Kapampangan Lexical Borrowing from Tagalog: Endangerment

rather than Enrichment

Michael Raymon M. Pangilinan
[email protected]

Abstract
It has sometimes been argued that the Kapampangan language will not be endangered by lexical borrowings
from other languages and that lexical borrowings help enrich a language rather than endanger it. This paper
aims to prove otherwise. Rather than being enriched, the socio-politically dominant Tagalog language has been
replacing many indigenous words in the Kapampangan language in everyday communication. A number of
everyday words that have been in use 20 years ago ~ bígâ (clouds), sangkan (reason), bungsul (to faint) and
talágâ (artesian well) just to name a few ~ have all been replaced by Tagalog loan words and are no longer
understood by most young people. This paper would present a list of all the words that have been replaced by
Tagalog, and push the issue that lexical borrowing from a dominant language leads to endangerment rather
than enrichment.

I. Introduction

At first glance, the Kapampangan language does not seem to be endangered. It is one of the eight
major languages of the Philippines with approximately 2 million speakers (National Census and
Statistics Office, 2003). It is spoken by the majority in the province of Pampanga, the southern
half of the province of Tarlac, the northeast quarter of the province of Bataan, and the bordering
communities of the provinces of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija (Fig. 1). It has an established
literature, with its grammar being studied as early as 1580 by the Spanish colonisers (Manlapaz,
1981). It has also recently penetrated the electronic media: the first ever province-wide news in
the Kapampangan language was televised in 2007 by the Pampanga branch of the Manila-based
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. It has also a number of advocates campaigning on the
internet at the Yahoo Group forum Academia ning Amanung Sisuan International (ANASI).

Despite its large population, its well-developed literature and its adaptation to electronic media,
the Kapampangan language exhibits certain anomalies that can only be interpreted as symptoms
of endangerment. Kapampangan speakers, with the exception of an elite few, are now mostly
illiterate in their own language, it being not taught in schools. It is also not being used as the
medium of instruction and its use is actually being proscribed in the classroom, whereby students
pay a fine every time they speak it. It has been observed that with the proliferation of the public
pre-school education program known as the Day Care Centers since the 1990s, Kapampangan
parents began talking to their children in the dominant Philippine language, Tagalog, rather than
in their mother tongue. The Kapampangan language therefore is already showing signs of being
moribund since the younger generation are no longer being taught to speak it. As for the
population that continue to speak it, their version of Kapampangan evidently shows signs of
lexical attrition whereby a number of the significant indigenous vocabulary is slowly being
replaced by words borrowed from the dominant language, Tagalog.

1
Figure 1. Carte ethno-linguistique du centre de Luçon, Philippines,
au début des années 2000. (JC Gaillard, 2009).

2
II. Creation of the Filipino Nation and the Rise of the Tagalog Language

During the Spanish colonial era, the different ethno-linguistic groups within the Philippines, at
least the major ones, were regarded as “nations” by the Spaniards (Morga, 1609; San Agustin,
1698; Diaz, 1745 and Bergano, 1860). The Spaniards took advantage of these differences and
pitted one nation against the other. For instance, the Kapampangan people, who were highly
favoured by the Spaniards, made up the bulk of the Spanish colonial armed forces and were used
to quell various ethnic uprisings all over the archipelago (Henson, 1965 and Corpuz, 1989). One
Spanish friar wrote, “One Castillan plus three Kapampangan is equal to four Castillans” (Diaz,
1745, see also Henson, 1965; Tayag, 1985 and Corpuz, 1989).

When the Philippines declared its Independence from Spain in 1898, their constitution defined
“nation” simply as “the political association of all Filipinos” (1899 Constitution of the Republic
of the Philippines). The “Filipinos” at that time saw no commonality among themselves except a
shared historical experience of being a Spanish colony. It was a Tagalog, in the person of Manuel
Luis Quezon, the Resident Commissioner of the Philippine Islands under the United States and
later president of the Philippine Commonwealth Government, who envisioned and laboured for
the creation of a Filipino “nation” that is unified by one common language and identity
(Gueraiche, 2004). In 1937, Quezon proclaimed Tagalog as the basis of the national language
through an Executive Order (Bautista, 1996). The teaching of Tagalog in all schools became
obligatory by 1940 (Gueraiche, 2004).

Through the years, an educational system and language policies were designed to mould and
unify the population according to Quezon’s vision of a Filipino nation, with one language and
one culture. In 1959, Education Secretary Jose Romero issued a department order renaming the
Tagalog-based national language as Pilipino (Bautista, 1996). It was later spelled Filipino under
Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution. This naming game was a clever doublespeak tactic aimed
at distracting possible opposition to the use of Tagalog as the national language.

Through conditioning in schools, students learned that to be Filipino, one ought to speak Filipino
(which is actually Tagalog). To speak Kapampangan or any other Philippine language is deemed
unpatriotic. Nationalism and patriotism has been equated to speaking Pilipino/Tagalog. During
the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos in the late 1960s to the early 1980s, the Kapampangan
homeland became the hotbed and breeding ground of the nationalist and anti-establishment
movement. However, the language they used was Tagalog and not Kapampangan. To prove their
patriotism, Kapampangan nationalists became well-versed in the Tagalog language. The best
publicly known Tagalog speaker to date, who is a product of that time, is the Philippine national
television talk show host, journalist and socialist Professor Randy David of the University of the
Philippines, a native Kapampangan speaker.

After the fall of the Marcos Dictatorship, Tagalog has finally replaced English as the second
language of the Philippines (Anicia del Corro, pers.comm., May 9, 2009).1 Through decades of
conditioning in schools and the broadcast media, Tagalog has become the dominant language
even within the Kapampangan homeland.

1This was stated in the lecture delivered by Anicia del Corro, Ph.D on Kapampangan Linguistics at Holy Angel
University, May 9, 2009.

3
III. Evidence, Nature and Symptoms of Endangerment of the Kapampangan Language

The Kapampangan language has about 2 million speakers according to the population census
conducted in the year 2000. But population figures alone are not enough to determine whether or
not a language is endangered. Therefore, the framework designed by Brenzinger, Yamamoto et
al will be used in this chapter. To determine the varied nature of language endangerment, nine
factors have been considered by Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al. These are: (1) Intergenerational
language transmission; (2) Absolute numbers of speakers; (3) Proportion of speakers within the
total population; (4) Loss of existing language domains; (5) Response to new domains and media;
(6) Materials for language education and literacy; (7) Governmental and institutional language
attitudes and policies; (8) Community members’ attitudes towards their own language; and (9)
Amount and quality of documentation (Lewis, 2006).

3.1. Intergenerational Language Transmission

The home used to be the last sanctuary of a language that is restricted in certain domains like the
schools, the media and the workplace. The same was true for the Kapampangan language until
the effective and widespread establishment of public pre-schools known as the Day Care Centers
in every barangay or basic community within the Kapampangan homeland. In November 23,
1990, the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives passed Republic Act No. 6972 that
called for the establishment of the Day Care Centers in every barangay (basic community) for
the care and education of children below the age of six. Since the medium of instruction used in
the Day Care Centers is Filipino (Tagalog), parents who wanted their pre-school children to be
advanced in their lessons have began speaking to them in Tagalog. With the effective
implementation of Republic Act No. 6972 in the late 1990s, the Kapampangan language has lost
even the home as its final refuge.

