# Use of Spanish in the Philippines



## Canadiense

I have co-workers from the Philippines and I have noticed that their names are spanish. I have asked them why that is so and they've told me it is because the Philippines was under Spanish rule for more than 300 years. They have also been converted to Catholicism hence their names were changed. They also told me that a lot of words they use in their language are spanish. I'm curious to know more about the history. I would like to hear from Filipinos if there are any in this forum. Thanks.


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## GenJen54

Hi Canadiense,

You might wish to research the subject a bit, first.  THIS should provide you with a reasonable start.   

If you then have specific questions regarding Philippino history or culture, you are welcome to ask.


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## Canadiense

Thanks GenJen. I read the link you attached and it was very helpful and informative. I can see now why they have spanish names. My question now is how much spanish would they understand if a native spanish speaker spoke to them? Or is that like asking how much spanish can a portuguese understand?


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## vince

Not the best analogy since Portuguese people understand a lot of Spanish due to the closeness of the two languages, they are in fact partially intelligible with each other.

Whereas Tagalog and Spanish are not related at all, might as well be Japanese. The only words they would understand are words in Tagalog that were borrowed from Spanish during Spanish rule.


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## Fernando

As far as I know, Spanish is virtually lost in Philippines. Spanish live in the names, in their influence on Tagalo (I have been said the numbers are said in Spanish), in chavacano (a local dialect) and some families still speak in Spanish. 

From 1898 to the present the influence of English (for the new colonial power) and scorn for the (former) colonial state, removed the (superficial) Spanish.

There is still a Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española.

Any Philippine in the forum will report you better.


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## panjabigator

Also, many of the spanish words may have a different pronounciation.  For example, to say how are you in Tagalog, you would say cum estaka...which is similar to the Spanish como esta.


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## MarcB

panjabigator said:
			
		

> Also, many of the Spanish words may have a different pronounciation. For example, to say how are you in Tagalog, you would say cum estaka...which is similar to the Spanish como esta.


 Not a diffeent pronunciation cumo esta ka? also kumu esta? ka is tagolog appellation of respect. There are many languages in the Philippines Tagolog is only one it is the source of Pilipino the official language. Most of the languages contain several Spanish words. The numbers by the way are both in Spanish and the local language. Tsabakano or chabacano from Spanish chavacano is a creole Spanish and can be understood by Spanish speakers if spoken slowly it is spoken mostly in Zamboanga and Cavite.
Most Filipinos do not understand Spanish or speak it fluently but only understand some words.There is a small group that learns and can speak Spanish. English and Pilipino are additional languages to most non tagalogs.The Spanish culture and colonial arquitecture as is also found in Latin America is alive and well in the Philippines
 ​


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## panjabigator

Is Spanish spoken by the elite?


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## pickypuck

panjabigator said:
			
		

> Is Spanish spoken by the elite?


 
I think the elite speaks English. Spanish is virtually dead in the Philippines.

¡Olé!


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## Canadiense

Thanks to everyone for participating. I have done more research about the spanish history of the Philippines and I found it very interesting. Somehow during the time of Spanish rule the government decided not to force the people to speak spanish as they have done in the Americas. Thus the Filipino people were able to retain their native dialects. In some parts of the Philippines they speak a certain type of creole spanish called "chabacano" which according to Wikipedia is "is the common name for the several varieties of the Philippine Creole Spanish spoken in the Philippines. The word _chabacano_ - which the name _Chavacano_ is derived from - is spanish for "_poor taste_," "_vulgar_," "_common_," "_tasteless_," "_tacky_," or "_coarse_."


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## panjabigator

Does anyone know why they didnt force them to learn the language?


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## Fernando

As a matter of fact the Spanish Government did little effort to enforce Spanish use (both in the Philippines and in America). Most evangelization was performed in local languages. 

After the independence, most independent countries felt that education should be performed in Spanish, given that:

- It would be crazy to teach in so many languages (with scarce resources)
- The elite was Spanish-speaking.
- It was a source of national unity.

Meanwhile in the Philippines:

- The new colonial power was English-speaking and so the post-independence elite.
- The Church had a huge influence in the Philippines. They evangelized in local languages. They were criticized because, that way, the people remained in ignorance (by European standards, of course).


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## hedonist

> Thanks to everyone for participating. I have done more research about the spanish history of the Philippines and I found it very interesting. Somehow during the time of Spanish rule the government decided not to force the people to speak spanish as they have done in the Americas. Thus the Filipino people were able to retain their native dialects. In some parts of the Philippines they speak a certain type of creole spanish called "chabacano" which according to Wikipedia is "is the common name for the several varieties of the Philippine Creole Spanish spoken in the Philippines. The word _chabacano_ - which the name _Chavacano_ is derived from - is spanish for "_poor taste_," "_vulgar_," "_common_," "_tasteless_," "_tacky_," or "_coarse_."





