Tagalog language

"Tagalog" redirects here. For other uses, see Tagalog (disambiguation).

Tagalog
Wikang Tagalog
Native to	Philippines
Region	Central and South Luzon
Ethnicity	Tagalog people
Native speakers	28 million  (2007) 96% of the Philippines can understand Tagalog (2000)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Tagalog
Standard forms	Filipino
Dialects	Bataan Batangas Bulacan Lubang Manila Marinduque Tanay-Paete Tayabas Balbal Kasiguranin
Writing system	Latin (Tagalog/Filipino), Filipino Braille Historically Baybayin
Official status
Official language in	Philippines (in the form of Filipino)
Regulated by	Commission on the Filipino Language
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tl
ISO 639-2	tgl, fil
ISO 639-3	tgl – inclusive code Individual code: fil – Filipino
Linguasphere	31-CKA
Glottolog	taga1280 (Tagalogic) taga1269 (Tagalog/Filipino)
Predominantly Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines. The color-schemes represent the 4 dialect zones of the language: Northern, Central, Southern, and Marinduque. In addition, Tagalog is used as a second language across the entire country.

Tagalog /təˈɡɑːlɒɡ/ (Tagalog: [tɐˈɡaːloɡ]) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV (CALABARZON and MIMAROPA), of Bulacan and of Metro Manila. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language and one of two official languages of the Philippines, the other being English.

It is related to other Philippine languages such as the Bikol languages, Ilokano, the Visayan languages, and Kapampangan, and more distantly to other Austronesian languages such as Indonesian, Hawaiian and Malagasy.

History

The Tagalog Baybayin script.

The word Tagalog is derived from the endonym taga-ilog ("river dweller"), composed of tagá- ("native of" or "from") and ílog ("river"). Very little is known about the ancient history of the language; linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust speculate that the Tagalogs and other Central Philippine ethno-lingistic groups had originated in Northeastern Mindanao or the Eastern Visayas.

The first written record of Tagalog is the Laguna Copperplate Inscription which dates to 900 CE, and exhibits fragments of the language along with Sanskrit, Malay, Javanese and Old Tagalog. The first known complete book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Christiana (C,hristian Doctrine), printed in 1593. The Doctrina was written in Spanish and two transcriptions of Tagalog; one in the ancient, then-current Baybayin script and the other in an early Spanish attempt at a Latin orthography for the language. Throughout the 333 years of Spanish occupation, there were grammars and dictionaries written by Spanish clergymen such as Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala by Pedro de San Buenaventura (Pila, Laguna, 1613), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1835) and Arte de la lengua tagala y manual tagalog para la administración de los Santos Sacramentos (1850). The indigenous poet Francisco Baltazar (1788–1862) is regarded as the foremost Tagalog writer, his most notable work being the early 19th-century epic Florante at Laura.

Historical changes

Tagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə. In Bikol and Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and [o]. In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/. For example, Proto-Philippine *dəkət (adhere, stick) is Tagalog dikít and Visayan & Bikol dukot.

Proto-Philippine *r, *j, and *z merged with /d/ but is /l/ between vowels. Proto-Philippine *ŋɡajan (name) and *hajək (kiss) became Tagalog ngalan and halík.

Proto-Philippine *R merged with /ɡ/. *tubiR (water) and *zuRuʔ (blood) became Tagalog tubig and dugô.

Official status

Main article: Filipino language

Tagalog was declared the official language by the first constitution in the Philippines, the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato in 1897.

In 1935, the Philippine constitution designated English and Spanish as official languages, but mandated the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages. After study and deliberation, the National Language Institute, a committee composed of seven members who represented various regions in the Philippines, chose Tagalog as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippines. President Manuel L. Quezon then, on December 30, 1937, proclaimed the selection of the Tagalog language to be used as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippines. In 1939 President Quezon renamed the proposed Tagalog-based national language as wikang pambansâ (national language). In 1959, the language was further renamed as "Pilipino". The 1973 constitution designated the Tagalog-based "Pilipino", along with English, as an official language and mandated the development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino. The 1987 constitution designated Filipino as the national language mandating that as it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.

Article XIV, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines specifies, in part:

Subject to provisions 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.

—

The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein.

—

In 2009, the Department of Education promulgated an order institutionalizing a system of mother-tongue based multilingual education ("MLE"), wherein instruction is conducted primarily in a student's mother tongue until at least grade three, with additional languages such as Filipino and English being introduced as separate subjects no earlier than grade two. In secondary school, Filipino and English become the primary languages of instruction, with the learner's first language taking on an auxiliary role.

Classification

Tagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family. Being Malayo-Polynesian, it is related to other Austronesian languages such as Malagasy, Javanese, Indonesian, Malay, Tetum (of Timor), and Tao language (of Taiwan). It is closely related to the languages spoken in the Bicol and Visayas regions such as Bikol and the Visayan group including Hiligaynon and Cebuano.

Dialects

At present, no comprehensive dialectology has been done in the Tagalog-speaking regions, though there have been descriptions in the form of dictionaries and grammars on various Tagalog dialects. Ethnologue lists Lubang, Manila, Marinduque, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Tanay-Paete, and Tayabas as dialects of Tagalog. However, there appear to be four main dialects of which the aforementioned are a part; Northern (exemplified by the Bulacan dialect), Central (including Manila), Southern (exemplified by Batangas), and Marinduque.

Some example of dialectal differences are:

• Many Tagalog dialects, particularly those in the south, preserve the glottal stop found after consonants and before vowels. This has been lost in standard Tagalog. For example standard Tagalog ngayon (now, today), sinigang (broth stew), gabi (night), matamis (sweet), are pronounced and written ngay-on, sinig-ang, gab-i, and matam-is in other dialects.
• In Teresian-Morong Tagalog, [ɾ] is usually preferred over [d]. For example, bundók, dagat, dingdíng, and isdâ become bunrók, ragat, ringríng, and isrâ, e.g. "sandók sa dingdíng" becoming "sanrók sa ringríng".
• In many southern dialects, the progressive aspect infix of -um- verbs is na-. For example, standard Tagalog kumakain (eating) is nákáin in Quezon and Batangas Tagalog. This is the butt of some jokes by other Tagalog speakers, for should a Southern Tagalog ask nákáin ka ba ng patíng? ("Do you eat shark?"), he would be understood as saying "Has a shark eaten you?" by speakers of the Manila Dialect.
• Some dialects have interjections which are considered a regional trademark. For example, the interjection ala e! usually identifies someone from Batangas as does hane?! in Rizal and Quezon provinces.

