This document traces the history of Philippine linguistics from pre-colonial times to the present. It discusses the various language policies under different colonial rulers and the evolution of Filipino as the national language. Several prominent Filipino linguists and their pioneering works are also profiled, including Cecilio Lopez, the father of Philippine linguistics, and scholars who studied and translated texts into major Philippine languages. The document concludes that Filipino has now emerged as the national language of unity in the Philippines.

1. History of Modern
Philippine
Linguistics/Filipino
Linguists and Their
Works
Aljess R. Eugenio
PhD-LT student

2. 5/25/2023
Sample Footer Text
Objectives
1. Trace the history of the Philippine
Linguistics, including the language
policies and planning from period of
colonization to the present;
2. Name prominent Pioneers of Philippine
Linguistics and their works.
2

4. An ethnologue of Philippine
languages (Trending This Minute
Team, 2016)

5. The Philippines is a place
with an incredibly diverse
linguistic landscape.

6. Over 180 languages spoken
12 indigenous languages with at
least 1 million speakers
2 official languages and 12 official
auxiliary languages
4th largest English-speaking
country in the world

7. The Department of Education now has 17
designated languages that qualify for mother-
language based education. The current Philippine
constitution (1987) states that the national
language is Filipino and as it evolves, “shall be
further developed and enriched on the basis of
existing Philippine and other languages.”

8. Further, the Philippine constitution
(1987) has mandated the Government to
“take steps to initiate and sustain the use
of Filipino as a medium of official
communication and as language of
instruction in the educational system.”

9. However, this current policy
on language has changed over the
century, largely due to the
Spanish, American, and Japanese
colonization, the liberation, and
changes in the constitution.
There also remains to be contentions on
whether Filipino, based on the Tagalog language,
should be the national language of the Philippines.
These contentions come from the non-Tagalog
speaking region that have called the current
language policy as “Tagalog imperialism.”

10. The Philippines’ national language is
Filipino. It is, de jure, meaning, a language
that will be enriched from other languages
in the Philippines. De facto, it is structurally
based on Tagalog, the language of Manila
and the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna,
Batangas, Quezon) region (Gonzalez, 2006).

11. Pre-colonial (before 1521)
960 CE
Direct and friendly contact
between Chinese and
Filipinos; flourishing trade
between peoples
Language Education policy
Decentralized education;
Oral-based transmission
Language situation
Baybayin (Ancient Tagalog);
Common system of writing

12. Spanish colony (1521-1898) Spanish as medium of instruction
Language Education policy
Tagalog as official language
(1897)
Language situation
Spanish as exclusive language
Local languages as inferior languages
Tagalog as language of mass
announcements (1890)

13. American occupation
(1898-1946)
English public school system
established (1898)
Language/Education policy
English as sole MoI (1901)
Proposal for Philippine national
language (1935)
English no longer sole MoI (1939)
Tagalog as national language (1940)
Language situation
English as language of livelihood (1901)
;Spanish and language as languages of
the Commonwealth (1935)

14. Post-colonial era
(1946-1965)
Philippine nationalism (1946);
Post-war immigration (1949)
Language/Education policy
Tagalog and English as MoI (1946);
Language situation
English as language controlling
domains; Taglish as lingua franca (1960)

15. Martial Law era
(1965-1986)
Lifting of immigration suspension;
increased immigration (1973)
Language/Education policy
Tagalog or Filipino taught at schools
(1965);
Philippinization of foreign schools
(1973);
Language situation
English as language of mass media and
higher class (1974+);
Taglish as language of masses,
anonymity and neutrality (1979)

16. The 5th republic onwards
(1986-present)
New wave of Chinese immigration (1990)
Language/Education policy
Implementation of bilingual education
policy; English and Filipino as official
languages (1987);
Language situation
English and Tagalog as language of
utility and importance (1988);
English as language of wider
communication, aptitude and
competitiveness (2004+)

