Tagalog, Morong Style

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April 1, 2010.

I always thought that the Tagalog language grammar is pretty much uniform all over the southern part of Luzon. Of course there are some exceptions such as the popular interjection "ala e!" in Batangas. A trip to the Rizal province has proven my idea wrong.

 I didn't know what tinrahang magramag means. Either Morong has its own language or this is some form of Tagalog that I haven't heard before (being exposed only to the dialect used in Laguna and Batangas). An internet search proved to be enlightening. Morong, Cardona, Baras, and Teresa towns have a Tagalog dialect in which the /r/ replaces /d/ in spelling and pronunciation! 

Therefore, the words on the shop sign, is tindahang magdamag in the Laguna dialect. The sign probably means that the shop, which sells tapa (beef jerky; the Spanish use of tapa is different from the Tagalog definition of the term) and tinapa (smoked fish), is open all night.

This is very interesting! I hope that Morong's proximity to Manila will not affect the usage of its dialect, and that the language experts in the country can help understand and preserve it. It's amazing that such a landlocked portion of the region has a dialect different from what is used by the others. Now, I wonder how people in the Romblon and Palawan areas speak Tagalog and if I could understand them. I didn't notice anything different in Mindoro Oriental and in Marinduque, but I'm sure there must be because these islands are further off Manila.

Comments

  1. Carlo CuevasApril 3, 2010 at 11:50 AM

    baka ibig sabihin ng tinrahang magramag ay open 24 hours a day?

    ReplyDelete
  2. rochie cuevasApril 3, 2010 at 9:14 PM

    Pwede! Pero ang galing no? Malapit lang ang Morong sa Maynila kasi. Tapos may sarili na silang dialect!

    ReplyDelete
  3. noah-angela pagdangananApril 4, 2010 at 4:25 AM

    dito sa amin, minsan pinagpapalit namin ang /d/ at /r/ like your example -- magdamagan = magramagan. pero only in very formal tagalog or pag super tanda na ng kausap. pagbabagong morpoponemiko ata ang tawag diyan sa Balarilang Filipino. Kaso yun nga, sa lingua franca natin, nawawala na yan. lalo na't ang mga kabataan ngayon ay ganito na magsalita:

    'elo poh. muxtah nah poh keo? k aman poh aq.' == hahahaha! pag ako ang teacher nila sa Balarila, tatumbling ako!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. noah-angela pagdangananApril 4, 2010 at 4:29 AM

    nakaisip ako ng isa pang example: nandito vs narito. usually kasi if preceded by a consonant, you use /d/ pero pag vowel /r/. but that is strict tagalog na, which nobody uses anymore. hehehe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. rochie cuevasApril 4, 2010 at 6:13 AM

    aray ko! pag ganito ang ibibigay nilang manuscript sa akin, itatapon ko na agad sa basurahan! SINGKO! hahaha! sumakit ang ulo ko... kakatapos ko lang mag edit ng thesis ng studyante. tsk.

    ReplyDelete
  6. rochie cuevasApril 4, 2010 at 6:15 AM

    May naisip pa ako: nakain vs kumakain. Mga taga-maynila pinagtatawanan yung nagamit ng "na-" pero sa dialect ng mga Tagalog sa Laguna ginagamit yun e.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carlo CuevasApril 4, 2010 at 1:22 PM

    naninibago lang siguro ang mga taga maynila sa tagalog natin. wala kasing ganun sa lungsod.

    ReplyDelete
  8. rochie cuevasApril 6, 2010 at 8:49 AM

    Mukhang wala na ngang ganun sa Maynila. Uso doon ang Taglish kasi.

    ReplyDelete

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