Tagalog language Totally Explained

Tagalog (pronunciation: [tɐˈgaːlog]) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. It is the most spoken Philippine language in terms of the number of speakers.
Tagalog, as its de facto standardized counterpart, Filipino, is the principal language of the national media in the Philippines. It is the primary language of public education. As Filipino, it is, along with English, a co-official language and the sole national language. Tagalog is widely used as a lingua franca throughout the country, and in overseas Filipino communities. However, while Tagalog may be prevalent in many fields, English, to varying degrees of fluency, is more prevalent in the fields of government and business.

History

The word Tagalog derived from tagá-ílog, from tagá- meaning "native of" and ílog meaning "river", thus, it means "river dweller." There are no surviving written samples of Tagalog before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. Very little is known about the history of the language. However, according to linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust, the Tagalogs originated, along with their Central Philippine cousins, from Northeastern Mindanao or Eastern Visayas
   The first known book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Cristiana (Christian Doctrine) of 1593. It was written in Spanish and two versions of Tagalog; one written in Baybayin and the other in the Latin alphabet.
   Throughout the 333 years of Spanish occupation, there have been grammars and dictionaries written by Spanish clergymen such as Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala by Pedro de San Buenaventura (Pila, Laguna, 1613), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1835) and Arte de la lengua tagala y manual tagalog para la administración de los Santos Sacramentos (1850).
   Poet Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar (1788-1862) is regarded as the foremost Tagalog writer. His most famous work is the early 19th-century Florante at Laura.
   In 1937, Tagalog was selected as the basis of the national language by the National Language Institute. In 1959, Tagalog, which had been renamed Wikang Pambansa ("National Language") by President Manuel L. Quezon in 1939, was renamed by the Secretary of Education, Jose Romero, as Pilipino to give it a national rather than ethnicity label and connotation. The changing of the name did not, however, result in better acceptance at the conscious level among non-Tagalogs, especially Cebuanos who hadn't accepted the selection.^(p.487) In 1971, the language issue was revived once more,and a compromise solution was worked out — a ‘universalist’ approach to the national language, to be called Filipino rather than Pilipino. When a new constitution was drawn up in 1987, it named Filipino as the national language.

Official status

After weeks of study and deliberation, Tagalog was chosen by the National Language Institute, a committee composed of seven members who represents various regions in the Philippines. President Manuel L. Quezon then proclaimed Tagalog the national language or wikang pambansâ of the Philippines on December 30, 1937. This was made official upon the Philippines' restoration of independence from the United States on July 4, 1946.
From 1939 to 1987, Tagalog was also known as Pilipino.

Dialects

At present, no comprehensive dialectology has been done in the Tagalog-speaking regions, though there have been descriptions in the form of dictionaries and grammars on various Tagalog dialects. Ethnologue lists Lubang, Manila, Marinduque, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Tanay-Paete, and Tayabas as dialects of Tagalog.
However, there appear to be four main dialects of which the aforementioned are a part; Northern (exemplified by the Bulacan dialect), Central (including Manila), Southern (exemplified by Batangas), and Marinduque.
Some example of dialectal differences are:

Many Tagalog dialects, particularly those in the south, preserve the glottal stop found after consonants and before vowels. This has been lost in standard Tagalog. For example standard Tagalog ngayon (now, today), sinigang (broth stew), gabi (night), matamis (sweet), are pronounced and written ngay-on, sinig-ang, gab-i, and matam-is in other dialects.
In Teresian-Morong Tagalog, [r] is usually preferred over [d]. For example, bundók, dagat, dingdíng, and isdâ become bunrok, ragat, ringring, and isra.
In many southern dialects, the progressive aspect prefix of -um- verbs is na-. For example, standard Tagalog kumakain (eating) is nákáin in Quezon and Batangas Tagalog. This is the butt of some jokes by other Tagalog speakers since a phrase such as nakain ka ba ng pating is interpreted as "did a shark eat you?" by those from Manila but in reality means "do you eat shark?" to those in the south.
Some dialects have interjections which are a considered a trademark of their region. For example, the interjection ala eh usually identifies someone from Batangas while as does hani in Morong.

Perhaps the most divergent Tagalog dialects are those spoken in Marinduque. Linguist Rosa Soberano identifies two dialects, western and eastern with the former being closer to the Tagalog dialects spoken in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon.
One example are the verb conjugation paradigms. While some of the affixes are different, Marinduque also preserves the imperative affixes, also found in Visayan and Bikol languages, that have mostly disappeared from most Tagalog dialects by the early 20th century; they've since merged with the infinitive.

Standard Tagalog	Marinduque Dialect	English
Susulat sina Maria at Fulgencia kay Juan.	Másúlat da Maria at Fulgencia kay Juan.	"Maria and Fulgencia will write to Juan."
Mag-aaral siya sa Maynila.	Gaaral siya sa Maynila.	"He will study in Manila."
Magluto ka!	Pagluto ka!	"Cook!"
Kainin mo iyan.	Kaina mo yaan.	"Eat that."
Tinatawag tayo ni Tatay.	Inatawag nganì kitá ni Tatay.	"Father is calling us."
Tutulungan ba kayó ni Hilarion?	Atulungan ga kamo ni Hilarion?	"Will Hilarion help you (pl.)?"

Derived languages

Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, is the de facto standardized variant of this language. It has heavy borrowings from English. Other Philippine languages have also influenced Filipino, which is caused primarily by the migration to Metro Manila by people from the provinces.

Tagalog and code-switching

Taglish and Taglish are names given to a mix of English and Tagalog. The amount of English vs.Tagalog varies from the occasional use of English loan words to outright code-switching where the language changes in mid-sentence. Such code-switching is prevalent throughout the Philippines and in various of the languages of the Philippines other than Tagalog. � Nasirà ang computer ko kahapon!

   "My computer broke down yesterday!" � Huwág kang maninigarilyo, because it's harmful to your health.

   "Never smoke cigarettes, ..."
   Code switching also entails the use of foreign words which are Filipinized by reforming them using Filipino rules such as verb conjugations. Users typically use Filipino or English words which ever comes to mind first or which ever is easier to use. � Magsho-shopping kami sa mall. Sino ba ang magda-drive sa shoppingan?

   "We will go shopping at the mall. Who will drive to the shopping center anyway?"
   Although it's generally looked down upon, code-switching is prevalent in all levels of society, though urban-dwellers, those with high education, and those born around and after World War II are more likely to do it. Politicians, such as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, have code-switched in interviews.
   It is common in television, radio, and print media as well. In the US, advertisements from companies like Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, McDonald's, and Western Union have contained Taglish.
   The Chinese and the non-Tagalog communities also frequently code-switch their language, be it Cebuano or Min Nan Chinese, with Taglish.

Binaliktad

A kind of slang called binaliktád (reversed) is where the word is modified by changing around the syllables. It gained popularity in the 80s up until the early 90s. Equivalents in other languages are vesre, verlan, and Pig Latin. For example, tigás (hard, strong), dito (here), hindî (no), sigarilyó (cigarettes), and ligo (take a bath) respectively become astíg, todits, dehins, yosi, goli.

Phonology

Tagalog has 21 phonemes; 16 consonants and five vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel.

Vowels

Before the arrival of the Spanish, Tagalog had three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, and /u/. This was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words. They are:

/a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English "father"

/ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to English "bed"

/i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine"

/o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English "forty"

/u/ a close back unrounded vowel similar to English "flute" There are four main diphthongs; /aɪ/, /oɪ/, /aʊ/, and /iʊ/.

Consonants

Below is a chart of Tagalog consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t		k	ʔ
Plosive	Voiced	b	d		g
Fricative			s			h
Flap			ɾ
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Tagalog. Primary stress occurs on either the last or the next-to-the-last (penultimate) syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress except when stress occurs at the end of a word. Stress on words is very important, they differentiate words with the same spellings, but with different meanings, for example tayo(to stand) and tayo(us; we)

Sounds

/a/ is raised slightly to [ɐ] in unstressed positions and also occasionally in stressed positions (‘inang bayan’ [in'ɐŋ'bɐjən])

Unstressed /i/ is usually pronounced [ɪ] as in English "bit"

At the final syallable, /i/ can be pronounced as [ɪ~ i ~ e ~ ɛ] as [e~ ɛ] was an allophone of [ɪ~ i] in final syllables.

/ɛ/ and /o/ can sometimes be pronounced as [i~ ɪ ~ e] and [u~ ʊ ~ ɔ]. [o~ʊ ~ ɔ] and [u~ ʊ] were also former allophones.

Unstressed /u/ is usually pronounced [ʊ] as in English "book"

The diphthong /aɪ/ and the sequence /aʔi/ have a tendency to become [eɪ~ ɛː].

The diphthong /aʊ/ and the sequence /aʔu/ have a tendency to become [oʊ~ ɔː].

/k/ between vowels has a tendency to become [x] as in Spanish "José", whereas in the initial position it has a tendency to become [kx].

Intervocalic /g/ and /k/ tend to become [ɰ] (see preceding).

/ɾ/ and /d/ are sometimes interchangeable as /ɾ/ and /d/ were once allophones in Tagalog.

A glottal stop that occurs at the end of a word is often omitted when it's in the middle of a sentence, especially in the Metro Manila area. The vowel it follows is then usually lengthened. However, it's preserved in many other dialects.

/o/ tends to become [ɔ] in stressed positions.

/niy/, /siy/, /tiy/, and /diy/ may be pronounced as [nj]/[nij], [sj]/[sij], [tj]/[tij] and [dj]/[dij], respectively, especially in but not limited to rural areas.

/ts/ may be pronounced as [ts], especially in but not limited to rural areas.

/e/ or /i/ before s-consonant clusters have a tendency to become silent.

Historical changes

Tagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə. In Bikol & Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and [o]. In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/. For example, Proto-Philippine *dəkət (adhere, stick) is Tagalog dikít and Visayan & Bikol dukot.
Proto-Philippine *r, *j, and *z merged with /d/ but is /l/ between vowels. Proto-Philippine *ngajan (name) and *hajək (kiss) became Tagalog ngalan and halík.
Proto-Philippine *R merged with /g/. *tubiR (water) and *zuRuʔ (blood) became Tagalog tubig and dugô.

Grammar

Writing system

Baybayin

Tagalog was written in an abugida called Baybayin prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. This particular writing system was composed of symbols representing three vowels and 14 consonants. Belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts, it shares similarities with the Old Kawi script of Java and is believed to be descended from the script used by the Bugis in Sulawesi.
   Although it enjoyed a relatively high level of literacy, the script gradually fell into disuse in favor of the Latin alphabet during Spanish colonial rule.
   There has been confusion of how to use Baybayin. Each letter in the Latin Alphabet isn't represented with one of those in the Baybayin alphabet. Rather than letters being put together to make sounds as in Western languages. Baybayin uses symbols to represent syllables.
   A "kudlit" resembling an apostrophe is used above or below a symbol to change the vowel sound after its consonant. If the kudlit is used above, the vowel is an "E" or "I" sound. If the Kudlit is used below, the vowel is an "O" or "U" sound. A special kudlit was later added by Spanish missionaries in which a cross placed below the symbol to get rid of the vowel sound all together, leaving a consonant. Previously, the final consonant was just left out, leaving the reader to use context to determine the final consonants.
   Example:

Baybayin is encoded in Unicode

version 3.2 in the range 1700-171F under the name "Tagalog".

Latin alphabet

Until the first half of the 20th century, Tagalog was widely written in a variety of ways based on Spanish orthography. When Tagalog became the national language, grammarian Lope K. Santos introduced a new alphabet consisting of 20 letters called ABAKADA in school grammar books called balarilà; A B K D E G H I L M N NG O P R S T U W Y.
As Pilipino, the national language, the alphabet was expanded in 1976 to include the letters C, CH, F, J, Q, RR, V, X, and Z in order to accommodate words of Spanish and English origin.
Filipino is the national language de facto based on Tagalog that borrows vocabulary from other languages. In 1987, the Filipino alphabet was reduced from 33 to 28; A B C D E F G H I J K L M N Ñ Ng O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

ng and mga

The genitive marker ng and the plural marker mga are abbreviations that are pronounced nang [naŋ] and mangá [mɐ'ŋa]. Ng means "of" (ex. Siya ay kapatid ng nanay ko. She is the sister of my mother) while nang means "when" or "while."
Ex#1: Nang si Hudas ay madulas. - When Judas slipped.
Ex#2: Siya ay kumain nang nakatayo. - He ate while standing.

Vocabulary and borrowed words

Tagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of Austronesian origin with borrowings from Spanish, Min Nan Chinese (also known as Hokkien), Malay, Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil, Persian, Kapampangan, languages spoken on Luzon, and others, especially other Austronesian languages.
Due to trade with Mexico via the Manila galleon from the 16th to the 19th centuries, many words from Nahuatl, a language spoken by Native Americans in Mexico, were introduced to Tagalog.
English has borrowed some words from Tagalog, such as abaca, adobo, aggrupation, barong, balisong, boondocks, jeepney, Manila hemp, pancit, and yaya, although the vast majority of these borrowed words are only used in the Philippines as part of the vocabularies of Philippine English.

Tagalog words of foreign origin chart

For the Min Nan Chinese borrowings, the parentheses indicate the equivalent in standard Chinese.

Tagalog	meaning	language of origin	original spelling
kumustá	how are you?	Spanish	cómo está
dasál	pray	Spanish	rezar
kabayo	horse	Spanish	caballo
silya	chair	Spanish	silla
umpisá	start	Spanish	empezar
kotse	car	Spanish	coche
sabón	soap	Spanish	jabón
relós	watch	Spanish	reloj
litrato	picture	Spanish	retrato
tsismis	gossip	Spanish	chismes
giyera/gyera/gera	war	Spanish	guerra
tsinelas	slippers	Spanish	chinelas
karne	meat	Spanish	carne
sapatos	shoes	Spanish	zapatos
arina/harina	flour	Spanish	harina
bisikleta	bicycle	Spanish	bicicleta
sugál	gambling	Spanish	jugar
barrio	village	Spanish	barrio
swerte	luck	Spanish	suerte
piyesta/pista	celebration	Spanish	fiesta
garáhe	garage	Spanish	garaje
ahente	agent/salesman	Spanish	agente
ensaymada	a kind of pastry	Catalan	ensaïmada
kamote	sweet potato	Nahuatl	camotli
sayote	chayote, choko	Nahuatl	hitzayotli
atswete	achiote	Nahuatl	achiotl
sili	chili pepper	Nahuatl	chili
tsokolate	chocolate	Nahuatl	xocolatl
tiyangge	market	Nahuatl	tianquiztli
sapote	chico (fruit)	Nahuatl	tzapotl
nars	nurse	English
bolpen	ballpoint pen	English
drayber/drayver	driver	English
tráysikel	tricycle	English
lumpia (/lum·pyâ/)	spring roll	Min Nan Chinese	潤餅 (春捲)
siopao (/syó·paw/)	steamed buns	Min Nan Chinese	燒包 (肉包)
pansít (/pyan·i·sit/)	noodles	Min Nan Chinese	便食 (麵)
susì	key	Min Nan Chinese	鎖匙
kuya (see Philippine kinship)	older brother	Min Nan Chinese	哥亚 (哥仔)
ate (/ah·chi/) (see Philippine kinship)	older sister	Min Nan Chinese	亜姐 (阿姐)
bwisit	annoyance	Min Nan Chinese	無衣食
bakyâ	wooden shoes	Min Nan Chinese	木履
hikaw	earrings	Min Nan Chinese	耳鈎 (耳環)
kanan	right	Malay	kanan
tulong	help	Malay	tolong
tanghalì	afternoon	Malay	tengah hari
dalamhatì	grief	Malay	dalam + hati
luwalhatì	glory	Malay	luar + hati
duryán	durian	Malay	durian
rambután	rambutan	Malay	rambutan
batík	spot	Malay	batik
saráp	delicious	Malay	sedap
asa	hope	Sanskrit	आशा
salitâ	speak	Sanskrit	चरितँ (cerita)
balità	news	Sanskrit	वार्ता (berita)
karma	karma	Sanskrit	कर्म
alak	liquor	Persian	عرق (arak)
manggá	mango	Tamil	mankay
bagay	thing	Tamil	/vakai/
hukóm	judge	Arabic	حكم
salamat	thanks	Arabic	سلامة
bakit	why	Kapampangan	obakit
akyát	climb	Kapampangan	ukyát/mukyat
at	and	Kapampangan	at
bundók	mountain	Kapampangan	bunduk
huwág	don't	Pangasinan	ag
aso	dog	Luzon languages	aso
tayo	we (inc.)	Luzon languages

Austronesian comparison chart

Below is a chart of Tagalog and fifteen other Austronesian languages comparing twelve words; the first thirteen languages are spoken in the Philippines and the other three are spoken in Indonesia and in Hawai'i.

English	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we (inc.)	what	fire
Tagalog	isa	dalawa	tatlo	apat	tao	bahay	aso	niyog	araw	bago	tayo	ano	apoy
Bikol	saro	duwa	tulo	apat	tawo	harong	ayam	niyog	aldaw	ba-go	kita	ano	kalayo
Cebuano	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	iro	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	unsa	kalayo
Waray	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	ayam	lubi	adlaw	bag-o	kita	ano	kalayo
Tausug	hambuuk	duwa	tu	upat	tau	bay	iru'	niyug	adlaw	ba-gu	kitaniyu	unu	kayu
Kinaray-a	sara	darwa	tatlo	apat	taho	balay	ayam	niyog	adlaw	bag-o	kita, taten	ano	kalayo
Kapampangan	metung	adwa	atlu	apat	tau	bale	asu	ngungut	aldo	bayu	ikatamu	nanu	api
Pangasinan	sakey	duara	talora	apatira	too	abong	aso	niyog	agew	balo	sikatayo	anto	apoy
Ilokano	maysa	dua	tallo	uppat	tao	balay	aso	niog	aldaw	baro	datayo	ania	apoy
Ivatan	asa	dadowa	tatdo	apat	tao	vahay	chito	niyoy	araw	va-yo	yaten	ango	apoy
Ibanag	tadday	dua	tallu	appa'	tolay	balay	kitu	niuk	aggaw	bagu	sittam	anni	afi
Gaddang	antet	addwa	tallo	appat	tolay	balay	atu	ayog	aw	bawu	ikkanetem	sanenay	afuy
Tboli	sotu	lewu	tlu	fat	tau	gunu	ohu	lefo	kdaw	lomi	tekuy	tedu	ofih
Indonesian	satu	dua	tiga	empat	orang	rumah/balai	anjing	kelapa/nyiur	hari	baru	kita	apa/anu	api
Javanese	siji	loro	telu	papat	wong	omah/bale	asu					opo/anu	api
Hawaiian	'ekahi	'elua	'ekolu	'ehā	kanaka	hale	'īlio	niu	ao	hou	kākou	aha	ahi

Contribution to other languages

Tagalog itself has contributed a few words into English.

boondocks: meaning "rural" or "back country," was imported by American soldiers stationed in the Philippines as a mispronounced version of the Tagalog bundok, which means "mountain."

cogon: a type of grass, used for thatching. This word came from the Tagalog word kugon (a species of tall grass).

ylang-ylang: a type of flower known for its fragrance.

Abaca: a type of hemp fiber made from a plant in the banana family, from abaká.

Manila hemp: a light brown cardboard material used for folders and paper usually made from abaca hemp.

Capiz: also known as window oyster, is used to make windows. Yo-yo is reportedly a Tagalog word, however no such word exists in Tagalog.
   Tagalog has contributed several words to Philippine Spanish, like barangay (from balañgay meaning barrio), the abacá, cogon, palay, etc.
Religious Literature
Religious Literature remains to be one of the most dynamic contributors to Tagalog Literature. In 1970, the Philippine Bible Society translated the Holy Bible into Tagalog, the first translation to any of the Philippine Languages. Even before the Vatican II, devotional materials in Tagalog had been circulating. At present, there are two circulating Tagalog translations of the Holy Bible — the Magandang Balita Biblia (a parallel translation of the Good News Bible), which is the ecumenical version and the Ang Biblia, which a more Protestant version.
   When the Second Vatican Council, (specifically the Sacrosanctum Concilium) permitted the universal prayers to be translated into vernacular languages, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines was one of the first to translate the Roman Missal into Tagalog. In fact, the Roman Missal in Tagalog was published as early as 1982, while not published in English until 1985.
   Tagalog is quite a stable language, and very few revisions have been made to Catholic Bible translations. Also, as Protestantism in the Philippines is relatively young, liturgical prayers tend to be more ecumenical.
Examples

The Lord's Prayer (Ama Namin)
� Ama namin, sumasalangit Ka,

   Sambahin ang Ngalan Mo.
� Mapasaamin ang kaharian Mo,

   Sundin ang loob Mo
� Dito sa lupa para nang sa langit.

   Bigyan Mo kami ngayon ng aming kakanin sa araw-araw.
� At patawarin Mo kami sa aming mga sala,

   Para nang pagpapatawad namin sa mga nagsala sa amin.
� At huwag Mo kaming ipahintulot sa tukso,

   At iadya Mo kami sa lahat ng masama,
� Amen.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Ang lahat ng tao'y isinilang na malaya at pantay-pantay sa karangalan at mga karapatan. Sila'y pinagkalooban ng katwiran at budhi at dapat magpalagayan ang isa't isa sa diwa ng pagkakapatiran. (Every person is born free and equal with honor and rights. They are given reason and conscience and they must always trust each other for the spirit of brotherhood.)

Numbers

	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	isá	una
2	dalawá	pangalawá
3	tatló	pangatló
4	apat	pang-apat
5	limá	panlimá
6	anim	pang-anim
7	pitó	pampitó
8	waló	pangwaló
9	siyám	pansiyám
10	sampû	pansampû
11	labíng-isá/onse (Spanish numbers are used above 10)	panlabíng-isá/pang-onse
12	labindalawá/dose	panlabindalawá/pandose
20	dalawampu	pambente
100	(i)sán(g)daán/syento	pang-isán(g)daán/pansyento
200	dalawáng daán/dos syentos
400	apat-na-raán/kwatro syentos
600	anim-na-raán/saís syentos
1,000	isáng libo
2,000	dalawáng libo/dos mil
1,000,000	isáng milyón
2,000,000	dalawáng milyón/dos milyones

Common phrases

English: Ingglés [ʔɪŋˈglɛs]

Filipino: Pilipino [ˌpiːliˈpiːno]

Tagalog: Tagalog [tɐˈgaːlog]

What is your name?: Anó ang pangalan ninyo? (plural) Anó ang pangalan mo(singular) [ɐˈnoaŋ pɐˈŋaːlan nɪnˈjo]

How are you?: kumustá [kʊmʊsˈta]

Good morning!: Magandáng umaga! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋuˈmaːga]

Good afternoon! (from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.): Magandáng tanghali! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋtaŋˈhaːlε]

Good afternoon! (from 1 p.m. to dusk): Magandáng hapon! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋˈhaːpon]

Good evening!: Magandáng gabí! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋgɐˈbε]

Good-bye: paalam [pɐˈʔaːlam] (literal - "with your blessing")

Please: Depending on the nature of the verb, either pakí- [pɐˈki] or makí- [mɐˈki] is attached as a prefix to a verb. ngâ [ŋaʔ] is optionally added after the verb to increase politeness.

Thank you: salamat [sɐˈlaːmat]

That one: iyan [ʔiˈjan]

How much?: magkano? [mɐgˈkaːno]

Yes: oo [ˈoːʔo]

No: hindî [hɪnˈdɛʔ]

Sorry: pasensya pô or sorry/sori [pɐˈsɛːnʃapoʔ] patawad po [pɐtaːwadpoʔ]

Because: kasí [kɐˈsɛ]

Hurry!: Dalí! [dɐˈli], Bilís! [bɪˈlis]

Again: mulí [muˈli], ulít [uˈlɛt]

I don't understand: Hindî ko maintindihan [hɪnˈdiːko mɐʔɪnˌtɪndiˈhan]

Where's the bathroom?: Nasaán ang banyo? [ˌnaːsɐˈʔanʔaŋ ˈbaːnjo]

Generic toast: Mabuhay! [mɐˈbuːhaɪ] [literally- "long live"]

Do you speak English? Marunong ka bang magsalitâ ng Ingglés? [mɐˈɾuːnʊŋka baŋ mɐgsaliˈtaː naŋ ʔɪŋˈglɛs]

Life is hard. Mahirap ang buhay! [mɐˈhi'ɾapʔaŋ buːhaɪ]