Table 1. Factor 1: Intergenerational Language Transmission Scale

(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Degree of Grade Speaker Population

Endangerment
Safe 5 The language is used by all ages, from children up.
Unsafe 4 The language is used by some children in all domains; it is used by all
children in limited domains.
Definitively
Endangered 3 The language is used mostly by the parental generation and up.
Severely
Endangered 2 The language is used mostly by the grandparental generation and up.
Critically The language is used mostly by very few speakers, of great-grandparental
Endangered 1 generation.
Extinct 0 There exists no speaker.

The Kapampangan language may currently be on the brink of becoming moribund, at least in the
urban centres of San Fernando, Angeles and the surrounding municipalities, as more and more
parents have stopped using it with their children. Children below the age of twelve can now be
found speaking only Tagalog. Even officers and active members of certain Kapampangan
language and culture advocacy groups can be found guilty of speaking Tagalog to their children
or grandchildren. Based on the criteria listed down by Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al (Table 1), the
Kapampangan language may be definitively endangered.

4
3.2. Absolute numbers of speakers
In a paper presented to the United Bible Society Triennial Translators Workshop in Malaga,
Spain in the year 2000, Anicia del Corro of the Philippine Bible Society wrote down her
suspicion that the Kapampangan language may be endangered despite the fact that it is one of the
eight major languages of the Philippines with approximately 2 million speakers. In a span of 20
years, from 1975 to 1995, Del Corro presented a graph that illustrated the steady decrease of
Kapampangan speakers in proportion to the rapid increase of Tagalog speakers within the
Kapampangan Region. Chart 1 is a modified and updated version of Del Corro’s graph with the
release of the 2000 census data in 2003 (National Census and Statistics Office, 2003). The recent
data clearly shows the considerable decline in the number of Kapampangan speakers in
proportion to Tagalog speakers within the Kapampangan homeland in just a span of five years
(1995 to 2000), from 27% in 1995 to 24.83% in 2000.

Chart 1. Comparison between Tagalog and Kapampangan speakers,

modified and updated from Anicia del Corro’s chart (Del Corro, 2000).

70

60
Growth rate of speakers (percent)

50

40

30

20

10

0
1975 1980 1990 1995 2000
Tagalog 46.00 53.00 51.60 54.00 60.38
Kapampangan 29.00 27.00 28.00 27.00 24.83

3.3. Proportion of Speakers within the Total Reference Group

The Kapampangan language is still spoken by the majority within the Kapampangan speaking
areas. However, it is in danger of becoming moribund since an increasing number of parents are
no longer teaching it to their children. There is also an increasing phenomenon of code switching
to Tagalog in certain social situations among the generation that speak it, mostly among
teenagers and young adults. Lexical attrition is also evident in their version of the language
whereby an increasing amount of Tagalog words replaces the traditional vocabulary.

5
 Table 2. Factor 3: Proportion of Speakers within the Total Reference Group
(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Degree of Endangerment Grade Proportion of Speakers Within the

Total Reference Group
Safe 5 All speak the language.
Unsafe 4 Nearly all speak the language.
Definitively Endangered 3 A majority speak the language.
Severely Endangered 2 A minority speak the language.
Critically Endangered 1 Very few speak the language.
Extinct 0 None speak the language.

3.4. Loss of Existing Language Domains

Currently, the Tagalog language has penetrated many of the traditional and even exclusive
domains of the Kapampangan language.

Table 3. Factor 4: Loss of Existing Language Domain

(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Degree of Grade Speaker Population

Endangerment
Universal use 5 The language is used in all domains and for all functions.
Multilingual Two or more languages may be used in most social domains and for most
parity 4 functions.
Dwindling The language is in home domains and for many functions, but the
domains 3 dominant language begins to penetrate even home domains.
Limited or formal
domains 2 The language is used in limited social domains and for several functions.
Highly limited The language is used only in a very restricted domains and for a very few
domains 1 functions.
Extinct 0 The language is not used in any domain and for any function.

3.4.1. In the Home

As expressed earlier in Section 3.1, the Kapampangan language has lost even the home as its
exclusive domain with the effective implementation of Republic Act No. 6972 that called for the
establishment of the Day Care Centers in every barangay (basic community). Since the medium
of instructions in the Day Care Centers is Tagalog, parents began to stop speaking their mother
language to their children, with the mistaken view that children only learn to speak one
language.2

3.4.2. In School
At present, the use of the Kapampangan language is still restricted inside the classroom whereby
students get penalized, usually a monetary fine, every time they speak it. It is also currently not
the medium of instruction. At least two teachers known to the author have been dismissed from
work for insisting upon using the Kapampangan language as a medium of instruction.3

2
This is based on several interviews from 2004 to 2007 with at least 30 young couples in Angeles City and
Magalang who speak to their children only in Tagalog. Many of whom are friends, relatives and former students.
3
The names of the the individuals involved and the institutions concerned are hereby withheld upon their request.

6
3.4.3. In the Workplace
In certain work places, especially in the Manila-based malls that have put up branches in
Pampanga, the use of the Kapampangan language is discouraged even when dealing with
customers. 4 Other workplaces where the Kapampangan language is restricted include
international fast food chains like KFC and MacDonald’s, Manila-based fast food chains like
Jollibee and Chowking, and the various internationally owned corporations that operate within
Clark Special Economic Zone.5

3.4.4. In Particular Social Functions

An irritating point for many conservative Kapampangan speakers is the increasing phenomenon
of code switching during courtship and love making.6 Many teenagers and young adults use the
Tagalog language during courtship even if both parties are native Kapampangan speakers. They
continue to do so until they become comfortable with one another, even if they have already
become couples. 7 Tagalog has become the language of love for many young Kapampangans due
to current the proliferation of Tagalog language romance dramas on television and in the
cinema.8

3.4.5. In Religion
In the province of Pampanga, the Kapampangan language was the traditional medium of the
Roman Catholic Church and the Methodist Church, while Tagalog was the medium of the other
Protestant denominations and the new Christian-based religions like the Iglesia ni Cristo and the
Born Again Christian Churches. The Tagalog language found its way into the Kapampangan
Christian services when Bible studies and charismatic fellowships seminars became popular in
the urban centres of San Fernando and Angeles City in the late 1970s. At that time, the Christian
Bible was readily available in the Tagalog language rather than in Kapampangan. At present, the
Tagalog language has penetrated even the Roman Catholic celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Although it defies logic and common sense, hymns and homilies are currently being conducted
in Tagalog by an increasing number of Catholic priests in Pampanga even if the entire
celebration of the Holy Eucharist is in the Kapampangan language.9

4
This is the common complaint among Kapampangan expatriates who return to Pampanga after many years. See
discussions in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmanungSisuan.
5
This is the common complaint of many of my former students from Holy Angel University who have been
employed in these establishments.
6
A few couples I know admit to being sexually aroused if they speak Tagalog during love making. They added that
the Kapampangan language sounds too vulgar and unromantic in bed. More studies need to be conducted in this area
to determine whether or not this phenomenon is widespread.
7
This is taken from random interviews conducted with my former students at Holy Angel University from 1999 to
2004, and is still currently observed by the author among young couples.
8
Many young couples admit that they have taken some of their dialogues during courtship from Tagalog love
dramas. Many them fantasise or identify themselves with their celebrity idols who speak Tagalog on screen.
9
In personal communications during the late 1990s, Kapampangan Catholic priests Larry Sarmiento, Sol Gabriel
and Elmer Simbulan expressed their observations that the younger generation can not comprehend the priest’s
sermons unless they were delivered in the Tagalog language.