Perhaps the most divergent Tagalog dialects are those spoken in Marinduque. Linguist Rosa Soberano identifies two dialects, western and eastern, with the former being closer to the Tagalog dialects spoken in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon.

One example is the verb conjugation paradigms. While some of the affixes are different, Marinduque also preserves the imperative affixes, also found in Visayan and Bikol languages, that have mostly disappeared from most Tagalog early 20th century; they have since merged with the infinitive.

Manila Tagalog	Marinduqueño Tagalog	English
Súsúlat sina Maria at Esperanza kay Juan.	Másúlat da Maria at Esperanza kay Juan.	"Maria and Esperanza will write to Juan."
Mag-aaral siya sa Maynila.	Gaaral siya sa Maynila.	"[He/She] will study in Manila."
Magluto ka na!	Pagluto!	"Cook already!"
Kainin mó iyan.	Kaina yaan.	"Eat that."
Tinatawag tayó ni Tatay.	Inatawag nganì kitá ni Tatay.	"Father is calling us."
Tinulungan ba kayó ni Hilario?	Atulungan ga kamo ni Hilario?	"Did Hilario help you?"

Northern dialects and the central dialects are the basis for the national language.

Geographic distribution

The Tagalog homeland, or Katagalugan, covers roughly much of the central to southern parts of the island of Luzon—particularly in Aurora, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Rizal, and large parts of Zambales. Tagalog is also spoken natively by inhabitants living on the islands, Marinduque, Mindoro, and large areas of Palawan. It is spoken by approximately 64 million Filipinos, 96% of the household population. 22 million, or 28% of the total Philippine population, speak it as a native language.

Tagalog speakers are found in other parts of the Philippines as well as throughout the world, though its use is usually limited to communication between Filipino ethnic groups. In 2010, the US Census bureau reported (based on data collected in 2007) that in the United States it was the fourth most-spoken language at home with almost 1.5 million speakers, behind Spanish or Spanish Creole, French (including Patois, Cajun, Creole), and Chinese. Tagalog ranked as the third most spoken language in metropolitan statistical areas, behind Spanish and Chinese but ahead of French.

Accents

The Tagalog language also boasts accentations unique to some parts of Tagalog-speaking regions. For example, in some parts of Manila: a strong pronunciation of i exists and vowel-switching of o and u exists so words like "gising" (to wake) is pronounced as "giseng" with a strong 'e' and the word "tagu-taguan" (hide-and-go-seek) is pronounced as "tago-tagoan" with a mild 'o'.

Batangas Tagalog boasts the most distinctive accent in Tagalog compared to the more Hispanized northern accents of the language. The Batangas accent has been featured in film and television and Filipino actor Leo Martinez speaks this accent. Martinez's accent, however, will quickly be recognized by native Batangueños as representative of the accent in western Batangas which is milder compared to that used in the eastern part of the province.

Code-switching

Taglish and Englog are portmanteau names given to a mix of English and Tagalog. The amount of English vs. Tagalog varies from the occasional use of English loan words to outright code-switching where the language changes in mid-sentence. Such code-switching is prevalent throughout the Philippines and in various languages of the Philippines other than Tagalog.

Code Mixing also entails the use of foreign words that are Filipinized by reforming them using Filipino rules, such as verb conjugations. Users typically use Filipino or English words, whichever comes to mind first or whichever is easier to use.

"Magshoshopping kami sa mall. Sino ba ang magdadrive sa shopping center?"

"We will go shopping at the mall. Who will drive to the shopping center?"

Although it is generally looked down upon, code-switching is prevalent in all levels of society; however, city-dwellers, the highly educated, and people born around and after World War II are more likely to do this.

The practice is common in television, radio, and print media as well. Advertisements from companies like Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, McDonald's, and Western Union have contained Taglish.

Phonology

Main article: Tagalog phonology

Tagalog has 33 phonemes: 19 of them are consonants and 14 are vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple, being maximally consonant-ar-vowel-consonant, where consonant-ar only occurs in borrowed words such as trak "truck" or sombréro "hat".

Vowels

Tagalog has ten simple vowels, five long and five short, and four diphthongs. Before appearing in the area north of Pasig river, Tagalog had three vowel qualities: /a/, /i/, and /u/. This was later expanded to five with the introduction of words from Northern Philippine languages like Kapampangan and Ilocano and Spanish words.

They are:

• /a/ an open central unrounded vowel roughly similar to English "father"; in the middle of a word, a near-open central vowel similar to Received Pronunciation English "cup"
• /ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to General American English "bed"
• /i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine"
• /o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to General American English "sole" or Philippine English "forty"
• /u/ a close back rounded vowel similar to English "flute"

Nevertheless simplification of pairs [o ~ u] and [ɛ ~ i] is likely to take place, especially in some Tagalog as second language, remote location and worker class registers.

The four diphthongs are /aj/, /uj/, /aw/, and /iw/. Long vowels are not written apart from pedagogical texts, where an acute accent is used: á é í ó ú.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Tagalog consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

Table of consonant phonemes of Tagalog

	Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Postalveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop	p b	t d	tʃ dʒ	k ɡ	ʔ
Fricative		s	ʃ		h
Tap		ɾ
Approximant		l	j	w

• /k/ between vowels has a tendency to become [x] as in Spanish "José", whereas in the initial position it has a tendency to become [kx], especially in the Manila dialect.
• Intervocalic /ɡ/ and /k/ tend to become [ɰ], as in Spanish "agua", especially in the Manila dialect.
• /ɾ/ and /d/ were once allophones, and they still vary grammatically, with initial /d/ becoming intervocalic /ɾ/ in many words.
• A glottal stop that occurs in pausa (before a pause) is omitted when it is in the middle of a phrase, especially in the Metro Manila area. The vowel it follows is then lengthened. However, it is preserved in many other dialects.
• /ɾ/ can be pronounced [r].

