Travel Guide Philippines

What Foreigners Need To Know (Part II)

FACTS ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES:

6. The Philippines has more than 180 languages and dialects.

The most commonly used are Tagalog, Bisaya, Taglish, Coño English, Salitang Kanto, Salitang Bakla and SMS.

 

TAGALOG (pronounced [tɐˈgaːlog]) is one of the major languages of the Republic of thePhilippines. It is the most spoken Philippine language in terms of the number of speakers.

Common Tagalog Phrases:

“Magandang umaga!” (Good morning!)

“Magandang gabi!” (Good evening!)

“Salamat” (Thank you)

“Magkano?” (How much?)

“Ang mahal naman!” (That’s too much!)

“Paalam” (Goodbye)

 

BISAYA OR VISAYAN is spoken in the Visayas region but they are also spoken in the Bicol Region (particularly in Sorsogon and Masbate), islands south of Luzon such as those that make up Romblon, the northern and western areas of Mindanao, and the province of Sulu located southwest of Mindanao. Some residents of Metro Manila also speak Bisaya.

Common Bisaya Phrases:

“Maupay nga aga!” (Good morning!)

“Maupay nga gab-i!” (Good evening!)

“Nawawara ak didi.” (I’m lost here.)

“Gwapaha nimo oy!” (You are pretty!)

“Umari ka.” (Come here.)

“Unsa’y imong ngalan?” (What is your name?)

“Unsa?” (What?)

“Asa?” (Where?)

 

TAGLISH is the combination of “Tagalog” and “English”. This refers to Tagalog that is infused with English terms. It is perhaps most common in Metro Manila.

Common Taglish Phrases:

Tagalog: “Sasakay ako ng jeepney.” (I will ride a jeep.)

Taglish: “Mag-ji-jeep ako.”

Tagalog: “Mahal, magsiping tayo.” (Honey, let’s make love.)

Taglish: “Mahal, mag-loving-loving tayo.” or more appropriately “Mahal, mag-labing-labing tayo.)

Tagalog: “Saklolo! Nanakawan ako!” (Help! I’ve been held up!)

Taglish: “Saklolo! Na-hold up ako!”

Tagalog: “Kailangan kong pumunta sa banyo.” (I need to go to the comfort room.)

Taglish: “Kailangan kong mag-CR.”

Tagalog: “Nalulungkot na ako.” (I am getting sad.)

Taglish: “Na-sa-sad na ako.”

 

COÑO ENGLISH, I believe, was created because some Filipinos had (and still has) a hard time translating certain Tagalog words into English. It is mostly regarded as a trademark of the upper class but now it is widely used by high school and college students, call center agents, yuppies and Kris Aquino.

Common Coño English Phrases:

“Ang cool nung chick, pare!” (That girl is cool, man!) “

Let’s make tambay sa A.S. Steps. Wait lang ha. I’ll just make tawag on my cellphone.” (Let’s stay at the A.S. Steps. Wait for a while. I just need to make a call on my cellphone.)

“Girl, that is so kadiri!” (Girl, that is so gross!)

“Gosh, it’s so sikip naman here!” (Gosh, it’s so crowded in here!)

“I’ll make bawi na lang to you next time.” (I’ll make it up to you next time.)

“Paki carry naman my things, they’re so bigat eh!” (Please carry my things, they’re so heavy!)

“Where ka go? Sama me!” (Where are you going? I want to come along.)

 

SALITANG KANTO is the direct opposite of Coño English in terms of its speakers, because this is the jargon of the poor. Among the characteristics of this language is the switching of syllables in a word and the use of code words. When spoken, the words will often sound as if its coming from the mouth of a drunkard, a drug addict, a criminal, an ex-convict or Robin Padilla.

Common Salitang Kanto:

Tagalog: “Mga pare, inom pa tayo! Wala pa akong tama” (Guys, lets drink some more! I am not drunk yet!)

Salitang Kanto: “Mga repapips, toma pa tayo! Wala pa akong amats!” (repa - reversed syllables of “pare”; pips - short for people)

Tagalog: “Kapatid, nasaan na ang kasintahan mo?” (Brother, where is your girlfriend?)

Salitang Kanto: “‘Tol, nasaan na ang syota mo?” (‘tol - short for utol which means brother but can be used to refer to a friend, a man or a lesbian; syota - short for “short-time” which refers to a girlfriend or a boyfriend)

TAGALOG - SALITANG KANTO - ENGLISH

usap-usapan - tsismis - gossip

pulis - parak - police

nanay - ermat - mother

tatay - erpat - father

handaan - tipar - party

kasamahan - resbak - backers, allies or back-up

sigarilyo - yosi - cigarette

pera - datung - money

tiyo/tsong - chong - uncle (can be used like man, dude, bro)

droga - piso - drugs (piso - the currency of the Philippines; a code used by drug dealers and addicts to mean 100 pesos worth of drugs)

* gago, putang ina, sira ulo, ulol, kupal, tarantado, pakshit are some commonly used cuss words. Generally speaking, these are what we call “bad words”. But times have changed, thus, they came to be a part of everyday conversations and are widely used as common expressions or interjections. These curses are considered as “salitang kanto” because we rarely hear the rich utter them. With the exception of Robert Jaworski, rich folks here prefer to use “fuck” or “shit”.

 

SALITANG BAKLA (GAY LINGO or SWARDSPEAK) is mostly used by gay Filipinos. It uses elements from Tagalog, English, Spanish and Japanese. The language is constantly changing, with old phrases becoming obsolete and new phrases frequently entering everyday usage, reflecting changes in their culture. Words and phrases can be created out of reaction to popular trends and create alternatives to a strictly defined lifestyle. A unique trait of swardspeak is that it immediately identifies the speaker as homosexual. This creates an exclusive world among its speakers and helps them to resist cultural assimilation.

TAGALOG SALITANG BAKLA

pera (money) anda, andalu, anjo yllana, okane, atik, datong

ako (I, me) watashi

wala (none, nothing) wiz, waz, mitchels

gutom (hungry) tommy lee jones, tom jones

mataray (bitchy) tarush, chabaka, kabog

laitin (to insult) okray

ina, nanay (mother) mudra

libre (free) liberty, paroch

kain (eat) lafang

maliit (small) jutay

mataba (fat) jubis, mashoba

mukha (face) fez

iyak (cry) crayola

baduy (cheap) chipangga

ano (what) anik, anitch

 

SMS (short message system) is the communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephony devices. “Texting” has become a common practice for Filipinos and it has made its way to the language that we speak. Its basic characteristic is the shortened way of delivering a sentence or a phrase, just like in texting.

“Where na you?” (SMS: Wer na u?) - Where are you now?

“Dito na me.” (SMS: D2 na me.) - I’m here now.

“La me money eh.” (SMS: La me money eh!) - I don’t have money. 

“Tulog na me.” (SMS: 2log na me.) - I will sleep now.

“Love you, mwah!” (SMS: Luv u…mwah!) - mwah is the sound of a kiss

 

Did I miss anything? Feel free to contribute more examples of common Filipino phrases.

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