7
3.4.6. In Government
There was a time when classical Kapampangan was regarded as the language of both the church
and the local government. Many local politicians, including the former Philippine president
Diosdado Macapagal, father of the current president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, were celebrated
Kapampangan language writers, poets and orators (Manlapaz, 1981 and Lacson, 1984). Local
politicians were rated according to their mastery of classical Kapampangan.10 This changed after
the collapse of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Tagalog speeches laced with nationalist and
revolutionary slogans became the trend. At the opening ceremonies of the 1st International
Conference on Kapampangan Studies held at Holy Angel University in 2001, only one of the
four congressmen of the province of Pampanga, Oscar Rodriguez, delivered a speech in
Kapampangan (Oscar Rodriguez, pers. comm., September 3, 2001).

At present, the Kapampangan language does not enjoy official language status even in the
province of Pampanga, supposedly the stronghold of the Kapampangan language. Government
sessions in both provincial and municipal levels are conducted in the Tagalog language.

3.5. Response to New Domains and Media

Since the collapse of the Marcos Dictatorship in 1996, Tagalog has quickly replaced English as
the new medium in the national media, it being identified as the language that toppled the
dictatorship (Del Corro, pers. comm., May 9, 2009).11 Tagalog has replaced English in the news
broadcasts. It can be said that the mass media has helped reinforce the dominance of Tagalog and
the decline of the Kapampangan language, especially among children (Bas, 2007). Children’s
programs in the Tagalog language has replaced the ones in English. Even the most popular
cartoons and Japanese animation have now all been rendered in Tagalog. Children now mimick
their favourite television cartoon characters speaking the Tagalog language.

Despite the dominace of Tagalog in the mass media, the Kapampangan language has somehow
still managed to cope with mobile communication technology and the internet but have somehow
made minimal responses to the more conventional electronic media.

Table 4. Factor 5: Response to New Domains and Media

(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Degree of Endangerment Grade Response to New Domains and Media

Dynamic 5 The language is used in all new domains.
Robust/active 4 The language is used in most new domains.
Receptive 3 The language is used in many new domains.
Coping 2 The language is used in some new domains.
Minimal 1 The language is used in a few new domains.
Inactive 0 The language is not used in any new domains.

10
As witnessed by the author from the years 1981 to 1986, the monthly breakfast meetings of the Holy Name
Society in Angeles City became the venue for the speeches and orations in classical Kapampangan of traditional
politicians Ápûng Peleng Lazatin, Ápûng Quítung Nepomuceno and Antonio Abad Santos.
11
Why Tagalog has replaced English as the Philippines’ second language was one of the topics presented by Anicia
del Corro in the third series of her lecture on Kapampangan Linguistics, held at Holy Angel University in Angeles
City, Philippines on May 9, 2009.

8
3.5.1. On GSM Mobile Communications
Surprisingly, Kapampangan text messages are currently considered “cool” and “unique” while
Tagalog messages are considered “too common” and É MÁKAPANIGLO ‘nothing to rave about’
by many Kapampangan speakers. 12 This phenomenon is also featured in the 15 minute
promotional video of the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at the Holy
Angel University since 2002 up to the present.

3.5.2. On the Internet

On the internet, the Kapampangan language has found its way into several blogs and discussion
forum. The most active of which is the mailing list of the Kapampangan language advocacy
group Academia ning Amanung Sisuan International (ANASI) and Pampanga Arts Guild’s
Aláya – Kapampangan Art Forum on Yahoo Groups. Contemporary Kapampangan writers who
have been trained to write in English are now slowly showing their skills in writing
Kapampangan on Electronic Kabalen, a blog site for contemporary Kapampangan writers.

3.5.3. On Television
At first glance, it would appear that the Kapampangan language finally made progress and
managed to deter endangerment by penetrating the television industry through TV Patrol
Pampanga, the first province-wide Kapampangan language news program produced by the ABS-
CBN Broadcasting Corporations. Upon proper observation however, TV Patrol Pampanga might
actually be doing more damage to the Kapampangan language rather than serving it.

A check on the archives of TV Patrol Pampanga’s Homepage would reveal that almost all of
their news headlines are written in ungrammatical Kapampangan. Some of the sentences are
incomprehensible and even incomplete. Many of them replace existing Kapampangan words
with Tagalog vocabularies. The most glaring error committed by the news writers and editors of
TV Patrol Pampanga, however, is the distortion of the Kapampangan language’s syntax through
the constant omission of the cross-referent and double cross-referent pronouns (TV Patrol
Pampanga Homepage, March-June, 2009). 13 Cross-referent pronouns are central to the
understanding of Kapampangan grammar (Del Corro, 1988 and pers.comm., May 12, 1989).14
Altering the syntax of the Kapampangan language by omitting the necessary cross-referent
pronouns is like distorting the entire language itself.

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation failed to grasp the fact that unlike Tagalog, Kapampangan
grammar is not being taught in schools and so therefore not every educated native speaker is an
expert in writing and editing his own language.

12
Personal interview with young artists Tito and Toti Tanganco, tattoo artist Marlon Maristela, members of
Pampanga Tattoo Community and members of Pampanga-based local rock bands Five Against The Wall, T.H.E.M.,
Mental Floss and Discrepancies.
13
This observation is made by several Kapampangan language experts and advocates, including this author, since
2007. Complaints have been already been submitted to the producers of TV Patrol Pampanga but the problem has
not yet been remedied as evidenced by the news headlines in their current homepage.
14
A section on cross-reference and double-cross reference pronouns was discussed comprehensively by Anicia del
Corro, Ph.D. in her lecture on Kapampangan linguistics during the Seminar Workshop on Kapampangan Culture Its
History, Language, Literature and Its Role in the Identity of the Filipino held at the Angeles University Foundation
on May 8-13, 1989.

9
3.5.4. On the Airwaves
“No Smoking, No Kapampangan!” For a time this sign was hanging at the DJ booth of a radio
station in Pampanga till an officer of the Batiáuan Foundation, a Kapampangan cultural
advocacy group, called the attention of the owner (Nancy Lagman Tremblay, pers. comm.,
October 1998). The existence of the sign was reported to an officer of the Batiáuan Foundation
by a UP student who was working there as a DJ (Alexandra Ibalio, pers. comm., August, 1998).

There are currently two radio stations operating in the Province of Pampanga: RW Station in the
City of San Fernando and GV Station in Angeles City. GV Station currently airs one daily
Kapampangan language program on the AM band and one weekly program on the FM band.
Apart from those two, the rest of the programs are aired in the Tagalog language with some
English programs on the FM band. RW station does not have any Kapampangan language
programs to date. The use of the Kapampangan language is said to be restricted in all programs
both stations, except for the specific Kapampangan language programs on GV.

3.6. Accessibility of Written Materials for Education and Literacy

The Kapampangan language has a rich literary heritage as evidenced by those collected and
published by Venancio Samson (1979), Rosalina Icban Castro (1981), Edna Zapanta Manlapaz
(1981) and Evangelina Hilario Lacson (1984). It boasts of the longest work ever in Philippine
literature, Gonzalo de Cordoba, written by Anselmo Fajardo of Bacolor in the early 1800s, the
first ever zarzuela (Spanish version of the opera) written in any Philippine language, Ing
Managpi, written by Mariano Proceso Pabalan of Bacolor in 1900, and a even a literary golden
age at the beginning of the 1900s (Manlapaz, 1981). Unfortunately these collections of literary
pieces look more like obituaries of the Kapampangan language rather than an actual record of its
vitality (Tayag, 1985). They are also now quite rare and not readily available to the public.

