Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-28
TAGALM LANGUAGE
PRINCIPAL DIALECT OF CHRIS
TIAN AND CIVILIZED FILIPINos.
Nearest to Perfect of the Malayo-
Polynesian Representatives.
of Spanish and Chinese.


From the Educational Review
Tagalog is the principal dialect of the
Christian and civilized Filipinos, who con-
stitute about so per cent of the inhabitants
of the Philippine archipelago. Buckle quotes
an opinion Of w. Won Humboldt that 1t is
the most perfect form of all the Malayo-
Polynesian tongues. According to Deniker
1T Is largely superseding the other dia-
lects. having already displaced Bicol in the
north of the province of Camarine. Bisayan
on Martinique Island, ETC. Perhaps 1t
would be better to say that dialecttc va
riety is disappearing under the influence
of closer Intercourse and q common ma
tional spirit. for Bisayan, Hocoan. Taga.
log. etc.. are in a fact a group OF related
dialects sprInging from a single Malayan
stock Middleton, a Catholic priest. who
recently delivered lecture on this subject
before the Philobiblon Club of Philadelphia
says: The various dialects are twenty
seven In number, all, however. akin In
their common stock. Malay. Of which these
idioms, or patois, are daughters. yet with
countless sharply marked differences be-
tween one another
Philologists classify Tagalog in the Ma
layo-Polynesian family. Its radical ele-
ments are dissyllabc, and reduplication IS
a marked feature in its grammatical struc-
ture. 1t belongs to the agglutinAtive class
VI lduS udSeS, D6luS exceedingly T1Cn IN de-
terminative particles, which modify mean
ing when added to roots In it's present
form it shows the influence OF Spanish and
Chinese contact Its very alphabet Is Latin
instead Of the original Arabic. Except ma
tive scholars and few foreigners like
Blumentritt and certain Spanish monks.
there are none competent to discuss a lam
guage which, for veal or woe, has become
part OF American thought and life.
Phonology Of Tagalog.
The following statements are based on a
study Of ''Metodo Teotico-Practico. para
Aprender Language Tagalo." published
some twelve years ago. and by some attrfb-
uted, incorrectly however, to the gifted and
lamented Dr. Jose Rial:
First-Phonology-Ta has the three
primitive vowel sounds a. 1. u. which are
characteristic Of the European branch OF
the Ayran family. The other vowel sounds,
and o, are used TN printing, and chiefly In
words of Spanish origin, but they are pro-
nounced like l and u, respectively. Theirs
are fifteen simple and two compound con-
sonant sounds, viz. b.. C. d. g, h. l. m, n. p.
q, r. g. t. V, y. ch and ng. or the compound
consonants CHI occurs only in Chinese words,
but ng is characteristic Tagalog sound.
In speaking, the natives use Semi-fai-
sette nasal information. .'as IT, says Rial,
they were gently scolding one another.
Second Morphology-The most noticeable
structural feature of the language Is its
wealth. VI TduiCdiS, ny the
Of prefixes and suffixes or both. become
capable Of wide application. A radical be-
comes an adjective II ma, is prefxed and an
abstract noun If ca is prefixed and sufhxed
For example: ~
The radical buti-good:
mabuu lalaQt-good man; ~,
cabutihan-goodness.
The well-known name of the Philippine
revolutionary society. Catipunan. Is an alb.
stract noun of this formation, and means
society or union. --.t
The sufflx an added to the name OF q
thing signifies the contafner OF that thing.
thus:
Bating-bell: p
batignan-belfry.
The prefix mag with the duplication OK
the first syllable Of the name OF a thing de-
notes the person who deals In or does thar
thing, thus:
Alac-wlne:
magaalac-wine dealer.
The article is infiexible. as in English
The ang.
Number and gender are net grammatical
The word manga is used to denote plural
ity, thus:
Tauo-man;
ang manga tauo-the men.
Gender Is based on SEX and hence is not
expressed dramatically. except that, when
a word is common to both sexes, distinction
is made by adding the word lalaqi oman or
male), or the word babay female or wo-
man.
Use of Pronouns.
The pronouns are never suppressed. They
are numerous and explicit. and even avoid
the ambiguity of English pronouns. For
example, we (meaning the speaker and the
person addresseD is tayo: but IL tha
nearer is excluded, 1t is CANT. Like the
old English and modern Germans. this
Tagals use the second person plural IN
addressing others Of equal social stand
ing. and the second person singular for m
fprjOrg nj for intimate friends relations.
The numerals are complete, the unf.s
being expressed each by single word. tina
tens by the word labin before the cor
responding unit, and the mu.tipleS by add
ing the word poo after the unit ordinais
are formed from the cardinals by prettxing
lea. Thus:
labin ualo-eighteen;
uslong pOo-eighty;
lea ualo-eighth.
Adjectives are generally formed by pre-
fixing ma to the root. though there are OF
course, many primitive Rdjectives Com
parison is expressed by duplication either
OF the first syllable or of the entire radical.
Thus:
Mabuti-eood =;
Mabubutf-best.
The verbs are active, passive. refexive
and fnpersonaL Their various moods ana
lenses are expressed partly by prefikes 70
the root and partly by duplicating one or
more syllables of the root Thus;
The root aral means study;
mag-aral, to study
nag-a-aral AGO, 1 study;
mag-a-araI AGO. shall study.
The particle pag prefixed to the roof
changes the verb into substantive, thus:
Ang pag-aral-the studying.
From all this it will be seen that the
Tagalog language has reached coas:d'
cradle development. But whether the de-
mental capacity of the people Is not clear.