DavaoPlus: [New post] Tagálog is not a dialect

Respond to this post by replying above this line

Tagálog is not a dialect

by Pepe Alas

One of my pet peeves: that our languages such as Tagálog, Cebuano, Capampañgan, Ilocano, Hiligaynón, etc. are all DIALECTS.

FACT: They are not dialects. They are LANGUAGES. Each language has several dialects. Case in point: the Tagálog language alone has eight dialects. These are:

1. Bataán
2. Batangas
3. Bulacán
4. Lúbang
5. Manila
6. Marinduque
7. Tanay–Paeté (Rizal-La Laguna)
8. Tayabas (Quezon).

Of all the abovementioned Tagálog dialects, Batangas is the most well-known (famous for its "ala eh" interjection). In fact, many linguists and historians say that the Batangas dialect is the provenance of the Tagálog language. On the other hand, the Tagálog spoken in Metro Manila (Manila dialect) is already considered standard by many for the reason that it is spoken in the capital/metropolis. That, I think, is also the reason why residents of Metro Manila tend to look down on their "provinciano" counterparts. Isn't it common knowledge that Manileños find it funny how their Tagálog brethren from the countryside speak?

My father's side of the family all speak the Tayabas dialect. And since my wife and kids have been living in San Pedro Tunasán for close to two decades, we have somehow imbibed the Tanay–Paeté dialect (most especially my wife and three boys). I remember one interesting incident when my family was in Calatagán, Batangas. We were then visiting the parish church of Santo Domingo de Silos when a man heard my wife speak. He easily guessed that she's from La Laguna!

Whenever I go to my wife's hometown of Abra de Ilog, Mindoro Occidental, I sometimes find it difficult to converse with her relatives because their Tagálog is somewhat different. I recently found out that the dialect spoken there is Lúbang.

Another case: if you observe places where the Cebuano language is spoken, you will notice that this language alone has six dialects. Ilocano has two. Bícol has several languages with each having several dialects of their own. And so on and so forth.

But why the misconception? This all began when our US-sponsored government installed Tagálog as a "national language". They then tinkered with it, changing its alphabet into Abakada (effectively destroying the Abecedario Filipino), then started calling it "Pilipino", rendering all the other languages in the archipelago as secondary. This is the long-lasting curse of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and its predecessors, all beholden to their US WASP colonial masters.