Bilingualism in the Philippines

Definition:
Bilingualism is commonly defined as the use of at least two or languages of a person. It is a
fluctuating system in children and adults whereby use of and proficiency in two languages may
change depending on the opportunities to use the languages and exposure to other users of the
languages. (ASHA, 2004) Bilingualism (or more generally: Multilingualism) is the phenomenon
of speaking and understanding two or more languages. The term can refer to individuals
(individual bilingualism) as well as to an entire society (social bilingualism).
 Individual Bilingualism is the use of two or more languages by an individual.
Philippines from nursery to the 4th year high school had already learn not only one
language but more than one languages. I have a cousin who is still at 2nd grade knows
how to speak English, Tagalog, and German.
 Societal Bilingualism is the use of two or more languages within a given community.
In the Philippines according to CSUN it has 8 major dialects. Listed in the figure from
top to bottom: Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), Ilocano, Kapampangan,
Pangasinan, Tagalog, and Waray. The language being taught all over the Philippines is
Tagalog and English and due to a history of multiple settlements, more than 170
languages are spoken and only 2 of them are official in the country: Filipino and English.
With very little written, not much is known about this language for the history prior to the
arrival of the Spanish during the sixteenth century.

Philippine Languages
According to linguists, there are around 5,000 languages spoken in today’s world. The
Philippines alone has over 170 languages and 4 that have no known remaining speakers.
Alarmingly, according to current estimates, only one-tenth of today’s languages will remain by
the coming of the 22nd century. Languages are disappearing at an astonishing rate and the pace
shows no sign of abating. Many Filipino languages are at high risk of extinction.
History of Philippine Languages
The Filipino languages have been influenced by many other language groups throughout their
history, as well as being influenced by each other. Their position in the Pacific Ocean so near
Asia has allowed them many opportunities for trade and correspondence with other nations and
languages. In addition, various occupations of the region by different nations has brought the
Filipino languages in to direct contact with many other languages, which have also had their
influence.
The first Indonesians are thought to have come to the Philippines in groups, beginning some
5,000 to 6,000 years ago and again about 1500 B.C. (Bautista). Linguistic evidence connects
Tagalog with Bahasa Indonesia as having common roots, so the main root of the modern Filipino
languages probably came with these people (although other groups of people are thought to have
come to the Philippines much earlier). In addition, the Malay people make up the largest
percentage of the population in the Philippines (Bautista).
Before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, the people lived in small towns called barangays.
The leader of a barangay was called a Datu. Many barangays would cluster together for safety
and protection. This way of life could have had a great affect on the languages at this time
(Bautista). The people of the Philippines were not united under one government, but were under
many smaller governments, and they had many different languages and many different dialects
of each language. At this time, the different barangays traded openly with one another. There
was also foreign trade with Japan, China, Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand, Cambodia, and other
islands in the area (Bautista). The languages of the Philippines were heavily influenced by
Chinese at this time, and probably by many of the other languages to which they were exposed as
well.
The Islam religion was brought to the Philippines in the 14th century (Bautista). It was spread
throughout Mindanao and also reached into Manila and Tondo before the Spaniards came to the
Philippines and stopped its spread. This spread could have also contributed new words and
concepts to the existing languages. Bautista also mentions Sanskrit influences, which also have
contributed new words to these languages.
In the 16th Century Spain claimed the Philippines for its own. Many friars and priests were sent
by the crown to teach Christianity to the native people. At first, the friars were encouraged to
learn the local dialects in order to teach the people in their own languages. This they did, gaining
a strong influence over the Filipino people.
In time, the crown determined that instruction in religion should be conducted in Spanish (or
Castilian, as it was called). However, by that time, the priests already enjoyed a great deal of
power because of their position between the Spanish crown and the Filipino people. The Filipino
people depended on the priests for all of their religious instruction (and basically any education)
and for understanding of any laws or ordinances that came from Spain. The Spanish government
needed these priests to conduct any business in the Philippines at all, because the people could
not speak Spanish and the only way to communicate with them was through the priests who
spoke their languages. In addition, the priests did not want the natives learning Spanish because
they considered themselves an elite class–a better people than their Filipino counterparts. They
wanted to maintain this separation, and saw that by preventing the Filipinos from learning
Spanish, they could do so In addition, they feared that if the native people learned Spanish, they
would be more likely to be proud and rebel against the government (Frei, 16).
Because of these various conditions, the priests were sluggish and hesitant, even in the face of
direct orders from the government, to implement Spanish teaching programs in Filipino schools.
Being all the way across the ocean and having very slow communication at the time helped them
in their attempts to be slow in setting up these things.
When the Filipinos insisted on having equal rights with the rest of the Spanish people, and were
not given them, they rebelled against the Spanish government and set up their own republic. At
this time Tagalog was not really set up as the national language. However, Rizal, an important
Filipino hero at the time who had been killed because of his involvement with the revolution, had
brought a lot of attention to Tagalog by writing many papers in Tagalog and writing about the
grammar, etc. (Frei, 28-29).

