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Showing posts from August, 2007

Articles: Filipino and Tagalog, Not So Simple / How to Value Our Languages

I. FILIPINO AND TAGALOG, NOT SO SIMPLE Ricardo Ma. Nolasco, Ph.D. Chair, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino August 24, 2007 To most Filipinos, only the national language is a language, and all the rest are dialects. Not quite so. Linguists have a way of distinguishing a language from a dialect. This is the mutual intelligibility criterion. When speakers cannot understand one another, they speak different languages. When they can, they speak the same language, or dialects of the same language. It doesn’t matter if the speech variety has only five speakers or a million; or if it has a writing system or not; or if it is spoken in only one barangay or in an entire province. All these do not count in defining a language. On this basis, Ilocano, Cebuano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Butuanon and Meranao to name a few, are not dialects but languages. Variations of a language, like Dumaguete-Cebuano, Davao-Cebuano and Iligan-Cebuano, are called dialects. The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipi

Anakbanua

i am a child of the sun i am born of the man-earth in the heart of Caboloan the bamboo birth is not my myth my body is brightly brown and golden amongst the goldest green that robes the ancient demesne of my ancestors                               and anitos i am the hunter of stags and wild boars i am a farmer and a fisher folk i am a lover and the loved humbled before the unknown gods i am the boatman of Sinocalan i am the guardian of the Hundred Isles forced to kneel before the Anchored Angel and bound my soul for its primeval sins now             i am risen O risen am i my knees are blacked and numbed with pain and my soul yearns for wanton revelry in the land of my first birth where it is most green and most sun

Call for submissions to an anthology of Southeast Asian Literature

Southeast Asia has been a region long divided not only by geographical and cultural boundaries but by the question of identity and belonging. One anthology will attempt to present the shades of contemporary Southeast Asian experiences of cultural/sexual identity, globalization, immigrant/expatriate experience, third culture phenomena, and new technologies, among others. The call for submissions is open to Southeast Asian writers and translators under 40 years old. The anthology will focus on works dealing with contemporary themes, or employing new forms in poetry; prose (fiction, travelogues, essays, blogs, text, etc); drama (one-act plays, short screen/teleplays); graphic arts and comics (under 30 pages long); and everything in between—literary experiments as well as genre works (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc, or combinations thereof). Works must be limited to 8,000 words and must be in English (translations must be accompanied by the original text). Previously published works are also

Bikol Writers Anthologized in ANI 33

The Literary Arts Division of the Cultural Center of the Philippines recently released the list of contributors for the 20th Anniversary issue of Ani, the CCP Literary Yearbook. Now on its 33rd issue, the volume once again explores Nature and Environment as metaphors of the human condition. Edited by prize-winning writer Herminio S. Beltran, it will be launched on September 14, 6:30 pm, at the CCP Ramp. The volume features poems, short stories, essays, translations and a play by 77 contributors including Bikol writers Carlos A. Arejola, Abdon M. Balde Jr., Jose Jason L. Chancoco, Kristian S. Cordero, Marne L. Kilates, Niño Manaog, and Victor Dennis Tino Nierva. Other writers of note are Merlie M. Alunan, Genevieve L. Asenjo, Herminio S. Beltran Jr., Dexter Bomediano Cayanes, Genaro R. Gojo Cruz, Jeneen R. Garcia, Luis P. Gatmaitan, Gelacio Y. Guillermo Jr., Sid Gomez Hildawa, Elyrah Loyola Salanga, Beverly Siy, John Iremil E. Teodoro, Enrico C. Torralba, Santiago B. Villafania and Cami

Byronic, huh?