/tʃ dʒ ʃ/ are written ts, dy, sy.

Glottal stop is not indicated. Glottal stops are most likely to occur when:

• the word starts with a vowel, like "aso" (dog)
• the word includes a dash followed by a vowel, like "mag-aral" (study)
• the word has two vowels next to each other, like "paano" (how)
• the word starts with a prefix followed by a verb that starts with a vowel, like "mag-aayos" ([will] fix)

Grammar

Further information: Tagalog grammar

Writing system

Baybayin

Main article: Baybayin

Tagalog was written in an abugida, or alphasyllabary, called Baybayin prior to the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, in the 16th century. This particular writing system was composed of symbols representing three vowels and 14 consonants. Belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts, it shares similarities with the Old Kawi script of Java and is believed to be descended from the script used by the Bugis in Sulawesi.

Although it enjoyed a relatively high level of literacy, Baybayin gradually fell into disuse in favor of the Latin alphabet taught by the Spaniards during their rule.

There has been confusion of how to use Baybayin, which is actually an abugida, or an alphasyllabary, rather than an alphabet. Not every letter in the Latin alphabet is represented with one of those in the Baybayin alphasyllabary. Rather than letters being put together to make sounds as in Western languages, Baybayin uses symbols to represent syllables.

A "kudlit" resembling an apostrophe is used above or below a symbol to change the vowel sound after its consonant. If the kudlit is used above, the vowel is an "E" or "I" sound. If the kudlit is used below, the vowel is an "O" or "U" sound. A special kudlit was later added by Spanish missionaries in which a cross placed below the symbol to get rid of the vowel sound all together, leaving a consonant. Previously, the consonant without a following vowel was simply left out (for example, bundok being rendered as budo), forcing the reader to use context when reading such words.

Example:

Baybayin is encoded in Unicode version 3.2 in the range 1700-171F under the name "Tagalog".

a

e/i

o/u

ka	ga	nga
ta	da/ra	na
pa	ba	ma

ya

la

wa

sa

ha

vowels ᜔ a ᜀ i e ᜁ u o ᜂ

b b ᜊ᜔ ba ᜊ bi be ᜊᜒ bu bo ᜊᜓ

k k ᜃ᜔ ka ᜃ ki ke ᜃᜒ ku ko ᜃᜓᜓ

d/r d/r ᜇ᜔ da/ra ᜇ di/ri de/re ᜇᜒ du/ru do/ro ᜇᜓ

g g ᜄ᜔ ga ᜄ gi ge ᜄᜒ gu go ᜄᜓ

h h ᜑ᜔ ha ᜑ hi he ᜑᜒ hu ho ᜑᜓ

l l ᜎ᜔ la ᜎ li le ᜎᜒ lu lo ᜎᜓ

m m ᜋ᜔ ma ᜋ mi me ᜋᜒ mu mo ᜋᜓ

n n ᜈ᜔ na ᜈ ni ne ᜈᜒ nu no ᜈᜓ

ng ng ᜅ᜔ nga ᜅ ngi nge ᜅᜒ ngu ngo ᜅᜓ

p p ᜉ᜔ pa ᜉ pi pe ᜉᜒ pu po ᜉᜓ

s s ᜐ᜔ sa ᜐ si se ᜐᜒ su so ᜐᜓ

t t ᜆ᜔ ta ᜆ ti te ᜆᜒ tu to ᜆᜓ

w w ᜏ᜔ wa ᜏ wi we ᜏᜒ wu wo ᜏᜓ

y y ᜌ᜔ ya ᜌ yi ye ᜌᜒ yu yo ᜌᜓ

Latin alphabet

Abecedario

Until the first half of the 20th century, Tagalog was widely written in a variety of ways based on Spanish orthography consisting of 32 letters called 'ABECEDARIO':

Majuscule	Minuscule	Majuscule	Minuscule
A	a	Ng	ng
B	b	Ñ	ñ
C	c	N͠g / Ñg	n͠g / ñg
Ch	ch	O	o
D	d	P	p
E	e	Q	q
F	f	R	r
G	g	Rr	rr
H	h	S	s
I	i	T	t
J	j	U	u
K	k	V	v
L	l	W	w
Ll	ll	X	x
M	m	Y	y
N	n	Z	z

Abakada

Main article: Abakada

When the national language was based on Tagalog, grammarian Lope K. Santos introduced a new alphabet consisting of 20 letters called ABAKADA in school grammar books called balarilà:

Majuscule	Minuscule	Majuscule	Minuscule
A	a	N	n
B	b	Ng	ng
K	k	O	o
D	d	P	p
E	e	R	r
G	g	S	s
H	h	T	t
I	i	U	u
L	l	W	w
M	m	Y	y

Revised alphabet

Main article: Filipino alphabet

In 1987 the department of Education, Culture and Sports issued a memo stating that the Philippine alphabet had changed from the Pilipino-Tagalog Abakada version to a new 28-letter alphabet to make room for loans, especially family names from Spanish and English:

Majuscule	Minuscule	Majuscule	Minuscule
A	a	Ñ	ñ
B	b	Ng	ng
C	c	O	o
D	d	P	p
E	e	Q	q
F	f	R	r
G	g	S	s
H	h	T	t
I	i	U	u
J	j	V	v
K	k	W	w
L	l	X	x
M	m	Y	y
N	n	Z	z

ng and mga

See also: ng (digraph)

The genitive marker ng and the plural marker mga are abbreviations that are pronounced nang [naŋ] and mangá [mɐˈŋa]. Ng, in most cases, roughly translates to "of" (ex. Siya ay kapatid ng nanay ko. She is the sibling of my mother) while nang usually means "when" or can describe how something is done or to what extent (equivalent to the suffix -ly in English adverbs), among other uses. Mga (pronounced as "muh-NGA") denotes plurality as adding an s, es, or ies does in English (ex. Iyan ang mga damit ko. (Those are my clothes)).