17. Philippine Linguistics (a timeline)
16th century (1565) and
lasted for 3 decades
Spanish
7 Year’s War
(1762)
British
invaded
Manila
(English)
1898 and 1946
American
Rule
1930s
Commonwealth
government decided
that Philippines should
have a national
language. This affair
set the beginning of
Philippine language
history
Tagalog was among the
candidates for country’s
official language, however,
not many people outside
the capital (Manila) spoke
Tagalog, eventually no
national language was
chosen.
Language of the
Philippine
Revolution
In 1899, Malolos
Constitution proclaimed it
as the official language of
the First Philippine
Republic.
Jose Rizal wrote most of
his works in Spanish
December 30, 1937
Filipino was
proclaimed as the
national language
of the Philippines.
President Manuel L
Quezon appointed
native Waray-
Waray speaker
Jaime C. De Veyra
to chair a
committee of
speakers of other
regional
languages.

18. Philippine Linguistics (a timeline)
1946
Filipino was
declared an official
language. The
same year, the 20-
letter Abakada
alphabet was
introduced and
became the
standard of the
country’s national
language.
1939
PMLQ renamed the
Tagalog Language
as ‘Wikang
Pambansa’
1959
Secretary of
Education Jose
Romero further
renamed the
language as
Pilipino
1970s
Debate on national
language reappeared.
This time, the
government focused
on creating a national
language called
Filipino
Linguists were assigned the task to
modify and enrich the Tagalog
language by borrowing words from
English, Spansh, Chinese and Malay.
For example, the Tagalog word
‘salumpuwit’ was replaced by the
Spanish-originated word ‘silya’.

19. 1973
The Philippine
Constitution
declared the
Filipino language
to be co-official,
along with English
and mandated the
development of a
national language
to be known as
Filipino.
The Philippine
Constitution
provides for the
use of
vernacular
languages as
official auxiliary
languages in
provinces where
Filipino is not
the lingua
franca.
This is however
not implemented
as Filipinos at
large are
POLYGLOTS.
Filipinos would
speak in Filipino
language in formal
situations while
the regional
languages are
spoken in non-
formal settings.
The diglossia is
more evident in
the case of
Pangasinan,
Kapampangan,
Bikol, Waray,
Hiligaynon,
Sambal and
Maranao.

20. Major Foreign Languages that
brought modern linguistics in the
country
Chinese
Direct interactions
between the
settlers in Luzon
and the Ming
Dynasty. Mandarin
Chinese is the
lingua franca
The Lan-nang variant
of the Hokkien (Min
Nan) is the language
of the majority of
Chinese in the
Philippines, who
immigrated from
Fujian, province in
China.
Another Chinese
language, Cantonese, is
spoken among the
Chinese in the
Philippines. Many native
languages have co-
opted numerous
loanwords from Chinese
languages, particularly
cuisines, household
objects, and Philippine
kinship terminology

21. Major Foreign Languages
that brought modern
linguistics in the country
English
The first
significant
exposure of
Filipinos to
English language
occurred in 1762
when the British
invaded Manila,
but did last shortly
and had no lasting
influence.
English later
become more
important and
widespread during
the American
occupation
between 1898 and
1946, and remains
an official
language of the
Philippines.

22. Major Foreign Languages that brought
modern linguistics in the country
ARABIC
The 1987
constitution
mandates that
Arabic is to be
promoted on
voluntary basis.
Arabic is currently
taught and is
promoted in some
Islamic centers. It
is primarily used in
religious activities
and education
such as Amdrasa.

23. Filipino Linguists
and their Works
23

24. Specialization:
PhD Philippine Linguistics and
Oriental Studies
Title:
Father of Filipino Linguistics
24
Cecilio F. Lopez

25. Filipino Linguists and their Works
25
Cecilio F. Lopez
Dr. Lopez was cited as the
father of the Philippine Linguistics
in recognition of his pioneering work
in the development of a Filipino
tradition in the scientific study of
Philippine Language. Many of his works
are considered classics such as A
Manual to the Philippine National
Language two sequels of a Comparative
Philippine World List 1974 and 1976
and A Handbook of Comparative
Austronesian 1978 and in two parts:
the mnemonic, consisting of 109
problems of photo-morphs solved in
five Indonesian languages, two
Melanesian Languages the heuristic,
including 24 Philippine Languages and
192 photo-Austronesian morphs.

26. Filipino Linguists and their Works
26

27. Filipino Linguists and their Works
27
 A linguist, professor and Commissioner
 Newly designated commissioner for Waray
language of Samar-Leyte.
 Mother of news correspondent Marisol
Abdurahman

28. Filipino Linguists and their Works
28
 Rev. Msgr. Jose C. Abriol
 Priest
 Linguist
 First to translate the Catholic Bible
into Tagalog
 Fluent in nine languages namely
Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew,
Italian, English, German and Filipino

29. Filipino Linguists and their Works
29
 Juan R. Francisco
 Indologist
 Discovered Maranao version of
Ramayana and translated it into
English

30. Filipino Linguists and their Works
30
 Andrew Benjamin Gonzales
 Linguist
 Educator
 President of De La Salle University
 Secretary of the Department of
Education, Culture and Sports
(DECS)

31. Filipino Linguists and their Works
31
 Zoilo J. Hilario
 Poet
 Playwright
 Lawmaker
 Linguist
 Known for his poems written both in Spanish and
Kapampangan languages
 Distinguished researcher of the Kulitan Script and
Kapampangan ortography

32. Filipino Linguists and their Works
32
 Maria Odulio de Guzman
 Teacher
 1st Filipino female principal
 Writer
 Author
 Translator and co-translator of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo, respectively

33. Filipino Linguists and their Works
33
 Jose Villa Panganiban
 Lexicographer
 Professor
 Linguist
 Essayist
 Poet
 Playwright
 Author
 Lyricist
 Published works include
1. Pagsusuring Pambalarila
2. Panitikan ng Pilipinas
3. Comparative Semantics of
Synonyms and Homonyms in
the Philippine language
4. Diksyunaryong Pilipino-Ingles

34. Filipino Linguists and their Works
34
 Consuelo Morales Joaquin Paz
 Linguist
 Ethnologist
 Professor
 First female diachronic linguist
 Pillar of modern Philippine linguistics

35. Filipino Linguists and their Works
35
 Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda
 Writer
 Nationalist
 Ophtalmologist
 Noli Me Tangere
 El Filibusterismo

36. Filipino Linguists and their Works
36
 Norberto Romualdez y Lopez, Sr.
 Writer
 Politician
 Jurist
 Statesman
 Father of the Law on the National Language

37. Conclusion
37
Thus, is the metamorphosis of our national language,
Filipino. Quick to adapt and change with the times and the
demands of its speakers’ culture and politics, it had initially
lain quiescent beneath the controversies and debates over
its birth and composition.
But now, thanks to globalization and the rising quality
of life of the average Filipino, it has, like the moth, grown
uncomfortable inside its cocoon prison and longed for
freedom of expression. Much may yet have to be done, but
Filipino as national language of unity has arrived.

38. 38
Thank You

39. References
• https://www.slideshare.net/cristinaadoyo/language-of-the-philippines
• https://www.milestoneloc.com/languages-of-the-
philippines/#:~:text=In%201937%2C%20the%20Filipino%20language,the%20country's%20
new%20national%20language.
• http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-tagalog-and-filipino/
• https://translatorswithoutborders.org/language-data-for-the-philippines
• https://www.philembassy.org.au/the-philippines/map
• https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED593525.pdf
• https://reneekarunungan.com/2019/08/15/a-history-of-the-philippines-official-languages/
• https://members.nast.ph/index.php/list-of-nast-members/details/1/29
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Linguists_from_the_Philippines