Why is the language Tagalog often referred to as Filipino?

4 Comments

1. Sir Chino says:

   September 28, 2009 at 4:51 pm

   In Philippines, Filipino and English are the spoken languages of the country. Tagalog is a part of Filipino language. Like English, English is the main language but in others, they have English (U.K.), English (Philippines), etc. There are other types in short. In Philippines, tagalog is the common language spoken among people who live in Manila. Because in other places in the Philippines, there are other types of language besides Tagalog. But when asked what’s the main language, its Filipino and English.
2. wyoscot says:

   September 28, 2009 at 4:51 pm

   Tagalog is the most widely spoken language in the Philippines. Filipino is the standardized version of Tagalog.
3. Roi says:

   September 28, 2009 at 4:51 pm

   Tagalog is one of the major languages in the Philippines. Filipino is the national language, it is not a native language but a language created so to facilitate unity among the people of the phil. it is actually a combination of the languages of the phil. but it is mostly based on tagalog.
4. battgirl says:

   September 28, 2009 at 4:51 pm

   It’s basically the same, it’s just a standard name for the Philippine National Language. Initially it is changed to Filipino to separate from the Tagalog ethnic group.

   For me Filipino is more standardized, a little formal and widely-used and has it’s origins from Tagalog.

   Tagalog as spoken by pure Tagalogs – people from Luzon, not only concentrated in Manila – comes in a variety of accent and sometimes terminologies that are not commonly used in Filipino.

   You can say that the Tagalog I speak (Filipino) is akin to how you would probably say that a none-native English speaker tend to use more bookish English.

   BTW, Filipino is also used as a collective term for all the languages/dialects found in the Philippines.