The Kapampangan people experienced two major calamities in the 20th century that destroyed
much of their literature: World War II in 1941-45 (Manlapaz, 1981) and the volcanic eruption of
Pinatubo and the subsequent mudflows in 1991-96 (Nestor Galura, pers.comm, August, 1997 and
Joy Soto, pers.comm., July 1998-April 2009).15

When President Manuel L. Quezon of the Philippine Commonwealth Government legislated the
teaching of English in place of Spanish in schools in the 1930s (Gueraiche, 2004),
Kapampangans started to become illiterate in their language since it was originally written in the
Spanish orthography (Henson, 1965). Henson blames the Philippine educational system in
making their children illiterate in their mother tongue. It was also at about this time that
Kapampangan writers began to lament the increasing role of Tagalog in Kapampangan society
(Larkin, 1972). To complicate things further, the remaining literate population found themselves
fighting over the issue of orthography when the Akademyang Kapampangan began campaigning
for the use of the indigenised “Tagalog” orthography, the ABAKADA, in Kapampangan writing
(Pangilinan, 2006). At present, Kapampangan speakers, except for an elite few who still
squabble on what orthography to use, are illiterate in their own language.

15
Nestor Galura, a Kapampangan advocate and descendant of Kapampangan writer Felix Galura, and Joy Soto, a
direct descendant of Kapampangan writer Crissot (Juan Crisostomo Soto) and head of the Sapni nang Crissot, a
foundation of the descents of Crissot, lamented the destruction their hometown of Bacolor, the literary capital of
Pampanga, and the masterpieces in the Kapampangan language written by their ancestors and other writers.

10
 Table 5. Factor 6: Materials for Language Education and Literacy
(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Grade Accessibility of Written Materials

There is an established orthography, literacy tradition with grammars, dictionaries, texts,
5 literature, and everyday media. Writing in the language is used in administration and
education.
Written materials exist, and at school, children are developing literacy in the language.
4 Writing in the language is not used in administration.
Written materials exist and children may be exposed to the written form at school. Literacy
3 is not promoted through print media.
Written materials exist, but they may only be useful for some members of the community;
2 and for others, they may have a symbolic significance. Literacy education in the language
is not a part of the school curriculum.
1 A practical orthography is known to the community and some material is being written.
0 No orthography available to the community.

To date there are no existing courses, syllabi and textbooks to teach and develop Kapampangan
language literacy in the classrooms, and a practical orthography to be used is yet to be decided
(Anicia del Corro and Robert Tantingco, May 9, 2009).16

3.7. Governmental and Institutional Language Attitudes and Policies

Since the time of President Quezon in the late 1930s, the Philippine Government have
systematically tried to unify the different ethno-linguistic groups within the archipelago under
one Filipino (Tagalog) language and culture. This resulted in the marginalisation of the existing
languages that have been erroneously taught in schools as mere “regional dialects” that can be
sacrificed for the sake of the “national language.” The local government within the
Kapampangan homeland have for generations been nothing more than mere extensions of the
central government in Manila. They merely oversee the implementation of policies dictated by
the central government, including those that are detrimental to the development of their own
language and culture.

To date, the Kapampangan language does not even enjoy an official language status within the
province of Pampanga, the supposed bastion of the Kapampangan language.17 Public street signs
and official notices throughout the province are in the Tagalog language. Government sessions,
and the deliberation of laws and policies in both the provincial and the municipal levels, are also
conducted in the Tagalog language. Currently, there are no existing legislations that favour the
development, or at least the protection, of Kapampangan language and culture.

16
Robert Tantingco, director of the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel
University have been working closely with Kapampangan language experts under the guidance of Anicia del Corro,
Ph.D. since December 2008 on the possibility of developing a course to teach the Kapampangan language to
children.
17
Since 1994, Kapampangan nationalist Edwin Camaya and the Akademyang Kapampangan have been petitioning
the Provincial Government of Pampanga and various municipalities for the legislation of the Kapampangan
language into an official language of the province and the municipalities. They remain unsuccessful.

11
 Table 6. Factor 6: Governmental and Institutional Language Attitudes and Policies
(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Degree of Grade Official Attitudes Toward Language

Support
Equal Support 5 All languages are protected.
Differentiated Minority languages are protected primarily as the language of the private
Support 4 domains. The use of the language is prestigious.
Passive No explicit policy exists for minority languages; the dominant language
Assimilation 3 prevails in the public domain.
Active Government encourages assimilation to the dominant language. There is
Assimilation 2 no protection for minority languages.
Forced The dominant language is the sole official language, while non-
Assimilation 1 dominant languages are neither recognized nor protected.
Prohibition 0 Minority languages are prohibited.

The local judicial courts are also unfavourable to the use of the Kapampangan language.
Testimonies in the Kapampangan language, unless translated in to Tagalog or English, are
usually not entered into the minutes of the court. A mistranslation could lead to an unfavourable
verdict (Lord Francis Musni, pers.comm., May 9, 2009).18

3.8. Community Members’ Attitudes toward Their Own Language

For decades, the Kapampangan ethno-linguistic group have exhibited a very problematic self
image. A survey of ethnic attitudes conducted by the Filipinas Foundation in the early 1970s
revealed that a significant percentage of the Kapampangan people chose Tagalog over their own
as the most favoured ethnic group. Only 31% of the Kapampangan people chose themselves as
favourable. On the question of the least likeable ethnic group, not a percentage of Tagalog,
Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano, Bicolano and Pangasinense chose their own ethnic group as the least
favourable. 2% of the Kapapangan people however, chose themselves as the least likeable
(Filipinas Foundation, 1975).

Table 5. Factor 8: Community Members’ Attitudes toward Their Own Language

(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Grade Community Members’ Attitudes toward Their Own Language

5 All members value their language and wish to see it promoted.
4 Most members support language maintenance.
Many members support language maintenance; others are indifferent or may even support
3 language loss.
Some members support language maintenance; others are indifferent or may even support
2 language loss.
1 Only a few members support language maintenance; others are indifferent or may even
support language loss.
0 No one cares if the language is lost; all prefer to use a dominant language.

18
Lord Francis Musni of the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel Univewrsity,
also works as a Kapampangan translator for the local judicial courts. He brought this fact to our attention during the
lecture of Anicia del Corro, Ph.D. on Kapampangan Linguistics last May 9, 2009 at Holy Angel University.

12
Although an increasing number of Kapampangan parents now speak to the next generation in a
language different from their mother tongue, some parents have expressed that they would not do
so if the schools and Day Care Centers would not make their children suffer for not knowing
Tagalog (Norman Tiotuico, pers.comm., October 2004).19 The children however have a different
understanding why their parents do not teach them their mother language. Many of these
children believe that Kapampangan is a “bad” and “dirty” language and that their parents don’t
want them to use it in the same manner that they don’t want them to use vulgar expletives.20

There are parents however, especially those who work as teachers and government employees,
who genuinely believe Tagalog to be socially and economically more viable than the
Kapampangan language and that the sooner their children learn it, the easier it would be for them
to move up in society.

3.9. Amount and Quality of Documentation

The amount and quality of documentation for the Kapampangan language is fragmentary at best
and quite inadequate at worst. A problem in Kapampangan language is the phenomenon of
diglosia. The written language, for what remains of it, is done traditionally in the formal classical
style. It uses a lot of euphemisms and archaic vocabulary. It also has a tendency of being purist
whereby words that are conspicuously foreign are weeded out. Kapampangan written in the
1970s would probably look no different from the ones written in the 1870s. Written
Kapampangan therefore does not reflect the state in which the language is actually spoken and
therefore can not probably be effective in determining the degree of endangerment. A separate
method should be used in documenting the written and the spoken form of the language.

