Filipino Glossary by George Hernandez

Exploring Filipino and Tagalog, the languages, the phrases, and the words

DISCLAIMER: I am not an authority on any of the languages of the Philippines.

For a more in depth explanation, see this post: "Sorry, I am not an authority on languages of the Philippines".

Miscellany
Glossary

Miscellany

The Filipino alphabet. Personally I think they should have stuck with the 1976-1987 version so they could use standard foreign spelling for all English and Spanish words and then use native spelling for truly local words. EG: Instead of "Filipino" it would be "Philipino".
- 'The Tagalog, Baybayin or Alibata alphabet is one of a number of closely related scripts used in the Philippines until the 17th Century AD. It probably developed from the Kawi script of Java, Bali and Sumatra, which in turn descended from the Pallava script, one of the southern Indian scripts derived from Brahmi.' [ref]
  
  This syllabic alphabet is roughly 3 vowels, 14 consonants with an "a" sound, 14 consonants with an "e" or "i" sound, and 14 consonants with an "o" or "u" sound.
- 1930-1976. 20 letters aka "Abakada"
```
a b  k  d  e g  h  i l  m  n  ng  o p  r s  t  u       (20 Abakada)
  ba ka da   ga ha   la ma na nga   pa   sa ta   wa ya (14 Baybayin consonants)
```
- 1976-1987. 31 letters. 11 new letters (c, ch, f, j, ll, ñ, q, rr, v, x, and z). Equivalent to the 30 letter Spanish alphabet plus ng.
```
a b c ch d e f g h i j k l ll m n ñ ng o p q r rr s t u v w x y z (31 Filipino) a b c ch d e f g h i j k l ll m n ñ    o p q r rr s t u v w x y z (30 Spanish)a b c    d e f g h i j k l    m n      o p q r    s t u v w x y z (26 English)
```
- 1987+. 28 letters. Equivalent to the 26 letter English alphabet plus the Spanish ñ and the native ng.
```
a b c    d e f g h i j k l    m n ñ ng o p q r    s t u v w x y z (28 Filipino)
a b c ch d e f g h i j k l ll m n ñ    o p q r rr s t u v w x y z (30 Spanish)
a b c    d e f g h i j k l    m n      o p q r    s t u v w x y z (26 English)
```
Days of the week starting with Monday. Note the non-standard Spanish.
- Lunes
- Martes
- Miyerkules
- Huwebes
- Biyernes
- Sabado
- Lingo
Meals of the day:
- agahan is breakfast
- tanghalian is lunch
- hapunan is dinner
Family names:
- lolo is grandfather or any male relation of that generation in relation to you
- lola is grandmother or any female relation of that generation in relation to you
- papa or ama is father
- mama or ina is mother
- tito or tiyo is uncle or any male relation of that generation in relation to you
- tita or tiya is uncle or any female relation of that generation in relation to you
- asawa is spouse
- kuya (manoy in the Bicol dialect) is older brother or any male relation of that generation in relation to you
- ate (manay in the Bicol dialect) is older sister or any female relation of that generation in relation to you
- anak is child
- apo is grandchild
- pinsan is cousin
- pamangkin is nephew or niece

Glossary

Ano ang pangalan ng anak mo? OR Ano ang pangalan ng anak ninyo?: What is your child's name?
anting-anting: magical charms or amulets
buwaya ka!: A bit of swearing: "You're a crocodile!"
bahala na: "I don't care what happens in the future, as long as I survive now."
bayanihan: Working together and sharing the results.
buhay pa tayo: "We're still alive". One of the more common responses to the question: Kumusta ka? = How are you? Eto = "here" and buhay pa = "still alive" are other common responses. See also "Buhay Pa Tayo" [http://www.georgehernandez.com/h/aaBlog/post.asp?PostID=321].
dali: hurry
gahgalauw: Spelling? Mess with. EG: "Gahgalauw the computer."
hindi: "no". See also oo.
iyan: That one.
Kamusta mundo!: Hello world!. A common phrase in testing programming code.
kasi: because.
kumusta ka: "how are you?" Typical greeting. Variation of the Spanish "como esta?"
lipad: Fly. EG: The film Lipad, Darna, Lipad = Fly, Darna, Fly (1973), starred Vilma Santos as Darna/Narda.
mabait: kind
mabuhay: "long live". A positive expression.
manok: chicken
maraming salamat: Lots of thanks.
ng: (1) A letter of the Filipino language.

(2) "of". EG: "Unibersidad ng Pilipinas" is "University of Philippines.
ocho ocho: dancing
oo: "yes". See also hindi.
sandali lang: Just a moment; wait a second.
sarimanok: A legendary bird of the Maranao people of the Mindanao island of the Philippines. Manok is the Philippine word for chicken. The sarimanok is often rendered as a fanciful cock and is a symbol of good fortune. [I put this in Wikipedia].
tinikling: Dancing involving two long clapping bamboo stick. The pattern is tap-tap slam, tap-tap slam, ....

Page Modified: (Hand noted: 2008-06-09 15:30:22Z) (Auto noted: 2010-12-24 22:58:59Z)