Siyokoy (linguistics)

Last updated February 23, 2024

Siyokoy is a term coined by Virgilio Almario that refers to Filipino-language hybrid words seemingly derived from both English and Spanish.^[1] The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino under the administration of Almario has considered siyokoy words to be improper and therefore its use discouraged.

Background

Siyokoy is a term coined by National Artist Virgilio Almario, who also chaired the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF; Commission of Filipino Language).^[2] The term is derived from the Philippine mythological creature siyokoy, roughly equivalent to the merman, ultimately derived from the Hokkien shui gui .^[3]

It is used to describe hybrid words "not Spanish and not also English" and are said to be often made by educated people not aware of the proper equivalent of the siyokoy word in Spanish who want to use words that sound like Spanish. The phenomenon was first noticed when radio broadcaster Rod Navarro popularized the word konsernado—Hispanicized from the English word "concerned". The Spanish word for "concerned" is concernido, and therefore the KWF asserts that the word in Filipino should be konsernído.^[2]

The proliferation of siyokoy words is fast due to its usage by celebrities, broadcasters, writers and academics who have limited knowledge in Spanish.^[2] The stance against siyokoy words is instituted in the KWF Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat style guide, which was written by Almario as KWF chair.^[2] Almario, who has been critical of siyokoy words since 1976, is more tolerant of jejemon and bekimon , which he characterize as "cultured language" meant to be intelligible by everyone and thus are not "permanent languages".^[1]

Alternatives

Instead of using siyokoy words, Almario suggests consulting an English–Spanish dictionary and deriving the Filipino word from the Spanish term. He also prefers Filipino speakers to straight up use English terminologies if they are not aware of the Spanish equivalent. The most preferable approach is to use existing Filipino words such as larawan for "image".^[2]

Examples

The following are examples of siyokoy words, their equivalent in English and Spanish, as well as the proper Filipino language equivalent as suggested by Almario or the KWF.

Siyokoy word (in Filipino)	Spanish	English	Proper Filipino^[1]^[2](as suggested by the KWF)	Native Filipino equivalent^[2]^[4]
aspeto	aspecto	aspect	aspekto	mukha / dako
dayalekto	dialecto	dialect	diyalekto / dayalek	wikain
dayalogo	diálogo	dialogue	diyalogo / dayalog	pag-uusap
endorso	endoso	endorse	endoso	piliin / ipagtibay magtagubilin / lumagda / maglipat
imahe	imagen	image	imahen	larawan / hulagway (Seb.)
kontemporaryo	contemporáneo	contemporary	kontemporaneo / kontemporanyo	kapanahon / napapanahon
pesante	paisano	peasant	–	magbubukid / magsasaka
prayoridad	prioridad	priority	priyoridad / prayoriti	pagkauna / karapatang mauna

Related Research Articles

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines, and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages, alongside English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filipino language</span> Official language of the Philippines

Filipino is a language under the Austronesian language family. It is the national language of the Philippines, and one of the two official languages of the country, with English. It is a standardized variety of Tagalog based on the native dialect, spoken and written, in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago. The 1987 Constitution mandates that Filipino be further enriched and developed by the other languages of the Philippines.

Ë, ë (e-diaeresis) is a letter in the Albanian, Kashubian, Emilian, Romagnol, Ladin, and Lenape alphabets. As a variant of the letter e, it also appears in Acehnese, Afrikaans, Belarusian, Breton, Dutch, English, Filipino, French, Luxembourgish, Piedmontese, Russian, the Abruzzese dialect of the Neapolitan language, and the Ascolano dialect. The letter is also used in Seneca, Taiwanese Hokkien, Turoyo, and Uyghur when written in Latin script.

Taglish or Englog is code-switching and/or code-mixing in the use of Tagalog and English, the most common languages of the Philippines. The words Taglish and Englog are portmanteaux of the words Tagalog and English. The earliest use of the word Taglish dates back to 1973, while the less common form Tanglish is recorded from 1999.

Filipinoorthography specifies the correct use of the writing system of the Filipino language, the national and co-official language of the Philippines.

The Commission on the Filipino Language (CFL), also referred to as the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), is the official regulating body of the Filipino language and the official government institution tasked with developing, preserving, and promoting the various local Philippine languages. The commission was established in accordance with the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.

The modern Filipino alphabet, otherwise known as the Filipino alphabet, is the alphabet of the Filipino language, the official national language and one of the two official languages of the Philippines. The modern Filipino alphabet is made up of 28 letters, which includes the entire 26-letter set of the ISO basic Latin alphabet, the Spanish Ñ, and the Ng. The Ng digraph came from the Pilipino Abakada alphabet of the Fourth Republic. Today, the modern Filipino alphabet may also be used to write all autochthonous languages of the Philippines and Chavacano, a Spanish-derived creole.

