The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
How well do you know Tagalog words? While it is true that it is the basis for having a national language and some Filipinos have it actually spoken at home, even Tagalog-speaking provinces have its own dialects which make it difficult for one word to be understood in another place.
Learn some “new” words which actually belong to the old Tagalog spoken in Quezon Province, the dialect referred to by Philippine anthropologist and historian E. Arsenio Manuel as Tayabas Tagalog. Listed below are 25 words that you may or may not have encountered yet in your entire life:
- ABYAD, ATINDI –to take care of, carry on the task or responsibility
- ALAB-ALAB or BALA-BALA –pretense, role-play
- ALO –console, comfort, to make one feel better
- AYO –take the side of, especially in a fight or conflict
- BUYABO –a fun and exciting game or recreation where the child is made to sit on top of the feet and lifted up and down
- GAGAP –to hold firmly
- HAGOD –caress, also used in describing the process of ironing clothes
- HAMAG –childhood game that tends to become physical
- HAMBO –take a bath
- HAPLAS –apply oil or liniment on (parts of) the body to relieve pain
- HAYIN –set the table
- IRIPOY –brisk swaying of hips
- IWI –to take care of, especially carrying the child on arms
- KALONG –sit on the lap
- KATNIG –advise
- KAYUNDA –to entertain the child or put the child to sleep with sounds and rhythmic patting
- KIYA –to move gracefully as in dance
- MAMAKAMAKA –only one or only one left
- PAANYO –to prepare food or meal
- PAKUSPAKOS –very busy in preparation
- SAKBIBI –carry the child on one side of the adult’s body
- SALAPID –braid
- TAGUYA –endearment chant to calm or entertain a child
- TANGHOD –to stare
- YUPYOP –to seek warmth on one’s body
How much of the words did you answer correctly? The month of May is also celebrated as National Heritage Month by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 439. Is it not fun to learn something about our culture every now and then? Try using any of these words the next time you speak and take pride in the richness of our language.