3.9.1. Grammar Studies

Records show that the Spanish colonisers began to study Kapampangan grammar as early as
1580 with Diego Ochoa’s Arte, Vocabulario, y Confesionario Pampango (Manlapaz, 1981). Two
of these early grammars have already been translated to English by the Juan D. Nepomuceno
Center for Kapampangan Studies. These are Alvaro de Benavente’s 1699 Arte de Lengua
Pampanga and Diego Bergaño’s 1729 Arte de la Lengua Pampanga. The problem with these
grammar books is that they were based on the rules of the Latin grammar. They were also
designed for the Spaniards who come from a different language family and not for the native
speakers who already speak the language.

In the 1980s, the Angeles University Foundation and the Akademyang Kapampangan published
the Garalita, a textbook manual for teaching the Kapampangan grammar (Lacson, 1988).
However, the creator of the Garalita, the late Evangelina Hilario Lacson, despite her passion for
the Kapampangan language, was not a linguist. Like the Tagalog Balarila, the Garalita has been
based on the rules of the English grammar. Many features unique to Austronesian language in
general and the Kapampangan language in particular, have not been taken into account. The
word Garalita itself, taken from the words MAGARAL ‘to study’ and SALITA ‘sentence’ followed
the Germanic rule of putting two different words together to create a new one and not the
Austronesian method of creating new words through the use of affixes.

19
Kapampangan visual artist Norman Tiotuico of Angeles City has witnessed first hand how a public school
teacher used corporal punishment on one of his sons for not understanding the Tagalog language.
20
This is what my nieces and nephews in Magalang believe when I ask them why they do not speak Kapampangan.

13
So far, the linguists who have done significant studies and published works on the Kapampangan
grammar include the late Andrew Gonzales of La Salle, Anicia del Corro of UP Diliman and the
Philippine Bible Society and Kitano Hiroaki of the Aichi University of Education in Nagoya,
Japan. Currently, Anicia del Corro is holding a monthly lecture on Kapampangan linguistics at
the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel University in the hope
of forming a team that will create Kapampangan grammar textbooks (Anicia del Corro and
Robert Tantingco, December 6, 2008).

3.9.2. Dictionaries
A number of Kapampangan dictionaries and vocabularies had already been published since the
Spanish era. Significant of these is Diego Bergaño’s Vocabulario which was first printed in 1732.
Bergaño’s work is noteworthy since many of the words he gathered, and their explanations, give
us a rare insight into 18th century Kapampangan culture and society. A contemporary
Kapampangan dictionary written by Ernesto Turla in 1999 also managed to include entries
unique to Kapampangan culture such as BASULTO ‘a native song accompanied by dances’,
BAWE-BAWE ‘a certain species of medicinal plant’ and BETUTE ‘a native sausage made by
stuffing an animal with meat, usually frogs’. Modern Kapampangan dictionaries being peddled
in the market are simple translations of Spanish-English Dictionaries, and not the product of
lexicographical research. As a result, many words unique to Kapampangan culture have not been
included.

Another problem with commercialised Kapampangan dictionaries is that they usually give one
Kapampangan word equivalent for each English word without explaining the context. As a result,
people who consult these dictionaries tend to use Kapampangan words out of context. For
instance, the reporters at ABS-CBN Pampanga in the early part of 2007 sometimes wrote
misleading stories because they relied solely on these unscholarly made dictionaries. 21

The Kapampangan dictionaries currently in existence, including Bergaño’s and Turla’s, were
designed for non-native speakers. Like the existence of the Oxford and Webster dictionaries in
the English language, a Kapampangan dictionary made for Kapampangan speakers is needed to
help them become proficient and literate in their native language. So far, the first ever
Kapampangan-Kapampangan dictionary being written by Kapampangan translator and
lexicographer Venancio Samson remains unfinished due to the lack of funds and public
support.22

21
This is witnessed personally by the author who worked with ABS-CBN Pampanga as a news anchor and
Kapampangan language consultant from April-October 2007.
22
Venancio Samson is also the translator of the English version of Diego Bergaño’s Vocabulario de la Lengua
Pampanga published by the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies and Kapampangan Bible
published by the Archdiocese of Pampanga. He also translated the many Catholic liturgical songs and prayers from
their original Latin into Kapampangan after Vatican II in the 1960s.

14
 Table 7. Factor 9: Amount and Quality of Documentation
(Brenzinger, Yamamoto et al, 2003 as cited by Lewis, 2006)

Nature of Grade Language Documentation

Documentatio
n
Superlative 5 There are comprehensive grammars and dictionaries, extensive texts;
constant flow of language materials. Abundant annotated high quality
audio and video recordings exist.
Good There is one good grammar and a number of adequate grammars,
4 dictionaries, texts, literature, and occasionally-updated everyday media;
adequate annotated high-quality audio and video recordings.
Fair There may be an adequate grammar or sufficient amount of grammars,
3 dictionaries, and texts, but no everyday media; audio and video recordings
may exist in varying quality or degree of annotation.
Fragmentary There are some grammatical sketches, word-lists, and texts useful for
limited linguistic research but with inadequate coverage. Audio and video
2 recordings may exist in varying quality, with or without any annotation.
Inadequate Only a few grammatical sketches, short wordlists, and fragmentary texts.
1 Audio and video recordings do not exist, are of unusable quality, or are
completely un-annotated.
Undocumented 0 No materials exist.

IV. Lexical Borrowing from Tagalog

To better understand the phenomenon of displacement and lexical attrition in the Kapampangan
language, it was necessary to examine the evidence and nature of its endangerment in the
preceding chapters. It is also necessary to understand that the province of Pampanga, the
stronghold of the Kapampangan language, is geographically surrounded by Tagalog-speaking
areas (Fig.1) and is in close proximity to Philippine capital city of Manila, the Tagalog socio-
political centre.

Tagalog words that have entered the Kapampangan language have been displacing a number of
Kapampangan vocabularies. A number of its native lexicon are no longer being used and
understood by a good majority of the younger generation.23 The following is an initial attempt to
classify and enumerate the most common Tagalog words that have replaced native
Kapampangan vocabulary. The list is not yet comprehensive and exhaustive.

4.1. One Loan Word Displacing More Than One Kapampangan Word
Current speakers also have a penchant for using just one Tagalog-derived word in place of many
words of similar meaning in Kapampangan.

23
Based on the result of the Kapampangan Language Shock Test, which includes a test on the vocabularies still in
use during the 1970s and 1980s. Tested on at least 1000 students from Holy Angel University during the author’s
tenure as a lecturer on Kapampangan Culture from the years 1999 to 2004.

15
For instance, the use of the Tagalog word PALIT [(verb) ‘exchange’] in place of the
Kapampangan words ALÍLI [(verb) ‘change’, ‘replace’], LÍBE [(verb) ‘exchange], BAYUÁN
[(verb) ‘renew’, from BÁYU (adj.) ‘new’] and KANLAS [(verb) ‘to succeed someone (in
office/position)]:

Original Form Current Form

ALILÁN mé kúle. PALITAN mé kúle.

change [you (ERG.2SG)+that] color
Change the color.

LIBÁYAN móng Euro reng Dollars ku. PALITAN móng Euro reng Dollars ku.
change [you(ERG.2SG)+those] Euro (ART.PL+LK) Dollars my
Change my Dollars to Euros.
BAYUÁN mu né ing passport mu. PALITAN mu né ing passport mu.
renew (ERG.2SG) (already+ABS.3SG) (ART.) passport your
Renew your passport.

