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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here is a short quotation from a paper that Ernesto
Constantino gave to me in person when I met with him in 1995. It is a copy
of a typescript dated 10/4/94 - I don't know if it was published at
all.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To quote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> The present constitution
of the Philippines, the 1987 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Constitution, states in
Article XIV, Sec. 6 that "The </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> national language of the
Philippines is Filipino." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><STRONG>Conceptually<EM>, </EM></STRONG>this Filipino language is not
based </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> on one</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2> language but on various languages of the
nation<STRONG>.<EM> </EM></STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG><EM>
</EM>In </STRONG></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>usage,
</STRONG>this language is based on the <EM>national lingua</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM> franca</EM> which is
at present being used especially for </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> interethnic communication
by about 90% or more of the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> members of the more than
one hundred indigenous </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> ethnolinguistic groups
that comprise the Filipino nation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> (emphasis mine,
italics original)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is the crux of the matter: "Filipino is based
on the <EM>national lingua franca..." </EM>There is no question but that
this lingua franca was in fact <STRONG>Tagalog in its various varieties as
influenced by the native language of the nonnative-Tagalog speakers.
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I will be preparing arguments (historical,
psycholinguistic, media tapes, and experience in translating/interpreting
involving nonnative speakers of Tagalog) in support of Tagalog as being the
lingua franca that Filipino is supposed to be based on, and that Filipino is
precisely what Tagalog has evolved into. Even from the above and in the
context of non-Tagalog speaking communities' reservations - even outright
objections - re Tagalog as the national language, it is pretty
obvious that <STRONG>Filipino is a political concept.
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If Filipino is based on the "national lingua
franca" which is Tagalog and its regional varieties, then indeed Filipino is the
alter ego of Tagalog.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>More later - if anyone else is further interested,
that is.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> <FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards, Paz</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paz Buenaventura Naylor, Ph.D.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Emeritus Professor, Asian Languages and
Cultures</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Faculty Associate, Center for Southeast Asian
Studies</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Program Associate, Linguistics</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI
48109</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Home Address: 2032 Winsted Blvd., Ann Arbor
MI 48103</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2> Tel/Fax:
(734) 995-2371 </FONT></DIV>
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