SKIRMISHER

I may not be an official linguist (yet?), but I strongly declare that ALL PHILIPPINE LANGUAGES (except, perhaps, the northernland languages –spoken by tribes that were not Christianized/Hispanized– such as the ones used by Mañguianes and Igorotes) ARE SPANISH CREOLE LANGUAGES… at varying degrees. To some considerable extent, there would be no Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, etc. if they weren’t formed or moulded by the Spanish language.

Obviously, the closest local language to Spanish is Chavacano. Next in line, I believe, was Tagalog. A long time ago, Tagalog had so many Spanish words in it. But Tagalog puristas murdered the language a few decades ago. What we have now is a f*cked up pidgin called Taglish/Engalog, an offshoot of a nonsensical Abakada Tagalog.

If my observation is correct, I think Hiligaynón comes next.

And so on and so forth.

Due to the more than three centuries of Spanish colonization, the local Philippine languages had the benefit of acquiring new words and concepts from the Spanish language. Here are a few examples (local words and their Spanish derivatives):

abandonada (Tagalog) — abandonado, abandoned

abugado — abogado, lawyer

almusal — almorzar, to eat lunch

bulto (Tagalog and Visaya/Cebuano de Bohol) — bulto, bulk

Camarines (Norte, Sur,) — camarín, storage house, dressing room

choriso — chorizo, sausage

diyos — dios, god

dolyar — dólar, dollar

espada — espada, sword

hamon — jamón, jamonado, ham, bacon

imbestigador — investigador, investigator

kabayo — caballo, horse

krus — cruz, cross

kusina — cocina, to cook 

kuwaderno — cuaderno, notebook

lantad — adelantar, to advance, to go up the stage

lapis – lápiz, pencil

milyon — millón, million

Miyerkules — miércoles, Wednesday

pader — pared, wall

pamilya — familia, family

petsa — fecha, date

relo — relój, watch

sibuyas — cebollas, onion

sundalo — soldado, soldier

telepono — teléfono, telephone

trabaho — trabajar, to work

ubas — uvas, grapes

uniporme — uniforme, uniform

yabe — llave, key

Please take note that these are just some of countless examples.

However, there are also false friends between Spanish and the native languages. False friends in linguistics mean that two words or phrases exist in, say, Tagalog and Spanish. But they could mean different things. For example, the local term syempre (which is used not only in Tagalog but is used in Chavacano, Cebuano, Ilocano, and Hiligaynón as well) means of course to local users. But it means always in Spanish. (Siempre lava tus manos. Always wash your hands)

When Filipinos say siguro, they want to send the message that they’re not sure. In Spanish (seguro), however, it denotes certainty, surety, security, or stability.

Kubeta is a Tagalog word which means toilet in English. But it was derived from the Spanish word cubeta, meaning bucket.

The Tagalog and Cebuano term for a movie villain or antagonist is kontrabida. But the word originated from the Spanish contra vida, which means against life.

We use ‘di masyado to mean that something’s not enough or not much. But it originated from the Spanish demasiado, which means the opposite of the local definition (too much)!

Hilariously, leche is the Spanish word for milk, but it has a very demeaning (and I do mean demeaning) connotation in the local Philippine languages. (D’you really wanna know what it means? Well, you’d have to ask me this first: “come again?”).

Even the popular colloquial term coño is greatly misunderstood. It is loosely defined as someone who is an elitist snob. But in Spanish, it refers to the female reproductive organ.

Wouldn’t you agree that all Filipino languages are Chavacano also?

For more hispanismos in the local Philippine languages, click here.

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