Tagalog (pronounced [tɐˈgaːlog]) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. It is the most spoken Philippine language in terms of number of speakers.

Tagalog, in its standardized form, Filipino, is the principal language of the national television and radio news media in the Philippines. (Newspapers are almost completely in English.) It is the primary language of public education. As Filipino, it is, along with English, a co-official language and the sole national language. It is widely used as a lingua franca throughout the country, and in overseas Filipino communities. However, while Tagalog may be prevalent in many fields, English, to varying degrees of fluency, is more prevalent in the fields of government and business.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Classification
3 Features
3.1 Geographic distribution
3.2 Official status
3.3 Dialects
3.4 Code-switching
4 Phonology
4.1 Vowels
4.2 Consonants
4.3 Stress
4.4 Sounds
5 Historical changes
6 Grammar
7 Writing system
7.1 Baybayin
7.2 Latin alphabet
7.2.1 ng and mga
8 Vocabulary and borrowed words
8.1 Tagalog words of foreign origin chart
8.2 Austronesian comparison chart
8.3 Contribution to other languages
9 Religious literature
10 Examples
10.1 The Lord's Prayer (Ama Namin)
10.2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
10.3 Numbers
10.4 Common phrases
11 References
12 External links

[edit] History

The Tagalog Baybayin scriptThe word Tagalog derived from tagá-ílog, from tagá- meaning "native of" and ílog meaning "river." Thus, it means "river dweller." There are no surviving written samples of Tagalog before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. Very little is known about the history of the language. However, according to linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust, the Tagalogs originated, along with their Central Philippine cousins, from Northeastern Mindanao or Eastern Visayas.[2][3]

The first known book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Cristiana (Christian Doctrine) of 1593. It was written in Spanish and two versions of Tagalog; one written in the Baybayin script and the other in the Latin alphabet. Throughout the 333 years of Spanish occupation, there were grammar and dictionaries written by Spanish clergymen such as Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala by Pedro de San Buenaventura (Pila, Laguna, 1613), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1835) and Arte de la lengua tagala y manual tagalog para la administración de los Santos Sacramentos (1850). Poet Francisco Baltazar (1788–1862) is regarded as the foremost Tagalog writer. His most famous work is the early 19th-century Florante at Laura.

In 1937, the national language was based on Tagalog by the National Language Institute. In 1959, the national language, which had been renamed Wikang Pambansa ("National Language") by President Manuel L. Quezon in 1939, was renamed by the Secretary of Education, Jose Romero, as Pilipino to give it a national rather than ethnic label and connotation. The changing of the name did not, however, result in acceptance at the conscious level among non-Tagalogs, especially Cebuanos who had not accepted the selection.[4]

In 1971, the language issue was revived once more, and a compromise solution was worked out—a "universalist" approach to the national language, to be called Filipino rather than Pilipino. When a new constitution was drawn up in 1987, it named Filipino as the national language.[4] The constitution specified that as that Filipino language evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.

[edit] Classification
Tagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family. Being Malayo-Polynesian, it is related to other Austronesian languages such as Indonesian, Malay, Fijian, Maori (of New Zealand), Hawaiian, Malagasy (of Madagascar), Samoan, Tahitian, Chamorro (of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands), Tetum (of East Timor), and Paiwan (of Taiwan). It is closely related to the languages spoken in the Bicol and Visayas regions such as Bikol, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, and Cebuano.

Languages that have made significant contributions to Tagalog are Spanish, English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Sanskrit, Old Malay, and Tamil language.

[edit] Features

[edit] Geographic distribution
The Tagalog homeland, or Katagalugan, covers roughly much of the central to southern parts of the island of Luzon - particularly in Aurora, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, and Rizal. Tagalog is also spoken natively by inhabitants living on the islands of Lubang, Marinduque, and the northern and eastern parts of Mindoro. It is spoken by approximately 64.3 million Filipinos, 96.4% of the household population[5]. 21.5 million, or 28.15% of the total Philippine population[6], of which speak it as a native language.

