K is for Kool, Kute, Krazy, and Kapampangan! Pakisabian tá la pung Kapampángan deng ának támu!
Kapampangan is a language native to Central Luzon. It is the majority language in Pampanga, one of two main languages in Tarlac, and also spoken in neighboring provinces. Kapampangan is part of a special branch of Philippine languages, which includes Sambalic languages and possibly northern Mindoro languages too. Kapampangan is very different from Tagalog, Visayan languages, and northern Luzon languages. It has unique characteristics in terms of grammar and vocabulary, which are windows into the history and culture of the Kapampangan people. It is really fascinating to hear and a joy to learn!
People incorrectly call Kapampangan a “dialect”, because of misconceptions and misinformation taught in schools. Many teachers tell their students that anything spoken in a province outside Metro Manila is a “dialect”, but this is not true. They are teaching an outdated an inaccurate definition of a dialect. Kapampangan is a LANGUAGE, one of 170+ LANGUAGES in the Philippines.
Despite having millions of speakers, Kapampangan is declining and at risk of eventually going extinct. While past generations could speak and write in elegant, formal Kapampangan (including Pres. Diosdado Macapagal), there are fewer and fewer people with this ability. Many Kapampangan parents do not speak to their kids in Kapampangan, choosing to speak in Tagalog (or English). There are several factors for this, including the influence of Tagalog media, the influx of Tagalog-speaking migrants in Kapampangan areas, and government policies that have favored Tagalog/Filipino and English. Kapampangan has not been institutionalized in the education system after Grade 3, which prevents Kapampangans from developing advanced proficiency in their own language.
If you speak Kapampangan to your children, they will still learn Tagalog outside the home because of its dominant presence in society. Therefore, when they grow up, they will know how to speak both languages fluently. If you speak only Tagalog to your kids, however, they will have difficulty becoming fluent in Kapampangan because there are fewer opportunities/requirements for learning it. I have witnessed countless examples of this outcome. Isn’t it better if your kids know how to speak more languages, especially their native one, which would connect them to their family, culture, and heritage? So please let us not be ashamed of speaking Kapampangan to our children! It will actually benefit them.
I know Kapampangan parents who have become aware of this issue, and who have made the conscious decision to raise their children in the mother tongue first. The kids are very inquisitive, active, and verbal. Even though they learn Kapampangan first, they become trilingual as they have plenty of exposure to Tagalog and English outside the home. I salute these parents for being excellent role models. They are passing their mother tongue to their kids and showing that it doesn’t harm them. Furthermore, they are demonstrating that Kapampangan is not incompatible with modern society. It is NOT backward, barriotic, or uneducated. It is a precious gift.
*
Balá da ring maldâ “dialect” yá mú ing Amánung Sísuan paúlí ning é maustang katuruan kariing iskuéla a “dialect” lá mû ding nánu mang amánung magagámit kilual ning Ménílâ. Óyan ing lawun at makalúmang katuruan karing iskuéla kéti Pilipínas. Ing katutuan yá pin ing AMÁNU (language) ya at é yá mú kabud “dialect” ing kékatámung Amánung Sísuan. Iniá pin áusan téng AMÁNU yé. Métung ya iti karing 170+ a AMÁNUNG mayayapsé king mabílug a Kapuluan.
Bistá at man mékad adduá tá na mó kanung miliun, íkatámung mánialítáng Kapampángan, mámitamit ya pa rin rugung matatdá at magláwú ing Amánu táng Sísuan.
Banua-banua at ákákit tóng parakal nang parakal ding péngáring Kapampángan a páragulan da nó mung mánialítang Tagálug, at nung káyi mó Inglis, ding karélang ának at é ra nó mó bitasang pásusuan king Amánu rang Sísuan.
Nung pasusuan tó réng ának támu king Amánu táng Sísuan, mabiása la pa rin namang Tagálug kalual da karing pibalébalé támu. Nánu pa tá at dágul lang matalustus king pámanialítá da karéting adduang amánu. Dápot, nung paragulan tó mung mánagálug déning ának támu, magkasákit nóng mabiásang Kapampángan pawúlí ning dítak nó mung tutú réning lugal, óras at oportunidad nung nú ré maliáring panigarálan iti. Dítak lá mú naman ding biásang túrú kaníti. É más masanting nung ding ának támu dakal la bálung salítâ, lálung lálú na ing Amánu táng Sísuan? É tá pú sána pikaríné ing pásusuan tó réng ának támu king Amánu táng Sísuan. Iti yang maging sustánciá ning karélang kaladdua.
Kapampángan: métung ya karing mutiang timpúkan na ning Pilipínas.
Collaborators:
LoveAllLanguages
/ firthm2
/ pinoy_languages
IG: firth_m
wethelokal
/ wethelokal
sinupan.singsing/
IG: keannalois