The Philippines Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow
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
Kambal It’s Gemini season! How do you say “twin” in your language? KAMBAL • (kuhm-BUHL)twinsTagálog (Filipino): kambál Derived WordKAKAMBAL • (kuh-kuhm-BUHL)co-twin, one of the twinsTagálog (Filipino): kakambál
Pawu It’s World Turtle Day! The concept of reverse psychology in Kapampángan is expressed with a verb that originates from the Kapampángan root word for “turtle”! PAÛ / PAWÛ • (puh-WOO’)turtle, sea turtleTagálog (Filipino): pagóng, pawíkan (sea turtle) Kapampángan Reverse PsychologyThe concept of reverse psychology is expressed in Kapampángan with the verb magpawû (magpauo in … Read more
Aklap Did you know that Kapampángan has a unique word that means “to spread light throughout the world”? AKLAP • (uhk-LUHP)spread of sunlight over the Earth’s surface Verb Conjugationmaklap, mámaklap, miklap – for light to spread throughout the world (Actor Focus) You may want to read: Lusis Aslag