Nínung KINANLAS kng dating mayor? Nínung PINALIT kng dating mayor?
who replaced that old mayor
Who replaced the old mayor?

The equivalent of the English word ‘if’ that links two clauses together has many forms in the
Kapampangan language, depending on its context:

NUNG ‘if’ (denoting condition): Milúb ka NUNG mamáyad ka.

enter (ABS.2SG) if pay (ABS.2SG)
You may enter if you pay (the entrance).

PATIÉ ‘if’ (denoting consequence): Patén daka PATIÉ é ka memáyad útang.

kill (ERG.3PL+ABS.2SG) if not (ABS.2SG) pay loan.
They will kill you if you don’t pay back your loan.

PÁNGA ‘if’ or ‘when’: Alâ néng útang PÁNGA memáyad ya.

none (NONEXIST) [he(ERG.3SG)+that] loan if paid (ABS.3SG)
He will remove all his loans if he pays.

PÓTANG ‘if’ (‘soon after’): Ibúlus da né PÓTANG memáyad né.

free (verb) (ERG.3PL) [he(ERG.3SG)+that] if paid [he(ERG.3SG)+that]
They will set him free after he pays.

16
Current Kapampangan speakers prefer to use the word PAG, derived from Tagalog KAPAG, in
place of all four forms regardless of the slight difference in context:

Milúb ka PAG mamáyad ka. You may enter if you pay (the entrance).
Patén daka PAG é ka memáyad útang. They will kill you if you don’t pay back your loan.
Alâ néng útang PAG memáyad ya. He will remove all his loans if he pays.
Ibúlus da né PAG memáyad né. They will set him free after he pays.

Here’s an additional list without sentence examples:

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

báhid sálat [n.] blemish [v] to blemish spiritual, quality

dúsing [n.] blemish [v] to blemish physical, appearance

kakayaán kagiúan [n.] ability

gélingan [n.] skill
ténakan [n.] talent

lágî pané [adv.] always habitual

maralás [adv.] always frequent
marátun [adv.] always in reference to location

lulung mipasûbû [v.] to overdo something

mipasóso [v.] to be addicted

úbug tábas [n] shape

lílik [v.] to mould

4.2. Confusion due to homonymic loan words

Tagalog loan words that share the same sounds in Kapampangan but possess different meanings
often cause confusion among older speakers. The following is a list of the most common loan
words that causes confusion in intergenerational communication because of their Kapampangan
homonyms:

Loan word from Tagalog Kapampangan

ÁKIT [v.] ‘to attract’ ÁKIT [v.] ‘to see’
BA (a question marker) BA [exclam.]
KAUÉ [v.] ‘to wave’ (from Tagalog kaway) KAUÉ ‘to swim’
KÍNIS [adj.] ‘smooth’ KÍNIS [v.] ‘to bite’
LALÂ [v.] ‘to become worse LÁLA [v.] ‘to weave a basket
LINGUN [v.] ‘to look at a specific direction’ LINGUN ‘to attend to an important business’
SABÉ [adv.] ‘together’ (from Tagalog SABAY) SÁBÉ [v.] ‘to smear’ or ‘to smudge’
SABÉSABÉ [adv.] ‘altogether’ SABÉSÁBE [v.] ‘to smudge all over’

17
The following four examples are taken from actual conversations. The third and fourth example
confuses even those from the same generation:

Example 1: Person 1 (age 24): Nandin ya pa KÁKAUÉ i Pedru.

earlier (3SG) already waving (DET.) Pedru
Pedru has been waving (at us).
Person 2 (age 40): Nú ya KÁKAUÉ i Pedru?
where (3SG) swimming (DET.) Pedru
Where is Pedru taking a swim?

Example 2: Person 1 (age 27): Ói, LÍLINGUN ya keni itang babaing ita.
(EXCLAM) looking (ABS.3SG) here that+LK woman+LK that
Hey, that woman is looking at us.

Person 2 (age 40): Nánung LILINGUNÁN na keni ning babaing ita?

what [attend to business (v)] (ERG.3SG) here (ART) woman+LK that
What sort of business is that woman attending to here?

Example 3: Person 1 (age 24): MEKÍNIS ya lúpa i Pedru!

smooth(VERB.PAST) (ABS.3SG) face (DET) Pedru
Pedru’s face has gotten smoother!

Person 2 (age 24): Nánung MENGÍNIS kng lúpa na?

what bit (DET) face (ERG.3SG)
What bit his face?

Example 4: Person 1 (age 24): MEÁKIT ya kang Pedru i Babaguâ.

attracted (ABS.3SG) (DET+LK) Pedru (DET) Babagua
Babagua was attracted to Pedru.

Person 2 (age 27): Ót sásalikut ya i Babaguâ kang Pedru?

why hiding (ABS.3SG0 (DET) Babagua (DET+LK) Pedru
Why is Bábaguâ hiding from Pedru?

4.3. Human Anatomy and Conditions

The parts of the body has been said to be an area of the lexicon that is resistant to loss (Craig,
1997), and yet the Kapampangan language is already losing some of its native lexicon. The
following is a list of some of the Tagalog loan words that have replaced their original
Kapampangan counterpart, at least among the younger generation: 24

24
Based on the result of the Kapampangan Language Shock Test, which includes a test on the vocabularies still in
use during the 1970s and 1980s. Tested on at least 1000 students from Holy Angel University during the author’s
tenure as a lecturer on Kapampangan Culture from the years 1999 to 2004. The students’ age ranged from 16 to 20
years old, which means that they were born around the early to the mid-1980s.

18
 Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

balíkat pagó shoulder

bátuk tundun nape
bewang tináuak / áuakan waist
bintî butit the calf
dibdib sálû chest
iló / meílo (Tag. hilo) liû / meliliû dizziness / to get dizzy
imaté / meimaté bungsul / mébungsul faint / to collapse
inlalaki (Tag. hinlalaki) tindaragul thumb
inlalato (Tag. hinlalato) talíring dátû /mangmang middle finger The rich called it DÁTÛ
‘chief’ while the poor
called it MANGMANG
‘useless’.
ita (Tag. hita) puád thigh
kabataan kabayangnan youth Kapampangan word
KAYANAKAN was an
exact translation of
Tagalog KABATAAN.
Now it has been replaced
by this very word.
nunal alimpúyû mole
tigdas ípe measles

NB: The Kapampangan word BULBUL ‘bodily hair, fur, feather’ is now being considered
offensive by a lot of people because it is being understood in the Tagalog context. The word
BULBUL in Tagalog only means ‘pubic hair.’

