|
Philippines Language Diversity and Uniformity
Some eleven languages and eighty-seven dialects were spoken
in the Philippines in the late 1980s. Eight of these--Tagalog,
Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicolano, Waray-Waray, Pampangan,
and Pangasinan--were native tongues for about 90 percent of the
population. All eight belong to the Malay-Polynesian language
family and are related to Indonesian and Malay, but no two are
mutually comprehensible. Each has a number of dialects and all
have impressive literary traditions, especially Tagalog, Cebuano,
and Ilocano. Some of the languages have closer affinity than
others. It is easier for Ilocanos and Pangasinans to learn each
other's language than to learn any of the other six. Likewise,
speakers of major Visayan Island languages--Cebuano, Ilongo, and
Waray-Waray--find it easier to communicate with each other than
with Tagalogs, Ilocanos, or others.
Language divisions were nowhere more apparent than in the
continuing public debate over national language. The government
in 1974 initiated a policy of gradually phasing out English in
schools, business, and government, and replacing it with
Pilipino, based on the Tagalog language of central and southern
Luzon. Pilipino had spread throughout the nation, the mass media,
and the school system. In 1990 President Corazon Aquino ordered
that all government offices use Pilipino as a medium of
communication, and 200 college executives asked that Pilipino be
the main medium of college instruction rather than English.
Government and educational leaders hoped that Pilipino would be
in general use throughout the archipelago by the end of the
century. By that time, it might have enough grass-roots support
in non-Tagalog-speaking regions to become a national language. In
the early l990s, however, Filipinos had not accepted a national
language at the expense of their regional languages. Nor was
there complete agreement that regional languages should be
subordinated to a national language based on Tagalog.
The role of English was also debated. Some argued that
English was essential to economic progress because it opened the
Philippines to communication with the rest of the world,
facilitated foreign commerce, and made Filipinos desirable
employees for international firms both in the Philippines and
abroad. Despite census reports that nearly 65 percent of the
populace claimed some understanding of English, as of the early
1990s competence in English appeared to have deteriorated. Groups
also debated whether "Filipinization" and the resulting shifting
of the language toward "Taglish" (a mixture of Tagalog and
English) had made the language less useful as a medium of
international communication. Major newspapers in the early 1990s,
however, were in English, English language movies were popular,
and English was often used in advertisements.
Successful Filipinos were likely to continue to be competent
in Pilipino and English. Speakers of another regional language
would most likely continue to use that language at home, Pilipino
in ordinary conversation in the cities, and English for commerce,
government, and international relations. Both Pilipino, gaining
use in the media, and English continued in the 1990s to be the
languages of education.
Data as of June 1991
|
