The Filipinos are fond of creating their own slang wherever they are in the world. They have been doing so for as long as history can remember. These terms may have changed and evolved, but there is no indication that it will stop anytime soon. In fact, as time goes by, more and more expressions are being created and adapted by Filipinos—and now, Pinoy millennials.
As for the science behind it, Vincent Christopher Santiago, a linguistics instructor at University of the Philippines – Diliman, said that the process of creating the slang is not new and that they have been present in the dynamic nature of languages called “mutability.”
“For example, many terms in the Filipino slang—such as jeproks formed from project, yosi formed from sigarilyo, and repa formed from pare, all originating in the 1960s and 1970s—are examples of metathesis or sounds formed through word interchange or switch positions. In the 19th century, some similar examples of metathesis include Marcelo H. Del Pilar’s chosen nom de plume, Plaridel,” he said.
Santiago added that this is perfectly normal for speakers of language to do, and it is something that should be celebrated and embraced, because it means that the languages we speak are alive.
University of the Philippines Linguistics professor Jay-ar Igno, in an interview with CNN Philippines back in 2017, also said that the Filipino slang is normal because it is the natural process of language to evolve and change in time.
A side effect of colonial mentality?
The Filipino slang, Santiago believes, are based from very Filipino situations and experiences—and not a result of colonial mentality. He said that the way these words were formed and the specific contexts they came from are situations that are so familiar to Filipinos.
“Take, for example, the word lodi which is formed from idol. Filipinos have adopted the English word idol to refer to famous personalities they look up to: celebrities, musicians, perhaps even some politicians. Then, very recently, millennials started switching the syllables of the word,” he noted.
Igno also attributes this trend as a result of the Filipinos’ creativity.
The reasons behind the Filipino slang
According to Santiago, there are three major motivations for the rise of slang terms among Filipinos.
The first is veiling, or the need to hide and conceal the words and topics of conversation they have within their social group, people of the same age, and people of the same taste in popular culture.
The second major motivation is social group identification, where individuals use terms only understood in a certain social group, and among people whom they relate to.
The third motivation is technological development. Typing and using your smart phone’s keypad has drastically changed the way people use language online. Some of the terms you might be using include jk for “just kidding”, rn “right now”, tbh “to be honest”, and lol “laughing out loud.”
Santiago also noted how the internet has drawn different cultures together via social media. These platforms have enabled cultural influences to reach Filipinos at a faster scale than ever before.
“This is why phrases such as lit which means ‘very exciting or amazing’ and wig snatched or wig which mean ‘surprise or happiness felt toward a certain event, song, outfit, or person’ have come to be used even by Filipinos who have never set foot on America,” he said. “Many Filipino millennials also tend to delete copular verbs such as: we out here (instead of we are out here) or he workin (instead of he is working)—a very marked African American Vernacular English speech pattern.”