The period of Spanish rule brought many borrowed words into the Tagalog language from
Spanish. Some of these included the adoption of the Spanish number system in many settings,
especially when dealing with money, and adoption of Spanish household and religious words.
Some examples of borrowed words are the Spanish words for fork, spoon, knife, table, God, holy
spirit, Jesus Christ, and blessing.
The new Republic of the Philippines did not last long until American occupation began. The
Americans began English as the official language of the Philippines. There were many reasons
given for this change. Spanish was still not known by very many of the native people. As well,
when Taft’s commission (which had been established to continue setting up the government in
the Philippines) asked the native people what language they wanted, they asked for English (Frei,
33). In addition, it was hard to conduct government in the native languages because there were so
many of them, and a united language was desired.
English began to be taught in the schools to all. For a time, Spanish was still used in many areas,
but in time more and more of the people learned English. After many years of not teaching
Spanish, those who had known it were older or had passed away, and it was lost as a major
influence (although the native dialects continued to use borrowed words from Spanish). For
many years, the people of the Philippines were satisfied to simply learn English and adapt to the
new system (Frei, )
During World War II, Japan occupied the Philippines for three years (Bautista). At this time
English was still the official language of the Philippines, however, Japanese certainly influenced
the various dialects during this time as well.
Debates continued back and forth in America and in the Philippines as to whether the official
language of the country should be English or one of the other native languages. It was part of the
agreement of American occupation that in 1946, the Philippines would become independent of
the US again. At that time, Tagalog became the official language of the Philippines, this change
having been decided about ten years later and having begun already to be implemented in the
educational system.
Even though English is no longer the official language of the Philippines, it continues to be
taught today along with Tagalog in the public schools. Several English words have also found
their way into Tagalog and other Filipino languages, and are simply conjugated and adjusted to
fit the conventions of the languages into which they are adapted. Some examples are the English
word "transfer" which is used in some languages to mean "move" (as in "magtransfer kami sa
Maynila"–"we are moving to Manila") and the English "adjust" which is used with the same
meaning (as in "maaram ko mag-adjust"–"I know how to adjust").
Additionally, the languages of the Philippines continue to borrow words from one another. Since
the languages come from a common root anyway, it is often hard to distinguish which words are
simply descended from the same roots and which have been borrowed later from another Filipino
language. Among both categories, these words do not always have the same meanings in the
different languages, in fact, one must be careful not to make embarrassing errors!
Over the course of its development, Tagalog (and other languages of the Philippines) have been
influenced by Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, English, and many other languages, in trade and in
occupations by various countries. They have taken and adapted words from all of these
languages to make them part of their own languages. They have, however, still maintained their
own languages, and maintained separations from one language to another.

References:
THE PHILIPPINES: THEN
AND NOW. EXCERPTED
FROM THE FILIPINO
AMERICANS (FROM 1763
TO THE PRESENT): THEIR
HISTORY, CULTURE, AND
TRADITIONS, BY
VELTISEZAR BAUTISTA.

FREI, ERNEST J. THE

HISTORICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE
PHILIPPINE NATIONAL
LANGUAGE. MANILA:
BUREAU OF PRINTING,
1959.
http://www.ethnicgroupsph
ilippines.com/people/langu
ages-in-the-philippines/
HTTPS://WWW.ASHA.ORG/P
RACTICE/MULTICULTURAL/I
SSUES/BLL.HTM