Messages

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You Asked Me This Question / Re: Is “fiscalizer” a legitimate word in the English language?

« on: February 16, 2010, 09:58:13 AM »

Mr. Jose Carillo:
You and Fred Natividad are right: “Fiscalizer” is not an English word. It is not found in any English dictionary. It was coined by Filipino lawmakers early last century to describe themselves as critics of alleged government wrongdoing. Having been educated in Spanish during the 19th Century, they converted the Spanish verb “fiscalizar,” meaning “to criticize” into an English noun. The next generation of lawmakers continued the practice, and reporters soon picked up the term. However, fiscalizer did not make it to either the American or British dictionary. Anothsr non-English word that reporters had borrowed from lawmakers is “carnapping,” which means “car theft.” In the 1960s, Congress passed a law known as the “Anti-Carnapping Act.” Newspapers today have replaced carnapping with carjacking, which is a fusion of “car” and “hijacking.”

MAURO DIONISIO

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Education and Teaching / Re: Setting the tone for our post-flood discussions on education

« on: November 18, 2009, 04:17:46 PM »

APIONG: It is not only Tagalog that is peppered with foreign words. So do English and Spanish. Actually, the Spanish expression “ojala!” comes from the Arabic “Inhsllah!,” meaning “God willing.” There are many Arabic words in Spanish that have found theri way to tagalog. Some of these words are alcalde, azucar, aceite. By the way, Tagalog is not sprinkled with “Muslim words” as you have mentioned, but by Malay words. Some of these Malay words are mata, pinto, sulat, lima, and other common words.

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You Asked Me This Question / Re: Why not “soil” or “land” for “area of responsibility”?

« on: November 13, 2009, 07:56:18 PM »

SHAOLEY: Philippines territory is not limited to the country's land mass. It covers the waters in which the country exercises jurisdiction. Therefore when one says “entered the Philippines,” it means the typhoon has crossed the “imaginary border” out at sea that separates the Philippines from neighboring countries. “Area of responsibility” is similar to jurisdiction.

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You Asked Me This Question / Re: Why not “soil” or “land” for “area of responsibility”?

« on: November 12, 2009, 03:39:39 PM »

We can just say that the typhoon has entered the Philippines.

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Education and Teaching / Re: Setting the tone for our post-flood discussions on education

« on: November 11, 2009, 04:13:33 PM »

However, the abominable Taglish of broadcasters could eventually become acceptable. Look at this sentence: “Imbolb ka ba sa holdap?” Imbolb comes from involve and holdap from holdup. There are many similar Taglish sentences that are now accepted as Tagalog.

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Education and Teaching / Re: Setting the tone for our post-flood discussions on education

« on: November 03, 2009, 07:43:34 PM »

Isn't this also Taglish: “Bilib sya sa mga tambay.” Bilib comes from “believe” and tambay from “standby.”

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Education and Teaching / Re: Setting the tone for our post-flood discussions on education

« on: November 03, 2009, 06:52:25 PM »

It was deja vu when the admiral was assassinated.
The above is a statement in English. Actually it is more akin to Taglish. It is comprised of  three words from two different languages. Deja Vu is French for “You have seen it.” Admiral comes from the Arabic phrase “amir al bahr,” meaning commander of the sea. The verb assassinate is derived from the Arabic word “hashshasin,” which refers to one who smokes hashish.
The difference is that when we adopt English words into Tagalog, we still consider these words as foreign and refer to them as Taglish. However, there are many foreign words in Tagalog that we believe are native to the language.  Take the word “saksi.” We prefer saksi (witness) to the Spanish “testigo” on the mistaken belief that saksi is Tagalog. Saksi is Malay and Indonesian for “witness.” Another supposed nstive Tagalog word is “guru (teacher).”  We would rather use guru than the Spanish “maestra” and English “teacher.” Guru is also Malay and Indonesian for “teacher.”

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You Asked Me This Question / Re: Should lawyers casually say “plea of guilty” and “plea of innocent”?

« on: November 03, 2009, 05:02:46 PM »

WRITEGIRL: One cannot just edit the Rules of Coirt or a law. It must be amended. That's why I took your statement to mean amend, not edit. Since you actually meant edit, that could not be possible. If Congress made a grammatical error in crafting a law, it sould pass another law to correct the mistake. That is known as amendment. In the case of the Rules, the Supreme Court has the power under the Constitution to amend them and correct any mistake.

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Use and Misuse / Re: Will Taglish stay forever in the Philippines?

« on: November 03, 2009, 03:53:04 PM »

RENZPHOTOGRAPHY AND CRUISE: I rest my case. Let the world judge.