4.4. Human Concepts, Time and Activities

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

ábang bié (habang buhay) kábang bié [adj.] lifetime

ángâ (Tag. hanga) talangán [v.] to admire
Ex: Ángáan né. Ex: Tatalangan né. Ex: He admires him.
ayalála aganakâ [v.] to recall
awig (Tag. hawig) uángis [n.] image, features
dailan (Tag. dahilan) sangkan [n] reason
gupit urud [v.] hair cut
inga (Tag. hinga) pangisnaua [n.] breath
Ex1: É makainga. Ex1: É mángisnáua. Ex1: He can’t breath.
Ex2: É né míminga. Ex2: É né mángisnáua. Ex2: He is no longer
breathing.
iwalé (Tag. hiwalay) kauánî [adj.] separate
kasalukúyan kasalungsúngan [adv.] currently
káwig (Tag. kahawig) kauángis [adj.] look alike
madálang malágad [adj.] rare, seldom
makainis (nakakainis) makasnuk [adj.] irritating
mámawig (humahawig) uáuángis [v.] to look alike
minggáling (nanggaling) menibat [v.] to come from
panindigan talakaran [v.] to be responsible
pindut tímid [v.] to press the button
pisil apsal [v.] to finger press

19
 punásan pulísan [v.] to wipe
saing tun [v.] to cook rice This is change is very
Ex: Migsaing naka? “Tinun naka?” Ex: Have you cooked significant because cooking
rice? rice has always been a
central part of
Kapampangan culture.
sulit bauî [adj.] worth it
tánan pusitára [v.] to elope
tuluy baláus [v.] to continue
tuluytuluy balábaláus [adv.] continuous

4.5. Human Tools, Dwelling and Equipments

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

bahag pinang [n.] loin cloth
balun talágâ [n.] artesian well
dingding dalíg [n.] wall, partition
gulung parúgang [n.] wheel
gumúlung dumúgang [v] to roll
kabilâ sumángid [adj.] the other side, across
kapitbáy (kapit bahay) kasíping balé [n.] neighbors
saig (Tag. sahig) landé [n.] floor

4.6. Animals and Animal Parts

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

buáyâ [zoo] crocodile
bubúyug buanbuan [zoo] a species of bee
bubwit bulílit [zoo] baby mouse BULILIT in Tagalog means
‘petite’
buntut îkî [anat.]
gagamba bábaguâ [zoo] spider
ngúsû (Tag. Nguso) pambuk [anat.] snout
páníkî talibátab [zoo] bat
sawa bítin [zoo] python
súnge (Tag. Sungay) sagu [anat.] horn
tútâ kuâ [zoo] puppy

4.7. The Natural World

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

ilágâ (Tag. hilaga) amiánan North
kanlúran álbugan West
likúlikû salásalingkû [adj.] twists & turns
tímug ábagátan South
úlap bígâ [meteor.] cloud

20
4.8. Common Expressions

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan Original English Equivalent Remarks

álus (Tag. halos) mékad [adv.] almost
anténtéyan (Tag. hintayin) panepanénáyan [v.] waiting
bukambibig (Tag. bukang bibig) panasbuk [n.] expression
diba? alî mo? [tag] “isn’t it?”
kung tutuusin nung pakasurian mé ‘when push comes to
shove”
maglaway (naglaway) kumáyut uáuâ [v.] to salivate
migkátaún mipaintágun by chance/coincidence
nung baga nung uárî “as if”
pagkakataún pamikatágun [n]. chance, opportunity
tás (Tag. pagkatapos) kaibat “and then” (clause
Ex: Menakbag ya tás méte ya. Ex: Menakbag ya kaibat linker)
méte ya. Ex: He fell and then he
died.

4.9. Introduction of Strange New Words

Since its operation in 2007, the reporters of TV Patrol Pampanga, the first province-wide news
broadcast in the Kapampangan language, have been constantly inserting new Tagalog-derived
words or even Kapampangan words with strange morphology into their news reports. The
following are the most common:

Tagalog Loan Word Kapampangan English Equivalent Remarks

Original
kakayanan (Tag. kakayahan) kagiûan
[n.] ability
gélingan [n.] skill
ténakan [n.] talent
makatalagâ (Tag. talaga) makataguláling [v.] assigned TALÁGÂ means
(amount/person) ‘artesian well’ in
Kapampangan
patúk --- Meaning unknown.
páyu úsuk, kausúkan [n.] advice ÚSUK ‘advice’ means
‘smoke’ in Tagalog.
pepabulaanan (Tag. pinabulahanan) liningad [v. past] denied
pesikahan ---- Meaning unknown. Tagalog root unknown
pesinayánan (Tag. pinasinaya) pepasináya [v.] to inaugurate morphing error
tampuk --- Meaning unknown. TAMPUK in
Kapampangan means
‘flower or fruit stalk’.

4.10. Morphological Attrition

Not only is the Kapampangan language experiencing lexical loss due to replacement from
Tagalog loan words, but also some words have begun undergoing Tagalog morphology. The list

21
is still quite minimal but worth looking into. 25 Aside from the list below, Kapampangan SÁKIT
‘to get sick’ is now articulated in the Tagalog form, magkasakit and GALÁNGAN ‘to respect’ in
the Tagalog form, igalang. The list below does not include words with strange morphs that are
being created by the reporters of ABS-CBN Pampanga.

New Tagalog-Derived Morphology Original Kapampangan Morphology

PINAKA- [prefix – superlative adjective] PÉKA- [prefix - superlative]

pinakamasanting ‘most beautiful’ (for objects) pékamasanting ‘most beautiful’ (for objects)
pinakamalagû ‘prettiest’ pékamalagû ‘prettiest’
pinakamatsura ‘ugliest’ pékamatsura ‘ugliest’

MAGPAKA- [prefix – verb] PÉPAI- [prefix – verb]

magpakapagal ‘to get oneself tired’ pepaipagal ‘to get oneself tired’
magpakalasing ‘to get oneself drunk’ pepailasing ‘to get oneself drunk’
magpakasáuâ ‘to get oneself tired of something’ pepaisáuâ ‘to get oneself tired of something’

26
MAG- [prefix – verb] MAN- [prefix – verb]
magdílû ‘to take a bath’ mandílû ‘to take a bath’
magsalítâ ‘to speak’ manyalítâ ‘to speak’

4.11. Syntax Error

Anicia del Corro, former head of the Department of Linguistics at the University of the
Philippines in Diliman and now head of translation at the Philippine Bible Society, said that the
phenomenon of lexical borrowing is unavoidable and not a real cause for alarm since the changes
they make on the language is only superficial. But changing the morphology and syntax of a
language is a serious thing (Anicia del Corro, pers. comm., January 31, 2009). Thus far, the sole
agency guilty of publicly altering the syntax of the Kapampangan language and introducing
strange new morphology is ABS-CBN Pampanga through their province-wide daily news
program TV Patrol Pampanga.

The most common error committed by the news writers and editors of TV Patrol Pampanga is
the constant omission of the cross-referent and double cross-referent pronouns.27 Cross-referent
pronouns are central to the understanding of Kapampangan grammar (Del Corro, 1988). Altering
the syntax of the Kapampangan language by omitting the necessary cross-referent pronouns is
like distorting the entire language itself. Examples of these syntax errors can be seen from their
past headlines, retrievable from the archives of their official website:

25
Also taken from the result of the Kapampangan Language Shock Test administered to at least 1000 students from
Holy Angel University in the years 1999 to 2004.
26 So far, MAGDÍLÛ and MAGSALÍTÂ are the only words in this example. MAGSALÍTÂ has long been accepted

into the Kapampangan vocabulary while is MAGDÍLÛ quite recent.

27
This observation is made by several Kapampangan language experts and advocates, including this author, since
2007. Complaints have been already been submitted to the producers of TV Patrol Pampanga but the problem has
not yet been remedied as evidenced by the news headlines (March-June 2009) in their current homepage.

