List of loanwords in Tagalog

The Filipino language incorporated Spanish loanwords as a result of 333 years of contact with the Spanish language. In their review of a Pilipino-English dictionary, Llamzon and Thorpe (1972) point out that 33% of word roots are of Spanish origin.[1] An example is the sentence below in which Spanish–derived words are in italics (original in parentheses):

Tagalog: "Puwede (Puede) ba akóng umupô sa silya (silla) sa tabi ng bintana (ventana) hábang nása biyahe (viaje) táyo sa eroplano (aeroplano)?"

Translation in English: ("May I sit on the chair near the window during our voyage in the aeroplane?")

The adoption of the Abakada alphabet in 1940[2] changed the spelling of most of the Spanish loanwords present in the Filipino language. The loanwords derived from the Spanish language have their original spellings indigenized according to the rules of the Abakada alphabet. Examples include:

agila (from Sp. águila), alkalde (from Sp. alcalde), bakuna (from Sp. vacuna), banyo (from Sp. baño), baso (from Sp. vaso), biktima (from Sp. víctima), bintana (from Sp. ventana), bisita (from Sp. visita), biyahe (from Sp. viaje), braso (from Sp. brazo), demokrasya (from Sp. democracia), diyaryo (from Sp. diario), estudyante (from Sp. estudiante), heneral (from Sp. general), hustisya (from Sp. justicia), kama (from Sp. cama), kambiyo (from Sp. cambio de marcha), keso (from Sp. queso), kutsara (from Sp. cuchara), kuwarto (from Sp. cuarto), kuwento (from Sp. cuento), lababo (from Sp. lavabo), mensahe (from Sp. mensaje), meryenda (from Sp. merienda), mikrobyo (from Sp. microbio), niyebe (from Sp. nieve), panyo (from Sp. paño), pila (from Sp. fila), plema (from Sp. flema), presyo (from Sp. precio), prinsesa (from Sp. princesa), reseta (from Sp. receta médica), reyna (from Sp. reina), serbisyo (from Sp. servicio), sinturon (from Sp. cinturón), teklado (from Sp. teclado), telebisyon (from Sp. televisión), tinidor (from Sp. tenedor), trabaho (from Sp. trabajo), tuwalya (from Sp. toalla) and yelo (from Sp. hielo).[3][4][5]

Other loanwords derived from the Spanish language underwent spelling and pronunciation changes. Vowel changes can be observed to some of the Spanish words upon adoption into the Filipino language, such as an /i/ to /a/ vowel shift observed in the Filipino word paminta, which came from the Spanish word pimienta,[3] and an /e/ to /u/ vowel shift observed in unano (from Sp. enano) and umpisa (from Sp. empezar). Other words derived from Spanish underwent vowel deletion upon adoption into the Filipino language, such as the words pusta (from Sp. apostar), tarantado (from Sp. atarantado), kursonada (from Sp. corazonada), Pasko (from Sp. Pascua) and labi (from Sp. labio).[3] Consonant shifts can also be observed to some of the Spanish words upon their adoption into the Filipino language. The [r] to [l] consonant shift can be observed in the following words:

albularyo (witch doctor or folk healer, from Sp. herbolario), alma (from Sp. armar), almusal (from Sp. almorzar), asukal (from Sp. azúcar), balbas (from Sp. barba), bandila (from. Sp. bandera), dasal (from Sp. rezar), hibla (thread or strand, from Sp. hebra), hilo (dizzy, from Sp. giro), hulmá (to mould, from Sp. ahormar), kasal (from Sp. casar), kumpisal (from Sp. confesar), lagadera (from Sp. regadera), litratista (photographer, from Sp. retratista), litrato (photograph, portrait or picture; from Sp. retrato), multo (from Sp. muerto), nunal (from Sp. lunar), pastol (from Sp. pastor) and pasyal (from Sp. pasear).

