Filipino is the national language of the Philippines and, along with English, is an official language designated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Filipino is an Austronesian language that is based on existing native languages in the Philippines; the most significant influence is the Tagalog language. A large number of Spanish and English loanwords also exist in the vocabulary. About 40% of everyday (informal) Filipino conversation is practically made up of Spanish loanwords.[citation needed] The Filipino language remains in evolution, development, and further enrichment on the basis of existing languages of the Philippines and other languages.[4] It is the first language of Filipinos living in Metro Manila and the second language of most Filipinos.[5]
Sometimes the term "Filipino" is incorrectly used as the generic name for all the languages of the Philippines which, in turn, would be termed as dialects. Also, because of its similarity to the language on which it is based,[6] it is still sometimes identified with Tagalog.
The Commission on the Filipino Language (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino), the regulating body of Filipino, envisions a process of popularizing regional dialect usage derived from regional languages as the basis for standardizing and intellectualizing the language, thus forming a lingua franca.
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Philippine Star
This always brings us to a perennial problem that we Filipinos can't seem to find solutions. Poor people who have no land to call their own claim to have ...
