National Language: Tagalog Or Bisaya

[diem]

---

@off^tangent, I appreciate your personal comments on my views though i do find them vehemently cynical... I guess that's the difference between you and me. Anyway, here are my comments to your views...

the big issue is why do the government spend a lot of taxpayer's money (including non-Tagalog taxpayers) developing and cramming the 'national language' into our heads at school when it wouldn't be of any help whatsoever in developing skills or finding a job later (except kung gusto ka mo-apil sa makeover contests sa ABS-CBN). the big question is, WHAT FOR? for national symbolism? who needs it?
Not for national symbolism, but for national identity. Who needs it? The children of this country needs it, to identify themselves as Filipinos, to become loyal citizens of this nation, knowing and acting out their obligations and responsibilities to this country and fellow Filipino.

and spare us from the 'unity' crap some people are pushing. unity comes to people who respect each other, not to those who impose anything on each other.
And RESPECT comes from the sense that we are not much different from each other, that we’re basically the same.

if our country can't live without symbols, the 'sign language' best represents the Philippines. lipay pa ang mga amang nga gitagaan sila importansya.
Symbolism is vital to human existence, like corporate logos and brands, the wedding ring, the crucifix, the mosque etc.… symbols serve as an anchor from which we can link memory and emotions. Surely you could appreciate the personal symbols you identify with in your life. How much more a nation and a people?
And yes, silence is golden, if you have nothing good to say, why say?

assuming you are cebuano, your statements are quite contradicting. or do you mean that tagalog and cebuano are from the same heritage? tell me more about it.
I’m not saying that tagalog and cebuano came from the same heritage. I was saying that I consider the Filipino language as my heritage as taught to by my teachers, taught to them by their teachers, as taught by their teachers.
I was born in Cebu but I grew up and lived in a lot of places here in the Philippines; Manila, Bacolod, Davao, Batangas, Legaspi, Dumaguete and back to Cebu… and in every place I go to, I attend a new school, have new classmates, and try to learn a new dialect. One thing was I clearly know: the rich diversity of our country is our heritage, and I enjoy it very much.

they can never be one. either, one has to die in sacrifice for the other or they can both exist independent of each other.
Who says they can never be one? Everyday the English language is changing with new words being made up as trends go or foreign words added to its vocabulary. Why not the Filipino Language grow the same way? As for the past decade, the word ‘buang’ is well accepted to mean as it means everywhere, thanks to general media.

it's not too late to realize of what we really are. that we are different, and should come to terms with that fact. or we can live in denial and forever wondering what's wrong with us filipinos we can't get our acts together. realizing our difference doesn't necessarily result to hating each other.
I so agree with this sentiment. We don’t need to segregate ourselves into our respective provinces due to our differences, but in order for tolerance and acceptance to work effectively, we all have to see how much we share in common.

[slyder]

senseless arguement.

[Wind Shear]

Sorry to tell you, blame who those framed the "language" section of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Saying and thinking Tagalog (or Cebuano, or Hiligaynon ) is a dialect of Filipino is dead wrong. Tagalog (or Cebuano, or Hiligaynon) is a language by itself. Is Tagalog mutually intelligible to Cebuano and vice versa? Go figure.

Mas maayo na lang diay na wala na lang ang official language gibutang sa 1987 Philippine Constitution.

[diem]

@windshear, putting blame onto others is an act of the weakminded. And we shouldn't be weakminded.

We should rather use what has been given PROACTIVELY to improve or alleviate the situation.Â*

"When life give you lemons, make lemonade".Â* Figure on that.

[FK]

does it matter of bisaya ang basihan sa Filipino language?

or natandog lang ang garbo kay mas daghan ang tagalog words gigamit.Â* Kay gusto ta mo labaw sa tagalog?

ang Filipino language is not Tagalog nor Bisaya... its a mix.

[Empress_Of_Drac]

I guess we should stick to Tagalog. Tagalog is more harmonious to use than bisaya.

[websniper]

I guess this might settle everything:

The emergence of a national language that could unite the whole country is the realization of a dream that goes back to the year 1935. President Manuel L. Quezon of the Commonwealth of the Philippines made this possible through the inclusion of an article in the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines regarding the development of a national language.

Â* Â* Â* Â*Of the more than a hundred languages being spoken by the different ethnolinguistic groups of dwellers in the more than seven thousand and one hundred islands comprising the Philippines, eight of them are considered major languages. These major languages are Ilocano, Pangasinan, Pampango, Tagalog, Bicol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray-Samarnon.

Â* Â* Â* Â*The 1935 Constitution Article XIV, Section 3 states that "...Congress shall make necessary steps towards the development of a national language which will be based on one of the existing native languages..." There are two significant words in the statement, namely existing and native. The initial step made by the national Assembly was the passing of Commonwealth Act No. 184 (1936) that created a national committee and empowered its members to decide on which one of the existing native major languages will the national language be based. The committee members were eminent linguists and each one of them representing a linguistic group or one of the major languages. They were Jaime C. de Veyra (Hiligaynon), Santiago Fonacier (Ilocano), Casimiro Perfecto (Bicol), Felix Salas Rodriguez (Samarnon), Felimon Sotto (Cebuano), Cecilio Lopez (Tagalog), and Hadji Butu (Maranao-Maguindanao). Mr. Jaime de Veyra was the chairman of the said committee. A year later, four more committee members were included. They were Isidro Abad (Cebuano), Zoilo Hilario (Pampango), Jose Zulueta (Pangasinan) and Lope K. Santos (Tagalog).

Â* Â* Â* Â*After a thorough and earnest effort in studying the case, the committee recommended Tagalog to be the basis of the national language. Hence, the Executive Order No. 134 s. 1937 stating that the national language will be based on Tagalog. Three years after the proclamation of Tagalog as the basis of the national language (officially called "Pilipino" since 1959) it was decided as one of the official languages of the Philippines. It was taught as a subject in the teacher education courses and in the elementary and secondary schools throughout the country. Lope K. Santos who was then appointed director of the Institute of National Language (1939), undertook the preparation of grammar book (Balarila ng Wikang Pambansa) which constitute the bulk of what was taught in school.

Â* Â* Â* Â*The Tagalog-based national language was taught in school only as one of the subject areas (1940) but was not adapted as the medium of instruction. During World War II, the Japanese encouraged the use of the National Language rather than English in the schools. The Tagalog-based national language was, therefore, propagated not only in education but also in mass media and in official communication. The census for 1948 reported that 7,126,913 people or 37.11% of the population spoke the language, representing an increase of 11.7% from the 1939 figure of 4,068,565. Of these seven million people, 47.7% learned it as a second language (Liamzon).

Â* Â* Â* Â*Once again, the National Language issue sparked heated discussion during the 1973 Constitutional Convention. A committee on National Language (CNL) was created by the convention delegates to look into the language question and to make recommendations on the policy that should be adapted on the matter. The CNL, after hearing conflicting testimonies from various language experts in the country, recommended to eliminate Pilipino and replace it with a new "common national language to be known as Filipino, based on existing native languages...". The FILIPINO to be developed pursuant to the 1973 constitution could be a fusion of the different native languages. This CNL recommendation met a great deal of oppositions from various sectors of the community. They pointed out that such an artificial language was not feasible, since it lacked both native speakers and a literary tradition to help propagate it.

Â* Â* Â* Â*FILIPINO, the national language of the Philippines was finally settled in the 1987 Constitution. Article XIV section 6 states that "the National language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.Â* Â*
Â* Â*The constitution also provided that subject to provision of law and as the congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.

Â* Â* Â* Â*Section 7. For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.

Â* Â* Â* Â*The regional languages are the auxilliary official language in the region and shall serve as auxilliary media of instruction therein."

Â* Â* Â* Â*It is predicted that by the year 2000, the Philippines will be a Filipino lingua franca speaking nation, which is quite an achievement wrought within a time-frame of around 65 years (1935-2000).

[noelkoi]

define harmony in tagalog dialect

[off^tangent]

@off^tangent, I appreciate your personal comments on my views though i do find them vehemently cynical... I guess that's the difference between you and me. Anyway, here are my comments to your views...

hi there!
I can't help it if you find my views too cynical for you because from my standpoint I find yours too bland, it doesn't cut into the meat of the matter. it sounds like one of those overused concoctions of panaceas that promise to cure ills of society. well, that's your positive standpoint...

the big issue is why do the government spend a lot of taxpayer's money (including non-Tagalog taxpayers) developing and cramming the 'national language' into our heads at school when it wouldn't be of any help whatsoever in developing skills or finding a job later (except kung gusto ka mo-apil sa makeover contests sa ABS-CBN). the big question is, WHAT FOR? for national symbolism? who needs it?
Not for national symbolism, but for national identity. Who needs it? The children of this country needs it, to identify themselves as Filipinos, to become loyal citizens of this nation, knowing and acting out their obligations and responsibilities to this country and fellow Filipino.

does that mean anybody that does not speak the national language is less a Filipino, unloyal, and irresponsible? for me, the best symbol of the Filipino is the Filipino himself no matter what dialect he speaks. to emphasize it, let's bring the Filipino abroad. what makes him stand out from the rest is his talent, and his ability to speak good english (sorry, it's not the 'Filipino' language)! foreigners cannot identify a Filipino just by listening to one talking, it could be swahili or bongo-bongo to their ears. Now let's bring the Filipino home and becomes you, do you like wearing ID in your own house? IMO, a symbolic national language is too lofty an ideal not worth the money and inconvenience spent, and the risk of further dividing the country (that's what it has achieved, opposite of what it is intended for).

and spare us from the 'unity' crap some people are pushing. unity comes to people who respect each other, not to those who impose anything on each other.
And RESPECT comes from the sense that we are not much different from each other, that we’re basically the same.

now, i have the impression that you're confusing unity with homogeny. in that respect, most people love being different and some are dying for it. it does not mean they're xenophobic or incapable of being united to others. for them, there's more than one way to unity other than being forcibly lumped into one. let's respect them for that.

if our country can't live without symbols, the 'sign language' best represents the Philippines. lipay pa ang mga amang nga gitagaan sila importansya.
Symbolism is vital to human existence, like corporate logos and brands, the wedding ring, the crucifix, the mosque etc.… symbols serve as an anchor from which we can link memory and emotions. Surely you could appreciate the personal symbols you identify with in your life. How much more a nation and a people?
And yes, silence is golden, if you have nothing good to say, why say?

speaking of brands, not a long time ago some naive people called the toothpaste as "colgate". now if i were a toothpaste, I would be mad if somebody indiscriminately call me 'colgate' when I am 'maxam'!

p.s. we're in istorya.net, not in silenceisgolden.net. and who's to judge what i said was bad?
:mrgreen:

assuming you are cebuano, your statements are quite contradicting. or do you mean that tagalog and cebuano are from the same heritage? tell me more about it.
I’m not saying that tagalog and cebuano came from the same heritage. I was saying that I consider the Filipino language as my heritage as taught to by my teachers, taught to them by their teachers, as taught by their teachers.
I was born in Cebu but I grew up and lived in a lot of places here in the Philippines; Manila, Bacolod, Davao, Batangas, Legaspi, Dumaguete and back to Cebu… and in every place I go to, I attend a new school, have new classmates, and try to learn a new dialect. One thing was I clearly know: the rich diversity of our country is our heritage, and I enjoy it very much.

i doubt how much you enjoy the diversity of our country i bet you just grew sick and tired of learning new dialects while moving around. that, i'm with you, you need to learn to speak tagalog for practical reasons, when you want it when you need it. but your situation does not apply to most kids in the country, where they grow sick and tired all their school life of learning the language for no practical reasons.

they can never be one. either, one has to die in sacrifice for the other or they can both exist independent of each other.
Who says they can never be one? Everyday the English language is changing with new words being made up as trends go or foreign words added to its vocabulary. Why not the Filipino Language grow the same way? As for the past decade, the word ‘buang’ is well accepted to mean as it means everywhere, thanks to general media.

English as before as it is now and as it is forever, no matter how many foreign words you add to it. it is not one result of a complete fusion with any other languages.
"pag binubuang ka nila dahil pinugos ka pagsalita ng nasyonal langgwej ug pinagtawanan pa kasi nakakasakal ang pronanshiyeshun, mosugot ka lang ba?
sa palagay kong gamay, dili jud!"
o, te! kung saan gid mi masaya suportahi kami!
wat da hek! how can two languages with different structures be fused? add to that Ilongo, Ilocano, Waray,...etc, because they're Filipinos too, not birds that chirp, you know!

it's not too late to realize of what we really are. that we are different, and should come to terms with that fact. or we can live in denial and forever wondering what's wrong with us filipinos we can't get our acts together. realizing our difference doesn't necessarily result to hating each other.
I so agree with this sentiment. We don’t need to segregate ourselves into our respective provinces due to our differences, but in order for tolerance and acceptance to work effectively, we all have to see how much we share in common.

who's segregating, when one simply doesn't wan't anything to be forced upon him?
now who's intolerant, one who imposes homogeny for the sake of unity is! don't we know anything better than that?



regards,
for peace and unity, these will do!

[junmar4]

unsay masulti ani? usa ni siya ka dokyu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbnNAJ7FQz0