The loss of the /l/ phoneme can be observed in the Filipino word kutson derived from the Spanish colchón. The loss of the /t/ phoneme can be observed in the Filipino words talino[6] (intelligence or wisdom, from Sp. talento) and tina[7] (dye, from Sp. tinta). Some Spanish-derived words have also undergone consonant or syllable deletion upon introduction to Tagalog like in the case of limos (from Sp. limosna), masyado (from Sp. demasiado), posas (from Sp. esposas), restawran (from Sp. restaurante), riles (rail, railway or railroad; from Sp. carriles), sindi (from Sp. third-person singular present tense conjugation of the verb encender) and sintunado (from Sp. desentonado).[4]

The Spanish digraph [ll] is pronounced by the Spaniards as /j/ during the Renaissance era and this reflected on the pronunciation and the spelling of Spanish-derived loanwords in Tagalog introduced before the 19th century, where the digraph [ll] becomes [y] in Tagalog. Such is the case of the words barya (from Sp. barrilla[8]), kabayo (from Sp. caballo), kutamaya (from. Sp. cota de malla), lauya (a stew of meat and vegetables, from Sp. la olla), sibuyas (from Sp. cebollas) and tabliya or tablea (from Sp. tablilla de chocolate). Spanish loanwords in which the digraph [ll] is pronounced as /lj/ in Tagalog were probably introduced (or reintroduced) during the 19th century by educated Peninsulares.[9]^:308 Examples include apelyido (from Sp. apellido), balyena (from Sp. ballena), kalye (from Sp. calle), kutsilyo (from Sp. cuchillo), makinilya (from Sp. maquinilla de escribir), sepilyo (from Sp. cepillo de dientes), silya (from Sp. silla) and sigarilyo (from Sp. cigarrillo). There are also rare cases of Tagalog doublets coming from the same Spanish etymological root which exhibit both the influences of the Renaissance /j/ and the latter /λ/ sounds, like in the case of the Tagalog word pair laryo and ladrilyo, both from Sp. ladrillo.[10] There are also instances of the Spanish digraph [ll] being transformed into [l] upon adoption by Tagalog. Such is the case of the following words: kulani (lymph node, from Sp. collarín[9]^:318–319), kursilista (from Sp. cursillista) and úling (coal, soot or charcoal; from Sp. hollín[11]).

Vestigial influences of Old and Middle Spanish voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ are evident in some of the Spanish-derived loanwords in Tagalog, where the /ʃ/ sound is transformed into the Tagalog /s/.[9]^:307 Examples include sabon (from Sp. jabón, pronounced as /ʃaˈbon/ in Middle Spanish), sugal (to gamble, from Sp. jugar, pronounced as /ʃuˈgar/ in Middle Spanish) and tasa (to sharpen, from Sp. tajar, pronounced as /taˈʃar/ in Middle Spanish). Loanwords which have the pronunciation that reflects the transition from Middle Spanish /ʃ/ to Modern Spanish /x/ are also present in Tagalog. The Modern Spanish /x/ sound is rendered in Tagalog as [h], which is the standard pronunciation in other Spanish dialects. Example cases include ahedres (from Sp. ajedrez), anghel (from Sp. ángel), halaya (from Sp. jalea), hardin (from Sp. jardín), hepe (police chief, from Sp. jefe), kahera and kahero (cashier, from Sp. cajera and cajero respectively) and kahon (from Sp. cajón). There are also rare cases of doublets that exhibit influences of both the Middle Spanish /ʃ/ and Modern Spanish /x/ like for example in the case of Tagalog muson and muhon (both from Sp. mojón).

Another one is maámong kordero (from Sp. amo & cordero). Combined together, it conveys the description of a meek, tame, harmless human with Tagalog adjective prefix and suffix added. The compound word batya't palo–palo, a phrase in the laundry business where many Spanish words proliferate. The words were taken from the Spanish batea for "washing tub" and palo for "stick" or "beater", something a typical Filipino might think had no Spanish provenance at all. Others are umpisa (empieza), pulubi (pobre), pader (pared).

