Reposting of Dan Greenland's "Language" Article

My best friend here in the Philippines, PCV Dan Greenland, just posted a really insightful artcile on his blog about the complexities, the use of, need of and future of language here in the Philippines and everywhere in general (9/8/09). I was so impressed I asked him if I could repost it here on my blog because it really disects the issue articulately and, from my perspective, realistically.

Here is a link to the original posting.

--->

Before I left for the Philippines, I was instructed by Peace Corps to learn the national language of the Philippines, Tagalog. They gave me a free computer program (Rosetta Stone) and told me that I should do at least 40 hours. That might not sound like a lot since I had the entire summer to complete it, but there is actually a clock that runs on Rosetta Stone that only counts when you are actively doing activities, so it's very tiring. When I arrived in the Philippines, I was told that I would actually be learning a completely different language called Cebuano. For three months during training, I studied (kind of..) Cebuano and was fairly comfortable getting around and doing the basic life functions I'd need the language for. I taught in English only, so the language was mainly for integrating in the community, making friends, and performing everyday life functions like going to the market. When training was over, I was told that the island I was going to was actually not really pure Cebuano. The town I live in is surrounded by Waray-Waray speakers, and the language of my town is a mix of both Cebuano and Waray-Waray. Now, I am conversational in Cebuano and I can sort of understandWaray-Waray, and know basic phrases of Tagalog.

At first, I was pretty angry that I had to keep relearning languages just to get by. By now though, I've realized that it's just a part of life in the Philippines. Everyone in town can speak a bit of three or four languages. English and Tagalog is taught in school, and the island is populated by Waray-Waray speakers and Cebuano speakers. Grammar and words from each language are used interchangeably. "Magtext na lang ko unya po" = "Just text me later sir" That phrase alone is a mix of three different languages. Learning language used to seem very mystical to me, but I've really learned how natural learning a language truly is. It's just a part of life really, and most people in town don't even realize they are combining four different languages when they speak. I once told Kim that language is a discovery, but for children it's even easier than that. They don't have to do anything at all really because picking up language is so inherent in us. The fact that different languages are being used is an afterthought so long as the meaning of the communication is clear.

Language is political. In the U.S., we have an idea of what is proper or standard English, and deviations from that standard are generally assumed as less academic, correct, and intelligent. Of course, no language, be it Cebuano or a deviation of English, can be superior or inferior to another language. It's a linguistic principle that all languages can equally express the environment of that language just as well as any other language. We have an idea of a standard English due to a long timeline of history and current cultural norms, but the fact that it's standard doesn't make it better, just the accepted standard. I think it's important to learn that standard because you will be judged by your language in the future, but it's not better or worse than Ebonics or Waray-Waray. The Philippines has its own examples. Take the national language, Filipino. Filipino is almost exactly the same as Tagalog, but it was renamed in order to garner support and create a sense of national pride for the language. Tagalog is the language used in Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines and the language of the capital, Manila. It's also the language of the politicians who decided that the national language would be Tagalog, because Senators here are "at large", so they don't represent a province or state like in the U.S., but the entire country. Making a national language in a country with over 80 languages could not come about without controversy, but I think the opposition had some good arguments on their case (although I'm biased). The opposition of Filipino/Tagalog becoming the national language were the Cebuano speakers because the Cebuanosactually outnumber the Tagalogs in the country. There are more native Cebuanos than Tagalogs, but they are not as powerful politically. The controversy is still alive in some aspects. In Cebu (second largest city after Manila, and where Cebuano derives its name) people still will play the national anthem in Cebuano instead of Tagalog. Also, some native Cebuanos refuse to speak in Tagalog before government members if they are called to court.

All this is interesting to observe from an outsiders point of view. I really didn't care what language I learned, so long as they didn't keep changing it on me. Now, I find myself identifying with Cebuanos and finding it distasteful when people from Manila come to the island and speak Tagalog as if they expect everyone to bow to their native language. This is a ridiculously ironic thought for an American and native English speaker to write, and the irony isn't lost on me. Nevertheless, it's annoying that all the television programs are in Tagalog and all the famous songs are in Tagalog. That said, there are even more levels to this language cornucopia. The Waray-Warayspeakers are expected to know Cebuano, since they are in theVisayan region and I find myself getting annoyed in Tacloban(Waray-Waray capital city) when I can't speak Cebuano. TheWaray-Waray speakers in my college are expected to at least understand Cebuano even though like 40% of the population are native Warays. We are all hopeless hypocrites really: I'm here because I am a native speaker of a valuable foreign language, I am fluent in a local language and despise the national language, and I want everyone on the island to speak the language I've already learned. What am I even saying anymore?

Basically, Waray is being squeezed out of existence by English, Tagalog, and Cebuano. My counterpart Jethol is aware of this and very passionate about saving the language. He has published stories and poems in Waray-Waray, and we have many conversations about the politics in language. I'm doing my best to learn Waray-Waray, and got a few books to do some studying. I can understand it pretty well now because the apartment I moved into is surrounded by an extended family of native Warays and I've been playing with the volleyball team who is also all Waray speakers. I forgot to mention that people tend to be drawn to others who speak their language, which is why every single member on the volleyball team is a Waray. The languages really aren't that different, but there is a different rhythm that people my Cebuano friends say they have trouble relating to. "Hin-kaon ka na?" Nikaon na ka?" The first is Waray and the second Cebuano for "did you eat yet?". They look pretty similar right? The thing that's tricky is the glottal stops... Waray has lots of quick stops and they speak it quite a bit faster. Cebuanos thinkWarays always sound angry, and it does kind of remind me of the difference between French and German, if you get my idea. (Maybe that's just my idea of it.)

Language is both simple and complicated. It's simple on the most important level: communication. It's complicated on the abstract levels: politics, culture, etc. Are we moving towards one universal language thanks to globalization (i.e. Internet, songs, tv.)? I would say most likely, given the statistics. In the past 100 years, we've lost over half the languages that exist in the world. As things get more connected in the world, we'll all probably speak some kind of Englishpidgin infused with tech. jargon and old cultural standbys. Lucky for the English speakers, but not so much for the Warays. That said,necessity is the mother of invention, and I'm sure that people will learn what they have to learn to keep going on.

For now, I'll stick to talking in a weird Cebuano/Waray mix and try not to become a raging hypocrite about who should speak what language. Language--any language--never really mattered anyway I suppose; it's what people are saying and meaning that's what has always mattered.