Tagalog speakers are found in other parts of the Philippines as well as throughout the world, though its use is usually limited to communication between Filipino ethnic groups. It is the sixth most-spoken language in the United States with over a million speakers[7]. In Canada it is spoken by 235,615 [8].

[edit] Official status

Predominantly Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines.Main article: Filipino language
Tagalog was declared the official language by the first constitution in the Philippines, the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato in 1897.[9]

In 1935, the Philippine constitution designated English and Spanish as official languages, but mandated the development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages.[10] After study and deliberation, the National Language Institute, a committee composed of seven members who represented various regions in the Philippines, chose Tagalog as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippines.[11][4] President Manuel L. Quezon then, on December 30, 1937, proclaimed the selection of the Tagalog language to be used as the basis for the evolution and adoption of the national language of the Philippines.[11] In 1939 President Quezon renamed Tagalog as wikang pambansâ (national language).[4] In 1939, the language was further renamed as "Pilipino".[4]

The 1973 constitution designated Tagalog (as Pilipino), along with English, as an official language and mandated the development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino.[12] The 1987 constitution designated Filipino as the national language, mandating that as it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.[13]

As Filipino, Tagalog has been taught in schools throughout the Philippines. It is the only one out of over 170 Philippine languages that is officially used in schools and businesses, (info from culturegrams)[citation needed] though Article XIV, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines does specify, in part:

Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.[13]

The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein.[13]

Other Philippine languages have influenced Filipino, primarily through migration from the provinces to Metro Manila of speakers of those other languages.

[edit] Dialects
At present, no comprehensive dialectology has been done in the Tagalog-speaking regions, though there have been descriptions in the form of dictionaries and grammars on various Tagalog dialects. Ethnologue lists Lubang, Manila, Marinduque, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Tanay-Paete, and Tayabas as dialects of Tagalog. However, there appear to be four main dialects of which the aforementioned are a part; Northern (exemplified by the Bulacan dialect), Central (including Manila), Southern (exemplified by Batangas), and Marinduque.

Some example of dialectal differences are:

Many Tagalog dialects, particularly those in the south, preserve the glottal stop found after consonants and before vowels. This has been lost in standard Tagalog. For example standard Tagalog ngayon (now, today), sinigang (broth stew), gabi (night), matamis (sweet), are pronounced and written ngay-on, sinig-ang, gab-i, and matam-is in other dialects.
In Teresian-Morong Tagalog, [r] is usually preferred over [d]. For example, bundók, dagat, dingdíng, and isdâ become bunrok, ragat, ringring, and isra, as well as their expression seen in some signages like "sandok sa dingding" was changed as "sanrok sa ringring".
In many southern dialects, the progressive aspect prefix of -um- verbs is na-. For example, standard Tagalog kumakain (eating) is nákáin in Quezon and Batangas Tagalog. This is the butt of some jokes by other Tagalog speakers since a phrase such as nakain ka ba ng pating is interpreted as "did a shark eat you?" by those from Manila but in reality means "do you eat shark?" to those in the south.
Some dialects have interjections which are a considered a trademark of their region. For example, the interjection ala e! usually identifies someone from Batangas while as does hane?! in Rizal and Quezon provinces.
Perhaps the most divergent Tagalog dialects are those spoken in Marinduque. Linguist Rosa Soberano identifies two dialects, western and eastern with the former being closer to the Tagalog dialects spoken in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon.

One example are the verb conjugation paradigms. While some of the affixes are different, Marinduque also preserves the imperative affixes, also found in Visayan and Bikol languages, that have mostly disappeared from most Tagalog dialects by the early 20th century; they have since merged with the infinitive.

Manileño Tagalog Marinduque Dialect English
Susulat sina Maria at Fulgencia kay Juan. Másúlat da Maria at Fulgencia kay Juan. "Maria and Fulgencia will write to Juan."
Mag-aaral siya sa Maynila. Gaaral siya sa Maynila. "He will study in Manila."
Magluto ka! Pagluto ka! "Cook!"
Kainin mo iyan. Kaina mo yaan. "Eat that."
Tinatawag tayo ni Tatay. Inatawag nganì kitá ni Tatay. "Father is calling us."
Tutulungan ba kayó ni Hilarion? Atulungan ga kamo ni Hilarion? "Will Hilarion help you (pl.)?"

