HARRY POTTER: Some meanings could be lost in translation

Even as the sixth film in the popular Harry Potter series is scheduled to be released simultaneously in the US and UK on July 17, 2009 in regular cinemas amd IMAX 3-D, there seems to be no pressure for anyone to come up with a translation of the books in any of the Philippine languages for the obvious reason that Filipinos–most of those who’ve gone to school and learn and understand enough English anyway–would probably want to read and enjoy the books in English with none of the usual language nuances lost in translation.  How, for instance, do you translate Quidditch in Ilocano?

In fact, the learning of English as provided by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Executive Order No. 210 (2003) and implemented by DepEd Order No. 36 (2006) could probably benefit from both the text and audio versions of the Harry Potter books to reinforce the oral part of a grade school English course.  Simply require grade school students to read any given text file of the Harry Potter series while they listen to the corresponding audio file as rendered by Englishman Jim Dale, the featured voice in more than 25 popular audio books.  Snippets of the text and corresponding audio files of the Harry Potter novels could easily be developed into YouTube video episodes with the proper permissions from the J.K. Rowling jaggernaut.  The  Harry Potter episodes, if developed in YouTube, would be one of the most effective ways of learning how to pronounce English, something even Dr. Henry Higgins would have wanted for Eliza Dolittle in “My Fair Lady“.

Harry Potter ken ti bato ti pilosopo [mangkukulam?]

According to Wikipedia, there are some 60 authorized translations of J.K Rowling’s popular Harry Potter novels.  For instance, all 7 Harry Potter novels have been translated into Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese–6 Asian languages.

For the uninitiated in the art of translating a literary piece of work, especially one as popular as the Harry Potter series, the process may appear daunting.  To me it does.  It definitely requires certain multilingual writing skills.  For those who desire to become fiction writers, I believe translating a piece of work like Harry Potter to, say, Ilocano is perhaps one of the best and most effective creative writing courses available for FREE.  You actually get into the author’s bag of tricks to make the work something the reader wants to read and enjoy.  My extremely limited venture of translating only the first three full paragraphs of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, crimped obviously with more than 38 years of not actively using Ilocano in my daily conversation, is an engaging, Eureka!-type experience.  It just confirms the validity of the principles covered in Robert McKee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting, the very popular book on how to craft a story, any story largely based on “show, don’t tell“.

We invite you to give it a try.  First, secure the appropriate authorization to translate Harry Potter in Ilocano and go to work at it in earnest.  We’ll even give you a headstart, as long as you promise to fix the following rough draft and do a number of rewrites to make it as interesting as the original:

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HARRY POTTER KEN TI BATO TI MANGKUKULAM

Kapitulo 1 – Ti Bumarito a Nagbiag

Impagtangsit da Mr. ken Mrs. Dursley, agindeg iti numero kuatro, Privet Drive, ti kina-ordinario da a naparsua, Dios unay ti agngina.  Isuda ti maudi a namnamaem a mainaig iti ania man a naisalsalumina wenno misterioso, agsipud ta dida mamati iti dayta a kinamauyong.  Direktor ni Mr. Dursley iti kompania a Grunnings, agpartuat ti barrena.  Dakkel isuna, nalukmeg isu a kasla awan tengngedna, ken napalalo ti kinabengbeng ti bigotena.  Kuttapir ken olandes ti buok ni Mrs. Dursley ken kasla dua kasilpo ti tengngedna, naserbi a saguday agsipud ta masansan ti itatan-awna iti bangir ti alad tapno agusyoso kadagiti kaarruba.  Ni Dudley ti bumarito nga anak dagiti agasawa a Dursley ket segun ti pannirigda awan ngatan uray sadino man ti kaasping ti kinasayaat daytoy bumarito.

Addaan dagiti Dursley iti amin a kasapulanda, ngem adda met palimedda nga isu ti kangrunaan a pakasikuranda no amangan adda makaduktal iti daytoy.  Dida ipagarup a maibturanda ti bain no adda makatakuat iti maipanggep kadagiti Potters.  Kabsat ni Mrs. Dursley ni Mrs. Potter, ngem adun a tawen ti napalabas a di nagkita dagitoy; kinapudnona, imbilang ni Mrs. Dursley nga awan kabsatna a babai agsipud ta iti panangipapanna saan a maitutop a makitimpuyog daytoy kabsatna ken ti awan kaes-eskanna nga asawana kadagiti Dursley uray no kasano. Agsidduker a mangutob dagiti agasawa a Dursley no ania ti sawen dagiti kaarrubada iti kanito a sumarungkar dagiti agasawa a Potter iti eskinitada.  Ammo dagiti Dursley nga adda ubing a lalaki nga anak dagiti Potters, ngem dida pay nakita daytoy.  Isu pay daytoy ubing ti dakkel a pakaigapuan ti panagtukkiadda a mangpasangbay kadagiti Potters iti pagtaenganda; dida kayat a makilangen ni Dudley iti maysa nga ubing a kasdiay.

