“Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika, ay mahigit pa sa hayop at malansang isda” These include Filipino declamation contests, group oration, Filipino essay-writing contest, and the wearing of national costumes. To celebrate the event, various activities are being held in schools on 19 August which is the National Language Day. To promote, preserve, and encourage the use of native dialects, National Language Month also celebrates the different indigenous dialects in the Philippines. However, it’s not only the Tagalog-based Filipino Language that is being celebrated. Quezon, who is considered as the Father of Filipino Language because it was during his term that he unified the different dialects in the Philippines. The celebration coincides with the birthday of the second president of the Philippines, Manuel L. What started as a one-week celebration in 1954 was extended to a month-long celebration in 1997. When the Americans came and the Philippines was under the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the 1937 Philippine Constitution identified Filipino, a Tagalog-based dialect, as the national language.Įvery August since then, the Philippines celebrates National Language Month.

Thus, during the Spanish colonisation, there was no language that would unify the whole country.

The people from the North would speak different dialects from the peoples of the South. The Filipino culture is as diverse as its dialects, with different traditions, beliefs, food, and even religions. The Philippines has more than 170 languages and dialects, each region has its own different dialects with each dialect reflecting its own identity and subculture. It’s a tool to express our feelings and thoughts and there’s nothing more precious than speaking in your own native tongue and communicating with people who share the same language. Language is the soul of a nation a part of one’s identity and it binds people together. If we forget or abandon it, we are compared to a stinking decaying fish.

This serves as a reminder to us, Filipinos, of the importance of valuing one’s native language. “Who does not love his own tongue is far worse than a brute or a stinking fish.” “Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika, mahigit pa sa hayop at malansang isda”

Dayalekto ng boung pilinas