| Name |
Views and Comments | Date |
| artdax |
DEATH BY LINGUICIDE – PART II
ArtDax Essay
A SHORT HISTORY OF LINGUICIDE
In part one of my essay, I pointed out the fact that throughout the course human history, languages have become extinct due to natural causes such as natural disasters, intermarriages, migration, attrition, etc. But the death of languages can also be attributed to an unnatural cause such as linguicide (linguistic genocide caused by the deliberate destruction of a language through government policies).
"In the United States there (sic) is one of the most classic examples of linguicide. In the 1800’s, a time when Americans believed in their Manifest Destiny, the US government used a form of linguicide in order to force Native Americans to learn English. After moving Native Americans from their homelands, the government removed Native American children from their homes sending them to English only schoolhouses. After learning to speak fluent English, and basic lessons, children were returned to their homes. Though by the time of return they spoke primarily English (sic). In turn families began to speak English in order to communicate with their children"-(Renee’ Western Wash Univ)
Against this back draft, we can venture to say that this is in effect what is happening in present day Philippines. Children whose mother tongue is not Tagalog go to school everyday and are forced to speak Filipino, which is de facto Tagalog. When they return home from school, in their confusion they would talk to their parents and siblings in Filipino. Enough has been said with regard to the extent of this problem and the fact that the powers that be in the government have unjustifiably supported Tagalog to the detriment of the other regional languages.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
Many have yelled counter slogans and have continued to point out the injustice brought on by the government’s "One National Language" policy. The conscience of those whose mother tongue is not Tagalog has been aroused enough that I feel we no longer have to continue convincing each other of how destructive the instruments of the ONL policy are.
We, Filipinos who have a mother tongue other than Tagalog all seem to be united in recognition of this problem. However, I have observed from your emails that there is no unity in finding the solution to this problem. There are those proposing constitutional amendment, plebiscite and lately this new Federalism. I call on you, the pioneers on the forefront of this struggle, Manuel Faelner, Edwin Camaya, Ernie Turla, Aurelio Agcaoili and other distinguished opponents of ONL to unite in finding the solution to this problem of linguicide.
PRESERVATION AND REVIVAL OF A LANGUAGE
Since the initial era of linguicide perpetrated against them by the U.S., speakers of Native American languages such as Cherokee, Choctaw, Pima, Zuni, Ojibwa, etc. have continued to dwindle. This is happening not only due to natural causes but also due to indifference. Predictions have been that these Native American Languages will continue to decline and die out within this century.
On the other hand, in 1977, there were fewer than 600 speakers of the Hawaiian language (not to be confused with Pidgin-Hawaiian Creole). Today there are over 27,000 speakers. This is due to government intervention to preserve the language by instituting immersion programs.
Hebrew became extinct during the early Roman Empire when the Romans conquered Palestine. Today, Hebrew is a rich and vibrant language spoken in many parts of the world. A single person is principally credited for its renaissance:
"In 1881 Ben Yehuda, a Lithuanian-Jewish Student, proposed the idea of reviving the language of Prayer (Hebrew was only used in prayers). His children were the first in over 30,000 years to speak the Hebrew language as their native tongue. Ben Yehuda devoted the rest of his life to reviving the language. He transformed the language, which in Biblical Times consisted of 8,000 words to a vocabulary of nearly 120,000. " (W.Wash. Univ.)
If only one person single handedly revived a dead language, Hebrew, how much more can we do with 2, 10, 100, 1000 or more activists working to preserve and propagate our regional languages.
INSTANT RELIEF
Due to my lack of knowledge of the Philippine Constitution, which I readily admit, I brought forth several questions in part 1 of my essay which have remained unanswered. I believe that if we have the answers to these questions, we can immediately act upon them and produce immediate favorable results towards our goal of preserving and propagating our regional languages.
-How can we immediately stop the use of Filipino as the medium of instruction in our schools?
-How can we stop the Board of Education from imposing fines and penalties on students who are caught speaking in their mother tongue?
-How can we add immersion programs in our schools for the study of our regional languages? How can we add subjects that promote the culture and literature of a region?
-How can we stop government employees and employees of commercial businesses from using Filipino instead of the language of the region they are located in?
-How can we convince clergymen to conduct religious mass and sermons in the vernacular language instead of in Filipino?
-How can we promote our regional language as the language to use on local radio and TV programs?
-How can we convince our local government officials and politicians to give their speeches in the language of their region rather than in Filipino?
