Dayat
February 2 is World Wetlands Day, and wetlands are one of the most essential features of the Kapampángan landscape. As the “people/place of riverbanks”, Kapampángan culture and livelihood have been centered on these wetlands, ranging from natural ones such as swamps and marshes to man-made ones such as irrigated fields.
DÁYAT • (DAH-yuht)
irrigated fields
Tagálog (Filipino): búkid, bukirín, kabukíran
Derived place name:
ARÁYAT • (uh-RAH-yuht)
a town and mountain in Pampanga, named for being surrounded by irrigated fields
Derived term:
DÁYAT MÁLAT • (DAH-yuht MAH-luht)
sea (literally “salty fields”)
Tagálog (Filipino): dágat
(Mount Arayat came to be called such in English and widespread usage due to its proximity to the town. Its native Kapampángan name is Bundúk Aláya or “Eastern Mountain”. The similarity of Aráyat and Aláya are coincidental and etymologically unrelated words.)