Proverbs

Here are some proverbs in Tagalog. Ang hindî magmahál sa kaniyáng wikà ay mahigít pa sa hayop at malansáng isdâ. (José Rizal)
"He who doesn't love his language is worse than an animal and a rotten fish." Ang hindî marunong lumingón sa pinanggalingan ay hindî makararatíng sa paroroonan.
"He who doesn't look back from where he came will never reach his destination." Ang isdâ ay hinuhuli sa bibig. Ang tao, sa salitâ.
"Fish are caught by the mouth. People, by their word." Nasa Diyos ang awà, nasa tao ang gawâ.
"God has compassion, man has action." Magbirô lamang sa lasíng, huwág lang sa bagong gising.
"Joke around with someone who is drunk, but not with someone who just woke up." Matakot ka sa buhay huwag sa patay.
"Fear the living not the dead." Magsama-sama at malakás, magwaták-waták at babagsák.
"United we stand, divided we fall." Aanhín pa ang damó kung patáy na ang kabayo?
"What's the use of grass if the horse is already dead?" Habang may buhay, may pag-asa.
"While there's life, there's hope." Ang magnanakaw ay galit sa kapwa magnanakaw.
"A thief is angry at his fellow thief." Ang nag-amoy, siya rin ang gumawa.
"He who smelt it, dealt it." Ang masamang damo, matagal mamatay.
"Weeds die slowly." Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga.
"Whatever the tree is, so is the fruit. (for example The acorn never falls too far from the tree)" Walang bahong hindi naamoy.
"No bad odor will ever be concealed. (That means that a lie will always be found out)" Matalino man ang matsing, naiisahan din.
"The monkey may be intelligent, but can be outsmarted." Mas matimbang ang dugo sa tubig.
"Blood is thicker than water."

Learning Resources

Many of the following books are published in the Philippines.

By Teresita V. Ramos

Conversational Tagalog, ISBN 0-8248-0944-0
Intermediate Tagalog, ISBN 0-8248-0776-6
Tagalog Dictionary, ISBN 0-87022-676-2

By Vito C. Santos

New Vicassan's English-Pilipino Dictionary, ISBN 971-27-0349-5
Vicassan's Pilipino-English Dictionary, ISBN 971-08-2900-9
Vicassan's Pilipino-English Dictionary (Abridged Edition), ISBN 971-27-1707-0

By Leo James English

English-Tagalog Dictionary, ISBN 971-08-1073-1 (SB)
Tagalog-English Dictionary, ISBN 971-08-4357-5 (SB)

By others

Learn Filipino: Book One by Victor Eclar Romero ISBN 1-932956-41-7
Learn Filipino: Book Two by Victor Eclar Romero ISBN 978-1-932956-42-9
Lonely Planet Filipino Tagalog (TravelTalk) ISBN 1-59125-364-0
Lonely Planet Pilipino Phrasebook ISBN 0-86442-432-9
Tagalog-English/English-Tagalog Standard Dictionary, by Carl R. Galvez Rubino, ISBN 0-7818-0961-4 (hb) / ISBN 0-7818-0960-6 (pb)
Tagalog Reference Grammar by Paul Schachter and Fe T. Otanes ISBN 0-520-01776-5
Tagalog Slang Dictionary by R. David Zorc and Rachel San Miguel ISBN 971-11-8132-0
Teach Yourself Tagalog by Corazon Salvacion Castle ISBN 0-07-143417-8
UP Diksyonaryong Filipino by Virgilio Armario (ed.) ISBN 971-8781-98-6, and ISBN 971-8781-99-4
English-Tagalog and Tagalog-English Dictionary by Maria Odulio De Guzman ISBN 971-08-0713-7
English-Pilipino Dictionary, Conuelo T. Panganiban, ISBN 971-08-5569-7
Diksyunaryong Filipino - English, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, ISBN 971-8705-20-1
Learn Tagalog Now, ISBN 0-9771586-0-8
Tagalog Idioms Audio Course by Felicidad Orario ISBN 978-0-9771586-1-4
Il Nuovo Dizionario Filippino: Italiano-Tagalog/Tagalog-Italiano (English: The New Philippine Dictionary), by Dominador Limeta ISBN 9710866176

External results

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