Virgilio Senadren Almario, better known by his pen name Rio Alma, is a Filipino author, poet, critic, translator, editor, teacher, and cultural manager. He is a National Artist of the Philippines. He formerly served as the chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency mandated to promote and standardize the use of the Filipino language. On January 5, 2017, Almario was also elected as the chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Itawis is a Northern Philippine language spoken by the Itawis people, closely related to the Gaddang speech found in Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya. It also has many similarities to the neighboring Ibanag tongue, while remaining quite different from the prevalent Ilocano spoken in the region and the Tagalog-based Filipino national language.

There have been several names of the Philippines in different cultures and at different times, usually in reference to specific island groups within the current archipelago. Even the name Philippines itself was originally intended to apply only to Leyte, Samar, and nearby islands. It was bestowed by the Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos or one of his captains Bernardo de la Torre in 1543 in honor of the crown prince Philip, later Philip II. Mindanao, which they reached first and assumed to be the greater land, they named after the reigning emperor Charles V, who was also Spain's king Carlos I. Over the course of Spanish colonization, the name was eventually extended to cover the entire chain. It has survived with minor changes. The Philippine Revolution called its state the Philippine Republic. The US military and civilian occupations called their territory the Philippine Islands. During the Third Philippine Republic, the state's official name was formally changed to the Philippines.

The Talaang Ginto, formerly known as the “Talaang Ginto: Gawad Surian sa Tula-Gantimpalang Tamayo”, is a sought-after annual literary award in Philippine poetry. The Talaang Ginto is perhaps the longest-running state-run literary contest that began in 1963 by the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. The Surian was later replaced by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in 1991. The Commission organizes the contest at present.

Ildefonso Santiago Santos was a Filipino educator, poet, and linguist. Recognized as one of the finest poets in Tagalog, Santos was also renowned with his translations of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam and of the Philippine National Anthem, and for his use of the ancient Filipino form of poetry known as Tanaga.

Michael M. Coroza is a Filipino poet, educator, and S.E.A. Write Award laureate.

The Karay-a language is an Austronesian regional language in the Philippines spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique.

Ilocano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines, primarily by Ilocano people and as a lingua franca by the Igorot people and also by the native settlers of Cagayan Valley. It is the third most-spoken native language in the country.

David Michael M. San Juan is a Filipino Marxist writer, researcher, activist, and professor. He was chosen Mananaysay ng Taon in 2009 and Makata ng Taon in 2010 by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino.

Tagalog profanity can refer to a wide range of offensive, blasphemous, and taboo words or expressions in the Tagalog language of the Philippines. Due to Filipino culture, expressions which may sound benign when translated back to English can cause great offense; while some expressions English speakers might take great offense to can sound benign to a Tagalog speaker. Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, is the standard register of Tagalog, so as such the terms Filipino profanity and Filipino swear words are sometimes also employed.

Carmelita Yboa Carnacite-Abdurahman is a Filipino academic in the field of linguistics.

Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa, simply known as Buwan ng Wika, is a month-long annual observance in the Philippines held every August to promote the national language, Filipino. The Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) is the lead agency in charge of organizing events in relation to the observances.

References

1 2 3 "Nauna pa sa 'Jejemon' at 'Bekimon:' Ang 'Siyokoy' sa wikang Filipino" [‘Siyokoy’ came first than ‘Jejemon’ and ‘Bekimon’ in the Filipino language]. GMA News (in Filipino). August 19, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (2014). KWF Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat [KWF Manual on Careful Writing](PDF) (in Filipino). Maynila: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-971-0197-34-7.
↑ Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948). Chinese elements in the Tagalog language. Manila: Filipiniana Publications. p. 55.
↑ Morrow, Paul (June 15, 2003). "Mga Salitan Siyokoy". paulmorrow.ca (in Filipino). Retrieved April 9, 2022.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[first-1] 1 2 3 "Nauna pa sa 'Jejemon' at 'Bekimon:' Ang 'Siyokoy' sa wikang Filipino" [‘Siyokoy’ came first than ‘Jejemon’ and ‘Bekimon’ in the Filipino language]. GMA News (in Filipino). August 19, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2021.

[Kwf-manwal-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (2014). KWF Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat [KWF Manual on Careful Writing](PDF) (in Filipino). Maynila: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-971-0197-34-7.

[3] Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948). Chinese elements in the Tagalog language. Manila: Filipiniana Publications. p. 55.

[4] Morrow, Paul (June 15, 2003). "Mga Salitan Siyokoy". paulmorrow.ca (in Filipino). Retrieved April 9, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]