• Nang si Hudas ay nadulás.—When Judas slipped.
• Gumising siya nang maaga.—He woke up early.
• Gumalíng nang todo si Juan dahil nag-ensayo siya.—Juan greatly improved because he practiced.

In the first example, nang is used in lieu of the word noong (when; Noong si Hudas ay madulas). In the second, nang describes that the person woke up (gumising) early (maaga); gumising nang maaga. In the third, nang described up to what extent that Juan improved (gumaling), which is "greatly" (nang todo). In the latter two examples, the ligature na and its variants -ng and -g may also be used (Gumising na maaga/Maagang gumising; Gumaling na todo/Todong gumaling).

The longer nang may also have other uses, such as a ligature that joins a repeated word:

• Naghintáy sila nang naghintáy.—They kept on waiting" (a closer calque: "They were waiting and waiting.")

po/ho and opo/oho

The words po/ho and opo/oho are traditionally used as polite iterations of the affirmative "oo" ("yes"). It is generally used when addressing elders or superiors such as bosses or teachers.

"Po" and "opo" are specifically used to denote a high level of respect when addressing older persons of close affinity like parents, relatives, teachers and family friends. "Ho" and "oho" are generally used to politely address older neighbours, strangers, public officials, bosses and nannies, and may suggest a distance in societal relationship and respect determined by the addressee's social rank and not their age. However, "po" and "opo" can be used in any case in order to express an elevation of respect.

• Example: "Pakitapon naman po/ho yung basura". ("Please throw away the trash.")

Used in the affirmative:

• Ex: "Gutóm ka na ba?" "Opo/Oho". ("Are you hungry yet?" "Yes").

Po/Ho may also be used in negation.

• Ex: "Hindi ko po/ho alam 'yan."("I don't know that.")

Vocabulary and borrowed words

Tagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of native Austronesian origin (most of the words that end with the dipthongs -iw and -aw, e.g. words such as banlaw, saliw, etc.). However it has significant Spanish loanwords. Spanish is the language that has bequeathed the most loan words to Tagalog. According to linguists, Spanish has even surpassed Malay in terms of loan words borrowed. About 40% of everyday (informal) Tagalog conversation is practically made up of Spanish loanwords.

Tagalog also includes loanwords from Indian (Vedic Sanskrit, Sanskrit & Tamil), Chinese (Hokkien, Yue Chinese (Cantonese), and Mandarin), Japanese and other Japonic languages, Arabic, Persian, various Altaic languages (came from various ancient Central Asian & Chinese merchants settled in the Philippines through the time of the Silk Road trade or earlier). Words such as nanay or inay (A Tagalog word for mother) and tatay or itay (A Tagalog word for father), which the probable origin derived from the word "ana" and "ata" (which means mother/father in most Turkic Languages). Another example of Tagalog words that Altaic in origin are the words pera, ulan, bayan, tabi, aral, etc.^{[citation needed]}, Aztec Mexican (Nahuatl) and English. In addition, Tagalog have a cognates with other Austronesian languages of the Philippines as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Mariana Islands (Chamorro), New Zealand's Maori language and even other Polynesian languages closer to the Americas (i.e. Hawaiian). In pre-Hispanic times, Trade Malay was widely known and spoken throughout Southeast Asia.

Due to trade with Mexico via the Manila galleon from the 16th to the 19th centuries, many words from Nahuatl, a language spoken by Native Americans (Aztec) in Mexico were introduced to Tagalog, but some of them were replaced by Spanish loanwords in the latter part of the Spanish colonization in the islands.

English has borrowed some words from Tagalog, such as abaca, barong, balisong, boondocks, jeepney, Manila hemp, pancit, ylang-ylang, and yaya, although the vast majority of these borrowed words are only used in the Philippines as part of the vocabularies of Philippine English.^{[citation needed]}

Other examples of Tagalog words used in English

Example	Definition
boondocks	meaning "rural" or "back country," was imported by American soldiers stationed in the Philippines following the Spanish–American War as a mispronounced version of the Tagalog bundok, which means "mountain."
cogon	a type of grass, used for thatching. This word came from the Tagalog word kugon (a species of tall grass).
ylang-ylang	a tree whose fragrant flowers are used in perfumes.
Abaca	a type of hemp fiber made from a plant in the banana family, from abaká.
Manila hemp	a light brown cardboard material used for folders and paper usually made from abaca hemp.
Capiz	also known as window oyster, is used to make windows.

Tagalog has contributed several words to Philippine Spanish, like barangay (from balan͠gay, meaning barrio), the abacá, cogon, palay, dalaga etc.

Tagalog words of foreign origin

Main article: List of Tagalog loanwords

Cognates with other Philippine languages

Tagalog word	meaning	language of origin	original spelling
bakit	why	Kapampangan	obakit
akyat	climb/step up	Kapampangan	ukyát/mukyat
at	and	Kapampangan	at
bundok	mountain	Kapampangan	bunduk
huwag	don't	Pangasinan	ag
aso	dog	South Cordilleran or Ilocano (also Ilokano)	aso
tayo	we (inc.)	South Cordilleran or Ilocano	tayo
ito, nito	this, its	South Cordilleran or Ilocano	to
ng	of	Cebuano Hiligaynon Waray Kapampangan Pangasinan Ilocano	sa sg (pronounced as /sang/) han ning na nga
araw	sun; day	Visayan languages	adlaw
ang	definite article	Visayan languages Central Bikol	ang an

Austronesian comparison chart

Below is a chart of Tagalog and twenty other Austronesian languages comparing thirteen words.