> force the people to speak spanish as they have done in the Americas.





> Does anyone know why they didnt force them to learn the language?


 Unlike in the Philippines, there was a considerably significant “mestizo” population that thrived at the expense of the indigenous  in the Americas and over many decades gradually absorbed the “non-Hispanic” population.  Through this process of absorption,  it essentially “latinized” their ethnic group and hence inadvertently became a homogeneous entity.  Sometimes it was voluntarily, and in other cases by force. It’s hard to know which was the most common “method” although it doesn’t prevent any of the members of the two opposing camps from fervently believing it was the former or the latter. As with most things in life, the truth lies somewhere in between. As a previous poster also mentioned, it had little to do with the Spanish royalty or government wishes. Although I disagree with the elite having any major input as they were  a minority as they are today and as always have very little contact with the poorer masses and therefore very little influence on their "culture".


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## Layzie

I used to have a phillipine friend that i used to exchange a few spanish words with. Spanish is pretty lost though.


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## Chriszinho85

Fernando said:
			
		

> Spanish live in the names, in their influence on Tagalo (I have been said the numbers are said in Spanish)


Expanding on what Marc has said about numbers, Spanish numbers are used usually when telling prices, age, and time. The months and days of the week(except for Sunday) are all in Spanish. In addition to names, there are a lot of place names in Spanish. For example, my mom was born in a town called San José in the province of Nueva Ecija. I found another helpful and interesting link here. I have read that at least 25% of Tagalog words have their origin from Spanish, and that percentage is probably higher in other Philippine languages in the Visayas and in southern regions where the Spanish influence was stronger. Regardless of the fact that Spanish is no longer a prominent language in the Philippines, Spanish colonialism has penetrated and is clearly visible in all aspects of culture (food, customs, religion etc.)



			
				pickypuck said:
			
		

> I think the elite speaks English.


And so does most of the population. I think the majority, but not all Filipinos, have a good working knowledge of English.


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## lrivetz

panjabigator said:
			
		

> Also, many of the spanish words may have a different pronounciation. For example, to say how are you in Tagalog, you would say cum estaka...which is similar to the Spanish como esta.


I just want to correct this; it is actually spelled as Kumusta Ka and not cum estaka.


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## hsannolav

MarcB said:
			
		

> Not a diffeent pronunciation cumo esta ka? also kumu esta? ka is tagolog appellation of respect.


 
Just another correction... the word "ka" in "kumusta ka?" actually refers to "you," as in "how are _you?_" (I think the appellation of respect that you were thinking of is the word "po" or "ho..."). This also demonstrates another difference between the Spanish and Filipino languages -- unlike in Spanish, where the conjugated forms of the verb indicate the subject, Tagalog requires subject pronouns.

To add to the topic of Filipinos with Spanish surnames: although most Filipinos were given Spanish surnames during the colonial era (e.g. Herndandez, Perez, Garcia, etc... interestingly enough, we never seemed to preserve the accents on them, though!), some people had their Filipino or Chinese surnames hispanized instead. As a result of this, some of us have "Spanish-sounding" names like "Locsín" or "Tiangco" that you won't find in any other Spanish speaking country.


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## asm

I didn't understand your comment very well; let me ask this: Are Marcos, Martinez, Garcia, or any other Spanish name pronounced the same way as in Spanish? Or the only common thing is the spelling, having two different pronunciations?

Thanks



in Tagalog





hsannolav said:


> Just another correction... the word "ka" in "kumusta ka?" actually refers to "you," as in "how are _you?_" (I think the appellation of respect that you were thinking of is the word "po" or "ho..."). This also demonstrates another difference between the Spanish and Filipino languages -- unlike in Spanish, where the conjugated forms of the verb indicate the subject, Tagalog requires subject pronouns.
> 
> To add to the topic of Filipinos with Spanish surnames: although most Filipinos were given Spanish surnames during the colonial era (e.g. Herndandez, Perez, Garcia, etc... interestingly enough, we never seemed to preserve the accents on them, though!), some people had their Filipino or Chinese surnames hispanized instead. As a result of this, some of us have "Spanish-sounding" names like "Locsín" or "Tiangco" that you won't find in any other Spanish speaking country.


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## araceliearambula

asm said:


> I didn't understand your comment very well; let me ask this: Are Marcos, Martinez, Garcia, or any other Spanish name pronounced the same way as in Spanish? Or the only common thing is the spelling, having two different pronunciations?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> in Tagalog



Actually, she just didn't explain well, jeje  She meant that hay filipinos de raíces chinas, y ellos quieren asimilar en la sociedad de Filipinas, entonces para hacer eso,  ellos cambiarán sus apellidos chinos. They change it in the spelling, but it's still pronounced the same.

