The Philippines Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow
Salabat Perhaps the most well-known Filipino tea is salabat or ginger tea! This tea is commonly served during the cold or rainy seasons as a throat-soothing remedy and is widely believed to improve a person’s singing voice. SALABAT • (suh-luh-BUHT)ginger teaTagálog (Filipino): salabát EtymologyFrom Persian شربت (šarbat) “sharbat”, an Iranian non-alcoholic sweet cool drink popular … Read more
Duldul May is Thunderstorm Month in the Philippines as per PAGASA, the Philippine weather bureau, so here’s the Kapampángan word for “thunder” on the last Thor’s day of May! Thunderstorms frequently occur in the afternoon or evening during this month as the Philippine hot and dry summer season shifts to the rainy season. DULDUL • … Read more
Webis It’s the last Thursday of the month! How do you say “Thursday” in your language? WÉBIS • (WEH-bis)ThursdayTagálog (Filipino): Huwébes EtymologyFrom Spanish jueves (“Thursday”) You may want to read: Lunis Sabadu
Alak It’s National Wine Day! The word for wine or any alcoholic drink in the Philippine languages comes from an Arabic word that means “perspiration” or “distillate”! ÁLAK • (AH-luhk)wine, liquor, alcoholic drinkTagálog (Filipino): álak EtymologyFrom Arabic عرق (ʿaraq) which literally means “perspiration” or “distillate”, via Malay arak “alcoholic drink”. The Arabic word is the … Read more
Koya Happy National Brothers Day! Let’s show our appreciation to our brothers and brotherly figures today. KÓYA • (KOH-yuh)older brotherTagálog (Filipino): kúya EtymologyFrom Hokkien 哥仔 (ko͘-iá) or 哥兄 (ko͘-hiaⁿ) (appellation for older brother)Partly related to Korean 형 (hyeong) [hanja: 兄] “older brother of a male” Usage Notes“Kóya” in Kapampángan means “older brother”. It can also … Read more