22
 Date Retrieved from TV Patrol Pampanga Homepage Remarks
06/04/09 Kasu ning carnapping king rehiyun, mibaba. - Syntax Error
case (ART+LK) carnapping (DET+LK) region gone down - Gloss
The case of carnapping in the region has gone down. - English translation
Kásu ning carnapping kng rehiyon, mibaba ya - Proper Kapampangan
case (ART+LK) carnapping (DET+LK) region gone down ABS.3GP - Gloss

05/27/09 3 katau king CL oobserban nung ating H1N1 flu. - Syntax Error
3 people (DET+LK) CL being observed if (EXIST+LK) H1N1 flu - Gloss
3 people in CL are being observed if they are positive with H1N1 flu. - English translation
3 katáu kng CL óbserban da la nung atin lang H1N1 flu. - Proper Kapampangan
3 people (DET+LK) CL being observed (ERG.3PL) (ABS.3PL) if - Gloss
(EXIST) [(ABS.3PL)+LK] H1N1 flu

05/07/09 Kotsi ampong trak misabalan, 1 mesugat. - Syntax Error

car and truck collide one injured - Gloss
One person was injured in the collision bet. a car & a truck. - English Translation
Pamisabálan ding kotyi ampong trak, menyugat yang 1. -Proper Kapampangan
collision (DET+LK) car and truck injured (ABS.3GP) one - Gloss

04/24/09 Tahungan at Baklad piglako king Manila Bay. - Syntax Error

[mussel ponds & fish traps (Tagalog)] removed (DET+LK) Manila - Gloss
Bay
Manila Bay has been cleared of mussel ponds and fish traps. - English Translation
Pisuliban ampong saplad piglako dó king Manila Bay. -Proper Kapampangan
mussel ponds and fish traps removed (ERG.3PL+ABS.3PL) - Gloss
(DET+LK) Manila Bay

04/08/09 Lilia Pineda memye payu kang Gov.Eddie Panilio. - Syntax Error
Lilia Pineda gave [advice (Tagalog)] (OBL) Gov. Eddie Panlilio - Gloss
Lilia Pineda gave and advice to Gov. Eddie Panlilio. - English Translation
i28 Lilia Pineda, memié yang kausukan kang Gov. Eddie Panlilio. -Proper Kapampangan
(DET) Lilia Pineda gave (ABS.3GP+LK) advice (OBL) Gov. E. P. - Gloss

福建語
福建語) Question Marker “BA” (嗎
4.12. Prevalent use of Tagalog and Hokkien (福建 嗎)
Another common usage in the current spoken Kapampangan language is the interrogative marker
“BA” (嗎嗎) from Tagalog and Hokkien (福建語) (Wang [王徳明], 1983). A banner on display
at the Angeles City Site (Wesbsite) on May 28, 2009 reads:

Atin ka bang pamisale?

have (EXIST) (ABS.2SG) [ba (question marker) + LK] [something for sale (noun)]
Do you have anything to sell?

The correct Kapampangan is simply:

Atin kang pamisale?

have (EXIST) [(ABS.2SG)+ LK] [something for sale (noun)]

28
A person would not be a person without the personal determiner “i” before a person’s name.

23
 Do you have anything to sell?
V. Conclusion

A language that no longer being learned as a mother-tongue by children, unless this condition is
dramatically reversed, is beyond mere endangerment, but already doomed to extinction (Krauss,
1992). Already the Kapampangan language is showing signs of being doomed unless measures
are taken soon. In a report in the Sunday Times dated September 2, 2007, experts claimed that
the Kapampangan language will no longer be spoken by a native speaker after 20 years (Bas,
2007). Besides the Kapampangan Homeland’s given geographic location and the globalisation
phenomenon, the leading factors that contribute to endangerment are (1) the nationalisation
policy of the central government in Manila vis-à-vis the lack of protection and support from the
provincial and local government units, (2) the Philippine educational system, (3) the national and
local mass media and (4) the current attitude of the Kapampangan people towards their own
language.

In the argument whether lexical borrowings from Tagalog lead to Kapampangan language
enrichment or endangerment, enrichment should bring about the addition of new vocabulary for
new concepts and not the replacement of the old vocabulary by a new vocabulary (Steve
Quakenbush, pers. comm., May 27, 2009). Thus the replacement of existing Kapampangan
lexicon with words borrowed from Tagalog does in fact lead to endangerment and not
enrichment.

On the argument whether or not to accept endangerment as an inevitable aspect of the evolution
of the Kapampangan language, evolution does not necessitate endangerment. Evolution is
generally understood to mean a progression and not a regression. In the same manner, lexical
borrowings from Tagalog, if it were to contribute to the evolution of the Kapampangan language,
should therefore help enrich it and not displace it.

On the argument that the replacement of the native vocabulary by words borrowed from Tagalog
as only superficial and not enough to distort nor destroy a language, lexical attrition is already an
initial sign of endangerment. The loss of native lexicon to Tagalog loan words is but a stepping
stone to morphological and even syntactic attrition (See 4.10 and 4.11). When the use of Tagalog
vocabulary in place of the native lexicon becomes acceptable to the native Kapampangan
speaker, it would only be a matter of time before the morphing of Kapampangan words in the
Tagalog manner, as well as the distortion of their native syntax, also become acceptable.

The sample sentence below shows minimal difference between Tagalog and current spoken
Kapampangan, at least on the surface:

Current Spoken Kapampangan Format: PAPALIT MÉ ULIT

[change (Tagalog)] (ERG.2SG+ABS.3SG) [repeat (Tagalog)]
Change it again.

Tagalog: Papalit mo uli.

change ERG.2SG again
Change it again.

24
Beyond the surface, the sentence PAPALIT MÉ ULIT uses a double cross-referent pronoun which
can only be found in the Kapampangan language (Del Corro, 1988 and pers.comm., May 12,
1989),29 The double cross-referent pronoun MÉ, which is a compound of the ergative second
person singular pronoun MU and the absolutive third person singular YA is clearly not the same
with the Tagalog ergative second person singular pronoun MO.

On the surface however, a native Kapampangan speaker who has no background on the grammar
intricacies of his own language would simply accept that the sentence PAPALIT MÉ ULIT may just
as well be the same as the Tagalog sentence PAPALIT MO ULI, with “O” and “É” in the pronoun as
being the only real difference. The original Kapampangan form of this sentence using the
original native lexicon looks very much different, albeit outwardly, in the sample below:

Original Kapampangan Format: PAYALÍLI MÉNG PASIBÁYU.

change [(ERG.2SG+ABS.3SG)+LK] again
Change it again.

A number of native Kapampangan speakers are aware how much their language has changed
(Ronaldo Tayag and Norman Tiotuico, pers.comm., June11, 1998).30 Many of them think that it
is becoming increasingly similar to Tagalog. Practically every native Kapampangan speaker,
except for a handful, is unaware of the grammar intricacies of their own language, so much so
that it necessitates the lecture What Kapampangans Don’t Know About Their Language (Kitano,
2008). Unlike linguists, the ordinary native Kapampangan speaker would not be able to go
beyond the surface and see the difference between PAPALIT MÉ ULIT and PAPALIT MO ULI. If the
current outward appearance the Kapampangan language looks similar to Tagalog, then it would
be easy for them to simply discard Kapampangan and replace it with Tagalog.

29
A section on cross-reference and double-cross reference pronouns was discussed comprehensively by Anicia del
Corro, Ph.D. in her lecture on Kapampangan linguistics during the Seminar Workshop on Kapampangan Culture Its
History, Language, Literature and Its Role in the Identity of the Filipino held at the Angeles University Foundation
on May 8-13, 1989.
30
A discussion with Ronnie Tayag, Norman Tiotuico and other members of the Pampanga Arts Guild on the topic
of Kapampangan culture and language loss on the eve of the 100 year anniversary of the declaration of Philippine
Independence at the Culture Shack Gallery Café.

25
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