12/10/2006

What is the vernacular of 'U-Turn'?

Is there really one? I asked around and did an SMS brigade to find out. One replied asking exactly the query I wrote to begin this post. Here are the answers I got:

Ikutan
Liko pa-U
Liko-paikot
U-turn
Ikot-pabalik
Lumiko ka pabalik

As you notice, some responses are absurd, some are outright literal. Much like the project we had in FILIDIS back in DLSU-Manila where we were asked to survey on what may be considered as proper translations of certain computer terms. Thus, ‘page definition’ could be peyj definisyon, pahinang pang depinisyon (or its deeper Tagalog equivalent), or retain page definition as is.

Somehow, the first one is closer to what is currently considered as academic Filipino. As such, faculti and asaynment are legit Filipino words. This is what my prof in FILIDIS coin as “De La Salle Filipino”. She explained that every major educational institution has its own Filipino linguistics studies to formalize what Filipino is as a language and what constitutes it. I am not exactly sure how “Ateneo Filipino” but she cited a comparison that “UP Filipino” would translate liquid to likido, whereas “DLS Filipino” would spell it out as likwid. Now you see where this is going?

Thanks to Bjoe’s Wikipedia hunting, I discovered that Filipino as we know it was ratified in 2001. Thus, the awkward Filipinized foreign terms we now consider as official and academic is referred to as Filipino (2001) to differentiate from the Filipino I learned in high school and the Pilipino that my older brothers learned in their formative years.

One thing is for sure, Filipino, unlike Greek, is a vibrant language – alive, ever-changing, and evolving. For further reference, I would include in this post Bjoe’s email.


Disclaimer: This requires about an hour or two of Wiki-reading.

Browsing through Wikipedia for categories of Chinese and Filipino dialects (sporadically and acceptably referred to as actual languages), I happened upon several Wiki entries that I found quite arresting. The order in which I present these URLs does not mirror the order in which I read them, but I am presenting this in a manner which would've probably made it easier for my digestion if it were pre-outlined for me. (I highly recommend using Mozilla or tab-supported browsers).

I will start you off with some light Wiki-reading:

Countries by English-speaking Population

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population

English Dialects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language

English-based Creole Languages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-based_creole_languages

Filipino Criollos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_peoples#Philippine_Criollos

We Drink Ritalin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Drink_Ritalin

And now, for the main course:

Tagalog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagalog_language

Filipino

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_language

Filipino vs. Tagalog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_vs._Tagalog

Philippine English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_English

Taglish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taglish

Englog (sometimes “Enggalog”)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englog

Chinglish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinglish

Singlish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish

Pidgin English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_English

Hawaiian Pidgin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Pidgin

Engrish (えくすつり無理仮い ひいすてりかる!!! - read: e-ku-su-tu-ri-mu-ri-ka-ri-i hi-i-su-te-ri-ka-ru, or “extremely hysterical”.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engrish

All Your Base Are Belong To Us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us

Humorous as they may be, I found these last several pages very informative. They brought about some aspects of the culture(s) I grew up in that I never really paid much attention to, and enlightened me on certain questions I had regarding my background, exempli gratia: “How did I end up with an English ancestor?”, “Why do most Filipino-Chinese speak Hokkien and not Mandarin?”, and the initially-rhetorical question “Why do Coños talk that way, naman eh?”

I’ve lived in some of the most diverse communities throughout my existence on Earth, and I have friends who have exposed me to just about every culture there is out there. I have been subjected to caste, racial classification, stereotyping, prejudiced generalization, and distorted categorization everywhere I go – all based on appearance, my parent’s accents, and my distinct accent which, apparently, is only evident when switching languages in the middle of a conversation. If that wasn’t hard enough, try being a First-generation middle-class American (born in California, the armpit of the world, of all places) product of two Filipino expatriates, particularly a Chinese mother with a lone Spanish ancestor and the end-result of the mingling of the Birmingham (English), de Ocampo (Portugese), Tanjutco (Min Nan expats), and del Pilar (Spanish) clans for a father. Throw in a Native American and an African into the mix, and every racial joke ever conceived might as well be addressed towards me. But never have I been offended by any, although I may jokingly say “I’ll kill anyone who dares to call me a Twinkie,” refusing to be miscataloged as “yellow on the outside, white on the inside.” Matter-of-factly, I am, more of a lemon-frosted donut with vanilla candy sprinkles.

Yes, I said it - I have nothing in the middle. You no contradict me, ok lah?

李将要

PS

Thanks to the IME, (Caveman discovers the IME! Duh-oh!) learning how to read and write in Japanese and Chinese have been made easier. I just need to work on expanding my vocabulary.

ぢっと。(I just made that up. Is there really a Nihongo equivalent to “ditto”?)


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