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Pangasinan haiku for the rainy days 1. kawayan bolo tinmatalimokor kayari'y bagyo 2. lirio ed danum mareen ya dinmapo andirit-dagum 3. argo ed delap naanur ya tonger napno'y gilata 4. tawin-tawin atipon ya linaew ed bolobolong

On this day in 2004

I first posted the following poem on-line: sonito 179 batak so salita’y umaanlong tan katuron nginmalab ed ngoro kada litra tan kada talurtur liwawa tan linawa’y aristo anlong man iya na panangaro na pakauley tan pakayari na kareenan tan kabaliksan ono katuaan tan kalimgasan dagem so salita’y umaanlong tan danum ed apaet ya dalin kada siplog tan kada daluyon bilay so awit to’d kamarerwan onaapuy ed egpang na berso no ilulukon na uniberso

Letter of Nomination to the Order of National Artist

The National Artist Secretariat Office of the Deputy Executive Director National Commission for Culture and the Arts 633 General Luna Street, Intramuros 1000 Manila The National Artist Secretariat: We are hereby nominating Cirilo F. Bautista as National Artist for Literature. Dr. Cirilo F. Bautista, described as a genius in language and imagination by National Artist for Literature (1973) Jose Garcia Villa, is a prolific poet, fictionist, essayist, literary critic and theorist, columnist and educator. His published books include: The Cave and Other Poems (1968), The Archipelago (1970), Charts (1973), Telex Moon (1981), Sugat ng Salita (1985), Stories (1990), Breaking Signs (1990), Kirot ng Kataga (1995), Words and Battlefields: A Theoria On The Poem (1998), Sunlight On Broken Stones (2000), The Estrella D. Alfon Anthology Vol. I - Short Stories (2000), The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus (2001), Bullets and Roses: The Poetry of Amado V. Hernandez / A Bilingual Edition (translated Into English

UMPIL Congress on August 25

PRESS RELEASE Literature and Writers' Welfare The Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (Umpil) would like to invite writers and lovers of literature in its 33rd National Writers Congress on August 25, 2007, Saturday, to be held at the Pulungang Recto, College of Arts and Letters Building, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. The session will start at exactly 9:00am and will last until 5pm. The Congress theme is "Literature and Writers' Welfare." Four noted writers will receive the prestigious Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas, sculpted by renowned international artist Manuel Baldemor. Senator Francisco Pangilinan III will be the guest of honor, and will speak about his legislative vision for writers and Philippine literature in general. Atty. Louie Calvario of Intellectual Property Office will expound recent developments in intellectual property rights agenda, while Ms. Debbie P. Gaite of Filscap (Filipino Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

A Parade of Pangasinan Filipiniana Costumes

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Bulan na Lingguahi ed Lapag a Bansa

Say bulan na Agosto so nidatek a Bulan na Lingguahi ed lapag a bansa basi ed Proclamation 1041 ya dinatekan nen datin President Fidel Ramos nen On 15 July 1997. Peteg a kabiangan so amin ya awiran a pribado tan pampubliko ed pangisilibra ed sayan Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa ya kuan. Manlapu'd igapo na ogaw ed abeban awiran ya angga ed kasumpal to ed kolihiyo, aralen to so salitan Tagalog ono Pilipino (Filipino la natan) lapu'd ta sikato lanti so sakey ya apilin lingguahi ya usaren ed panagbangat. Kaampar tonia so salitan English. Kaloob na ogaw ed awiran ono iskuilaan nakaukulan ton aralen so simplin abakada, tan gramatika ya angga'd awaran, atagey a klasin panulatan tan litiratura na Tagala. Kapaway balet na ogaw ed awiran, duma la so saykolohikal ya kanonotan to tan nayari met ya epel la'y dila to ed abangonan ton salita laut la no agto sipur a salita so Tagalog. Dia ed luyag tayo, impaneknek ed saray atateng tayo ya say salitan Pangasinan et sakey labat a dayalikto (di

Makata is off the virtual press!

Makata Issue No.8 , August 2007 is now available online featuring the works of our home-grown and international poets: Aurora Antonovic, Roselier Levi G. Azarcon, Christopher Barnes, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Placido Belardo, Junelyn Delarosa, Zig Dulay, Dennis Espada, Raul Funilas, C. W. Hawes, Rachel Chan Suet Kay and G David Schwartz. Send all submissions / contributions for Volume 8 September 2007 issue to svillafania at yahoo [dot] com and to Jason Chancoco at tarusan22 at yahoo [dot] com (for Tagalog/Filipino & Bikol poetry). Also accepting poems written in other Philippine languages: Cebuano, Iluko, Hiligaynon, Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, etc.