Some have acquired an entirely new meaning, such as kursonada (corazonada, originally meaning '"hunch"), which means "object of desire"; sospetsoso (sospechoso) is the "suspicious person" and not the "suspect" as in the original; insekto ("insecto"), which still means "insect" but also refers to a "pesty clownish person"; or even sige (sigue), a Spanish word for "continue" or "follow", which is now widely understood to mean "all right" or "go ahead".

Others use Spanish prefixes and/or suffixes, combined from Tagalog or other languages, without which the word can not be completed and convey its meaning. For example, pakialamero (from Tag. pakialam, "to meddle" and the Sp. suffix –ero, masculine subject); same as majongero ("mahjong", a Chinese word and the Sp. suffix –ero). Daisysiete is a corruption and portmanteau of the English "daisy" and the Spanish diecisiete ("seventeen"), now meaning a sweet and sexually desirable underaged (below 18, hence the number) female. Bastusing katawán (Sp.: basto & Tag.: katawan) is an example of a two-word term for a bombshell body

Even after the Spanish era, Tagalog is still being influenced by Spanish as new words are coined, albeit along its own terms, viz., alaskadór ("Alaska" + Sp. suffix '–ador'); barkada (from Sp. barca,"boat" to "clique"); bérde ("verde"="green", nuanced to "toilet humour" or "blue joke"); which are not readily understood in Spain or any Latin American country. In a strange twist, even if Filipinos have a chance to Tagalized words using foreign words, currently English—their most accessible influence—they coin words in a uniquely Hispanizing way e.g. boksingero (from Eng. "boxing") instead of using the Spanish boxeador, or basketbolista (from Eng. "basketball"), instead of borrowing from Spanish baloncesto to make it say baloncestista or baloncestador (although "basketbolista" and "basketbolero" are often used in Latin America due to the local influence of American English).

Here are some examples of Spanish–derived Tagalog words in the following format: Word (Etymology – Original Definition/s if different from Nuanced Definition. = Derivative Definition if Compound Words) – Nuanced Definition. Shared Definition precedes Nuanced Definition if both exist.

Note that the first syllable of loanwords from Spanish that start with /aw/ are also sometimes pronounced and spelled /o/ (e.g. 'otonomiya' rather than 'awtonomiya') and due to the predominance of pronunciation of loanwords from English, another change is change of Spanish /ai/ to Tagalog /e/, e.g. 'ere' "air", from 'aire'.

English has been used in everyday Tagalog conversation. Code-switching between Tagalog and English is called Taglish. English words borrowed by Tagalog are mostly modern and technical terms, but some English words are also used for short usage (many Tagalog words translated from English are very long) or to avoid literal translation and repetition of the same particular Tagalog word. English makes the second largest foreign vocabulary of Tagalog after Spanish. In written language, English words in a Tagalog sentence are usually written as they are, but they are sometimes written in Tagalog phonetic spelling. Here are some examples:

Many Malay loanwords entered the Tagalog vocabulary during pre-colonial times as Old Malay became the lingua franca of trade, commerce and diplomatic relations during the pre-colonial era of Philippine history as evidenced by the Laguna Copperplate Inscription of 900 AD and accounts of Antonio Pigafetta at the time of the Spanish arrival in the country five centuries later. Some Malay loanwords, such as bansa and guro (which in turn came from Sanskrit; see below), were later additions to the Tagalog language during the first half of the 20th century. Said words were proposals by the late linguist Eusebio T. Daluz to be adopted for further development of the Tagalog language and eventually found widespread usage among the lettered segment of the Tagalog-speaking population.[57]

As in most Austronesian languages, the Sanskrit vocabulary incorporated into Tagalog were mostly borrowed indirectly via Malay or Javanese.[75] Examples include:

Close contact through commercial networks between India and Maritime Southeast Asia for more than two millennia, bolstered by the establishment of Tamil as a literary language in India starting from the 9th century, allowed the spread of Dravidian loanwords in several local languages of Southeast Asia, including Old Malay and Tagalog. A list of Tagalog words with Tamil origins are shown below.[76]

