KAIINGAT TAYO: ONE NATION, MANY LANGUAGES! DO changes in orthography mean language change? An even more important question: do changes in orthography mean standardization? I have all ready explained how language change substantially occurs when all aspects of a particular language,i.e., the sound system (phonology), its word formation (morphology) its grammar (structure) and lexicon all undergo changes. Have all these processes occurred in the shift from Tagalog to Pilipino to Filipino? The orthography has changed and the lexicon enriched. But what about the grammar and the systems of word formation? These have remained basically Tagalog right? The KWF refuses to acknowledge this fact. In his finest moment, the late Rogelio Sicat an excellent language mentor acknowledged that Tagalog and Filipino are one and the same language as he concedes, "Tawagin mang Tagalog o Filipino, ang pambansang wika ay narito na". Because the truth of the matter is Tagalog, in view of its being privileged in the educational system in over 70 years has spread from Batanes to Jolo and we do not like to begrudge the architects of this phenomenon, in fact we should be thankful for it. But we also acknowledge as factually accurate the reality that there are 170 other Philippine languages whose grammars and morphologies differ from Tagalog and how do you integrate all these grammars and morphologies into one language? Would it not be better that these other/othered languages be developed, given their own contexts and dynamics. That is why, a Commission on Philippine Languages is a sounder proposition than a Commission on THE Filipino Language. Out with the one nation, one language mindset, in with colorful and dynamic linguistic diversity, ONE NATION, MANY LANGUAGES!
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 01:34:42 +0000
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