Por ejemplo, si un chino tiene el apellido... Xiao-Mein, para cambiar esto al estilo español y asimilar en la sociedad filipina, you would spell it, Chaumeín.

Y es asi, historicamente, y bueno no soy de China y no tengo mucha informacion de apellidos chinos, pero sí, asi es, jeje.

But the Spanish last names en Filipinas, por ejemplo García, Hernandez, Martinez, etc. are pronounced the same, with Spanish pronounciations. No hay diferencia como pronunciar los apellidos españoles en Filipinas. Es solamente con los apellidos chinos que la gente tiene reservaciones.


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## SantiagoPamintuan

Contrary to what we've been taught, more Filipinos spoke Spanish than reported. We keep on hearing 10%...10%...Actually, according to Don Guillermo of the Academia Filipina de la lengua Espanola 10% spoke Spanish as their primary, native language....regardless of ethnicity (by that I mean chinese-mestizo, Spanish, indigeno etc. etc.) But up until 1950, around 60% of Filipinos spoke spanish at least as a second language. Back then we had newspapers, radio programs, in Espanol. During that time, my lolo told me that speeches in the government houses like the senate etc. would be given in Spanish. There were even 2 movies in Spanish "las dulces mestizas" y" secreto/confesion de un amor" made in the Philippines by Filipino actors which were seen and exported to countries like Spain and Portugal. My grandparent's birth certificate and marriage license was in Spanish for crying out loud!(they got married in '56 not in 1898) Also despite the fact that Spanish not in use as before, Tagalog is actually a very hispanic language. Wordwise, it is 75% Malayan Polynesian and 25% Spanish. However, the Tagalog we speak today is very different from the one spoken before the arrival of the espanoles. In pronunciation and sound, I think it is very Hispanic; If you want to hear the original Tagalo, the closest one is in Batangas..ula eh. LOL. In the same manner, English is considered a Germanic language despite it being made up of words of 85% Latin/French origin. Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all eurocentric and I'm proud to be Filipino and I love Tagalog. But I can't deny the strong Spanish element that formed the Filipino nation and identity. Like we say "Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paruruonan."

Abrazos,
Tiago


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## Pedro y La Torre

From Wiki:



> Spanish ceased to be the official and national language of the country, during the Marcos regime in 1973. This is due to lack of government guidance and promotion to the public. It is only used for cultural heritage purposes and on an optional basis. [...]
> In the Philippines today, the language is spoken by less than 0.1% of the population...


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## SantiagoPamintuan

I wouldn't really go on Wikepedia; it just seems to be not a credible source.
The 10% and 60% I was referring to was during Spanish times and up til about the middle 20th century (this is of course from research done by Don Guillermo of the Philippine Academy of Spanish language) Of course today el uso del espanol en filipinas is close to nil. I was just surprised to find that both my grandparents birth certificate and marriage license were both en la lengua espanola. According to them, in their day, Spanish was heard in the streets and markets of Manila the same way English, Tagalog, and taglish is heard today.


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## roxcyn

I always thought this was an interesting thing.  I am wondering why many people don't speak Spanish because it is a good language to know.  I mean if you know Tagalog, English and Spanish, wouldn't that have some advanatage to a preson?


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## epistolario

Part I 

As what Mr. Pamintuan pointed out, there were many Filipinos who could speak Spanish several generations ago but it's not the case anymore. College students were required to take several units of Spanish in College (which is still insufficient to make you conversational) until President Aquino abolished it at around 90's (not sure) and replaced it with Computer subject. I believe that the main reason for this is that they didn't consider Spanish useful anymore and students have the tendency to forget it without practice. Now, Spanish speakers in the Philippines only include the elites who have Spanish descent and Spanish students who learned it in college or in Spanish schools and who continuously practice it.      

Como señaló el Sr. Pamintúan, había muchos filipinos que podía hablar español hace muchas generaciones pero ya no es así. Los estudiantes universitarios habían sido requiridos a tomar asignaturas de español en la universidad (que aún no es insuficiente para hablar con fluidez) antes de que la Presidenta Corazón Aquino lo abolió en la década de 90 (más o menos) y lo reemplazó con asignaturas de computadoras. Creo que las razones principales del cambio son las siguientes: primero, en aquella época, ya no se consideraba útil esa lengua; y además, los estudiantes tienden a olvidarse de lo que han aprendido sin practicar. Ahora, los hispanohablantes en Filipinas sólo incluyen las elites que tiene raza española y los estudiantes de español que lo aprendieron en la universidad y que lo practican continuamente. 

Let me give the point of view of someone belonging to my generation. According to our history teachers, learning Spanish was prohibited because the authorities were afraid that it might cause the natives to rise in revolt; but I also wondered why it was forced to the natives in the Americas to the point that many local languages there became extinct. Sometimes, some aspects of history taught in our schools are simply questionable and not reliable. 