There are very few words in Tagalog that are identified as Arabic or Persian in origin. According to Jean-Paul Potet, there are 60 Tagalog words that are identified with reasonable confidence as derived from Arabic or Persian, half of which are probably (roughly 23%) or unquestionably (roughly 26%) borrowed indirectly through Malay.[77] The other half of the identified loanwords are directly derived from Arabic or Persian, like for example the word gumamela (the local Tagalog term for the Hibiscus flowers, derived from Arabic جميلة meaning beautiful). The table below shows different Arabic loanwords, including archaic and poetic ones, incorporated into the Tagalog lexicon. If an Arabic loanword is considered to be borrowed through the mediation of Malay, the intermediate Malay term is also specified.

Several Spanish loanwords incorporated into Tagalog have origins in the Arabic language.[78] Examples include alahas (meaning jewel, from Sp. alhaja and ultimately from Arabic حاجة meaning "necessary or valuable thing"), albayalde (meaning white lead, from Sp. albayalde and ultimately from Arabic بياض meaning "white" or "whiteness"), alkansiya (meaning piggy bank, from Sp. alcancía and ultimately from Arabic كنز meaning "treasure"), alkatsopas (meaning artichoke, from Sp. alcachofa and ultimately from Arabic الخُرْشُوف), almires (meaning small mortar, from Sp. almirez and ultimately from Arabic مهراس), asapran (meaning saffron, from Sp. azafrán from Persian zarparan meaning "gold strung”[79]), baryo (meaning village, from Sp. barrio and ultimately from Arabic بَرِّي), kapre (a Filipino mythological creature, from Sp. cafre and ultimately from Arabic كَافِر), kisame (meaning ceiling, from Sp. zaquizamí and ultimately from Arabic سقف في السماء meaning "ceiling in the sky"), etc. The table below does not include these numerous Hispano-Arabic terms as it will only focus on those loanwords which are directly borrowed from Arabic or Persian, or indirectly borrowed through Malay.

Most Chinese loanwords in Tagalog were derived from Hokkien, the Southern Chinese language most widely spoken in the Philippines. Most of the 163 Hokkien-derived terms collected and analyzed by Gloria Chan-Yap are fairly recent and do not appear in the earliest Spanish dictionaries of Tagalog.[9]^:334 Many loanwords such as pancit[83] entered the Tagalog vocabulary during the Spanish colonial era when the Philippines experienced an increased influx of Chinese immigrants (mostly from the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong in Southern China[84]) as Manila became an international entrepôt with the flourishing of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.[85][86] Attractive economic opportunities boosted Chinese immigration to Spanish Manila and the new Chinese settlers brought with them their skills, culinary traditions and language, with the latter then influencing the native languages of the Philippines in the form of loanwords, most of which are related to cookery.[87]^:5[88]

There are very few Tagalog words that are derived from Japanese.[9]^:343 Many of them were introduced as recently as the twentieth century like tansan[94] (bottle cap, from the Japanese 炭酸 which originally means refers to soda and carbonated drinks) and karaoke (from the Japanese カラオケ, literally means "empty orchestra") although there are very few Japanese words that appear in the earliest Spanish dictionaries of Tagalog such as katana (Japanese sword, from the Japanese かたな with the same meaning).

Some Filipino jokes are based on comical reinterpretation of Japanese terms as Tagalog words like for example in the case of otousan (from the Japanese お父さん meaning "father") which is reinterpreted as utusan (meaning "servant" or "maid") in Tagalog.[9]^:346 As for the Tagalog word Japayuki, it refers to the Filipino migrants who flocked to Japan starting in the 1980s to work as entertainers and it is a portmanteau of the English word Japan and the Japanese word yuki (or 行き, meaning "going" or "bound to").

Tagalog gained Nahuatl words through Spanish from the Galleon trade with Mexico during the Hispanic era.[98]

Here are some examples: