‘Re-marking’ Filipino: A study on the usage of diacritic markers and the consideration of using them again
University of the Philippines-Diliman
In partial fulllment of the requirements of Linguistics 180: Mga Problemang Pangwika sa Pilipinas !"#$
%u&mitte' to: Prof( )rancisco *( +osario, r( .ay //, /01
%u&mitte' &y: .ichaella ( 2ores Lorma .ae ( *oncepcion Dyan .ari2 *( )eri'o
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1. 1.1. .1.
Introduction Back Ba ckgr grou ound nd of the the tudy tudy
%tan'ar'i2ing %tan'ar'i2ing the orthography of a language is an essential part of national language planning an' policy ma3ing( In a country 4here more than 10 languages are spo3en, it is a challenge to come up 4ith an orthography 4hich 4ill represent the languages5 similarities, as 4ell as reconcile their 'i6erences( In the Philippines, 7omisyon sa i3ang )ilipino 7)$ oversees the 'irection of language planning an' implementation implementati on of language policies( %ince its conception conceptio n in 1991, the commission has &een the authority in planning an' enriching the orthography of the national language rtograpiyang Pam&ansa, /01;$( In most Philippine languages, stress is phonemic - the relative emphasis given to a certain sylla&le changes the meaning of the 4or'( classic e
' r'er ?o( @; is an up'ate of rtograpiyang Pam&ansa 4hich presents a more comprehensive orthography, recogni2ing the schwa in I&aloy, Ilo3ano, Ivatan, yta .ag-antsi, gutaynen, Pangasinan, .Arana4,
an' other Philippine languages( !o represent the sch4a, a 'iacritic mar3 calle' the umlaut or 'ieresis B $ is use' over a vo4el( *oming up 4ith a stan'ar' orthography orthography is alrea'y a la&orious tas3 in itself, implementing it is another( %ince native spea3ers of the languages have their o4n set of rules in i'entifying stress in 4or's, there have &een concerns regar'ing the 2
1. 1.1. .1.
Introduction Back Ba ckgr grou ound nd of the the tudy tudy
%tan'ar'i2ing %tan'ar'i2ing the orthography of a language is an essential part of national language planning an' policy ma3ing( In a country 4here more than 10 languages are spo3en, it is a challenge to come up 4ith an orthography 4hich 4ill represent the languages5 similarities, as 4ell as reconcile their 'i6erences( In the Philippines, 7omisyon sa i3ang )ilipino 7)$ oversees the 'irection of language planning an' implementation implementati on of language policies( %ince its conception conceptio n in 1991, the commission has &een the authority in planning an' enriching the orthography of the national language rtograpiyang Pam&ansa, /01;$( In most Philippine languages, stress is phonemic - the relative emphasis given to a certain sylla&le changes the meaning of the 4or'( classic e' r'er ?o( @; is an up'ate of rtograpiyang Pam&ansa 4hich presents a more comprehensive orthography, recogni2ing the schwa in I&aloy, Ilo3ano, Ivatan, yta .ag-antsi, gutaynen, Pangasinan, .Arana4,
an' other Philippine languages( !o represent the sch4a, a 'iacritic mar3 calle' the umlaut or 'ieresis B $ is use' over a vo4el( *oming up 4ith a stan'ar' orthography orthography is alrea'y a la&orious tas3 in itself, implementing it is another( %ince native spea3ers of the languages have their o4n set of rules in i'entifying stress in 4or's, there have &een concerns regar'ing the 2
propagation of 7)5s stan'ar' orthography( !his research 4ill mainly 'elve into the nonlinguistic varia&les an' issues regar'ing the attitu'e an' acceptance of the stan'ar' orthography &y stu'ents, linguists, language teachers, an' the proponents themselves(
1.!.
Rese esearch "#$ecti%es
!he research research aims to 'etermine 'etermine ho4 ho4 &enecial the the usage of 'iacritic 'iacritic mar3s mar3s in )ilipino is to &e a&le to 3no4 if they shoul' &e use' again as encourage' &y 7)( !o fulll the main o&Cective of the research, the stu'y i'entie' 'i6erent perspectives from several government an' aca'emic agencies namely, 7omisyon sa i3ang )ilipino 7)$ 4hich is the main proponent for the proCect, linguists= language teachers 4ho 4ill &e one of the most in-charge' if the proposal 4ill push through, an' stu'ents 4ho are one of the most important target learners of the proCect( ase' on the intervie4s an' quasi-e
1.&. .&.
igni igni' 'ca canc nce e of of th the Res Resea earc rch h
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s state' in the &ac3groun' of the pro&lem, 7omisyon sa i3ang )ilipino 7)$ is proposing the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s in 'ocuments an' other 4ritten te
1.(.
cope and )imitations
!he stu'y 4ill focus only on the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers in )ilipino( In this research, E)ilipinoF is consi'ere' to &e mainly !agalog-&ase' an' has only a fe4 characteristics that can &e attri&ute' to other Philippine languages( "ence, the stu'y 4ill not touch on the use of 'iacritic mar3s in other languages of the Philippines( lso, the quasi-e
1.*.
Re%ie+ of Related )iterature
In 190;, *arlos +onquillo 4rote a &oo3 entitle' Pag-aaral tungkol sa tumpak na pagsulat ng wikang Tagalog ( In this &oo3, +onquillo 190;$ sai' that there are
three 3in's of kudlit 3no4n to )ilipinos - 1$ mariin =G= /$ impit =H= an' @$ sinalakot ==( Mariin is use' to mar3 a stresse' soun'( Impit is use' for an
unstresse' &ut glottal soun' an' salakot is use' to mar3 a soun' that is &oth stresse' an' glottal( ccor'ing to +onquillo 190;$, there are a lot 4ho 3no4 these sym&ols &ut 'o not 3no4 ho4 to use them properly( It is important for him that
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people 3no4 the right usage of these sym&ols &ecause other4ise, it 4ill lea' to confusion an' misun'erstan'ing &ecause there are 4or's in )ilipino that change in meaning 'epen'ing on the position of the stress in the 4or'( "e cite' some e
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an' gently, 4hile the terms for strong o&Cects an' s4ift, su''en or violent action are usually spo3en 4ith great forceK %u&i'o O am&oa-.en'o2a, 19;0$( ith this analysis, they gave si< Q$ classes of stress in !agalog -- level, level-glottal, acute, acute-glottal, antepenultimate an' pausal stress( )or &oth level an' level-glottal stress, the stress is on the penultimate sylla&le ma3ing the pronunciation of the 4or' slo4( !he 'i6erence lies in the presence of a glottal stop at the en' of the 4or'( 4or' 4ith level stress en's 4ith a consonant or a vo4el 4ithout a glottal stop 4hile a 4or' 4ith level-glottal stress en's in a vo4el 4ith a Jglottal catchK %u&i'o O am&oa-.en'o2a, 19;0$( !he acute an' the acute-glottal stress 'i6er in the same 4ay( "o4ever, 4or's 4ith acute an' acute-glottal stress have stress that falls on the last sylla&le ma3ing the pronunciation continuous until it reaches the last sylla&le 4ith the stress( Lastly, the t4o remaining 3in's of stress, 4hich %u&i'o O am&oa-.en'o2a 19;0$ 'escri&e' as inci'ental, are the antepenultimate stress an' the pausal stress( !he antepenultimate stress falls on a sylla&le farther a4ay from the penultima, on the fourth, fth or si |
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In 19, the urian ng !ikang Pambansa pu&lishe' a &oo3 entitle' Mga tuntunin ng ortograpiyang "ilipino# Mga patnubay na sinusunod sa pagwawasto ng mga aklat babasahin. ccor'ing to the &oo3Fs preface, it 4as pu&lishe' to
propagate to the masses the revise' 4ay of 4riting in )ilipino( !he preface also states that there 4ere changes in the rules to give 4ay to a faster cultivation of the language an' also to its mo'erni2ation( *ompare' to the grammar &oo3s pu&lishe' &y +onquillo an' +omual'e2 in 190; an' 1918 respectively, this grammar &oo3 of the urian 'oes not contain anything a&out or 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers( It mainly tal3e' a&out the proper sylla&ication of 4or's, proper spelling of native an' foreign terms, etc( !he &oo3 has a chapter 4ith the title .ga antas na 7arani4ang amitin( In this chapter, the proper uses of a 'ot, question mar3, comma, semicolon, colon, etc( 4ere e
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that 4riters 'uring this time 4ant all )ilipino 4riters to follo4 a systemati2e' 4ay of 4riting in )ilipino( !his inclu'es the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers( fter t4o 'eca'es, in 19;0, %u&i'o O am&oa-.en'o2a 4rote a &oo3 on !agalog rthography( !he 4ay they 'escri&e' an' classie' the 3in's of stress is 'i6erent from the previous t4o &ut essentially, they are all the same( !he mariin =G= of +onquillo 190;$ an' the acute == of +omual'e2 1918$ can account for the level stress, the acute an' the antepenultimate stress of %u&i'o O am&oa-.en'o2a 19;0$( !he level-glottal stress an' the pausal stress are the same as +onquilloFs 190;$ impit =H= an' +omual'e2Fs 1918$ grave =M=( Lastly, sinala3ot == an' angular =N= of +onquillo 190;$ an' +omual'e2 1918$, respectively, are the same as the acute-glottal stress( "ence, %u&i'o O am&oa-.en'o2a Cust 'ivi'e' them into more classes( !hese authors recogni2e' the importance of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s for the learners of the language &ut also ac3no4le'ge' the possi&ility that their use may &e eliminate' from 4riting an' printing 4hen the spea3ers of the language have &ecome perfectly use' to pronouncing 4or's 4ithout 'iacritic an' accent mar3s( In 19, after almost four 'eca'es, the use of these mar3ers 4as eliminate' from the system( s mentione' a&ove, in the &oo3 pu&lishe' &y the urian ng !ikang Pambansa, there 4as no mention of the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers
in the proper 4ay of 4riting in )ilipino( !he &oo3 'i' not say anything as to 4hy 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers 4ere remove' &ut 'enitely, they must have ha' their reason for 'oing so( !hus, it can &e inferre' that the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers 4ere remove' in 19 or sometime &efore that( t present, the $omisyon sa !ikang "ilipino 7)$ is &ringing them &ac3( ccor'ing to 7)Fs Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat /01;$ the usage of 'iacritic mar3s is important to ensure the
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correct pronunciation especially of 4or's that are similar in form spelling$ &ut 'i6er in meaning &ecause of the pronunciation( !hey mentione' the three 'iacritic mar3ers that Lope 7( %antos propose' - pahilis or acute S$ for 4or's that are pronounce' rapi'lyT paiwa or grave H$ for 4or's that are pronounce' 4ith a fall of pitchT an' pakupya or circume< V$ for 4or's li3e 4ith grave accent, &ut 4ith emphasis on the last sylla&le( !hrough time, the pronunciation of 4or's may change, an' the agency &elieve that mispronunciation of these 4or's is 'ue to una4areness, especially of the youth an' ne4 users of )ilipino, a&out these mar3ers( In the &oo3 they pu&lishe', Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat , 7) further 'iscusse' the particular use of each mar3er an' an a''itional accent, the patuldok 4hich is similar to umlaut or dieresis B$, 4as intro'uce' as a solution to the present confusion on ho4 to properly represent schwa - as or > - in languages such as .erana4, Ivatan, yta .ag-antsi, gutaynen, etc( It 4as not mentione' in the &oo3, ho4ever, 4hy these 'iacritic mar3ers are no longer in use at present in general 4ritten te
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4here the stress shoul' &e put in the 4or'( )or 4or's that en' in a vo4el, the letter Jn,K or the letter Js,K the stress is on the ne
into a soft \c\ soun' li3e \s\$( =]= is never use' &efore the vo4els EeF or EiF, as these / vo4els al4ays pro'uce a soft \s\ soun' e(g( glace ici $( If the accent 4ill &e omitte', a mista3e in pronunciation 4ill &e inevita&le as the =c= might &e pronounce' as ^3_( !he accent aigu 4hich is put only on an =e= often in'icates that an EsF use' to follo4 that vo4el, e(g(, )tudiant Estu'ent(F !he gra*e lace' on =a= an' =u=, usually serves to 'istinguish &et4een 4or's that 4oul' other4ise &e
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homographsT e(g(, ou EorF vs o E4here(F hen there is no accent on an =e=, it 4ill other4ise &e pronounce' as the regular )rench =e= that soun's li3e a sch4a( Li3e the accent aigu, the circon+e,e usually in'icates that an EsF use' to follo4 that vo4el, e(g(, /or0t Eforest(F "o4ever, it 'oes not change pronunciation yet shoul' &e inclu'e' in 4ritten )rench rammarist, n('($( .ean4hile, the accent tr)ma 'ieresis or umlaut$ can &e on an =e=, =i=, or =u=( It is use' 4hen t4o vo4els are ne
!.
ethodology
ne of the o&Cectives of the stu'y is to gather 'i6erent perspectives a&out the use of 'iacritic mar3s( )irst, to 3no4 ho4 stu'ents respon' to te
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%a &yan ng Pangasinn, may isng tong na3atir sa pZno ng mangg( ng tong ito ay nagnganglang uan( %a isng taYng paninirhan niya rXto ay tXla &ana3ram'am siya ng pangungulXlM( ng pZnong tinXtirhan ni uan ay isng pZno ng mangg( Ito ay pun` ng mga &Zngang mangg( ?gZnit 'hil may isng &uti3 na nalaglg sa 3anyng mga 'alXrb ay napg'esXsyunn niyang umu4X na sa 3anilng &hay matpos ang isng tong pagtir niya sa pZno ng mangg( !u4ng tu4N ang 3anyng mga magZlang nang siya ay ma3Xta( !inanYng siya ng 3anyng in 3ung na3a3aram'm &a siya ng gZtom( Jpd( utYm na po a3Y(K sagYt ni uan( 7ay namn ag' na umalXs ang ttay niyang mngingis'M( JDYray, mangXngis'M na a3Y Pra namn may masarp tyong maipa3in 3ay uan(K ni ng 3anyng !tay( %u&lit, pag'atXng nitY sa pampng ay &iglng sumamN ang panahYn 3ung 3ayFt naXsip ng am ni uan na 54ag na lang tumulYy at sinZpin na lang ang mga &3a( ?aXsip 3asX niya na &a3 ang mga itYFy mapahma3( Is pa namn itY sa mga pangunhing pinag3u3Znan nil ng hnap&Zhay( ?a3Xta niya si .ang 7anYr at summa siya 'Xtong pumZnta sa palWng3e pra &umilX ng Zlam( .atpos niyang ga4Xn itY ay umu4X na siya sa 3anilng &hay( %in&i niya sa 3anyng as4a na hin'X siya na3apangXs'M 'hil nga masamN ang panahYn 3ay &umilX na lang 'a4 siya ng Zlam sa palWng3e( ?apansXn niyang tahXmi3 na na3ahigN si uan sa isng sZlo3 ng 3anilng 34rto( Pinuntahn niya itY at tinanYng 3ung may masam &a itYng narram'amn( Jng sa3Xt po ng tiyn 3o, E!ay,K sam&Xt ni uan( ?ang marinXg itY ng 3anyng am ay ag' itYng luma&s ng &hay Zpang humnap ng manggagmot( ng 3anyng in namn ay ag' siyang pinuntahn( Pag&alX3 ng 3anyng am ay 3asma na nitY ang mangggamot sa 3any su&lit na3Xta nilng masayng na3aupY si uan sa 3anilng mWsa( %&i ni uan, JE!ay, utYt lang pal(K
In the rst rea'ing test, the te
"ilipino %$!"& ( !hrough this, the researchers 4ere a&le to as3 various questions
a&out the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers propose' &y 7)( fter gathering all their respective opinions, the results 4ere analy2e' an' 4ere use' to ans4er the research questions( ith the results that came out, the researchers also lai' out the a'vantages an' 'isa'vantages of using 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers 4hich le' them to ans4er the main research pro&lem of the stu'y(
&. &.1.
Findings and ;iscussion perimental Reading ?est
!he researchers have gathere' nine un'ergra'uate stu'ents from the University of the Philippines - Diliman for the rea'ing test( !he informants ha' no 3no4le'ge regar'ing the &ac3groun' an' aims of the research prior to rea'ing the te
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&.1.1. @eneral 'ndings
s o&serve' in the te
?o( of people 4ho ?o( of people 4ho mispronounce' the 4or' mispronounce' the 4or' in in the rst rea'ing activity the secon' rea'ing activity
tong
0
0
taYng
[
1
pZno
0
0
pun`
[
0
gZtom
0
0
gutYm
0
0
mngingis'M
1
0
mangXngis'M
@
/
sumamN
1
1
summa
1
0
&3a
0
0
&a3
/
1
manggagmot
0
1
mangggamot
Q
;
sinZpin
1
1
nagnganglang 1 1 !a&le 1( )requency of mispronunciation from the rst an' secon' rea'ing activity s o&serve' in the ta&le, most of the informants ma'e a mista3e in pronouncing the 4or' mangg'gamot in &oth the rst an' secon' rea'ing test( n
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the other han', no informant ma'e a mista3e in pronouncing the homographs g(tom an' gutóm( si'e from homographs, some informants also ma'e a mista3e
in pronouncing the 4or's sin(pin an' nagngang'lang( Prior to the rea'ing test, one of the informants 'i' not 3no4 of the !agalog 4or' sin(pin, an' thus the reason for her mista3e( !4o out of the nine informants have e
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usage of 'iacritic mar3ers in >nglish, it 4as her rst time to rea' a )ilipino te
&.!.
Inter%ie+s
%ince the stu'y is mainly relate' to language use, pe'agogy, an' 4riting, the researchers intervie4e' language teachers( Professors from t4o 'i6erent 'epartments at the University of the Philippines - Diliman 4ere intervie4e' to gain 'i6erent perspectives a&out the issue( !he intervie4e' language teachers 4ere Prof( +icar'o .a( D( ?olasco, Ph(D( from the Department of Linguistics an' %ir +onel ( LaranCo from the Department of )ilipino an' Philippine Literature(
&.!.1.
Inter%ie+ +ith rof. olasco/ h.;.
Prof( +icar'o .a( D( ?olasco, Ph(D( is an associate professor at the Department of Linguistics of the University of the Philippines-Diliman( "is speciali2ations inclu'e sociolinguistics, morphosynta<, an' theoretical an' structural linguistics, to name a fe4(
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!hrough personal communication, the professor sent three les to the researchers( !hese les 4ere his 4or3s, 4hich are not yet pu&lishe', containing his opinions, his &eliefs, &asically his position on the sai' topic( %ince the professor specically tol' the researchers not to pu&lici2e the 4or3s, the titles 4ill not &e liste' here( %tarting o6 4ith language pe'agogy, Prof( ?olasco personal communication, /01$ state' that Jin teaching, the more frequent an' more familiar soun's are taught rst, an' the less frequent an' less familiar soun's are taught later(K )or e
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communication, /01$( )rom the professorFs statement, it is apparent that he 4ants the glottal stop in )ilipino to &e recogni2e' &ecause accor'ing to him, the sai' soun' 4as not important in >nglish an' in %panish so 4hen the mericans an' the %paniar's stu'ie' )ilipino, they 4ere not a&le to assign a sym&ol or a letter for it( !hus, it 4as re'uce' to &eing a 'iacritic mar3( !he professor even sai' that the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers in )ilipino 4as stoppe' &ecause people &elieve' that it 4as a hin'rance to 4riting an' to pu&lishing ?olasco, personal communication, /01$( !hen, regar'ing the orthography of the languages of the Philippines, Prof( ?olasco state' that one national orthography for all the languages of the archipelago is not plausi&le simply &ecause 'i6erent languages have 'i6erent soun' systems altogether( !hey may have similar soun's an' letters &ut the pronunciation, 'istri&ution an' value of their respective letters are 'i6erent( s an e
!agalog an' i3ol( ?olasco, personal communication, /01$( !his also implies that the set of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s &est suita&le for one language may not &e the most suita&le for another( "ence, as 4hat Prof( ?olasco calls it, Ja one-si2e-ts-allK orthography for the Philippine languages is not possi&le( )inally, 4hen as3e' a&out 4hat he can say regar'ing the aspiration of 7) to &ring &ac3 the usage of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s an' also a&out the Dep>' r'er ppen'i< 1$, the professor &ol'ly sai' that 3 paurong kasi ang nilalaman ng manwal at ang 4ep5d order ay hindi umaalinsunod sa wastong paraan ng pagsusuri ng ating mga wika at sa wastong paggamit ng ating mga wika sa edukasyon ng mga
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Pilipino6 the contents of the manual are J&ac34ar'sK an' the Dep>' or'er 'oes not
follo4 the proper 4ays of analy2ing our languages an' also the proper use of our languages in the e'ucation of the )ilipino$( Prof( ?olasco a''e' that, 3mapanlinlang kasi gusto ipamukha ng $!" ang kanilang awtoridad na itakda kung ano ang estandardisadong paraan ng pagsusuri at pagsulat ng ating mga wika samantalang wala silang ganitong kapangyarihan at wala rin silang ganitong kakayahan6 it is$
'eceiving &ecause 7) 4ants to prove that it has the authority to impose the stan'ar' 4ay of stu'ying ang 4riting our languages &ut they 'o not have the po4er an' the a&ility to 'o so$ ?olasco, personal communication, /01$( )rom the professorFs statements, it is apparent that he is questioning the 4ays of 7) - ho4 they 4ant to esta&lish their authority an' their capa&ility to stu'y the Philippine languages( !hrough his statements, it can &e inferre' that as an e
&.!.!.
Inter%ie+ +ith rof. )aran$o
%ince the concern a&out the implementation of using 'iacritic mar3ers is on the )ilipino language, the researchers ha' as 4ell intervie4e' an instructor from the UP Department of )ilipino an' Philippine Literature, 4ho is Prof( +onel ( LaranCo( During the /0-minute structure' intervie4, the professor has 'irectly an' ela&orately ans4ere' the questions of the researchers( "e sai' that he 'oes not use 'iacritic mar3ers in teaching mainly &ecause there is no tra'ition of using these in
19
the register of the )ilipino language LaranCo, personal communication, /01$( ccor'ing to him, it is only the $omisyon ng !ikang "ilipino 7)$ 4ho uses the sai' mar3ers since it is a Jpersonal choiceK &y its current chairperson( )urthermore, he a''e' that in 4ritten tela&orating more on the importance of the te
referre' to is suppose'$ to &e i'entie' &y the rea'er through the conte' or'er a&out the implementation of the use of the sai' mar3ers through 7) an' .!.L> .other-tongue ase' .ultilingual >'ucation$( mong the 'iacritic mar3ers, he personally thin3s that the use of umlaut A$ coul' &e &enecial to &etter accommo'ate the schwa $ in
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Philippine languages that have this soun'( si'e from it, he mentione' that other 'iacritic mar3ers are not that necessary an' can alrea'y &e omitte' LaranCo, personal communication, /01$( hen as3e' a&out his thoughts if he thin3s that using 'iacritic mar3ers in 4riting 4oul' help, or 4oul' rather cause confusion, Prof( LaranCo personal communication, /01$ has split opinions( ccor'ing to him, it 'epen's on the learner i(e 1$ the ones 4ho are not use' of using themT an' /$ those young ones that are Cust a&out to enter school( It is necessary that the ones 4ho 4ill teach the use of 'iacritic mar3ers have an a'equate 3no4le'ge a&out them as the professor also thin3s that the use of them 4oul' &e most &enecial in the aca'eme( !he use of such mar3ers coul' &e starte' through the help of me'ia as it has a 4i'e scope( +eaching the en' of the intervie4, Prof( LaranCo personal communication, /01$ eRcient training for the teachers an' suRcient &u'get for the pro'uction of materials nee'e' are in'ee' important for this implementation of the orthography to &e successful LaranCo, personal communication, /01$(
&.&.