Déjenme dar el punto de vista de alguien que pertenece a mi generación. Según nuestros profesores de la historia, las autoridades prohibieron la enseñanza de español a los indígenas porque temieron que causara una revolución; pero no sé por qué los indígenas de América Latina fueron forzados a aprender español de modo que perdieron sus lenguas maternas. A veces, dudo en algunos aspectos de la historia que nos enseñan. 

----------------------------------------------------
Por favor, corrigen mis errores en español. Gracias.


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## epistolario

Part II 

Regarding Filipinos with Spanish last names, it was Governor General Narciso Claveria who required Filipinos to change their native names because they were having difficulties pronouncing them. And one of the most popular Spanish last name is Santos (you will meet many Filipinos with that name even if they are not relatives). During Hispanic times, naming children with Spanish names was very popular until the Americans arrived. During the 80's, my grandparents and uncles/aunts who went to the US converted their Spanish names to English (Anita -> Annie; Dolores -> Dolly; etc). In my generation, naming children with American names became the trend. In fact, it would sound strange and old-fashioned to hear children or younger people to have Spanish names (Rodolfo, Romulo, Matilde, etc.) because they sound like the names of grandparents and would even cause their classmates to ridicule them. What these children do is they create an American-sounding nicknames, sometimes unrelated to their name (Rom, JR, May, etc). But of course, there are some exceptions as there are Spanish names that are Americanized. 

En cuanto a los filipinos que tienen apellidos españoles, fue Gobernador General Narciso Claveria que requirió a los filipinos para cambiar sus apellidos indígenas a castellano por la dificultad de pronunciarlos. Y uno de los apellidos más populares es Santos (se encontrarán muchos filipinos que lo tienen aunque no sean parientes). Durante la época hispanica en Filipinas, los padres suelen ponerle a sus hijos con nombres españoles hasta que vinieron los Americanos. Durante la década de 80, mis abuelos, tíos y tías que fueron a EE.UU. convirtieron sus nombres españoles en inglés (p.ej., Anita -> Annie; Dolores -> Dolly; etc.) En mi generación, se ha solido ponerles a los hijos con nombres americanos. De hecho, soñaría extraño oír que los niños tuvieran nombres españoles (como Rodolfo, Romulo, Matilde) porque sueñan como los nombres de nuestros abuelos. A veces, causaría que los compañeros de clases les burlasen de ellos. Lo que hacen esos niños es cambiar sus nombres de los de americanos que no tienen nada que ver con sus nombres originales (Rom, JR, May, etc). Pero hay excepciones porque algunos nombres españoles ya han sido americanizados. 

In the beginning of the new millennium, some have become interested in the Spanish language because call centers are booming and bilingual agents (English-Spanish) earn at least twice what ordinary English-only speakers get. I believe, it caused the enrollment in a local Spanish school (Instituto Cervantes de Manila)to rise. Now, few universities are offering Spanish in college as a requirement like in UP where Spanish dominated the formerly popular French (that is, there used to be more French majors than Spanish majors). Others who have also become interested in Spanish do not have time and do not believe that they have the skill to learn another language. They reason that if they still have difficulties expressing themselves in English at times despite learning it from childhood, how much more in Spanish. 

Al comenzar del nuevo milenio, algunos filipinos han empezado a interesarse por la lengua española por la popularidad de los centros de llamadas (que pagan más de lo que paga un empleo local) y los agentes bilingües (que hablan ambos inglés y español) ganan por lo menos dos veces que los que hablan inglés solamente. Creo que eso subió la inscripción en una escuela local de español. Hoy en día, pocas universidades ofrecen el español en la universidad como requisito (solamente las universidades prestigiosas). Por ejemplo, en la Universidad de Filipinas, había más estudiantes que se especializaban en francés que en español pero ahora es el opuesto. Los demás que interesaron por aprender la lengua española o no tiene tiempo para realizarlo o creen que no tienen habilidad de aprender idiomas. Opinan que si todavía tienen dificultades de hablar inglés a veces, aun después de haberlo aprendido desde pequeño, mucho menos van a poder hablar español. 


------------------------------------
Por favor, corrigen mi español. Gracias.


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## Qcumber

Filipinos cannot pronounce their Spanish names the way Spaniards do. Besides, as they now use US QWERTY keyboards, i.e. without accents, they cannot even print them properly anymore, hence López > Lopez ['loes], Peñaranda > Penaranda [pena'randa], etc.

There are even extreme cases where the pronunciation is adapted to the phonology of the language, e.g. Francisco pronounced [pa lan 'sis ko].

There are still families who speak Spanish among themselves, and scholars who study it seriously, but as everybody said in this thread, Spanish is virtually dead in the Philippines.

When it became a US colony in 1898, US authorities made it a point to eradicate Spanish, and make English the official language of the Philippines. 

Curiously enough, the momentum of the movement increased considerably after WWII when the Philippines became independent to the extent that there now exists a large body of Filipinos who are busy eradicating the various native languages of the Philippines, Tagalog in particular, that is supposed to be the national language under the names Pilipíno / Filipino.

A colleage, who is a specialist of Spanish, and conducted research on Filipino Spanish speakers in the 1980s (about 2000 persons), told me they didn't speak any variety of American Spanish, but plain Castillan. He thought this was due to the fact many had some several years of schooling in Spain.

He also said that the Filipinos who started emigrating to Spain en masse, legally or illegally, during the same period didn't speak Spanish, but adapted themselves fairly quickly. Those in the Catalan region opted for Catalan, but learned Spanish, too, because TV program are generally in Spanish. Some even took to French as French channels reach Barcelona.


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## Qcumber

There is an initiation to Spanish at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. I have their 1st-year book:

VILLAR, Cochita Jaranilla & MENDOZA, Edgardo Tiamson (2003)
_Abreganas_
ISBN 971-635-018-X

It's a good book, but the level reached by the end of the year is not very high, e.g. ¿Me cae bien este uniforme? [from the last lesson].
I suppose it's a test year and those who are able and willing are allowed to join the upper form where progression is faster. 

This general ignorance of Spanish will probably prove a serious problem in the future because once the generation of Filipino historians capable of reading the numerous Spanish documents concerning their country has passed away, the new generation will have to rely on English translations, which is perhaps already the case as several can only quote Blair & Robertson's vast collection of Spanish documents translated into English during the first decade of the 20th century under the title _The Philippine Islands_ (about 50 volumes).


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## SantiagoPamintuan

Interesting what you said QCumber that the Filipinos who immigrated to Spain adapted fairly well and learned Spanish fairly quickly. The same can be said of many Filipino health workers in the States. My friend is a doctor in New York and she works with Spanish speaking patients predominantly, so she was forced to learn Spanish.This is where she and many Filipino doctors/nurses actually had a chance to practice and learn the Spanish that they were required to learn in college. It is amazing that she is close to fluent-without taking an additional course.She just brushed up on the 24 units or so she took in college and high school in the Philippines and just used it with her patients. I know many Filipino nurses who are called to translate in 
Spanish when there is no other Spanish speaker.It is amazing that us Filipinos can so easily learn Spanish-----it is like a memory from a distant past suddenly being activated. The Philippine govt. was wrong for requiring Spanish and then not promoting it for greater use to the public; they could have at least made it the language of the legal system or something. But I think now with President Arroyo recently signing a contract with the Spanish govt to allow 200,000 Filipino health workers and professionals to work in Spain, a new generation of Spanish Speaking Filipinos will be produced; this is the ONLY contract that Spain has by the way with a Non-EU country including Latin America. Thanks "Inang Espanya" we feel so special.


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## Qcumber

SantiagoPamintuan said:


> it is like a memory from a distant past suddenly being activated.


Yes, something like a dormant knowledge that can be activated when conditions are favourable.


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## mix3d_papi

Well I'm Philipino(cebauno) and Mexican(Tijauno) mixed and my philipino heritage is confusing LOL. People might say philipino people are chinese their not. When you look at a philipino and a chinese or japanese you can see the difference between the two, philipinos look more spanish then chinese. The names in philipino are more spanish because of the heritage long time ago about the spanish rule over philipines. My philipino aunts and uncles look more spanish then chinese. And Tagolog isnt the only langauge,because its the international language of the mixed dialects with chinese, and spanish thats why its sound so chinese (NO OFFENCE) Im Cebauno and parts of Cebu is still ruled by spanish people and there dialects, languages and people are more of the spanish side, unlike people from manila (No Offence) The philipines is a diverse country with Arabs,Spanish andNatives living there. Most philipino words come from spanish like ex all the days of the week. There are many like stereotypes of the philipino attitude coming from spanish but our blood is mixed with spanish. Philipinos aint Chinese like its so offendeful because we aint chinese look at our differences. And Mexico is the closest country that relates to us and our customs and looks.Because philipino people move to mexico because of our trades with them that why most mexicans can be mistaken as a philipino or have the same characteristics. LOL philipinos aint chinx(chinese)


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## Tatzingo

mix3d_papi said:


> Well I'm Philipino(cebauno) and Mexican(Tijauno) mixed and my philipino heritage is confusing LOL. People might say philipino people are chinese their not. When you look at a philipino and a chinese or japanese you can see the difference between the two, philipinos look more spanish then chinese. The names in philipino are more spanish because of the heritage long time ago about the spanish rule over philipines. My philipino aunts and uncles look more spanish then chinese. And Tagolog isnt the only langauge,because its the international language of the mixed dialects with chinese, and spanish thats why its sound so chinese (NO OFFENCE) Im Cebauno and parts of Cebu is still ruled by spanish people and there dialects, languages and people are more of the spanish side, unlike people from manila (No Offence) The philipines is a diverse country with Arabs,Spanish andNatives living there. Most philipino words come from spanish like ex all the days of the week. There are many like stereotypes of the philipino attitude coming from spanish but our blood is mixed with spanish. Philipinos aint Chinese like its so offendeful because we aint chinese look at our differences. And Mexico is the closest country that relates to us and our customs and looks.Because philipino people move to mexico because of our trades with them that why most mexicans can be mistaken as a philipino or have the same characteristics. LOL philipinos aint *chinx*(chinese)



Hmm... Curious. I note that your use of "no offence" on more than one occasion means that you don't intend to cause offence with your comments, however, don't you think the underlined word above is probably the most offensive word in your text? Or is it not offensive in the Philipines?

Tatz.


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## Chriszinho85

Qcumber said:
			
		

> Filipinos cannot pronounce their Spanish names the way Spaniards do. Besides, as they now use US QWERTY keyboards, i.e. without accents, they cannot even print them properly anymore, hence López > Lopez ['loes], Peñaranda > Penaranda [pena'randa], etc.


I have relatives whose last name is _Pestaño_ and they still write it with the _ñ_ and pronounce it conforming to Spanish pronunciation.  Something interesting is that Filipinos still pronounce _ll _in Spanish last names the archaic way.  So the surname _Padilla_ is pronounced like _Padilya_.


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## Chriszinho85

mix3d_papi said:


> Well I'm Philipino(cebauno) and Mexican(Tijauno) mixed and my philipino heritage is confusing LOL. People might say philipino people are chinese their not. When you look at a philipino and a chinese or japanese you can see the difference between the two, philipinos look more spanish then chinese. The names in philipino are more spanish because of the heritage long time ago about the spanish rule over philipines. My philipino aunts and uncles look more spanish then chinese. And Tagolog isnt the only langauge,because its the international language of the mixed dialects with chinese, and spanish thats why its sound so chinese (NO OFFENCE) Im Cebauno and parts of Cebu is still ruled by spanish people and there dialects, languages and people are more of the spanish side, unlike people from manila (No Offence) The philipines is a diverse country with Arabs,Spanish andNatives living there. Most philipino words come from spanish like ex all the days of the week. There are many like stereotypes of the philipino attitude coming from spanish but our blood is mixed with spanish. Philipinos aint Chinese like its so offendeful because we aint chinese look at our differences. And Mexico is the closest country that relates to us and our customs and looks.Because philipino people move to mexico because of our trades with them that why most mexicans can be mistaken as a philipino or have the same characteristics. LOL philipinos aint chinx(chinese)


Welcome to the forums Mix3d Papi.  Just a little correction:  The word _Filipino_ is spelled with an _f_ and not _ph_.  Also, contrary to what you may think, there are a considerable amount of Chinese people living in the Philippines and an even larger number of people mixed with Chinese and Filipino blood.  According to this article,  Chinese make up about 2% (1.5 million) of the total population, and about 10% of Filipinos have Chinese blood in them.  The Chinese have also had a big influence on Filipino culture.  They have contributed to language, beliefs, and cuisine.  For example, if it weren’t for the Chinese, Filipinos wouldn’t have foods like pansit, siopao, mami, or tokwa, just to name a few.


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## Qcumber

asm said:


> I didn't understand your comment very well; let me ask this: Are Marcos, Martinez, Garcia, or any other Spanish name pronounced the same way as in Spanish? Or the only common thing is the spelling, having two different pronunciations?


Precisely. Filipinos in general cannot pronounce their Spanish names the way Spaniards pronounce them if it contains sounds that do no exists in their language. Only a minority of Filipino Spanish speakers can.

Of course a name like Marcos ['markos] is no problem, but, for instance _Guzmán_ is pronounced _Gusmán, García > Garsíya, etc._

Many whose name begins with /f/ cannot utter this sound so replace it by /p/, e.g. Teofila > [teo'pila]. 

Initial consonant clusters are sometimes split, e.g. _Francisco > Pransísko / Paransísko / Palansísko_.

The jota /x/ doesn't exist in Philippine languages; it is replaced by /h/. For instance a man named _Jesús_ will be called either [he'sus] or the English version - Jesus ['dZi:z@s] - will be used. _Juan_ is pronounced [hwan].

There is also a marked tendency to read Spanish names somehow the English way so that the result can be surprising. For instance I was introduced to a man whose forename was _Jo-Ben_ ['dZou 'ben], and discovered later it was _Joven_. 