[edit] Code-switching
Taglish and Englog are names given to a mix of English and Tagalog. The amount of English vs.Tagalog varies from the occasional use of English loan words to outright code-switching where the language changes in mid-sentence. Such code-switching is prevalent throughout the Philippines and in various of the languages of the Philippines other than Tagalog.

Nasirà ang motorcycle ko kahapon!
"My motorcycle broke down yesterday!"
Huwág kang maninigarilyo, because it is harmful to your health.
"Never smoke cigarettes, ..."
Code switching also entails the use of foreign words that are Filipinized by reforming them using Filipino rules, such as verb conjugations. Users typically use Filipino or English words, whichever comes to mind first or whichever is easier to use.

Magshoshopping kami sa mall. Sino ba ang magdadrive sa shoppingan?
"We will go shopping at the mall. Who will drive to the shopping center anyway?"
Although it is generally looked down upon, code-switching is prevalent in all levels of society; however, city-dwellers, the highly educated, and people born around and after World War II are more likely to do it. Politicians as highly placed as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have code-switched in interviews.

The practice is common in television, radio, and print media as well. Advertisements from companies like Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, McDonald's, and Western Union have contained Taglish.

The Chinese and the non-Tagalog communities in the Philippines also frequently code-switch their language, be it Cebuano or Min Nan Chinese, with Taglish.

[edit] Phonology
Main article: Tagalog phonology
Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See Help:IPA for a pronunciation key.
Tagalog has 21 phonemes; 16 consonants and five vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel, except for borrowed words such as trak which means "truck", or tsokolate meaning "chocolate".

[edit] Vowels
Before the arrival of the Spanish, Tagalog had three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, and /u/. This was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words.

They are:

/a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English "father"
/ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to English "bed"
/i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine"
/o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English "forty"
/u/ a close back unrounded vowel similar to English "flute"
There are four main diphthongs; /aɪ/, /oɪ/, /aʊ/, and /iʊ/.

[edit] Consonants
Below is a chart of Tagalog consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive Voiceless p t k ʔ
Voiced b d g
Fricative s h
Flap ɾ
Lateral l
Approximant w j

[edit] Stress
Stress is phonemic in Tagalog. Primary stress occurs on either the last or the next-to-the-last (penultimate) syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress except when stress occurs at the end of a word. Stress on words is very important, they differentiate words with the same spellings, but with different meanings, e.g. tayo(to stand) and tayo(us; we)

[edit] Sounds
/a/ is raised slightly to [ɐ] in unstressed positions and also occasionally in stressed positions (‘inang bayan’ [in'ɐŋ 'bɐjən])
Unstressed /i/ is usually pronounced [ɪ] as in English "bit"
At the final syallable, /i/ can be pronounced as [i ~ e ~ ɛ] as [e ~ ɛ] was an allophone of [ɪ ~ i] in final syllables.
Unstressed /ɛ/ and /o/ can sometimes be pronounced as [i ~ ɪ ~ e] and [u ~ ʊ ~ ɔ] except final syllables. [o~ ʊ ~ ɔ] and [u ~ ʊ] were also former allophones.
Unstressed /u/ is usually pronounced [ʊ] as in English "book"
The diphthong /aɪ/ and the sequence /aʔi/ have a tendency to become [eɪ ~ ɛː].
The diphthong /aʊ/ and the sequence /aʔu/ have a tendency to become [oʊ ~ ɔː].
/k/ between vowels has a tendency to become [x] as in Spanish "José", whereas in the initial position it has a tendency to become [kx].
Intervocalic /g/ and /k/ tend to become [ɰ] (see preceding).
/ɾ/ and /d/ are sometimes interchangeable as /ɾ/ and /d/ were once allophones in Tagalog.
A glottal stop that occurs at the end of a word is often omitted when it is in the middle of a sentence, especially in the Metro Manila area. The vowel it follows is then usually lengthened. However, it is preserved in many other dialects.
/o/ tends to become [ɔ] in stressed positions.
/niy/, /siy/, /tiy/, and /diy/ may be pronounced as [nj]/[nij], [sj]/[sij], [tj]/[tij] and [dj]/[dij], respectively, especially in but not limited to rural areas.
/ts/ may be pronounced as [ts], especially in but not limited to rural areas.
/e/ or /i/ before s-consonant clusters have a tendency to become silent.

[edit] Historical changes
Tagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə. In Bikol & Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and [o]. In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/. For example, Proto-Philippine *dəkət (adhere, stick) is Tagalog dikít and Visayan & Bikol dukot.

Proto-Philippine *r, *j, and *z merged with /d/ but is /l/ between vowels. Proto-Philippine *ngajan (name) and *hajək (kiss) became Tagalog ngalan and halík.

Proto-Philippine *R merged with /g/. *tubiR (water) and *zuRuʔ (blood) became Tagalog tubig and dugô.

[edit] Grammar
Further information: Tagalog grammar

[edit] Writing system

[edit] Baybayin
Main article: Baybayin
Tagalog was written in an abugida called Baybayin prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. This particular writing system was composed of symbols representing three vowels and 14 consonants. Belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts, it shares similarities with the Old Kawi script of Java and is believed to be descended from the script used by the Bugis in Sulawesi.

Although it enjoyed a relatively high level of literacy, the script gradually fell into disuse in favor of the Latin alphabet during Spanish colonial rule.

There has been confusion of how to use Baybayin. Each letter in the Latin Alphabet is not represented with one of those in the Baybayin alphabet. Rather than letters being put together to make sounds as in Western languages. Baybayin uses symbols to represent syllables.

A "kudlit" resembling an apostrophe is used above or below a symbol to change the vowel sound after its consonant. If the kudlit is used above, the vowel is an "E" or "I" sound. If the Kudlit is used below, the vowel is an "O" or "U" sound. A special kudlit was later added by Spanish missionaries in which a cross placed below the symbol to get rid of the vowel sound all together, leaving a consonant. Previously, the final consonant was just left out, leaving the reader to use context to determine the final consonants.

Example:

Baybayin is encoded in Unicode version 3.2 in the range 1700-171F under the name "Tagalog".

[edit] Latin alphabet
Main article: Abakada
Until the first half of the 20th century, Tagalog was widely written in a variety of ways based on Spanish orthography. When the national language was based on Tagalog, grammarian Lope K. Santos introduced a new alphabet consisting of 20 letters called ABAKADA in school grammar books called balarilà; A B K D E G H I L M N Ng O P R S T U W Y.

[edit] ng and mga
The genitive marker ng and the plural marker mga are abbreviations that are pronounced nang [naŋ] and mangá [mɐ'ŋa]. Ng means "of" (ex. Siya ay kapatid ng nanay ko. She is the sibling of my mother) while nang means "when" or "while." Mga denotes plurality (ex. Iyan ang mga damit ko. Those are my clothes).

Ex#1: Nang si Hudas ay madulas. - When Judas slipped.

Ex#2: Siya ay kumain nang nakatayo. - He ate while standing.

[edit] Vocabulary and borrowed words
Tagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of Austronesian origin with borrowings from Spanish, Min Nan Chinese (also known as Hokkien), Malay, Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil, Persian, Kapampangan, languages spoken on Luzon, and others, especially other Austronesian languages.

Due to trade with Mexico via the Manila galleon from the 16th to the 19th centuries, many words from Nahuatl, a language spoken by Native Americans in Mexico, were introduced to Tagalog.

English has borrowed some words from Tagalog, such as abaca, adobo, aggrupation, barong, balisong, boondocks, jeepney, Manila hemp, pancit, and yaya, although the vast majority of these borrowed words are only used in the Philippines as part of the vocabularies of Philippine English.

[edit] Tagalog words of foreign origin chart
Main article: Tagalog loanwords
For the Min Nan Chinese borrowings, the parentheses indicate the equivalent in standard Chinese.

Tagalog meaning language of origin original spelling
kumustá how are you? (general greeting) Spanish cómo está
dasál pray Spanish rezar
kabayo horse Spanish caballo
silya chair Spanish silla
umpisá start Spanish empezar
kotse car Spanish coche
sabón soap Spanish jabón (sabón in old Sp)
relós wristwatch Spanish reloj
litrato picture Spanish retrato
tsismis gossip Spanish chismes
giyera/gyera/gera war Spanish guerra
Ingglés English Spanish inglés
tsinelas slippers Spanish chinelas
karne meat Spanish carne
sapatos shoes Spanish zapatos
arina/harina flour Spanish harina
bisikleta bicycle Spanish bicicleta
sugál gambling Spanish jugar (to play)
baryo village Spanish barrio
swerte luck Spanish suerte
piyesta/pista celebration Spanish fiesta
garáhe garage Spanish garaje
ahente agent/salesman Spanish agente
ensaymada a kind of pastry Catalan ensaïmada
kamote sweet potato Nahuatl camotli
sayote chayote, choko Nahuatl hitzayotli
atswete achiote Nahuatl achiotl
sili chili pepper Nahuatl chili
tsokolate chocolate Nahuatl xocolatl
tiyangge market Nahuatl tianquiztli
sapote chico (fruit) Nahuatl tzapotl
nars nurse English
bolpen ballpoint pen English
drayber/drayver driver English
tráysikel tricycle English
lumpia (/lum·pyâ/) spring roll Min Nan Chinese 潤餅 (春捲)
siopao (/syó·paw/) steamed buns Min Nan Chinese 燒包 (肉包)
pansít (/pyan·i·sit/) noodles Min Nan Chinese 便食 (麵)
susì key Min Nan Chinese 鎖匙
kuya (see Philippine kinship) older brother Min Nan Chinese 哥亚 (哥仔)
ate (/ah·chi/) (see Philippine kinship) older sister Min Nan Chinese 亜姐 (阿姐)
bwisit annoyance Min Nan Chinese 無衣食
bakyâ wooden shoes Min Nan Chinese 木履
hikaw earrings Min Nan Chinese 耳鈎 (耳環)
kanan right Malay kanan
tulong help Malay tolong
sakit sick Malay sakit
tanghalì afternoon Malay tengah hari
dalamhatì grief Malay dalam + hati
luwalhatì glory Malay luar + hati
duryán durian Malay durian
rambután rambutan Malay rambutan
batík spot Malay batik
saráp delicious Malay sedap
asa hope Sanskrit आशा
salitâ speak Sanskrit चरितँ (cerita)
balità news Sanskrit वार्ता (berita)
karma karma Sanskrit कर्म
alak liquor Persian عرق (arak)
manggá mango Tamil மாங்காய்(mángáy)
bagay thing Tamil வகை(vagai)
hukóm judge Arabic حكم
salamat thanks Arabic سلامة
bakit why Kapampangan obakit
akyát climb Kapampangan ukyát/mukyat
at and Kapampangan at
bundók mountain Kapampangan bunduk
huwág don't Pangasinan ag
aso dog Luzon languages aso
tayo we (inc.) Luzon languages

[edit] Austronesian comparison chart
Below is a chart of Tagalog and sixteen other Austronesian languages comparing thirteen words; the first thirteen languages are spoken in the Philippines and the other four are spoken in Indonesia, Hawai'i, and Madagascar.

