Why does Tagalog (Filipino Language) use a lot of English words?
Why do we use so much English into our language?
I'm also Filipino. I was born there but I moved to Canada when I was 8 years old.
I don't remember much but I remember having English and Tagalog classes.
But, why is it that we use so much English to substitute words in Tagalog?
Is it because the literal translation into Tagalog is too long and hard to say?
It's kind of weird because when people ask me how to say a word in Tagalog, sometimes I can't find the literal translation. Or do I need to learn more words and improve my vocabulary?
Thank you ^_^
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Tagged with: 8 years • canada • literal translation • vocabulary
Filed under: Philippines Tagalog
we adapted a lot of words from countries that colonized us and that includes the U.S
Tagalog, nope!
Taglish, yes!
The reason is most of the philologist (linguist) in the Philippines are gone, dead and don’t know how many more are left to deals with literature the exact meaning of the term has changed over the years. That is why Tagalog are no longer Tagalog dialect cause so much foreign languages that used or mixed up.
The Filipino language actually has a lot of Spanish words that we adopted during the occupation of the Spaniards. For English however, those words were just a sort of, forced translation. Possible reasons for this are, there is no literal translation, the closest literal translation is a very long one, the literal translation is unknown to us so we compromise.
Examples of each
1. Xerox/photocopy – no exact Filipino word that means photocopy
2. "Gumawa ka ng kopya gamit ang xerox machine"
3. "Magpaxerox ka ng mga papel mo"
And yeah, it would really help to learn more so you don’t end up talking in Taglish since it really annoys some people.
Not tagalog. But "Filipino language" (only) is mixed with "Tagalog" and "English" words. Most of the tagalog words are no longer used because of many Filipinos adapting the English language, which became our 2nd national language as well. That is why today, most of the Filipinos are communicating English and Tagalog already.
we are forced to use those english words (as well as other foreign words) that have no equivalent in tagalog. or sometimes the tagalog word may sound awkward or obscure that we revert to english. i think the usage is acceptable and in fact necessary for coherent communication. generally there is no pure language as it continually evolves, even english itself has a smattering of words with foreign origin.
english uses more foreign language words. english uses french, latin, ancient greek, german, spanish, italian, in fact english will happily use words from any language
No argument for some foreign words that we really got difficulty of translating into our own language. At some cases especially the young ones, they’d probably feel more presentable if they’d speak tagalog and intentionally mix it up with english even if they know how to say it in tagalog, they’ll have a feeling like an old fashioned by saying it straight in tagalog. I tried it once, by trying not to mix with english, and someone said "you speak like an old man" How Sad!
The Filipino people have a special way of translating English terms…you could be referring to Taglish.
You see, our language is a mix of some native terms, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, and some Austronesian dialects (Malaysian, Indonesia, Yami, Malagasy, etc.).
I think it’s because most school use English to teach "technical" subjects (i.e. Mathematics, Science, Technology, etc.) in hopes of giving students an international advantage. Although it is advantageous for Filipinos to develop their English at such an advanced level, one does have to sacrifice learning in Tagalog if he/she wants to learn in English. It’s very difficult to do both. We Filipinos have, in a way, become very dependent on English to satisfy most of our communication needs aside from casual conversation. We’ve also somehow left ourselves with no choice: I rarely see jargon-stuffed manuals or textbooks that have been translated to Tagalog; they’re all English. So what are students or teachers supposed to use as Tagalog-language references?
While I, like many Pinoys, would appreciate it if more technical Tagalog terms adapted more widespread usage, extensive use of foreign words is not exclusive to Filipino. English is notorious for having large amounts of borrowed vocabulary, including many of the common words used everyday such as: different (French) surprise (French) dish/disc (Latin), boondocks (Tagalog), kindergarten (German), ketchup (Amoy/Malay), etc.
Language must be used to express … not just to impress.
So, we are used to use words that can easily be understood and recognized.
Too much nationalism hinders quick progress and globalization.
because some of the words we used can’t be translated in Tagalog.
and because we got colonized by the United States a long long time ago.
why is there so much latin in english.
same same. it started in babylon.