Tagalog: one of the fastest growing Filipino languages

Tagalog is an Austronesian language that is mainly spoken in the Philippines. Speakers can also be found in Canada, the USA, UK, Guam, Saudi Arabia, Midway Islands and the United Arab Emirates. The name Tagalog was derived from the word tagá-ílog, which translates to someone who resides besides the river. The Tagalog language has been influenced by other languages, which it has come into contact with. This includes English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Sanskrit. Tagalog is the national language of the Filipinos, which keeps all the Filipinos all over the world in touch with their cultural roots. The 1990 United States census showed that Tagalog was the 2nd most spoken Asiatic language in the US. A large number of Universities in the United States are increasingly offering courses on the Tagalog language. Research also shows that Tagalog is one of the fastest growing languages in Canada. It is one of the 5th most spoken, non official languages in Canada, behind Punjabi and Chinese. By 2011, 47,600 people in Canada indicated that they used Tagalog as their primary language at home.

One of the fist books to be written using the Tagalog language was Doctrina Cristiana, which translates to Christian Doctrine. It was published in 1953. The Tagalog text was written using a mixture of the Latin alphabet and Baybayin. Tagalog uses a syllabic alphabet. This means that each consonant is accompanied by an inherent vowel.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.