The publication next month of the English translation of Fray Diego Bergaño’s twin books Arte de la Lengua Pampanga (Grammar of the Kapampangan Language, published in 1729) and Vocabulario de Pampango (Kapampangan Vocabulary, published in 1732) is a big cultural event that Kapampangans all over are eagerly awaiting.
For the first time, ordinary Kapampangans will have access to the highly regarded documents which previously, only scholars with Spanish proficiency could read.
“The Bergaño books are veritable treasure troves of linguistic and anthropological data,” Robby Tantingco, Director of Holy Angel University’s Center for Kapampangan Studies, says. “You can imagine the impact on Kapampangan scholarship when hundreds of students, teachers and researchers get their hands on these documents for the first time.”
The Center is publishing the books in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Two Catholic priests in Pampanga, Fr. Venancio Q. Samson and Fr. Edilberto V. Santos, translated the Vocabulario and the Arte, respectively.
The books record the state of the Kapampangan language in the early 1700s before adulteration set in. “These words can be reintroduced today to enrich our language and expand our vocabulary,” Tantingco says.
Examples of words found in the dictionary that have fallen out of usage over the years are:
sipan (toothbrush)
langolango (toilet)
galang (bracelet)
yubyub (barbecue)
carangcarang (baby walker)
amuyam (sponge)
lambangan (rice dispenser)
limpasut (shark)
talangtalang (goldfish)
batanglaua (spiderweb)
...as well as numerals, from isa (one) to lacsa (ten thousand), gatus (one hundred thousand) and sangyuta (one million).
“Our problem today is that we can only speak Kapampangan but can no longer read and write in Kapampangan,” Tantingco says. “Sure, there are still many Kapampangan speakers, but their vocabulary is limited to everyday conversation. When we go into lengthy intellectual discourse, we shift to English or Filipino.”
“To show you how sophisticated our language is, the verb ‘to cross legs’ has a specific term for women (timpo) and for men (sila),” Tantingco points out.
“Same thing for ‘to dance,’ which is indac for women and terac for men. We have words for every animal sound, like:
ngeung (cat’s meow)
kaung (dog’s bark)
gocgoc (pig’s grunt)
gacgac (cow’s bellow)
siac (an insect’s chirp)
siuc (a bird’s chirp)
patoc (hen’s cackle when laying eggs)
cucuc (hen’s cackle after eggs have hatched)
Bergaño’s books contain Kapampangan words in practically all areas of study and human activity, which can help in the campaign to “intellectualize” Kapampangan. In medicine, for example, the following Kapampangan words can be reintroduced:
taguilid (diarrhea)
buclo (goiter)
bugsuc (vitiligo)
mabayag (hernia)
batulalangan (myopia)
bilig (cataract)
culapad (intestinal worm or amoeba)
tuma (pubic lice)
yacyac (swollen spleen)
sigasig (asthma)
bucoco (malignant tumor)
dacclong (bowlegged)
singcul (twisted arm)
simpac (cleft mouth)
gutul (head contusion)
As the 1732 dictionary reveals, Kapampangan is capable of expressing sublime thought and emotion.
The word sap or sapni, for instance, refers to the “camaraderie among friends, even between a slave and a master” and aniani to “the reverence of a subject to a superior as well as reverence of a superior to a subordinate.”
The word lualu means “the virtue of championing the defenseless,” saclong “to take the punishment meant for another or to pay the debt that’s not your own.”
Quaint words like:
payungdaguis (mushroom, but literally, “mouse’s umbrella”)
sulungdaguis (morning star; lit. “mouse’s lamp”)
sabo susu (milk; lit. “soup from the breast”)
bungang tudtud (dream; lit. “fruit of sleep”)
pinanari (rainbow; lit. “king’s loincloth”)
anac sulip (illegitimate child; lit. “child from the basement”)
...show the creative possibilities of the language.