Idi nakariing ni Mr. ken Mrs. Dursley iti nakulem, nauspak a Martes nga isu a mangrugi ti estoria, awan ti pamalpalatpatan nga adda ipakdaar ti nalulem a langit a naisalsalumina ken misterioso nga agarup mapasamak iti sapasap a pagilian.  Immayeng-eng ni Mr. Dursley bayat ti panagpilina iti pinaka-ordinario a korbata nga usarenna a mapan agtrabaho, ket naparagsit met nga agsaosao ni Mrs. Dursley bayat ti pananggabbona iti imriag a Dudley tapno maipatugawna iti high chair daytoy.

Awan kadakuada ti nakadlaw iti dakkel, panglusiawen a kayumanggi a kul-laaw a limmabas iti tawa….

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Indexing the Internet’s Ilocano-related content

Any attempt at cross-indexing constantly changing Internet content on or in Ilocano and related matters on the themes expressly spoused here (Iloco, Iloco culture and literature) and pooling the results in one website, ilocano-online.com [ILOCANO ONLINE--our home website], is an ambitious undertaking.  But with your help, that’s exactly what we would like to try, for your–and our–convenience.

Oh sure, you could go search the Internet on your own using whatever appropriate search parameters or keywords to nail down your search.  However, what ILOCANO ONLINE offers is to narrow down your search and filter out some of the EXTRANEOUS STUFF (e.g., websites with  Ilocano titles with no content whatsoever that’s related to our chosen themes) that oftentimes strays into your search results.

Searching the Internet for Ilocano-related content is a large project and it will be an ongoing project.  We shall appreciate any suggestions on how we should go about this effort.  Or, you could just as easily leave a message/info/comment here to point to the Internet content or material–yours and/or others–that you wish to be included in ILOCANO ONLINE’s cross-indexing.  To facilitate this, we have a dedicated link, FOR CROSS-INDEXING [which is actually the COMMENT section below this particular blog entry; when you get there, hit the End key to scroll down to the empty COMMENT box], under the heading, AAA: CONTENT’S URL, at the top of the middle sidebar where you can leave the address/URL information of the Internet content you wish to be indexed.  To avoid copyright issues, we cross-index content and/or their owners using their URLs.

We shall appreciate your calling our attention when cross-indexed Internet content ceases to exist either because it is moved, renamed, deleted, or whatever so we could perform the appropriate update.

The effort could be fun as we discover interesting Internet content on or in Ilocano.  Who knows, some of them may turn out to be of interest to you as well.

PAMULINAWEN

PAMULINAWEN: natangken a bato wenno calidad a kinatangken ti puso wenno kinatangken ti ulo.  Maipangpangruna a canta dagiti Ilocano manipud pay idi sacbay a dimteng dagiti Castila.  Maibilang a nailian a canta (national anthem) ti Ilocandia.  Nalabit, cayatmo a pugtuan no sadino ti pagcawicawan daytoy lubid ken diac man masinunuo no–iti maysa a pisi ti canito a naiwawa ta panunotmo–immapay cadi kenca, uray naminsan laeng, daytoy a pammaliiw: Elpidio Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay, Ferdinand Marcos, Fidel Ramos–uppat a Presidente nga Ilocano–WHAT WERE THEY IN POWER FOR? No coman cas iti panangsappuyot dagiti Americano iti ‘God Bless America‘ ti panagraem ti entero a pagilian ti Filipinas iti ‘Pamulinawen’….. The word ‘Pamulinawen’ could easily be replaced with ‘Filipinas co’ wenno ‘O, Filipinas’ when the entire song is repeated and it would be just swell. You wouldn’t skip a beat, metaphor, or meaning. Ah, what a monumental what-would-have-been that, for all intents and purposes, could  powerfully stir the passion of a nation!

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Pamulinawen [O, Filipinas]

Pusoc indengam man

Toy umas-asug

Agrayo ita sadiam

Panunotem man

Dica pagintutulngan

Toy agayat,

Agrayo ita sadiam.

Essem ti diac calipatan

Ta nasudi unay a nagan

Uray sadin ti ayan

Lugar sadino man

Aw-awagac a di agsarday

Ta naganmo a casam-itan

No malagipca,

Pusoc ti mabang-aran.

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CHARICE: ipagtangsit, Ilocano ca man wenno saan

Charice ken Oprah

Agtawen laeng iti 16 ken napili cas maysa cadagiti nagunggunaan iti Philippines People of the Year Award 2008 (ni dati a Pres. Corazon Aquino ti maysa cadagiti awardees), maibilang ni Charice Pempengco, tubo ti Cabuyao, Laguna (nayanac May 10, 1992) a maysa cadagiti naisangsangayan a cumacanta iti lubong nga ipagtangsit dagiti Filipino. Rimmuar idi Oct. 14, 2008 ti umuna nga album daytoy a napauluan iti Charice.

Naawis nga ag-perform cadagiti nadumaduma a suli ti lubong a pacairamanan ti South Korea, Netherlands, Canada, England, ken USA.  Dagitoy sumaganad ti cangrunaan a nacaawisan nga agparang ni Charice tapno agcanta:  The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, Madison Square Garden with Celine Dion, Paul O’Grady Show, Ellen DeGeneres Show, NBC Today Show iti daytay napalabas a Macy’s  Thanksgiving Parade, 2008 Carousel of Hope, kdpy.  Naawis pay ni Charice iti naudi a Martin Luther King Day celebration iti daytay napalabas nga Enero, sacbay ti Obama Presidential Inauguration.

No maysa ca nga agduyos iti arte, nangruna ti musica, uray sadino a suli ti lubong ti naggappuam, awisen ca a buyaem dagitoy sumaganad a music videos ken dagiti nagcaadu a music videos ni Charice a masaracan iti YouTube ket mapanecnecam nga awan duadua no apay a pagraeman ken maipagtangsit daytoy:

English is our national language

Section 7, Article XIV, of the 1987 Constitution provides that “For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English. The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein.“

For all intents and purposes, English is our more predominant national language in (a) the three branches of government, (b) public and private schools as medium of instruction (MOI) in accordance with Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Exec. Order 210 of 2003 as implemented by DepEd Order No. 36, and (c) the other non-Tagalog speaking regions of the country. (Well, the regional languages have been essentially dropped or ignored as auxiliary media of instruction, period.)  Even some of the proponents of Filipino as the national language seem to have a comfortable preference expressing themselves in English; can’t blame them for using this de facto global language to convince the rest of us who are not Tagalogs  to communicate in Tagalog, er, Filipino.

Agwarsitayo iti bagas

Toy daniw, “Agwarsitayo iti Bagas“, ni Aurelio S. Agcaoili, tubo ti Laoag, Ilocos Norte, ken agdama a professor iti University of Hawaii at Manoa, ti nangabac iti Umuna a Gunggona ti Daniw Iloco iti pasalip (Sep. 2006) nga inisponsor ti Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino.

Mapadayawannac a mangipablaac ditoy agsipud ta di mapagriruan nga adda cayatna a sawen ken no ania ti cayatna a sawen.

No maysaca cadagiti macalagip iti palacapac ti nasapatosan a cabayo a mangguyod iti calesa idi un-unana, nalabit no basaem toy daniw ket “mangegmo” pay ti panagtulatid dagiti pilid a napacalupcopan iti landoc ken ti pannacapalidlid dagiti al-alia/espiritu a mawarsian iti bagas a baac… Natinggaw, Adi.

Casla “equal opportunity commentary” daytoy a daniw–malidlidan ti masecnan, di ngamin?

AGWARSITAYO ITI BAGAS

Daniw ni Aurelio S. Agcaoili

Agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak
Pangbugtak kadagiti karkarna ti bislak
Daytay pangitali iti sangasako a ragsak
Sandi dagiti arapaap a mailusaklusak.

Agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak
Yunatayo dagiti diputado dagiti libak
Dagitay man nakakurbata nga aginsisiglat
Mangumkomision iti kinirog a rigrigat.

Ay, agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak
Isarunotayo dagiti senador dagiti beklat
Warsiantay ti senador, sapsapuen ti akak
Agas buy-ong a di nagbannog, agas ti kirat.

Ay, agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak
Iramantay ti palasio dagiti kari ti perdi a pirak
Ti palasio a kasingin dagiti naisalda nga utek
Ti palasio a Malakaniang ti arestado nga agek.

Ay, agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak,
Pangpadisi amin a mangmangkik, amin a sinalbag
Dagitay man paraimula iti buteng iti bayakabak
Mangibalud iti pagguuray a bendision iti agpatnag.

Ay, agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak.
Warsi a pangpaksiat kadagiti saraaw ti pinggan
Warsi a pangbuggiaw mannanakaw a kaibaan
Saraaw ken kaibaan, kontra signos ti paggaak.