Finally, many are ashamed or made to feel ashamed of their Spanish surnames, and asked to give the English equivalent. I remember this man who, on being introduced to another one whose name was Rogelio [ro'heljo], "corrected" him in a harsh tone of voice saying: "Ah, Roger!" 

In general Filipinos do no use their names in daily conversation, only short names and nicknames. A Filipino scholar (Manuel) has published a list of shortnames, e.g. Constancia > Tansíng, Isabelo > Bélong, Marcelo > Elóy, etc. 

All these fascinating problems of how foreign names are adapted to Philippine languages has been amply documented and discussed by Filipino scholars.


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## Cracker Jack

Qcumber said:


> Precisely. Filipinos in general cannot pronounce their Spanish names the way Spaniards pronounce them if it contains sounds that do no exists in their language. Only a minority of Filipino Spanish speakers can.
> 
> Of course a name like Marcos ['markos] is no problem, but, for instance _Guzmán_ is pronounced _Gusmán, García > Garsíya, etc._
> 
> Many whose name begins with /f/ cannot utter this sound so replace it by /p/, e.g. Teofila > [teo'pila].
> 
> Initial consonant clusters are sometimes split, e.g. _Francisco > Pransísko / Paransísko / Palansísko_.
> 
> The jota /x/ doesn't exist in Philippine languages; it is replaced by /h/. For instance a man named _Jesús_ will be called either [he'sus] or the English version - Jesus ['dZi:z@s] - will be used. _Juan_ is pronounced [hwan].
> 
> There is also a marked tendency to read Spanish names somehow the English way so that the result can be surprising. For instance I was introduced to a man whose forename was _Jo-Ben_ ['dZou 'ben], and discovered later it was _Joven_.
> 
> Finally, many are ashamed or made to feel ashamed of their Spanish surnames, and asked to give the English equivalent. I remember this man who, on being introduced to another one whose name was Rogelio [ro'heljo], "corrected" him in a harsh tone of voice saying: "Ah, Roger!"
> 
> In general Filipinos do no use their names in daily conversation, only short names and nicknames. A Filipino scholar (Manuel) has published a list of shortnames, e.g. Constancia > Tansíng, Isabelo > Bélong, Marcelo > Elóy, etc.
> 
> All these fascinating problems of how foreign names are adapted to Philippine languages has been amply documented and discussed by Filipino scholars.


 
Hi Qcumber.  I would just like to make some comments about the statements that you made.  Some of them are not entirely true.  You are right that Guzman and García are not pronounced like the way it is in Spain.  But it is not pronounced that way either in Central and South America.  That's because of the phenomenon known as zeísmo that exists only in Spain.  You will not hear South Americans say ''Guth-man'' or ''Gar-thi-ya.''  The Spaniards who colonized Philippines never bothered to teach Filipinos to speak Spanish unlike the way Americans dedicated a considerable portion of their time in teaching English.

The f and the jota thing may have held true in the pre-American times.  But ask any Filipino right now who speaks English and you will find out that they pronounce F just like any Englishman would.  It is only in talking among themselves that the F is replaced by a P. This is seen among the Kapampangans.  And that is in local language, dialect or Tagalog.  But Spanish and English speaking Filipinos can make a distinction between F and P.

You are right about jota though.  It is not as forceful and emphatic like the Spanish jota or the French r or German ch.  But Filipinos pronounce the Spanish jota as an English h.  That's because the jota sound does not exist in our phonetics.  What takes its place is a very smooth h sound.

Regarding the matter about Spanish names.  We actually are not ashamed of it.  It's just that we do not like Spanish names and we prefer English given names or even French.  It is due to the fact that Spanish sound ''stinky'' for us.  Imagine nowadays if you go by the name Restituto, Primitivo, Candida, Maximiliano, Tecla, Herminigilda, etc.  You would opt for better sounding ones.  Even Juan, Jose, Pedro and Pablo are not acceptable to present generation kids, let alone the early ones I enumerated.  Some youngsters whi may not be fully aware of the abuses of the Spanish centuries ago will be repelled by Spanish names.  Of course there are other Spanish names that are also acceptable.  In general however, we prefer English sounding names.  It is not entirely shame that gives us this attitude towards Spanish names but the sound of the names themselves that we don't like.


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## Qcumber

Cracker Jack said:


> It is not entirely shame that gives us this attitude towards Spanish names but the sound of the names themselves that we don't like.


Hello, Cracker Jack.
Why then do parents give Spanish forenames to their children?
Are you happy in Barcelona where everybody has got either a Spanish name or a Catalan name?


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## Qcumber

Cracker Jack said:


> You are right that Guzman and García are not pronounced like the way it is in Spain. But it is not pronounced that way either in Central and South America. That's because of the phenomenon known as zeísmo that exists only in Spain. You will not hear South Americans say ''Guth-man'' or ''Gar-thi-ya.''


