Merry Christmas or Paskung Máyap ning Dispû in formal Kapampángan! This is a special formal way of saying “Merry Christmas” in the Kapampángan language. Word by word, it literally means “a good/blessed Christmas of God”.
This is the shortened form of the longer greeting, “MÁYAP A PASKU NING KÉBAITAN NING DIOS PÛ!” which literally means,
“a good/blessed Paschal birth of the Lord”.
PASKU is the Kapampángan word for Christmas which is derived from Spanish Pascua (“Easter”). Pascua in Spanish now means Easter and originally referred to various Christian festival days such as Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost.
MÁYAP means “good, well, nice” in an intrinsic or moral sense in Kapampángan.
DISPÛ is a contraction of DIOS PÛ. “Dios” means “God” in Spanish which was borrowed into Kapampángan while “pû” is the politeness particle in Kapampángan. “Dios pû” is a phrase used to ask for permission, excuse, or blessing in reference to God. It can be added to common greetings to make them sound more formal. For example, “Máyap a béngi ning Dispû” literally means “a good evening of the Lord”.
Other more colloquial ways of greeting others with a merry Christmas in Kapampángan include:
• MASAYANG PASKU! (“Happy Christmas”)
• MALIGÁYANG PASKU! (“Merry Christmas”, associated with Tagálog’s “Maligáyang Paskó”)
• MÁYAP A PASKU! (“Good Christmas Day!”)
You can also change it up with other adjectives! For example, “Malugud a Pasku” literally means “a Christmas full of love” (from lugud which is Kapampángan for “love”).
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