English	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we	what	fire
Tagalog	isa	dalawa	tatlo	apat	tao	bahay	aso	niyog	araw	bago	tayo	ano	apoy
Tombulu (Minahasa)	esa	zua (rua)	telu	epat	tou	walé	asu	po'po'	endo	weru	kai, kita	apa	api
Bikol	saro	duwa	tulo	apat	tawo	harong	ayam	niyog	aldaw	ba-go	kita	ano	kalayo
Cebuano	usa/isa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	iro	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	unsa	kalayo
Waray	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	ayam/ido	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	anu	kalayo
Hiligaynon	isa	duha	tatlo	apat	tawo	balay	ido	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano	kalayo
Aklanon	isaea, sambilog, uno	daywa, dos	tatlo, tres	ap-at, kwatro	tawo	baeay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano	kaeayo
Kinaray-a	sara	darwa	tatlo	apat	tawo	balay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano	kalayo
Tausug	hambuuk	duwa	tu	upat	tau	bay	iru'	niyug	adlaw	ba-gu	kitaniyu	unu	kayu
Maranao	isa	dowa	t'lo	phat	taw	walay	aso	neyog	gawi'e	bago	tano	tonaa	apoy
Kapampangan	metung	adwa	atlu	apat	tau	bale	asu	ngungut	aldo	bayu	ikatamu	nanu	api
Pangasinan	sakey	dua, duara	talo, talora	apat, apatira	too	abong	aso	niyog	ageo	balo	sikatayo	anto	pool
Ilokano	maysa	dua	tallo	uppat	tao	balay	aso	niog	aldaw	baro	datayo	ania	apoy
Ivatan	asa	dadowa	tatdo	apat	tao	vahay	chito	niyoy	araw	va-yo	yaten	ango	apoy
Ibanag	tadday	dua	tallu	appa'	tolay	balay	kitu	niuk	aggaw	bagu	sittam	anni	afi
Yogad	tata	addu	tallu	appat	tolay	binalay	atu	iyyog	agaw	bagu	sikitam	gani	afuy
Gaddang	antet	addwa	tallo	appat	tolay	balay	atu	ayog	aw	bawu	ikkanetam	sanenay	afuy
Tboli	sotu	lewu	tlu	fat	tau	gunu	ohu	lefo	kdaw	lomi	tekuy	tedu	ofih
Indonesian	satu	dua	tiga	empat	orang	rumah/balai	anjing	kelapa/nyiur	hari	baru	kita	apa/anu	api
Javanese	siji	loro	telu	papat	uwong	omah	asu	klapa/kambil	hari	anyar/enggal	kita	apa/anu	geni
Acehnese	sa	duwa	lhèë	peuët	ureuëng	rumoh/balèë	asèë	u	uroë	barô	(geu)tanyoë	peuë	apuy
Lampungese	sai	khua	telu	pak	jelema	lamban	asu	nyiwi	khani	baru	kham	api	apui
Buginese	sedi	dua	tellu	eppa	tau	bola	asu	kaluku	esso	baru	idi	aga	api
Bataknese	sada	dua	tolu	opat	halak	jabu	biang	harambiri	ari	baru	hita	aha	api
Tetum	ida	rua	tolu	haat	ema	uma	asu	nuu	loron	foun	ita	saida	ahi
Maori	tahi	rua	toru	wha	tangata	whare	kuri	kokonati	ra	hou	taua	aha	ahi
Tuvaluan	tasi	lua	tolu	fá	toko	fale	kuri	moku	aso	fou	tāua	ā	afi
Hawaiian	kahi	lua	kolu	hā	kanaka	hale	'īlio	niu	ao	hou	kākou	aha	ahi
Banjarese	asa	duwa	talu	ampat	urang	rūmah	hadupan	kǎlapa	hǎri	hanyar	kami	apa	api
Malagasy	isa	roa	telo	efatra	olona	trano	alika	voanio	andro	vaovao	isika	inona	afo
Dusun	iso	duo	tolu	apat	tulun	walai	tasu	piasau	tadau	wagu	tokou	onu/nu	tapui

Religious literature

Religious literature remains one of the most dynamic contributors to Tagalog literature. The first Bible in Tagalog, then called Ang Biblia ("the Bible") and now called Ang Dating Biblia ("the Old Bible"), was published in 1905. In 1970, the Philippine Bible Society translated the Bible into modern Tagalog. Even before the Second Vatican Council, devotional materials in Tagalog had been circulating. At present, there are four circulating Tagalog translations of the Bible—the Magandang Balita Biblia (a parallel translation of the Good News Bible), which is the ecumenical version; the Bibliya ng Sambayanang Pilipino; the 1905 Ang Biblia is a more Protestant version; and the Bagong Sanlibutang Salin ng Banal na Kasulatan, one of about ninety parallel translations of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by Jehovah's Witnesses. The latter was released in 2000. Jehovah's Witnesses previously published a hybrid translation: Ang Biblia was used for the Old Testament, while the Bagong Sanlibutang Salin ng Griegong Kasulatan was used for the New Testament.

When the Second Vatican Council, (specifically the Sacrosanctum Concilium) permitted the universal prayers to be translated into vernacular languages, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines was one of the first to translate the Roman Missal into Tagalog. In fact, the Roman Missal in Tagalog was published as early as 1982, while not published in English until 1985.

Jehovah's Witnesses were printing Tagalog literature at least as early as 1941 and The Watchtower (the primary magazine of Jehovah's Witnesses) has been published in Tagalog since at least the 1950s. New releases are now regularly released simultaneously in a number of languages, including Tagalog. The official website of Jehovah's Witnesses also has some publications available online in Tagalog.

Tagalog is quite a stable language, and very few revisions have been made to Catholic Bible translations. Also, as Protestantism in the Philippines is relatively young, liturgical prayers tend to be more ecumenical.

Examples

Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer is "Ama Namin" (literally "Our Father") in Tagalog.

Ama namin, sumasalangit ka

Sambahin ang ngalan mó.

Mapasaamin ang kaharian mo.

Sundin ang loób mo,

Dito sa lupà, gaya nang sa langit.

Bigyan Mo kami ngayon ng aming kakanin sa araw-araw,

At patawarin Mo kami sa aming mga sala,

Para nang pagpapatawad namin,

Sa nagkakasala sa amin

At huwag mo kaming ipahintulot sa tukso,

At iadya mó kami sa lahat ng masama.