If the local Board of Education, local government, provincial government and the Catholic Church have the power to effect changes, it seems to me that all we have to do is to work in convincing them. Recent emails that I have read give the impression that school governments have a lot of leeway in deciding whether or not to promote its regional language. E.g. Jason Laxamana’s email advising on how a certain school government changed a welcome back to school sign into the regional language. Obviously this was done without any repercussions from any regulatory agency.
IS TAGALOG THE VILLAIN?
I believe that effecting change at the local level will give us the best chance for immediate success. The revision of government policies through a Constitutional amendment or by a plebiscite are long term goals and require a little bit more examination and analysis. First thing we have to recognize is that Tagalog is here to stay. Whether Tagalog remains as the National Language disguised as Filipino, it will stay as a Lingua Franca (common language of convenience). Tagalog speakers will contend that it is just as rich if not richer than other regional languages. Therefore, why hate Tagalog? Isn’t it convenient to have a Lingua Franca to use as a means of communications in a time of a national emergency or war? Isn’t it an advantage to understand three languages?
No one language should be supported and promoted by the government to the detriment of other languages. Therefore, our ultimate goal remains the preservation and enrichment of all our regional languages. This can be accomplished without taking away Tagalog’s designation as Filipino. After all, one of the proposals to amend the constitution from ONL to a Multiple National Language society clearly presents problems. Should we have 171 national languages? Should we choose only the 5 or 6 languages with the greatest number of speakers to be the National Languages? Where would that place Pampanga and Pangasinan? If we followed the logic of many writers, in 1937, speakers of Cebuano outnumbered speakers of Tagalog. If they made Cebuano the national language, wouldn’t we be fighting it just as vigorously as we are fighting Tagalog today?
Multilingualism may not be the answer. If we have a magic wand what would we like to see? The death of Tagalog? Or the inclusion and promotion of other languages to National Language status? Hence, making the national languages Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Ilonggo and Bicolano. These are the 5 languages with the greatest number of speakers. Should we shoot for 6 or 7 national languages? Maybe 8, 9 or 10? If this ever becomes a reality, the remaining 161 minority languages will be fighting just as vigorously against Cebuano and Ilocano just as we seem to be doing now against Tagalog.
IF I HAVE A MAGIC WAND
Leave Tagalog alone and let it retain the name Filipino, whether or not it remains as the National language or merely the de facto Lingua Franca of the nation. It is just as rich as our other regional languages and it has come this far in its richness, with its own dictionaries, grammar books, literary work, movies, etc. Coupled with the problems with Multilingualism as explained in the previous section, the demotion of Tagalog would be very hard to accomplish through a constitutional amendment or plebiscite. The advocates of the demotion of Tagalog to "no longer be the national language" would likely lose. There are many fears associated with losing Tagalog as the national language. It is better to "choose the devil you know over the devil you don’t know".
We have to admit that, although Tagalog speakers are 28% of the population, speakers whose mother tongue IS NOT Tagalog also have a varying fluency in the Tagalog language. Therefore, we who speak a regional language have a definite advantage, in that we are basically tri-lingual. In a constitutional amendment proposal, who in the legislature would vote to replace our National Language with MANY National Languages? In a plebiscite, can we expect all citizens with a mother tongue other than Tagalog vote to replace it or place it at par with Cebuano or Ilocano? I don’t think so. As I said in part 1 of my essay, we have not yet overcome our regional bigotry and prejudices. Why would a Manileño or a Pampangueño care to watch a Visayan or Ilocano movie?
Filipino (Tagalog) has gone far enough as the National Language. There is no point in trying to dethrone it as the National Language especially if we are all confused as to what should replace it. It is enough to clearly state our goals, that we do not want its further intrusion into our lives, its promotion in our schools, businesses, churches, arts and literature if it would mean the possible demise of our regional languages.
Let us work to convince the powers that be to stop spending our tax money for the further promotion of Filipino. Let us help them recognize that the depth and breadth Filipino has reached in our schools, in the arts and in our lives is enough…..for now. Let us help them realize that the premise of the constitution to "further develop Filipino based on existing regional languages" means we have the right to use our regional languages as medium of instruction in schools without government intervention. Let the leaders of each region work with the local governments and the Board of Education to add regional language studies to the curriculum, promote literary contests and song writing, encourage film making, etc. Finally, let us leave our children and grandchildren a legacy by inculcating in them that speaking and writing in their mother tongue is a "cool" thing to do.
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1/18/2008 |
| chas |
where do i buy the blueletter bible .and how much .can i go online to buy it . |
8/5/2007 |
| beepbeepitsme |
"De t’ings dat yo’ li’ble
To read in de Bible—
It ain’t necessarily so." Ira Gershwin |
7/27/2006 |
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