Talking Pangasinan

By Marifi Jara

About more than one year ago, I attended a forum wherein a graduate student under the Master of Arts in Language and Literature program of the University of the Philippines Baguio presented a proposal for a research paper on the supposed dying Pangasinan language.

I forget now what exactly the paper was going to look into but I do remember that one of the members of the panel of reactors, a professor at the UP Baguio College of Arts and Communication, strongly refuted the thesis saying Pangasinan is alive and well –  short of saying the proposed study would be a waste of time.

I’ve lost track of what happened to that proposal and I don’t know if the student, whom I know is from Pangasinan, did pursue it despite the discouraging reaction.

I hope she did because it would be interesting to see the result of such a study since I don’t think the student would have even considered the idea if it was absolutely baseless.

There is, somehow, a vanishing appreciation of Pangasinan, especially among the so-called Generation X who are widely exposed to television and the corresponding pop culture it promotes that are largely Filipino- and English- based.

There is nothing wrong with that. I espouse multi-lingualism. I think our exposure and ability to speak Filipino, the national language; English, now unarguably the global language; and Pangasinan, our local language is a strength rather than a disadvantage.

What is scary is the loss of pride in our local language and the belief that it is becoming passe.

The first language or native tongue if you like, embodies a people’s soul. The death of a language could mean the closure of an entire culture.

But in the meantime, Pangasinan has just received a long overdue boost and recognition with its inclusion in the Gawad Komisyon 2007.

For the first time, there will be a category for Pangasinan entries – poetry and short story – in this prestigious annual literary contest held nationwide.

This yearly contest, a project of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino Language), is held in line with the celebration of the Language month every August.

The theme this year is “Maraming wika, Matatag na bansa”, which reflects a major shift in language policy in the country. Remember the old battlecry? “Isang Bansa, Isang wika?”

The KWF, currently under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Ma. Nolasco, now recognize and hope to promote and embrace the reality that we Filipinos are multi-lingual and multi-cultural. And this is not a bad thing at all.

Maintaining a national language – the Tagalog-based Filipino, which is the second language of most Filipinos – should not necessarily mean neglecting or discarding all the other Philippine languages.

So hurray and good luck to the KWF’s new direction.

Deadline for the submission of entries is on July 27. Contest guidelines and application forms may be accessed at http://wika.pbwiki.com and entries may be   sent to the KWF office at G/F Watson Bldg., 1610 J.P. Laurel St., Malacañang Palace Complex, San Miguel, Manila or through the KWF e-mail address gawad_kwf@-yahoo.com.ph.

This is a great opportunity for us to show how rich the Pangasinan language is.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/roots/)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments