Filipino, standardized form of Tagalog has an intriguing history surrounding its name. Often confused with Tagalog (the language from which Filipino has derived), it was previously referred to as Pilipino. Until 1987, Filipino was not declared the official language of Philippines.
Let us take a sneak peek into the rich history associated with the language.
Classification of Filipino language
Filipino has been derived from Tagalog language which falls in the Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian family of languages. Widely acknowledged as one of the largest language families of the world, Austronesia family is divided into two groups – Central eastern and western. Filipino, along with Malay, Indonesian and Javanese languages belongs to the Western family.
Tagalog or Filipino
Tagalog lays the foundation for Filipino which is the national language of Philippines. Though there is not a great distinction between both languages, it is the political and social history that draws the line between the two languages. In 1930’s (when Commonwealth constitution came to a halt), Tagalog was spoken only in Manila and nearby provinces. The constitution demanded a national language, but it didn’t specify a particular Philippines language. Unofficially, Tagalog was considered the national language of Philippines at that time and was understood by the entire population. In 1970’s, President Marcos made an attempt to introduce a new national language named Pilipino, which was based on Tagalog but foreign words (majorly English and Spanish) were replaced with new words. Although this attempt to replace foreign words failed, Filipino was accepted by the Constitution as the national language in 1980’s.
Early history
When we talk about the origin of Tagalog language, there is little information regarding this. However, some linguists believe that language originated at Northeastern Mindanao or Eastern Visayas. The first written form of Tagalog dates back to 900 AD.
Spanish influence
The Spanish influence on Tagalog language is due to the Spanish colonial establishment in the country in 1565. Throughout the Spanish dominance, Tagalog underwent rigorous evolution. At present, there is an estimated donation of 40% shares of Tagalog vocabulary by Spanish language.
Conclusion – We have many more interesting facts about Filipino as well as multiple languages spoken around the world as we are a full-time language translation service. We have well-versed team of translators who can translate any document in 30+ languages. We offer a range of translation services including Filipino language translation, legal translation service, certified translation, etc. Need help in translating any document? Feel free to reach us at – 888-670-3369.