Ay, agwarsitayo iti bagas, bagas a baak
Nasamay daytoy a pangdalus di ikankano tulag
Nasamay a panagpartuat manen iti baro a biag
Sandi’t inarasdasda nga aldaw a napusaksak.

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How my brother Leon brought home a wife

IDI YAWID NI MANONG LEON TI ASAWANA

Sarita ni

Manuel E. Arguilla

[Impatarus ni Constante C. Casabar iti Ilocano manipud iti original nga English version iti baba.  Umuna a naipablaac iti Bannawag Disiembre 18, 1961. Naipablaac manen iti Rimat Oktubre 2004.  Naipablaac iti LABAW 2006.  Naadaw ti sumaganad iti naipablaac a copia ti LABAW iti Iluko.com.]

Dimsaag iti kalesa ni Ka Celin. Napardas, a ngem naannad. Napintas.  Natayag. Umis-isem a nangtangad ken ni Manong, ta pagat-ngiwat ni Manong ti mugingna.

“Sika ni Baldo,” kinunana sana imparabaw a silalag-an ti imana iti abagak. Atitiddog dagiti kukona, ngem saanda a napintaan. Nabanglo a kas ti papaya iti agsapa no agsabsabong dagitoy. Ken adda sangkaballing a kallid a nagparang iti apagapaman iti akinkanawan a pingpingna.

“Ket daytoy met ni Labang a nadamdamagkon.”  Iniggamanna ti maysa a ngulayngulayna ket minatmatanna ni Labang, ket saan nga insardeng ni Labang ti panagngatingatna.  Nagalimon ni Labang, immadu ti labutab iti ngiwatna ket kasla naggarangugong a tambor ti tianna.

Iniggamak ti nabaked a tengnged ni Labang sako kinuna kenkuana: “Makudkodam itan ti mugingna.”

Nagammanga ket nakitak a situturong dagiti matana kadagiti nawasnay ken sikkubeng a sara.  Ngem immay met laeng ket insagidna dagiti nawasnay a ramayna iti muging ni Labang, ket saan man la a sinardayan ni Labang ti panagngatingatna malaksid iti panangikidemna kadagiti dadakkel a matana. Ket idi kuan, kudkudkodannan a silalag-an ti muging ni Labang.

Aragaag

Agallangogan ita
Dagiti balikas
Tulbek ti tanem
Nga inka nagpasagan.

Nagtulid dagiti pagteng
Ken lagip, a naimaldit
Kadagiti ladawan
Nga imbati’t tagainep.

Ummungen dagiti pul-oy
Naruay a sinamar
Tapno di mapagsina
Paraut dagiti tekken.

Agrusing dagiti ramut
A pinasantak paspasamak
Namagsanga’t agnanayon
Tinallikudam nga arapaap.

Ket maurnong dagidi sagibo
A pinarusing dagiti saning-i
Karit manipud langit
Mangrukod iti nabati a kired.

Itan agminar
Dagiti anniniwan
Kas aragaag a tinagibi
Ti agnanayon ken masakbayan.

Masebseban ngata
Dagiti linnaaw ti rissik
Aliaw nga in-inawen
Agpangaddua a kaunggam?

No bilang matungday
Dagiti putar a samiweng
Saan a kas pannusa a dung-aw
A manglemmes ti puso ken kararuam.

Bay-am ti panawen
A mangyetnag ti pangngeddeng
Nga ituyang,
Ti langit a pagrukbabam.

Urayem a lumtuad
Naruay nga aragaag
Manipud aglukat
A tawa’t pannakaawat.

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Daniw ni

>>>>>     Leofina Jane G. Galleta     <<<<<

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UNNOY

Agunnoy,
Dagiti pitik
Ritmo a biagen
Dagiti darikmat
A danggayan ragutok;
Anges, manipud dissuor
Iti kaunggam.

Tiliwen
Dagiti taldiap
Naumbi nga abrasa
A mangipakada,
Iti sumina a malem
Imnas a nangkayaw
Iti kararuam.

Ket lumtuad,
Dagiti samiweng
Agrusing, kadagiti baet
Linabag ni tagainep;
Naitalimeng a paraiso
Iti likudan,
Dagiti nabiag nga isem.

Iti panagrikep,
Dagiti tawa’t kararuam
Maigiddato met, pannakalukat
Dagiti ruangan,
Iti paraiso a pagbibiagan
Dagiti sennaay a manglittup
Kadagiti naipaidam a darikmat.

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Daniw ni

>>>>>   Leofina Jane G. Galleta   <<<<<

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‘Ilocano samtoy’ blog combined with ‘ILOCANO ONLINE’

And so I started my first blog, ‘Ilocano language, culture, literature’ (ilocano-samtoy.blogspot.com), a couple of years ago.  I thoroughly enjoy the give-and-take with fellow bloggers and other folks in cyberspace, which is the next best thing to actually having a conversation with another warm-blooded human being sans the eye contact, gestures, the occasional wink, spit or tactile stuff.  The emoticons and YouTube and other Internet freebie gadgets/utility software help tremendously in conveying one’s thoughts or chuckles.  And the freedom of expression that comes with blogging, ah–

Today, however, I have reached a fork on the blogging road.  Henceforth, the older blog–Ilocano-samtoy–is combined with ILOCANO ONLINE.  Ilocano-samtoy covers essentially the same themes as those we dwell on here that’s why I decided it’s best to concentrate my attention here.  I appreciate your hopping along.  After all,

Ania ngata a sanga ti saririt ti “Pungpong Ginabbong”

Iti panagcunami, nalabit naan-annay met a panangpanunot ken panangamiris ti inaramat ti nangputar iti “Pungpong Ginabbong”.  Agsipud ta idi un-unana, no pungpongen (play with a baby by moving about its arms and legs, according to Carl Rubino’s dictionary) da ti ubing, agtalna daytoy wenno mairidep, no la ketdi saan a mabisin, wenno nabasa ti lamping na, wenno awan im-impenna.  Ammo met a di maawatan ti ubing a maladaga dagiti sasawen ti cancion, isu nga atapen mi a ti ayug ti addaan bilegna a mangandingay iti ubing.

Pinadasyo cadin a pinungpong ni baket wenno lacay yo cadagiti canito a dudua cayo ken sigurado cayo a nacabalunet diay ridaw ken tawa tapno awan agsirip?  Agtalna ngata ti nataengan a mapungpong a cas iti maladaga?  Wenno yepyepen santo casla matumba a nambaan a sumuco ken ni turog?  Siimenyo no ania ti ibunga daytoy cabayatan panangdengngeg yo a dua iti ayug ti “Pungpong Ginabbong”:

(Originally published in ibangui.wordpress.com)

No dimo saluadan, amangan malipatam ti ag-Ilocano

Cadagitoy napalaabas nga aldaw, nakisinnucatac iti email ken ni Dr. Aurelio S. Agcaoili, tubo ti ciudad ti Laoag ken nagturpos iti University of the Philippines, premiado a mannurat, lider ti gunglo ti NAKEM, maysa cadagiti sagat nga adigi ti panangparang-ay iti Ilocano ken agdama a Coordinator ti Programa a Pagsasao ken Kur-itan nga Ilocano, Departamento dagiti Pagsasao ken Kur-itan nga Indo-Pacifica, Universidad ti Hawai’i iti Manoa:

Sunday, January 25, 2009, 11:23AM

Patgec nga Ariel:  Annugotec nga akikid ti focus ti blog co, ibangui.wordpress.com, isu ngarud nga umay ca man singaen ken ruroden bareng mapan mo usisaen no ania ti pagcurangan dagiti dua a naudi nga impaskin co sadiay.

Yamanec unay ti ania a criticism nga ipaaymo, Cabsat.

Agraem, –Manong Joe

Monday, January 26, 2009, 4:36PM

Patgek a Manong Joe:  Dinardarasko a sinirpat ti blogyo gapu ta ammoc nga adu ti maadal ken maagsaw.  Ket agpayso!  More, more!  –Ariel

Monday, January 26, 2009, 6:45PM

Dear Ariel:  Thanks for taking the time to humor me.  One thing I was painfully aware of was that the rhetoric was terribly inadequate.  I know you have more ammo in your arsenal.  By all means, let’s use ‘em.

The all too enervating reality in what we are trying to do to save Ilocano is the crippling silence of a lot of our fellow Ilocanos who are in a position to see to it that we don’t witness the eventual, albeit slow demise of our language.  –Manong Joe

Monday, January 26, 2009, 7:09PM

Manong Joe:  Dayta ngarud, Apo Joe, ti pagsaksakitan ti nakem ti adu kadatayo iti daytoy a tignayan.  Dagiti pangnamnamaantayo a makatulong iti daytoy a tignayan, awanda.  Ngem ala, aramid daytoy a kultural, aramid a pulitical, ken aramid a kabulig ti ranget ken pannakiranget, iti man bukod a bagi, iti man kailian/kailokanuan, ken/wenno iti sabali pay. Sapay ta agballigitayo.

Maysa a panagsaludar kenca, –Ariel

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 9:25AM

Patgec nga Ariel:  Kinaagpayso na, lacayacon ngem agsipud ta nabayagen a nagtaeng ditoy agdama nga ayanco, nairuamacon a maibilang a cadawyan wenno ordinario laeng (nga isu ti kinaagpaysona) isu nga agalumiimac nga awagam iti “Apo”.  Isu a pangngaasim ta isardengmo ti panangawagmo caniac iti “Apo”.  Caniac a maysa, ni Apo Dios laeng ti rebbengna a maawagan iti Apo.