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Use and Misuse / Re: Will Taglish stay forever in the Philippines?

« on: November 02, 2009, 04:19:45 PM »

RENZPHOTOGRAPHY: You cannot defend your position through insults. If you were a lawyer arguing in court, the judge would yell at you and declare you in contempt for being out of order. Argue on the merits.

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Use and Misuse / Re: Will Taglish stay forever in the Philippines?

« on: November 01, 2009, 06:59:51 PM »

MADGIRL: You're right. Changes are not always bad, and changes brought about by foreign words adopted into Tagalog could help in the evolution and improvement of the language. Tagalog has no terms for many modern technological equipment like the computer and its ubiquitous appendage, the mouse. Should we call it a “daga?” In naming a boat that travels under the sea, English, a Germanic language, turned to Latin to coin the word “submarine.” German aptly calls a submarine an “untersee boot” or undersea boat. As for English, it could evolve into various languages as Latin had broken up into the Romance languages. However, this could take time because modern means of communications like the internet keep people in touch. You're right broadcasters have contributed to the spread of Taglish and the demise of the quality of English and Tagalog in the Philippines. But a language is a living thing that must keep up with the times. Browse through an English dictionary and you will find some of the definitions marked “archaic.” That means the word has assumed a new meaning different from what it orginally meant. Look at Chavacano. It appears to have a Spanish structure, but its grammar is actually a cross between Bisaya and Spanish and the words are a hodge podge of the two languages. That's in Zamboanga City. In Ternate, Cavite, Chavacano is a mixture of Tagalog and Spanish. Chavacano started out as a form of pidgin Spanish, but it has now evolved into a full pledged language.

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Use and Misuse / Re: Will Taglish stay forever in the Philippines?

« on: November 01, 2009, 06:02:32 PM »

APIONG: After the Norman conquest, English language became subvservient to  Norman-French. Many French words were adopted into English, and the English started to inject French phrases into their speech. That's how French phrases like deja vu (Your have seen it) entered the English language. So the English began to speak English peppered with French words and phrases. These are now found in the English dictionary because they are now part of the English vocabulary. Just like the English of the Norman period, Filipinos of today speak Tagalog mixed with English words and phrases. This is known as Taglish. So your question whether Taglish will remain, the answer is “yes.” in the same way that French words and phrases have remained in English and are now part of English vocabulary. Gradually Tagalog  will absorb these English words and phrases and they will become part of the language that the government has started to call “Filipino.” Taglish and Filipino will then merge and would become simply known as “Filipino.”

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Use and Misuse / Re: Will Taglish stay forever in the Philippines?

« on: November 01, 2009, 05:30:29 PM »

RENZPHOTOGRAPHY: I have lived and worked in a Middle East country for 10 years, and ln those years I have met a lot of Filipinos with the same parochial attitude and prejudice as you. In Arabic, you and your bunch are aptly described as “mafi muk.” The ordeal that you say you and other OFWs have gone through in the Middle East are all in your mind. That's like having a psychosomatic illness. It's just the mind making you think that other nationalities are out to get you. Freud calls that state of mind paranoia and the person with that mind set paranoid. That word was the origin of the Tagalog (Filipino to the government) slang “praning.”

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Use and Misuse / Re: Will Taglish stay forever in the Philippines?

« on: October 30, 2009, 07:27:13 PM »

HILL ROBERTS: I believe the use of English among Filipino students started to decline in the late 1960s when the government gave in to  so-called nationalists to give more emphasis on Pilipino (actually Tagalog) in schools. Students spoke and wrote English in school and talked with friends and releatives in Tagalog and other Philippine languages. Therefore, the government should have strengthened English in schools to enable the students to become bilingual. That's why the generation that used the John and Jean series in the elementary grades were able to communicate fluently in both English and Tagalog or other Philippine language.

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Use and Misuse / Re: Quick Spanish Question for you, Hill

« on: October 30, 2009, 06:37:02 PM »

Hi! Hill Roberts. By the way you spelled (llamado) as pronounced in Andaluz (llamao), it seems akin to Protiguese (Sao, Guzmao). Is this so? I thought the Andaluz accent was similar to Arabic because Andalucia was the based of the Moorish kingdoms during the 800 years of Arab-Moorosh rule in Spain. Is the Spanglish in Gilbartrar similar to the one spokesn  by Puerto Ricans in New York? There is an old song with a line “...Gilbartrar may tumble...” The name “Gilbartrar comes from the Arabic “Jebel Talal” or “Talal's mountain.”