English one two three four person house dog coconut day new we (inc.) what fire
Tagalog isa dalawa tatlo apat tao bahay aso niyog araw bago tayo ano apoy
Bicol saro duwa tulo apat tawo harong ayam niyog aldaw ba-go kita ano kalayo
Cebuano usa duha tulo upat tawo balay iro lubi adlaw bag-o kita unsa kalayo
Waray usa duha tulo upat tawo balay ayam lubi adlaw bag-o kita ano kalayo
Tausug hambuuk duwa tu upat tau bay iru' niyug adlaw ba-gu kitaniyu unu kayu
Kinaray-a sara darwa tatlo apat taho balay ayam niyog adlaw bag-o kita, taten ano kalayo
Kapampangan metung adwa atlu apat tau bale asu ngungut aldo bayu ikatamu nanu api
Pangasinan isa, sakey dua, duara talo, talora apat, apatira too abong aso niyog agew balo sikatayo anto apoy
Ilokano maysa dua tallo uppat tao balay aso niog aldaw baro datayo ania apoy
Ivatan asa dadowa tatdo apat tao vahay chito niyoy araw va-yo yaten ango apoy
Ibanag tadday dua tallu appa' tolay balay kitu niuk aggaw bagu sittam anni afi
Gaddang antet addwa tallo appat tolay balay atu ayog aw bawu ikkanetem sanenay afuy
Tboli sotu lewu tlu fat tau gunu ohu lefo kdaw lomi tekuy tedu ofih
Indonesian satu dua tiga empat orang rumah/balai anjing kelapa/nyiur hari baru kita apa/anu api
Javanese siji loro telu papat wong omah/bale asu opo/anu api
Hawaiian kahi lua kolu hā kanaka hale 'īlio niu ao hou kākou aha ahi
Malagasy isa roa telo efatra olona trano alika voanio andro vaovao isika inona afo

[edit] Contribution to other languages
Tagalog itself has contributed a few words into English.

boondocks: meaning "rural" or "back country," was imported by American soldiers stationed in the Philippines as a mispronounced version of the Tagalog bundok, which means "mountain."
cogon: a type of grass, used for thatching. This word came from the Tagalog word kugon (a species of tall grass).
ylang-ylang: a type of flower known for its fragrance.
Abaca: a type of hemp fiber made from a plant in the banana family, from abaká.
Manila hemp: a light brown cardboard material used for folders and paper usually made from abaca hemp.
Capiz: also known as window oyster, is used to make windows.
Yo-yo is reportedly a Tagalog word, however no such word exists in Tagalog.

Tagalog has contributed several words to Philippine Spanish, like barangay (from balañgay meaning barrio), the abacá, cogon, palay, etc.

[edit] Religious literature
Religious Literature remains to be one of the most dynamic contributors to Tagalog literature. In 1970, the Philippine Bible Society translated the Bible into Tagalog, the first translation to any of the Philippine languages. Even before the Second Vatican Council, devotional materials in Tagalog had been circulating. At present, there are three circulating Tagalog translations of the Holy Bible—the Magandang Balita Biblia (a parallel translation of the Good News Bible), which is the ecumenical version; the Ang Biblia, which is a more Protestant version; and the Bagong Sinlibutang Salin ng Banal na Kasulatan, one of about sixty parallel translations of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by Jehovah's Witnesses. The latter was released in the year 2000. Jehovah's Witnesses previously published a hybrid translation: Ang Biblia was used for the Old Testament, while the Bagong Sinlibutang Salin was used for the New Testament.

When the Second Vatican Council, (specifically the Sacrosanctum Concilium) permitted the universal prayers to be translated into vernacular languages, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines was one of the first to translate the Roman Missal into Tagalog. In fact, the Roman Missal in Tagalog was published as early as 1982, while not published in English until 1985.

Jehovah's Witnesses were printing Tagalog literature at least as early as 1941[14] and The Watchtower (the primary magazine of Jehovah's Witnesses) was being published in Tagalog since at least the 1960's. New releases are now regularly released simultaneously in a number of languages, including Tagalog. The official website of Jehovah's Witnesses also has some publications available online in Tagalog.[1]

Tagalog is quite a stable language, and very few revisions have been made to Catholic Bible translations. Also, as Protestantism in the Philippines is relatively young, liturgical prayers tend to be more ecumenical.

[edit] Examples

[edit] The Lord's Prayer (Ama Namin)
Ama Namin, sumasalangit ka. Sambahin ang ngalan mo. Mapasaamin ang kaharian mo, Sundin ang loob mo dito sa lupa para nang sa langit. Bigyan mo kami ngayon ng aming kakanin sa araw-araw, At patawarin mo kami sa aming mga sala, Para nang pagpapatawad namin sa nagkakasala sa amin At huwag mo kaming ipahintulot sa tukso, At iadya mo kami sa lahat ng masama. Amen.