I know that the move to invigorate Ilocano, such as envisioned in the Gunigundo Bill, requires funding.  However, being this poor rat, I can’t help much in that aspect.  So who can we turn to as our patrons who would not be squeamish about unloosing their power, influence and financial resources to keep the fight alive and kicking and focused laser-sharp to getting the desired results and eventually winning the fight for multilingual education?  Maybe your NAKEM group could come together and formulate a strategy focused on this Gunigundo Bill in particular and, in general, on placing Tagalog on an equal footing with the other major local languages such as Ilocano, Cebuano, Bicol, etc., CERTAINLY NOT as the favored language which is lording it over the other languages at such a costly sacrifice of losing these non-Tagalog languages forever–maybe not in our lifetime but forever any way such as we have witnessed happen with other languages that died.

In other words, here’s your chance, Ariel, to have your group fashion a formidable Ilocano language movement manifesto that has a backbone and muscle to bring about the needed results in much the same manner as the Tagalistas took advantage of the corridors of power to have Tagalog declared as the pseudo “national language”.  As I wrote you earlier, I really don’t mind having English as the national language, as indeed it is now constitutionally, being that it is is also the global lingua franca, and have the other local languages thrive equally with Tagalog in the spirit of the Gunigundo Bill.  Earlier in the mid 1900s, we relished the perception that we had the highest percentage of our population who spoke English with a high literacy rate to boot until the Tagalistas, with their hidden agenda of effectively colonizing the country themselves, came along on the coattails of a Tagalog-speaking president and a swath of Tagalog cohorts in high places.  The rest of us Ilocanos, Cebuanos, Bicolanos, Pampanguenos Hiligaynons, Pangasinenses, Warays, etc., stood by almost completely mesmerized and scarcely lifted a finger at the coming demise of our respective languages, cultures and unique bodies of literature.  WE WERE SO UTTERLY TRUSTING AND DUMB THAT UNTIL NOW NOT VERY MANY AMONG US KNEW AND UNDERSTOOD OR EVEN CARED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HIT US.

History has clearly demonstrated again and again that people with distinctly unique languages/dialects tend to gravitate to the language vigorously propagated by governments as the language of commerce for purely economic or survival reasons.  And that, as you and I know, is what’s happening to the non-Tagalog languages in the Philippines.  The increasing use of Tagalog and the conversely decreasing use of the others can only spell out a sure consequence, namely, the demise of the non-Tagalog languages.

Someone wrote:  “Ethnic genocide is the destruction of a culture.  You can compare it to a living being who is born, lives, and dies.  If he dies a natural death after a long and beautiful life, very well.  But if we kill him, or we don’t help him when he is in danger, that’s something else…  It’s the same with languages in danger of extinction.”

I was kind of hoping that Bannawag, Tawid NewsMagasin, and other Ilocano publications of note, Ilocano writers and Ilocano bloggers would show some energy to carry the torch.  But I believe most of them find no immediacy to the attendant issues.  There just seems to be an incredible amount of apathy toward preserving one’s mother tongue simply because the people who dictate policy and who care to influence the Constitution are brainwashed about the imposition of Tagalog (which was not even the language of the majority at the time) as one of our national languages.  We seem to fail to see that government is just a bunch of people like the rest of us–with their own sellfish agenda.  At this point in time, the Tagalogs just seem to have more energy and determination to assert themselves to colonize the rest of us who, to their undisguised eleation, are mere uncomplaining sacrificial lambs waiting to be butchered and skewered.  –Manong Joe

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:11AM

Dear Ariel:  Please don’t get tired of the repetitious messages coming from me.  I suppose you don’t need them.  But what’s important is for you and the rest of us to keep repeating the message until something like the ground beneath our feet shifts in our favor.  We’ve got to keep pounding the message:

“What matters is not the death of a language in itself, but what that death can bring:  When a language disappears, a whole way of thinking, a vision of the world disappears with it, which can only impoversih human culture and the capacity of people to understand the world around them.”

We are nearing the threshold of inevitability of Ilocano being supplanted entirely by Tagalog/Filipino.  We can no longer afford to waste our chances.  NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT BACK AND ASSERT OUR RIGHTS TO THE USE AND PRESERVATION OF OUR NATIVE TONGUE, OUR CULTURE, OUR LITERATURE, OUR HERITAGE.