Sapagkat sa Inyó ang kaharián, at ang kapangyarihan,

At ang kaluwalhatian, ngayon, at magpakailanman.

Amen

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

This is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Pangkalahatang Pagpapahayag ng Karapatang Pantao)

“

Bawat tao'y isinilang na may laya at magkakapantay ang taglay na dangal at karapatan.Sila'y pinagkalooban ng pangangatwiran at budhi na kailangang gamitin nila sa pagtuturingan nila sa diwa ng pagkakapatiran.

”

“

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

”

Numbers

The numbers (mga bilang) in Tagalog language are of two forms. The first form is native to the Tagalog language and the other is a Tagalized version of the Spanish numbers. For example, when a person refers to the number "seven", it can be translated into Tagalog as "pito" or "syete" (Sp. siete).

Number	Cardinal	Spanish loanword (Original Spanish)	Ordinal
0	sero / wala / bokya	sero (cero)	-
1	isa	uno (uno)	una
2	dalawa [dalaua]	dos (dos)	pangalawa / ikalawa (or ikadalawa in some informal compositions)
3	tatlo	tres (tres)	pangatlo / ikatlo
4	apat	kuwatro (cuatro)	pang-apat / ikaapat ("ika" and the number-word are never hyphenated. For numbers, however, they always are.)
5	lima	singko (cinco)	panlima / ikalima
6	anim	sais (seis)	pang-anim / ikaanim
7	pito	siyete (siete)	pampito / ikapito
8	walo	otso (ocho)	pangwalo / ikawalo
9	siyam	nuwebe (nueve)	pansiyam / ikasiyam
10	sampu [sang puo]	diyes (diez)	pansampu / ikasampu (or ikapu in some literary compositions)
11	labing-isa	onse (once)	panlabing-isa / pang-onse / ikalabing-isa
12	labindalawa	dose (doce)	panlabindalawa / pandose / ikalabindalawa
13	labintatlo	trese (trece)	panlabintatlo / pantrese / ikalabintatlo
14	labing-apat	katorse (catorce)	panlabing-apat / pangkatorse / ikalabing-apat
15	labinlima	kinse (quince)	panlabinlima / pangkinse / ikalabinlima
16	labing-anim	dissisais (dieciséis)	panlabing-anim / pandyes-sais / ikalabing-anim
17	labimpito	dissisyete (diecisiete)	panlabimpito / pandyes-syete / ikalabimpito
18	labingwalo	dissiotso (dieciocho)	panlabingwalo / pandyes-otso / ikalabingwalo
19	labinsiyam	disinuwebe (diecinueve)	panlabinsiyam / pandyes-nwebe / ikalabinsiyam
20	dalawampu	bente / beinte (veinte)	pandalawampu / ikadalawampu (or ikalawampu in some literary compositions both formal and informal (rarely used))
30	tatlumpu	trenta / treinta (treinta)	pantatlumpu / ikatatlumpu (or ikatlumpu in some literary compositions both formal and informal (rarely used))
40	apatnapu	kuwarenta (cuarenta)	pang-apatnapu / ikaapatnapu
41	apatnapu't isa	kuwarenta'y uno (cuarenta y uno)	pang-apatnapu't isa / ikaapatnapu't isa
50	limampu	singkuwenta (cincuenta)	panlimampu / ikalimampu
60	animnapu	sesenta (sesenta)	pang-animnapu / ikaanimnapu
70	pitumpu	setenta (setenta)	pampitumpu / ikapitumpu
80	walumpu	otsenta / utsenta (ochenta)	pangwalumpu / ikawalumpu
90	siyamnapu	nobenta (noventa)	pansiyamnapu / ikasiyamnapu
100	sandaan	siyento (cien)	pan(g)-(i)sandaan / ikasandaan (or ika-isandaan in some formal or informal literary compositions (rarely used))
200	dalawandaan	dos siyentos (doscientos)	pandalawandaan / ikadalawandaan (or ikalawandaan in some formal or informal literary compositions (rarely used))
300	tatlondaan	tres siyentos (trescientos)	pantatlondaan / ikatatlondaan (or ikatlondaan in some formal or informal literary compositions (rarely used))
400	apat na raan	kuwatro siyentos (cuatrocientos)	pang-apat na raan / ikaapat na raan
500	limandaan	kinyentos (quinientos)	panlimandaán / ikalimandaán
600	anim na raan	sais siyentos (seiscientos)	pang-anim na raan / ikaanim na raan
700	pitondaan	siyete siyentos (sietecientos)	pampitondaan / ikapitondaan (or ikapitong raan)
800	walondaan	otso siyentos (ochocientos)	pangwalondaan / ikawalondaan (or ikawalong raan)
900	siyam na raan	nuwebe siyentos (novecientos)	pansiyam na raan / ikasiyam na raan
1,000	sanlibo	mil (mil)	pan(g)-(i)sanlibo / ikasanlibo
2,000	dalawanlibo	dos mil (dos mil)	pangalawang libo / ikalawanlibo
10,000	sanlaksa / sampung libo	diyes mil (diez mil)	pansampung libo / ikasampung libo
20,000	dalawanlaksa / dalawampung libo	bente mil (veinte mil)	pangalawampung libo / ikalawampung libo
100,000	sangyuta / sandaang libo	siyento mil (cien mil)
200,000	dalawangyuta / dalawandaang libo	dos siyento mil (dos cientos mil)
1,000,000	sang-angaw / sangmilyon	milyon (un millón)
2,000,000	dalawang-angaw / dalawang milyon	dos milyon (dos millones)
10,000,000	sangkati / sampung milyon	dyes milyon (diez millones)
100,000,000	sampungkati / sandaang milyon	syento milyon (cien millones)
1,000,000,000	sang-atos / sambilyon	bilyon (un billón)
1,000,000,000,000	sang-ipaw / santrilyon	trilyon (un trillón)