[edit] Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Ang lahat ng tao'y isinilang na malaya at pantay-pantay sa karangalan at mga karapatan. Sila'y pinagkalooban ng katwiran at budhi at dapat magpalagayan ang isa't isa sa diwa ng pagkakapatiran.

(Every person is born free and equal with honor and rights. They are given reason and conscience and they must always trust each other for the spirit of brotherhood.)

[edit] Numbers
Cardinal Ordinal
1 isá una / ika-isa
2 dalawá pangalawá / ika'lawa
3 tatló pangatló / ika'tlo
4 apat pang-apat / ika-apat
5 limá panlimá / ika-lima
6 anim pang-anim / ika-anim
7 pitó pampitó / ika-pito
8 waló pangwaló / ika-walo
9 siyám pansiyám / ika-siyam
10 sampû pansampû / ika-sampu
11 labíng-isá / onse (Spanish numbers are commonly used above 10) panlabíng-isá / pang-onse / ika-labing-isa
12 labingdalawá / dose panlabindalawá / pandose / ika-labing-dalawa
20 dalawampu pambente / ika-dalawang-pu
100 (i)sán(g)daán / syento pang-isán(g)daán / pansyento / ika-isang-daan
200 dalawáng daán / dos syentos
400 apat-na-raán / kwatro syentos
600 anim-na-raán / saís syentos
1,000 isáng libo
2,000 dalawáng libo / dos mil
10,000 sanlaksa / dyes mil
100,000 sangyuta / syento mil
1,000,000 isáng milyón / sang-angaw
2,000,000 dalawáng milyón / dalawang angaw
100,000,000 isang daang milyon

[edit] Common phrases
Filipino: Pilipino [ˌpiːliˈpiːno]
English: Ingglés [ʔɪŋˈglɛs]
Tagalog: Tagalog [tɐˈgaːlog]
What is your name?: Anó ang pangalan ninyo? (plural) Anó ang pangalan mo(singular) [ɐˈno aŋ pɐˈŋaːlan nɪnˈjo]
How are you?: kumustá [kʊmʊsˈta]
Good morning!: Magandáng umaga! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋ uˈmaːga]
Good afternoon! (from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.): Magandáng tanghali! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋ taŋˈhaːlε]
Good afternoon! (from 1 p.m. to dusk): Magandáng hapon! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋ ˈhaːpon]
Good evening!: Magandáng gabí! [mɐgɐnˈdaŋ gɐˈbε]
Good-bye: paalam [pɐˈʔaːlam] (literal - "with your blessing")
Please: Depending on the nature of the verb, either pakí- [pɐˈki] or makí- [mɐˈki] is attached as a prefix to a verb. ngâ [ŋaʔ] is optionally added after the verb to increase politeness.
Thank you: salamat [sɐˈlaːmat]
That one: iyan [ʔiˈjan]
How much?: magkano? [mɐgˈkaːno]
Yes: oo [ˈoːʔo]
No: hindî [hɪnˈdɛʔ]
Sorry: pasensya pô (literally - "patience") or sorry/sori [pɐˈsɛːnʃa poʔ] patawad po [pɐtaːwad poʔ] (literally - "forgiveness")
Because: kasí [kɐˈsɛ]
Hurry!: Dalí! [dɐˈli], Bilís! [bɪˈlis]
Again: mulí [muˈli] , ulít [uˈlɛt]
I don't understand: Hindî ko maintindihan [hɪnˈdiː ko mɐʔɪnˌtɪndiˈhan]
Where's the bathroom?: Nasaán ang banyo? [ˌnaːsɐˈʔan ʔaŋ ˈbaːnjo]
Generic toast: Mabuhay! [mɐˈbuːhaɪ] [literally - "long live"]
Do you speak English? Marunong ka bang magsalitâ ng Ingglés? [mɐˈɾuːnʊŋ ka baŋ mɐgsaliˈtaː naŋ ʔɪŋˈglɛs]
It is fun to live. Masaya ang mabuhay! [mɐˈsa'ya ʔaŋ mɐ'buːhaɪ]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagalog_language