=mail Correspondence +ith Domisyon sa Eikang Filipino DEFG
eing the main proponent of the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers, the researchers also 'eci'e' to get the si'e of $omisyon sa !ikang "ilipino 7)$
21
through an email correspon'ence( !he researchers sent an email to the organi2ation containing si< questions Q$ an' receive' a reply from .iss .aria *hristina Pangan of 7) through email, together 4ith attache' supplementary materials - a PD) le of Ortograpiyang Pambansa an' a scanne' copy of 4or's that shoul' al4ays &e mar3e', 4hich 4ill &e 'iscusse' more later( )or the rst question, since it 4as mentione' in Dep>' r'er ?o( @;, s( /01@ ppen'i< 1$ that 7) carrie' out a careful stu'y of the previous )ilipino orthography currently taught in schools, the researchers as3e' ho4 it 4as stu'ie', 4hat 4as the scope of the stu'y an' 4hat 4ere the results( s their response, Pangan state' that a consultative forum a&out the )ilipino orthography 4as hel' last .arch /01@ at the UP *ollege of >'ucation( In the sai' forum, the three previous orthographies - 198, /001 an' /008 - ma'e &y 7) 4as presente'( lso, the 'raft of an orthography 4hose frame4or3 is &ase' on the harmoni2ation of the Philippine languages 4as also presente'( .oreover, Pangan mentione' that 'i6erent e
22
in his intro'uction, there 4as no mention of the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers an' the motivation &ehin' 'oing so( !herefore, the researchers as3e' 7) for their reason 4hy they 'eci'e' to &ring these mar3ers &ac3( Pangan state' that the mar3ers, 4hich they call tuldik , 4ere &rought &ac3 mainly to avoi' confusion in pronouncing an' in 4riting 4or's 4ith the same spelling &ut 4ith 'i6erent pronunciation, thus, also 4ith 'i6erent meanings Pangan, personal communication, /01$( !he e' r'er, 4hich 4as rst release' in /01@, the researchers as3e' the organi2ation a&out the progress an' the results of the implementation since the or'er 4as out( )or their reply, Pangan personal communication, /01$ sai' that there is no formal stu'y yet on the results of the implementation &ut focus group 'iscussions )D$ 4ere con'ucte' in target areas in Lu2on, #isayas, an' .in'anao( "o4ever, the results of the )Ds cannot &e 'isclose' as of the moment since the results are still &eing analy2e' &ut 4ill &e release' &y this year( !hen, regar'ing the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s, the researchers as3e' 7) if they use the mar3s in 4riting all 'ocuments or in specic 'ocuments only( 7) respon'e' &y saying that they are the frontrunner of &ringing &ac3 the use of
23
these mar3ers, hence, they use them in all 3in's of 'ocuments that they release( %pecically, they sai' that the usage of the mar3ers can &est &e seen in the &oo3 9klat ng 7ayan( "o4ever, 7) clarie' that not all 4or's must &e mar3e' an' they
a''e' that *hapter 10 of Ortograpiyang Pambansa contains the 4or's that must &e mar3e' Pangan, personal communication, /01$( lso, as mentione' a&ove, together 4ith the reply, they attache' supplementary materials to the email they sent the researchers( ne of those supplementary materials is a scanne' copy of the 'raft of a memo listing 4or's that must &e mar3e'( !he memo 4as release' &y 7) an' is &eing use' &y their employees( copy of the memo may &e foun' in ppen'i< /( In connection to the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s, the researchers also as3e' 7) if they promote its usage in all 3in's of 'ocuments or in specic 'ocuments only( 7) state' that yes, they encourage the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s at all times &ut only for 4or's 4hich nee' them to avoi' confusion an' misun'erstan'ing( In other 4or's, they encourage its use only on homographs Pangan, personal communication, /01$( Lastly, the researchers as3e' ho4 the organi2ation promotes the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3s( 7) state' that 9klat ng 7ayan, a pu&lication program of 7), is one of the 4ays &y 4hich they promote 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers( ll &oo3s ma'e &y 7) are mar3e' even if the &oo3s are 4ritten in the regional languages( In a''ition, Pangan personal communication, /01$ sai' that 7) is con'ucting seminars a&out the national orthography( !hrough these seminars, they &elieve that they can e
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&.(.