Number	English	Ordinal Spanish	Cardinal
1st	first	primero	una / ika-isa
2nd	second	segundo	ikalawa
3rd	third	tercero	ikatlo
4th	fourth	cuarto	ika-apat
5th	fifth	quinto	ikalima
6th	sixth	sexto	ika-anim
7th	seventh	séptimo	ikapito
8th	eighth	octavo	ikawalo
9th	ninth	noveno	ikasiyam
10th	tenth	décimo	ikasampu
1/2	half	media	kalahati
1/4	quarter	cuarta	kapat
3/5	three-fifths	tres quintas partes	tatlong-kalima
2/3	two-thirds	dos tercios	dalawang-katlo
1 1/2	one half	un medio	isa't kalahati
2 2/3	two two-thirds	dos de dos tercios	dalawa't dalawang-katlo
0.5			salapi / lima hinati sa sampu
0.005			bagol / lima hinati sa sanlibo
1.25			isa't dalawampu't lima hinati sa sampu
2.025			dalawa't dalawampu't lima hinati sa sanlibo
25%	twenty-five percent	veinticinco por ciento	dalawampu't-limang bahagdan
50%	fifty percent	cincuenta por ciento	limampung bahagdan
75%	seventy-five percent	setenta y cinco por ciento	pitumpu't-limang bahagdan

Months and days

Months and days in Tagalog language are also Tagalized form of Spanish months and days. "Month" in Tagalog is buwan (the word moon is also buwan in Tagalog) and "day" is araw (the word sun is also araw in Tagalog). Unlike Spanish, months and days in Tagalog are capitalized whenever they appear in a sentence.

Month	Original Spanish	Tagalog (abbreviation)
January	Enero	Enero (Ene.)
February	Febrero	Pebrero (Peb.)
March	Marzo	Marso (Mar.)
April	Abril	Abril (Abr.)
May	Mayo	Mayo (Mayo)
June	Junio	Hunyo (Hun.)
July	Julio	Hulyo (Hul.)
August	Agosto	Agosto (Ago.)
September	Septiembre	Setyembre (Set.)
October	Octubre	Oktubre (Okt.)
November	Noviembre	Nobyembre (Nob.)
December	Diciembre	Disyembre (Dis.)

Day	Original Spanish	Tagalog
Monday	Lunes	Lunes
Tuesday	Martes	Martes
Wednesday	Miércoles	Miyerkules / Myerkules
Thursday	Jueves	Huwebes / Hwebes
Friday	Viernes	Biyernes / Byernes
Saturday	Sábado	Sabado
Sunday	Domingo	Linggo

Time

Time in Tagalog language are also Tagalized form of Spanish time. "Time" in Tagalog is panahon or more commonly, oras. Unlike Spanish, time in Tagalog are capitalized whenever they appear in a sentence.

Time	English	Original Spanish	Tagalog
1 hour	One hour	Una hora	Isang oras
2 min	Two minutes	Dos minutos	Dalawang sandali/minuto
3 sec	Three seconds	Tres segundos	Tatlong saglit/segundo
	Morning	Mañana	Umaga
	Afternoon	Tarde	Hapon
	Evening/Night	Noche	Gabi
	Noon	Medio dia	Tanghali
	Midnight	Media noche	Hatingabi
01.00 am	One o'clock morning	Una de la mañana	Ika-isa ng umaga
07.00 pm	Seven o'clock night	Siete de la noche	Ikapito ng gabi
01.15	Quarter past one Fifteen past one Forty-five to two	Una y cuarto	Kapat makalipas mag-ikaisa Labinlima makalipas mag-ikaisa Apatnapu't-lima bago mag-ikaisa
02.30	Half past two Thirty past two	Dos y media	Kalahati makalipas mag-ikalawa Tatlumpu makalipas mag-ikalawa
03.45	Three-quarter past three Forty-five past three Fifteen to four	Tres y cuarenta y cinco	Tatlong-kapat makalipas mag-ikatlo Apatnapu't-lima makalipas mag-ikatlo Labinlima bago mag-ikaapat
04.25	Twenty-five past four Thirty-five to four	Cuatro y veinticinco	Dalawampu't-lima makalipas mag-ikaapat Tatlumpu't-lima bago mag-ikaapat
05.35	Thirty-five past five Twenty-five to six	Cinco y treinta y cinco	Tatlumpu't-lima makalipas mag-ikalima Dalawampu't-lima bago mag-ikaanim