If we don’t, the time will come when the agcamcam (the new Tagalog colonizers) among us don’t even need the obligatory or deferential but insulting and despicable “Okinnam, okinnam…”  –Manong Joe

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:13AM

Manong Joe:  Wen, ngarud:  nakakaskas-ang.  Adu dagiti Tagalista a maibilang a kabusor daytoy numo ngem diak agalumiim.  Kinaagpaysuanna, profesorko pay ti maysa kadakuada.  Ngem saan a mabalin daytoy, Manong Joe.  Masapul ti nanakman a dangadang–ken masapul ti kinaregget a kankanayon, a no dadduma ket agmawmaw met.  Mabannog ti puso, madudog ti kararua nangruna no ti makita ket dagiti pada met a nengneng a dida met ammo ti lablabidenda.  Anian!  Ngem saan a gasat daytoy:  daytoy ket resulta ti saan nga umno a panagsirmata ken kinaawan panagparmata iti masakbayan.  Awan pabasolen no di met laeng datayo.  Saan a gasat, saan a ti sabali tapno iti kasta ket makasursurotayo a makibalubal iti nagan dagiti fundamental a karbengantayo. –Ariel

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:33AM

Patgec nga Ariel:  Idi nagawidac iti daytay napalabas a Marso, dimo ngata patien ngem casla adda pimmusay a parte ti kina-Ilocanoc idi sungbatandac iti Tagalog tunggal nakisaritaac iti Ilocano cadagiti pada nga Ilocano iti amin a nagpasiarac idiay Ilocandia, agraman dagiti cailian idiay Bangui.

Dayta ti dackel a paggiddiatan ti caadduan cadagiti pada nga Ilocano dita Hawaii.  Iti daydi naudi a panagpasiarco dita Hawaii, napaliiwco a lumawag ti rupa ken macaisem dagiti Ilocano no casaritam ida iti Ilocano, uray pay no dimo am-ammo ida–sadiay Honolulu wenno Hilo airports, idiay USS Arizona Memorial Park, Ala Moana Center, wenno idiay Waikiki Beach.  Nadlawco dagiti pada nga Ilocano nga ibaw-ingda ti panagkitada kenca apaman a mangegda nga ag-Ilocano ca.

Sal-ut a biag!  –Manong Joe

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 12:03PM

Manong Joe:  Daytoy, Manong Joe, ti empirikal a datos a mismo a nakitam.  Isu nga agung-ungetakon.  Ket iti NAKEM Conference idiay Batac idi 2007, diak nagawidan ti ngiwngiwko ket imbagak nga estupido ti pagannurotan ti govierno maipapan iti edukasion, kultura, ken lengguahe–a nengneng a padak dagiti agpatpataray iti sistema ti educasion.  Iti tallaong nga imbagak dayta.  No dadduma, masapul a kulibagtongem dagitoy pada nga Ilokano a sinalbag.

Ala, makapaunget nga agpayso.  Idi agsubli dagiti nagbakasion a fakultimi, kasta met ti imbagada ken nagung-ungetda met ta agin-Tatagalog kano met dagiti mamaestro ken mamaestra.  Pwe, kunam man!  –Ariel

(Originally published in ibangui.wordpress.com)

Dagiti baro nga agcamcam

No dimo naamiris a dagus no apay nga impostec ti “Okinnam, okinnam…” ditoy baba, ti cangrunaan a calicagumac nga ipakita kenca isu ti kinabileg ti pagsasao a pangparucma iti cayat a parmeken.  Nadlawmo nga iti canito (agarup 94 seconds calpasan panangrugi ti YouTube video) a nag-Ilocano dagiti kumacanta nga agpabuya, nabulosan daytoy iti panagray-aw dagiti caadduan nga Ilocano cadagiti nagtitipon nga agbuya.

No di pay nalawag dita utec ken pamanunotam no apay nga incalicagum dagidi nagturay cas iti daydi Presidente Manuel Quezon, Lope K. Santos ken dagiti naruay a pasurot da cadagiti nangangato a puesto ti govierno manipud idi 1935 agingga ita, ti calicagum da a mangparang-ay iti “nailian a pagsasao” a naibatay iti Tagalog, nalabit mautob mo itan no apay babaen ti mismo nga ejemplo iti “Okinnam, okinnam…“  Kinapudnona, masapul dagiti baro nga agcamcam–dagiti Tagalog–a macasursuro ca nga agsao iti Tagalog tapno:

• nalaclaca a maawatam dagiti ibilin da nga aramidem;
• maawatam ida no lacuan da ca idiay tiendaan ken shopping mall, wenno umay da ca danonen a lacuan dita balay mo;
• mapanca agbuya iti pelicula a Tagalog, agdengngegca iti Tagalog radio broadcast ket mangegmo dagiti advertisements iti Tagalog, gumatang ca iti Tagalog a diario, periodico, ken libro, gumatang ca iti ticket tapno inca agbuya cadagiti live performances iti Tagalog ken dadduma pay;
• ipagarupmo nga ay-ayatem ti ilim ken tumulong ca a mangidur-as iti “pangacaycaysa” tayo babaen ti panangsursurom nga agsao iti Tagalog, er, Filipino (“Filipino” ti pangawagda ita, imbes a Tagalog, tapno dica agaripapa wenno agtukkiad nga agsursuro nga ag-Tagalog).  Ngem iti panagcunam, adda cadi talaga naing-inget a panagcaycaysa tayo ita mayarig idi un-unana?
• in-inut a dimo aramaten ti Ilocano, ti nacayanacam a pagsasao, tapno in-inut a malipatam daytoy ket iti casta mapucaw a mamimpinsan ti ca-competencia dagiti baro nga agcamcam–dagiti Tagalog.

Saan da a ganggannaet.  Saan a babaen ti paltog wenno campilan ti panangparmec da kenca tapno sumuco ca ket surotem ti wagas ti biag a calicaguman da a surotem tapno maiturayan da ca ken nalaclaca a sepsepen da ta nagling-etam.

Malagipmo dagiti napaspasamac iti daydi Norman Conquest of England?  Malagipmo a daydi William (“William the Conqueror”), duque ti Normandy ti amianan a Frances, ti nangirusat idi 1066 AD iti panangsakup iti England.  Segun ti Wikipedia, “The Norman Conquest was a pivotal event in English history for several reasons. It largely removed the native ruling class, replacing it with a foreign, French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy and clerical hierarchy. This in turn brought about a transformation of the English language and the culture of England. By subjecting the country to rulers originating in France it linked England more closely with continental Europe, while lessening Scandinavian influence, and set the stage for a rivalry with France that would continue intermittently for more than eight centuries. It also had important consequences for the rest of the British Isles, paving the way for further Norman invasions in Wales and Ireland, and the extensive penetration of the aristocracy of Scotland by Norman and other French-speaking families… One of the most obvious changes was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Even after the decline of Norman, French retained the status of a prestige language for nearly 300 years and has had (with Norman) a significant influence on the language, which is easily visible in Modern English…”

Ilocano: R.I.P.?

No dimo pay la maawatan wenno adda pay la panagduaduam  no apay a cayat dagiti Tagalog–dagiti baro nga agcamcam–nga agsursuro ca nga ag-Tagalog, isingasingco nga ulitem a basaen ti Norman Conquest of England.

Malacsid no awan nabati a gagarmo nga agtukkiad nga iturayan dagiti baro nga agcamcam ken awan ti panangilalam iti Ilocano–ti bucod mo a nacayanacan a pagsasao agraman ti cannawidan ken literatura ni Ilocano.  Cas pagarigan, pumusay ti Bannawag agsipud ta bumassit a bumassit ti bilang dagiti Ilocano a gumatang iti daytoy a periodico, dimonto ngata iliwen?

(Published originally in ibangui.wordpress.com)

Okinnam, okinnam…

Here’s a brief line on each of the members of the above group:

Rey Valera is a singer, songwriter, music director and film scorer from the Philippines.  He wrote and produced songs that were recorded by various singers, most notably Sharon Cuneta.

Rico J. Puno is a popular Filipino pop singing artist who is credited as a pioneer-promoter of original Filipino music. He started the trend of incorporating Tagalog lyrics in his rendition of the American song The Way We Were and other foreign songs. Also known as Rico J. and as The Total Entertainer, Puno is a singer who regularly infused his on-stage performance with comedy and jokes.

Marco Sison, an award-winning singer and recording artist; he was a graduate of the popular “Student Canteen” noon time television show in the Philippines where he was undefeated for 14 consecutive weeks in the late 1970s

Nonoy Zuniga, award-winning singer/recording artist with international stints in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China and New Zealand.

“Hajji” Alejandro is a Filipino singer and actor. He’s the father of singerRachel Alejandro. The original Kilabot ng Kolehiyala (College Girls’ Heartthrob), Alejandro is best remembered for such songs as Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika, and Nakapagtataka.

In contrast to the “clean” act and powerful performance of Charice Pempengco as in the videos in the previous blog entry, the comedic antics of these OPM (for Original Pilipino Music) hitmakers, became vulgar slapstick and, like it or not, the Filipino locals somewhere in Hawaii seem to love it.  A little over 90 seconds into the video, it’s “Okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam,” perhaps upon recognizing that the crowd was predominantly Ilocano.  Whoa!

What do you think?

(Published originally in ibangui.wordpress.com)