;ata Analysis
n the quasi-e
some of the informants e(g( nagngang'lang$( Unfamiliarity 4ith a certain 4or' is
25
also a factor in mispronouncing the 4or'( Prior to the rea'ing test, an informant 'i' not 3no4 of the 4or' sin(pin, an' thus mispronounce' the 4or'( n the intervie4s 4ith the t4o language professors, &oth have quite 'i6erent points of vie4 4hen it comes to the usage of 'iacritic mar3s( )or Prof( ?olasco, he strongly recommen's an' encourages the use of them at all times, in his o4n suggeste' provisions ho4ever, an' not 4ith 7)Fs( n the other han', for Prof( LaranCo, umlaut %<& is the only mar3er necessary an' 'eeme' &enecial to &e use'( !he researchers have consi'ere' the 'i6erence in the t4o professorsF generation 4here it is possi&le that Prof( ?olasco has &een use' to 4rite using 'iacritics since the mar3s, accor'ing to 7), 4ere rst intro'uce' in 190;, use' until 19;0, &ut gone aroun' 190s( nyho4, 'uring these years, Prof( ?olasco has then alrea'y starte' 4riting stu'ies an' researches( n the other han', Prof( LaranCo, 4ho is younger than the previous professor, 4as not use' of 4riting using 'iacritic mar3ers since they 4ere not of JactiveK usage 'uring his time( Pon'ering on Prof( LaranCoFs intervie4, the fact that he 'oes not apply the usage of the sai' mar3ers in teaching foreigners )ilipino 4as quite surprisingT It someho4 implies that these mar3ers are not really necessary to ma3e non-spea3ers of !agalog un'erstan' an' spea3 the language, although they can &e helpful in e
26
into account other Philippine languages asi'e from !agalog, 4hich pro&a&ly is the reason for his suggestion of using the umlaut %<& to represent schwa, as this soun' is present in many in'igenous languages in the Philippines( +egar'ing the reply of 7), the researchers o&serve' that contrary to 4hat 4as e
that must &e mar3e'( "o4ever, the researchers o&serve' that in Manwal ng Masinop na Pagsulat an' in Ortograpiyang Pambansa , it 4as not clearly state'( In Ortograpiyang Pambansa=s /01;$ *hapter 10 Pag&a&ali3 %a .ga !ul'i3,, it 4as
4ritten that 3%m&ahalagang ibalik ang paggamit sa mga tuld;k o as)nto. $ung mahihirapang markahan ang lahat ng salita gamitin ang tuldik upang maipatiyak ang wastong bigkas lal8 na sa mga salitang magkakatulad ng baybay ngunit nagbabago ang kahulugan dahil sa bigkas6 It is important to &ring &ac3 the use of
'iacritic an' accent mar3ers( If it 4ill &e 'iRcult to mar3 all 4or's, use the mar3ers to in'icate the proper pronunciation, most especially on 4or's 4ith the same spelling &ut have 'i6erent meaning 'ue to 'i6erence in pronunciation$( )rom this statement, it can &e o&serve' that 7) 'i' not e
27
ut they attache' the list in the email as a supplementary material( copy can &e foun' in ppen'i< /( s can &e notice', the memoran'um only inclu'es / sets of homographs( !here are still a lot of homographs in )ilipino that can &e a''e' to the list such as those inclu'e' in the researchFs rea'ing test e(g( manggag'mot E'octorF an' mangg'gamot Eto healF$( !hus, the researchers suggest that the $omisyon e
the 4hole topic of &ringing &ac3 the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers is still in process( 7) is still in the process of sprea'ing 3no4le'ge a&out its proper use an' &ase' on their ans4ers an' also the responses the researchers got from the stu'ents, it seems that, as of the moment, it is only the $omisyon using these mar3ers(
(.
Conclusion
fter analy2ing all the 'ata, the researchers conclu'e' that yes, the use of 'iacritic an' accent mar3ers are &enecial to its users, &ut not all 'iacritic an' accent mar3s must &e use'( !he researchers agree 4ith the suggestion of the participants in the con'ucte' quasi-e
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&oils 'o4n to 4hat 4riting system one is use' to( In connection to that, the researchers &elieve that it is also important for the teachers to have suRcient 3no4le'ge a&out this topic so that they can a'equately teach it to their stu'ents( If the stu'ents 4ill &e use' to the mar3s, the use of stress mar3s, especially to homographs, can also &e &enecial in teaching the proper pronunciation of 4or's( "ence, the 'iacritic an' accent mar3s may &e useful in facilitating learning among the young learners of the language &ut for practical purposes, only the mar3s use' to 'i6erentiate homographs 4ill &e use' in 4riting an' pu&lishing( %imilar to teaching young )ilipinos, 4hen it comes to teaching non-native learners, the 'iacritic an' accent mar3s may also help in teaching the proper pronunciation of the 4or's since, after all, they are stu'ying a foreign a language( "o4ever, foreign stu'ents shoul' not &e use' to te
clear statement of their proposal is important to avoi' misun'erstan'ing( lso, the researchers suggest that they provi'e suRcient training, seminars, materials, etc( to the teachers 4ho 4ill &e teaching them &ecause it is important that the learners &e taught a'equately since they 4ill &e the ones to use it in their 4riting( Lastly, if 7) really 4ants to propagate the usage of these mar3ers, they must also start
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