told me that the words were profanity. Later on I looked up the words in a Spanish-English dictionary. Now, I am very cautious about some Spanish words that start with the letter "C". :o
I used to hear my father say "maldad!" when we were kids and he was angry for something we've done. I just now realized that this was localized Spanish for "Mal edad" (bad age).
(Tagalog) sige (go ahead or continue) = sigue (Spanish)
It would be nice to have a list of all the Spanish Words that are mixed in with the Filipino dialects.

Just curious, is it true that Filipino language has Japanese grammar and words?

I don't know Japanese so I can't make the comparison on my own, so I did some searching around and found out that, apparently, the Filipino language does have some Japanese-derived words.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...words#Japanese

Note: There are a couple of translation errors in the article. Haba = length (width is "lapad" in our language), and tamang-tama = just right (it can be used as "coincidentally" in certain context, but, in my opinion, that's not the primary meaning).

Really? Is that so?

In Spanish "maldad" means "evilness" and it's used when something bad happens as soon as something else happens, for instance:

"Maldad que esos dos carajitos se junten para que empiecen a ladillarme"

Meaning: As soon as those two little kids meet, they start to annoying the crap out of me.

Of course the English translation is not correct, the formality is different but I am just giving you the "standard" idea.

More examples:

Maldad que vea un helado porque ya se lo quiere comer.
Maldad que me vea por la calle porque empieza a cobrarme.
Maldad que vea un celular nuevo en una tienda, ahí mismo lo quiere comprar.

So, as I said "Maldad" means, besides evilness, as soon as + negative context.

Not sure how it's used in other countries, though.

Hola,
Estoy tratando entender las oraciones que escribías:
God forbid I should see ice cream, I'll want to eat it (immediately).[?]


As soon as he(she) sees me in the street, he'll start charging me??(wanting his(her) money?) [?]

Heaven help me* should I see a new cell phone in a store, I'll want to buy it right away. [?]
(*Could be he/she)

kunstliebhaber, thanks for the clarifications:):thumbsup:

Hola Kitten. I taught Spanish to adults at night and had Filipino students in my classroom. One guy had just arrived from the Phillipines. According to him he knew what seemed like every Spanish vocabulary word we would talk about. He would say over and over that we have that word. He seemed to know much more than this other Filipino lady who had been in the U.S. for many years. Of course he called his language Tagalog. As you know Tagalog uses the Spanish numbers uno dos tres etc. etc.

Yes, you got my meaning. I don't know how to express that idea in English with the same level of informality. The "standard" idea is "as soon as + negative context" as I said.

Today a friend invited me to an event organized by the roman Filipino community. I continuosly heard the Filipinos talking in their language but, since Oriental languages are usually very different from the languages I know, I didn't even try to understand what they were saying. Had I read this thread about the Filipino-Spanish similarities before, probably I would have paid a bit more of attention!!

According to the linguistic expert Jose Villa Panganiban, "of the 30,000 root words in the Tagalog language, there are close to 5,000 from Spanish, 3,200 from Malay, 1,500 from both Min Nan and Yueh Chinese dialects, 1,500 from English, 300 from Sanskrit, 200 from Arabic, and a few hundred altogether from Mexican, Persian, Japanese, and other languages".

Mexican? There is no such thing as a Mexican language. Must mean Mexican Spanish.

Tagalog Spanish Meaning Abante Avante Ahead,
Forward Ahente Agente Agent Ahensya Agéncia Agency Ambisyoso Ambicioso Ambitious Arina Harina Flour Abiso Aviso Warning Baryo Barrio Village Bisikleta Bicicleta Bicycle Bodega Bodega Warehouse Departamento Departamento Department Diyos Dios God Edukasyon Educación Education Eskwela Escuela School Garahe Garaje Garage Gwapo Guapo Handsome Giyera Guerra War Hustisya Justicia Justice Hapon Japón Japan Ingles Inglés English Istudyante Estudiante Student Intinde Entiende Understand Kalye Calle Street Kapasidad Capacidad Capacity Kabayo Caballo Horse Karne Carne Meat Kolehiyo Colegio College Kotse Coche Car Kultura Cultura Culture Kumusta Cómo estás How are you? (general greeting) Kwento Cuento Story Litrato Retrato Picture Luho Lujo Luxury Monarkiya Monarquía Monarchy Mundo Mundo World Nasyonalista Nacionalista Nationalist Numero Número Number Olanda Holanda Netherlands Operasyon Operación Operation Ordinansa Ordinanza Ordinance Otel Hotel Hotel Oras Horas Time,
Hour Ospital Hospital Hospital Pamilya Familia Family Pilipinas Filipinas Philippines Pista Fiesta Feast Probinsya Provincia Province Pulis Policía Police Pwede Puede Can Pwersa Fuerza Force Realidad Realidad Reality Relo Reloj Wristwatch Republika República Republic Reyna Reina Queen Sabon Jabón Soap Sapatos Zapatos Shoes Silya Cilia Chair Suspetsa Sospechar Suspect Suwerte Suerte Luck Shampoo Champu Shampoo Tableta Tableta Tablet Tsinelas Chinelas Slippers Tsismis Chismes Gossip Teknolohiya Tecnología Technology Yelo Hielo Ice

There are a lot of Phillipine languages. Tagalog, Pilipino and English may be the most common, but one language is called Chabacano incorporates a lot of Spanish.
I don't know very much about Phillipine languages, but if you listen carefully to Pilipino, you will hear English and Spanish words.

Spanish was the original official language of the Phillipines for more than three centuries, and became the lingua franca of the Philippines in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1863 a Spanish decree introduced universal education, creating free public schooling in Spanish. It was also the language of the Philippine Revolution, and the 1899 Malolos Constitution effectively proclaimed it as the official language of the First Philippine Republic. National hero José Rizal wrote most of his works in Spanish. Luciano de la Rosa established that Spanish was spoken by a total of 60% of the population in the early 20th century as a first, second or third language. Following the American occupation of the Philippines and the imposition of English, the use of Spanish declined gradually, especially after the 1940s.

Just want to chime in:

Even the innocuous "hacer caso" which means "to pay attention" dovetails to a cheesy Filipino word "asikaso" which is like saying "to take care of someone/something" but could also (loosely) suit as "to pay attention" just the same.

That's what a three-century influence can do to another country.

In fact Japanese seem to have been influenced by the Philippine languages or by the older language/s (Austronesian) that preceded the formation of the languages of today's Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hawaii, Guam and Marianas, New Zealand, Kiribati, Easter Island, Madagascar etc...

Because Japanese use the word "na" to connect adjectives to the nouns they modify which is also used not only in Tagalog but in other Philippine languages.

Kirei na hana (Japanese)
Marikit na bulaklak (Tagalog)
>>>>>both mean "Beautiful flower"