Incidentally the same happens in English. I know a Filipino whose name is Jonathan. He pronounces it ['dZo na 'ta:n].


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## Qcumber

Cracker Jack said:


> But Spanish and English speaking Filipinos can make a distinction between F and P.


Really? I have the impression only about one third can utter the sounds /f/ and /v/.


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## Outsider

Qcumber said:


> Of course a name like Marcos ['markos] is no problem, but, for instance _Guzmán_ is pronounced _Gusmán, García > Garsíya, etc._
> 
> Many whose name begins with /f/ cannot utter this sound so replace it by /p/, e.g. Teofila > [teo'pila].
> 
> Initial consonant clusters are sometimes split, e.g. _Francisco > Pransísko / Paransísko / Palansísko_.
> 
> The jota /x/ doesn't exist in Philippine languages; it is replaced by /h/. For instance a man named _Jesús_ will be called either [he'sus] or the English version - Jesus ['dZi:z@s] - will be used. _Juan_ is pronounced [hwan].


- As Crackerjack has noted, the [s] pronunciation for z/c is normal in several Spanish dialects, including, but not limited to Latin American dialects.

- The  pronunciation for j/g is also common in Latin America.


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## Qcumber

Outsider said:


> - As Crackerjack has noted, the [s] pronunciation for z/c is normal in several Spanish dialects, including, but not limited to Latin American dialects. - The  pronunciation for j/g is also common in Latin America.



You may have noticed I was answering ASM's question: "Are Marcos, Martinez, Garcia, or any other Spanish name pronounced the same way as in Spanish? Or the only common thing is the spelling, having two different pronunciations?"
I suppose the Spanish pronunciation ASM had in mind was the standard Spanish pronunciation of Spain.   

By the way, one cannot account for the majority of Spanish names to Latin America as it was after the independence of Latin American countries that the Philippines became a colony of Spain, and Spanish surnames became compulsory. 

Besides the Philippines became more hispanized after the opening of the Suez Canal. Hispanization also meant modernity: steamboats, trains, tramcars, telegraph, photography, cinema, electricity, gas, typewriters, corrugated iron, ... and FreeMasonry. When the US invaded the Philippines, they found a modern country (of course in the style of the second half of the 19th century).


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## Cracker Jack

Qcumber said:


> Hello, Cracker Jack.
> Why then do parents give Spanish forenames to their children?
> Are you happy in Barcelona where everybody has got either a Spanish name or a Catalan name?


 
If by forename you mean given name, well, it's true.  But that was in the 50's.  From the 60's onwards most Filipino kids have been given English or non-Spanish names.  If they have Spanish names, they would opt to ''deodorize'' it by modifying it.  Based on the examples I gave Restituto would be Resty, Candida/Candelaria - Candy.  Nowadays nobody would name kids this way.

However, not are Spanish names are treated that way.  Some are still in use like Manuel, Luis, Marco, Pilar, Belen, Consuelo, Carmela, etc.  However very few of those born in the 90s have these names.  There are those whose names appear Spanish-like but pronounced the English way like David pronounced as Dey-vid and not Da-vid.

As for me, I've never been happier in my life than I am now.  Although I don't like their names, I am sane enough to keep it as my opinion.  I don't let it stand my way.  I still call them by their names.  I guess it has something to do with tolerance.  I am here to study and I would let names prevent me from pusuing it.  Besides, their character is more important to me.  In a way of saying, when I get to have kids someday, I won't give them Spanish names that I do not like.

I am here for academic purposes and also to study languages Spanish and Catalan.


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## mdetorro

SantiagoPamintuan said:


> It is amazing that us Filipinos can so easily learn Spanish-----it is like a memory from a distant past suddenly being activated.


 
Interesting because I know this is true in my case.  I am a fluent Tagalog and English speaker (no Taglish here).  My Filipino family is of Spanish descent.  The use of Spanish died in my family after my grandfather's generation.  His generation never encouraged speaking it.  Instead, we were all drilled on speaking English fluently.  My exposure to the Spanish language when I was in the Philippines was mostly comprised of memories of my grandfather speaking it and my 2 years of Spanish in college.  However, I have always "understood" it.  It's hard to explain it but if a Spanish-speaking person spoke to me in Spanish, I have always understood what was being said in context.  Now that I am brushing up on my Spanish, I am finding it really easy to pick up again.  Everyone tells me my accent is excellent.  The comments made about Filipinos pronouncing things differently is not isolated to Spanish words.  Filipino English sounds very different from say American English.  One also has to note that within the country itself, Filipinos from different regions sound very different when speaking the same Tagalog language.  In my case, I find myself changing my accent from American to Filipino when speaking to a Filipino in English.  It's just a matter of learning how to roll your tongue the right way depending on the language and the audience.


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