There are also specific and often graphic terms for times of the day, colors, body parts, family ties, flora and fauna, sex and erotica, as well as etymology of common Kapampangan surnames like:
laus (hole)
tayag (to lift)
sagum (to mix drinks)
ibe (to become intoxicated from chewing betel nut)
canlas (to succeed in office)
abad (slight wound)
tulabut (to spurt)
viray (boat)
calma (luck)
suba (to navigate upstream)
...and many more.
“Bergaño’s books can reinvigorate the Kapampangan language by supplying it with thousands of rediscovered words, which is why I consider the translation of these books a real breakthrough in Kapampangan studies ” Tantingco says.
June 6, 2007
Random familiar Kapampangan words
There are certain Kapampangan words which are very familiar to me (and my younger relatives), yet they seldom find their way in our vocabulary. Like for example, when I ask myself, "what's the other Kapampangan word for [word]?" I would say aua ne! (oh yeah!) when I find out the answer.
I'll post some of these words.
tambing - at once
Karatang mu kanan mu nong tambing.
Once you get home, eat them at once.
saglulu - race (as in a competition)
Saglulu katang makapamiblas.
Let's find out who dresses up faster.
sigi - to move
Sigi me pakayli.
Move it to the left.
mipaindatun - to become peaceful; to kill restlessness
Ali ya mipaindatun uling kasal ne bukas.
He is restless because it's his wedding tomorrow.
totek - (informal) having psychiatric problem
Totek ya naman pala ing kayabe yu.
Your housemaid is sort of crazy after all.
bungad - front
Akit me king bungad ning bale.
You'll see it in front of the house.
ngusngus - to swallow, to take in
Ngusngus kang Vitamin C.
Take some Vitamin C.
tunggalan - one each
Tunggalan lang pialungan.
Each of them has one toy.
salingku - to make a turn or curve
Salingku kang kayli bang miras ka bale mi.
Turn left to get to our house.
marirya - jealous
Marirya ya kanaku kasi masalapi ku.
He's jealous of me because I'm wealthy.
tisti - to criticize
Atna kang kapanisti.
You love to criticize.
mangasna - to be full of, to be covered with
Lon me ing malan mu, mengasna yang toyu.
Look at your shirt; it's stained with soysauce.
kasdan - expression, "malay mo" or "who knows?"
Kasdan mu aku pa ing manyambut.
Who knows? I might win in the end.
talip - to peel
Patalip mo ring kamuti kang Ness.
Ask Ness to peel the yam.
ungus - to overtake, to be in a higher level, to be ahead
Buri nang pane ya ing makayungus.
He always wants to be ahead of everyone.
mabaya - aching
Mabaya ku dungus.
My stomach is aching.
tau - to put on fire
Patau na ka mong api mang makanangnang ta na.
Start some fire so we can start grilling.
tuklu - to step on
Ali ke buring tutuklu king sular ku.
I don't want him stepping in my territory.
kabasa - of the same wavelength, person one is chummy with
Ika na mu ing manyad; kabasa mu ne man.
You go and ask him; you're close after all.
salsal - to fall on the butt
Atne karine iniang mengapasalsal ya.
He was humiliated when he fell on his butt.
sumangid - side
Adua pa, misusumangid.
There's still space for two people, one on each side.
misanipan - to cough because of swallowing, wrong breathing, etc.
Ali ku manguku; misanipan ku mu.
I don't have cough; something was just stuck in my chest.
gigut - to nibble, to eat in bits
Sali kang mani bang atin tang gigigutan kabang manenaya.
Buy peanuts so we'll have something to nibble while waiting.
gugu - to apply something on the scalp, like shampoo
Mikatagyauat ku iniang minggugu kung coconut oil.
I got pimples when I shampooed my hair with coconut oil.
More next time.
I'll post some of these words.
tambing - at once
Karatang mu kanan mu nong tambing.
Once you get home, eat them at once.
saglulu - race (as in a competition)
Saglulu katang makapamiblas.
Let's find out who dresses up faster.
sigi - to move
Sigi me pakayli.
Move it to the left.
mipaindatun - to become peaceful; to kill restlessness
Ali ya mipaindatun uling kasal ne bukas.
He is restless because it's his wedding tomorrow.
totek - (informal) having psychiatric problem
Totek ya naman pala ing kayabe yu.
Your housemaid is sort of crazy after all.
bungad - front
Akit me king bungad ning bale.
You'll see it in front of the house.
ngusngus - to swallow, to take in
Ngusngus kang Vitamin C.
Take some Vitamin C.
tunggalan - one each
Tunggalan lang pialungan.
Each of them has one toy.
salingku - to make a turn or curve
Salingku kang kayli bang miras ka bale mi.
Turn left to get to our house.
marirya - jealous
Marirya ya kanaku kasi masalapi ku.
He's jealous of me because I'm wealthy.
tisti - to criticize
Atna kang kapanisti.
You love to criticize.
mangasna - to be full of, to be covered with
Lon me ing malan mu, mengasna yang toyu.
Look at your shirt; it's stained with soysauce.
kasdan - expression, "malay mo" or "who knows?"
Kasdan mu aku pa ing manyambut.
Who knows? I might win in the end.
talip - to peel
Patalip mo ring kamuti kang Ness.
Ask Ness to peel the yam.
ungus - to overtake, to be in a higher level, to be ahead
Buri nang pane ya ing makayungus.
He always wants to be ahead of everyone.
mabaya - aching
Mabaya ku dungus.
My stomach is aching.
tau - to put on fire
Patau na ka mong api mang makanangnang ta na.
Start some fire so we can start grilling.
tuklu - to step on
Ali ke buring tutuklu king sular ku.
I don't want him stepping in my territory.
kabasa - of the same wavelength, person one is chummy with
Ika na mu ing manyad; kabasa mu ne man.
You go and ask him; you're close after all.
salsal - to fall on the butt
Atne karine iniang mengapasalsal ya.
He was humiliated when he fell on his butt.
sumangid - side
Adua pa, misusumangid.
There's still space for two people, one on each side.
misanipan - to cough because of swallowing, wrong breathing, etc.
Ali ku manguku; misanipan ku mu.
I don't have cough; something was just stuck in my chest.
gigut - to nibble, to eat in bits
Sali kang mani bang atin tang gigigutan kabang manenaya.
Buy peanuts so we'll have something to nibble while waiting.
gugu - to apply something on the scalp, like shampoo
Mikatagyauat ku iniang minggugu kung coconut oil.
I got pimples when I shampooed my hair with coconut oil.
More next time.
June 4, 2007
Pop Kapampangan superheroes
I'm making them! A little more practice in drawing and I'll be making my independent comics.
June 2, 2007
June 1, 2007
Keng Pung Lele
I have created a new blog called Keng Pung Lele (equivalent of Tagalog "sa tabi po" when wanting to step down from a jeep). Unlike this advocacy blog, it's an informal journal about anything in my life (or others' lives according to my perspective) written in Kapampangan.
I am doing this to practice my Kapampangan writing skill. Blogging is one effective contribution to the advancement of my skill in writing essays, especially in conversational style.
However, I started blogging before in - surprise! - Tagalog and English. Now it's time for my Kapampangan to catch up!
Inia magpasyal kayu ketang bayu kung dapat, ne? Ustung e ko minta panyalsal ku da kayu ay!
sisigman.blogspot.com
I am doing this to practice my Kapampangan writing skill. Blogging is one effective contribution to the advancement of my skill in writing essays, especially in conversational style.
However, I started blogging before in - surprise! - Tagalog and English. Now it's time for my Kapampangan to catch up!
Inia magpasyal kayu ketang bayu kung dapat, ne? Ustung e ko minta panyalsal ku da kayu ay!
sisigman.blogspot.com
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