Common phrases

English	Tagalog (with Pronunciation)
Filipino	Pilipino [ˌpiːliˈpiːno]
English	Inglés [ʔɪŋˈɡlɛs]
Tagalog	Tagalog [tɐˈɡaːloɡ]
What is your name?	Anó ang pangalan ninyo/nila*? (plural or polite) [ɐˈno aŋ pɐˈŋaːlan nɪnˈjo], Anó ang pangalan mo? (singular) [ɐˈno aŋ pɐˈŋaːlan mo]
How are you?	kumustá [kʊmʊsˈta]
Good morning!	Magandáng umaga! [mɐɡɐnˈdaŋ uˈmaːɡa]
Good noontime! (from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)	Magandáng tanghali! [mɐɡɐnˈdaŋ taŋˈhaːlɛ]
Good afternoon! (from 1 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.)	Magandáng hapon! [mɐɡɐnˈdaŋ ˈhaːpon]
Good evening!	Magandáng gabí! [mɐɡɐnˈdaŋ ɡɐˈbɛ]
Good-bye	paálam [pɐˈʔaːlam]
Please	Depending on the nature of the verb, either pakí- [pɐˈki] or makí- [mɐˈki] is attached as a prefix to a verb. ngâ [ŋaʔ] is optionally added after the verb to increase politeness. (e.g. Pakipasa ngâ ang tinapay. ("Can you pass the bread, please?"))
Thank you	salamat [sɐˈlaːmat]
This one	ito [ʔiˈtoh], sometimes pronounced [ʔɛˈtoh] (literally—"it", "this")
That one	iyan [ʔiˈjan], When pointing to something at greater distances: iyun [ʔiˈjʊn] or iyon [ʔiˈjon]
Here	dito [dɪˈtoh], heto [hɛˈtoh] ("Here it is")
There	doon [dʒan], hayan [hɑˈjan] ("There it is")
How much?	Magkano? [mɐɡˈkaːno]
Yes	oo [ˈoːʔo] opô [ˈʔopoʔ] or ohô [ˈʔohoʔ] (formal/polite form)
No	hindî [hɪnˈdɛʔ], often shortened to dî [dɛʔ] hindî pô (formal/polite form)
I don't know	hindî ko álam [hɪnˈdɛʔ ko aːlam] Very informal: ewan [ʔɛˈʊɑn], archaic aywan [ɑjˈʊɑn] (closest English equivalent: colloquial dismissive 'Whatever')
Sorry	pasensya pô (literally from the word "patience") or paumanhin po [pɐˈsɛːnʃa poʔ] patawad po [pɐtaːwad poʔ] (literally—"asking your forgiveness")
Because	kasí [kɐˈsɛ] or dahil [dɑˈhɪl]
Hurry!	dalí! [dɐˈli], bilís! [bɪˈlis]
Again	mulí [muˈli], ulít [ʊˈlɛt]
I don't understand	Hindî ko naiintindihan [hɪnˈdiː ko nɐʔɪɪnˌtɪndiˈhan] or Hindi ko nauunawaan [hɪnˈdiː ko nɐʔʊʊnawaʔˌʔan]
What?	Anó? [ɐˈno]
Where?	Saán? [sɐˈʔan], Nasaán? [ˌnaːsɐˈʔan] (literally - "Where at?")
Why?	Bakít? [bɑˈkɛt]
When?	Kailan? [kɑjˈlɑn], [kɑˈɪˈlɑn], or [kɛˈlɑn] (literally—"In what order?/"At what count?"")
How?	Paánó? [pɑˌɐˈno] (literally—"By what?")
Where's the bathroom?	Nasaán ang banyo? [ˌnaːsɐˈʔan ʔaŋ ˈbaːnjo]
Generic toast	Mabuhay! [mɐˈbuːhaɪ] [literally—"long live"]
Do you speak English?	Marunong ka bang magsalitâ ng Ingglés? [mɐˈɾuːnoŋ ka baŋ mɐɡsaliˈtaː naŋ ʔɪŋˈɡlɛs], "Marunong po ba kayong magsailitâ ng Ingglés?" (polite version for elders and strangers) Marunong ka bang mag-Ingglés? (short form), "Marunong po ba kayong mag-Ingglés? (short form, polite version for elders and strangers)
It is fun to live.	Masaya ang mabuhay! [mɐˈsaˈja ʔaŋ mɐˈbuːhaɪ] or Masaya'ng mabuhay (contracted version)

*Pronouns such as niyo (2nd person plural) and nila (3rd person plural) are used on a single 2nd person in polite or formal language. See Tagalog grammar.

Proverbs

Ang hindî marunong lumingón sa pinanggalingan ay hindî makaráratíng sa paroroonan. (José Rizal)
One who does not learn to look back to where he came from, will never get to where he is going.

Ang hindî magmahál sa kanyang sariling wika ay mahigít pa sa hayop at malansang isdâ. (José Rizal)
One who does not love one's own language is worse than an animal and a putrid fish. (read the article about Sa Aking Mga Kabata)

Hulí man daw at magalíng, nakákahábol pa rin. (Hulí man raw at magalíng, nakákahábol pa rin.)
If one is behind but capable, one will still be able to catch up.

Magbirô ka na sa lasíng, huwág lang sa bagong gising.
Make fun of someone drunk, if you must, but never make fun of someone who just woke up.

Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo?.
For what use is the grass if the horse is already dead?

Ang sakít ng kalingkingan, ramdám ng buong katawán.
The pain of the pinkie is felt by the whole body. (In a group: if one goes down, the rest comes down with it.)

Nasa hulí ang pagsisisi.
Regret always comes last.

Pagkáhába-haba man ng prusisyón, sa simbahan pa rin ang tulóy.
The procession (of Saints, a Catholic tradition) may stretch on and on, but it still ends up at the church. (In romance: refers to how certain people are destined to be married. In general: refers to how some things are inevitable, no matter how long you try and postpone it.)

Kung dî mádaán sa santong dasalan, daanin sa santong paspasan.
If you can't get it through holy prayer, get it through blessed force. (In romance and courting: santong paspasan literally means 'Holy speeding' and is a euphemism for sex. It refers to the two styles of courting by Filipino boys. One is the traditional restrained courting favored by the older generations, which often featured serenades and doing chores for the girl's parents. It is notorious for taking ages before getting the girl to say yes. While the other is the riskier seduction which does away with the courting traditions. It can either lead to getting a slap on the face or a pregnancy out of wedlock. The conclusion is what western cultures would call a 'shotgun marriage', therefore the suitor gets the girl one way or the other. The proverb is also applied in terms of diplomacy and negotiation.)

See also

• Abakada alphabet
• Commission on the Filipino Language
• Filipino alphabet
• Filipino orthography
• Tagalog Wikipedia

External links

• Common Filipino/Tagalog Phrases
• A small and useful Tagalog dictionary (English - Tagalog)
• Calderon's English-Spanish-Tagalog dictionary for cell phone and PDA
• A Handbook and Grammar of the Tagalog Language by W.E.W. MacKinlay, 1905.
• Online E-book of Spanish-Tagalog Manual of Conversation published in Manila in 1874 by V.M. de Abella
• Online E-book of Doctrina Christiana in Old Tagalog and Old Spanish, the first book published in the Philippines. Manila. 1593
• Online E-book of Buhay na Nasapit ni Anselmo at ni Elisa: Sa Ciudad nang Ulma sacop nang Reinong Alemania, published in 1905
• Online E-book of Arte de la Lengua Tagala y Manual Tagalog by Sebastián de Totanes published in Binondo, Manila in 1865
• USA Foreign Service Institute Tagalog basic course
• Tagalog words list
• http://unicode-table.com/en/sections/tagalog/