LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Soon, it will no longer be difficult and confusing to write in the Pangasinan language.
Last week, a group of linguists from the academe, Pangasinan writers and representatives from the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) met for three days in Lingayen to validate a proposed Pangasinan orthography, which was an output of a workshop in November last year by the Ulupan na Pansiansia’y Salitan Pangasinan (Association for the Preservation of the Pangasinan Language).
Fr. Immanuel Escaño, a Pangasinan writer who participated in the validation process, says having a Pangasinan orthography means establishing a set of standards on how to write, spell, pronounce and conjugate the Pangasinan language.
Pangasinan is one of 13 indigenous languages in the country with at least a million native speakers. The others are Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Kapampangan, Bikol, Albay-Bikol, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a and Tausug.
“We have also decided whether we should use an apostrophe or not when writing certain contractions,” Escaño says.
Among the most common questions raised by ordinary Pangasinense writing and reading Pangasinan materials included the use of letters “k” and “c” in certain words.
For instance, in “Malinac Lay Labi” (Tender is the Night), a popular Pangasinan love song, is used at the end of the word “Malinac” when “k” can also be used without changing its meaning.
And how should one write the word “Bolinao” in Pangasinan? Should it end with an “ao” or with an “aw”?
Escaño says that since “Bolinao” is a Spanish spelling and Pangasinenses have gotten used to it, they decided not to touch it. The spelling of the Pangasinan towns of Laoac, Manaoag, Balungao and Calasiao will also be retained.
“I’m really very happy that we are finally doing this now,” Escaño says. By having its own orthography, he says, Pangasinan language will get its needed shot in the arm. “Pangasinan will no longer be a dying language,” he adds.
The influx of Ilocano migrants to the province since the 1930s and the preference of the present generation “to speak and write in Filipino and English rather than in their own language” are among the factors that contributed to the decline of the Pangasinan language.
Roberto Añonuevo, KWF director-general, says any language dies if it is not used and when no literature is created.
In the early 20th century, he said Tagalog was being heavily criticized. But at that time, he says, Tagalog writers and critics united to produce a number of novels, poems and short stories that later on, created and impact on the succeeding generation and developed the language in the process.
“What I’m saying is that writers in Pangasinan should write in Pangasinan if we want to develop the language,” Añonuevo says.
Unlike the Ilocanos, who have Bannawag, a weekly magazine, Pangasinenses have no regular reading materials in their language.
The Ulupan has published “Balon Silew,” a quarterly news magazine, but it has been hounded by its limited circulation and funding.
This year, Gov. Amado Espino Jr., who also pushed for the development of Pangasinan orthography, launched the 1st Pangasinan Literary Awards, which seek to produce Pangasinan poems, short stories and essays from local writers.