Englog

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Englog, sometimes Enggalog, is an informal sociolect in the Philippines. The term is a portmanteau of the words ‘English’ and ‘Tagalog’. It is formed by infusing Tagalog words and structures into English, an example of which is called Konyo English. Somewhat akin to this is Taglish, which in turn is Tagalog infused with English words and structures.^[1]

1 Coño English
2 References
3 See also

[edit] Coño English

A type of Englog —English with some Tagalog words—is called Konyo English. Konyo or coño is a term that evolved to refer to certain stereotyped affluent sectors of society. These people are often considered to be the children of affluent families. They are often typically identified by their variant of English that introduces Tagalog words. The word konyo itself came from the Spanish coño (an all-purpose profanity whose meaning, in modern usage, varies with context).

[edit] Features of Konyo English

The most common identifiable aspect of Konyo English is the construction involving the English verb make with the base form of a Tagalog verb. This phrase replaces perfectly acceptable English equivalents. A classical example of Konyo English is the following sentence:

Let's make tusok-tusok the fishballs.

Let's skewer the fishballs.

Make kwento to me what happened...

Tell me the story about what happened...

NOTE: Cuento is a Spanish word meaning "account" or "story" which is also used in Tagalog.

Sometimes, the Tagalog interjections no (or noh), na (or nah), e (or eh), and o (or oh) are interjected into the speech. Also some English words are sometimes replaced with their Tagalog translations.

Some other examples are:

I'm so init na; make paypay to me naman o.

I feel so hot; please fan me now.

NOTE: "Init" is tagalog for "hot" and "paypay" is a handheld fan.

You make hintay here while I make sundo my friend, a?

You wait here while I fetch my friend, all right?

NOTE: "Hintay" means "wait" and "sundo" means "fetch".

He's so galing!

He's so competent/good/skillful!

There is some stratification within the use of Konyo English and, at its core level, it is used primarily by upper-class European mestizos, though it is passively imitated by their non-mestizo or non-upper-class friends and acquaintances who aspire to climb the social ladder or circulate within their group. Evidence of this is in the use of many Spanish-derived words or Spanish grammatical devices or participles.

Examples:

Tostado ("toasted") and jamón ("ham")

Keep my jamón on the grill... I want my jamón tostado.

Baño ("bathroom")

Where's the baño?

Phonologically, Konyo English, as spoken by members of some insular Spanish families and their close associates, takes a lot from Spanish pronunciation, as is evidenced in the pronunciation of certain words. The interjection no? (roughly equivalent to Spanish ¿no? and German nicht?) is occasionally pronounced by speakers of Konyo English as /no/ or /nɔ/ (with a pure vowel instead of the English glide), which shows a substrate influence from Spanish.

The "gentle" stresses and mild sing-song intonations of Konyo English are highly opposed to the slightly rougher sounds of Taglish. Konyo English is softer and less pointed, and to the ears of many people, may seem a tad bit on the effeminate side.

On the other hand, in order to sound more plebeian (with the attempt to be socially-acceptable to them), many male Konyo English speakers tend to overuse the Tagalog corruption of the Spanish word for co-parent (which connotes a close friendship) compadre. The Tagalog corruption is kumpare or shortened to pare, which roughly means "pal" or "buddy". As a result, many males among them pepper their speech with pare to start a sentence but also to end it.

Example:

Pare, he's so malabo, pare.

Dude, he's so unreliable.

Sometimes tsong is used instead of pare, or with it.

Pare tsong, he’s so malabo, tsong.

[edit] History of the term

The origin of the term "Konyo" or "coño" to refer to the affluent members of Philippine society draws from an earlier (19th century) usage of the word coño to refer to Peninsular Spanish expatriates living in colonies such as the Philippines and Latin America. This, in turn, was a result of the ultra-excessive use of the word ¡Coño! (originally "cunt") as a general, all-purpose swear word and expletive on the part of Peninsular Spaniards beginning sometime in the 1800s and continuing today. Many Latin Americans and educated Filipinos of the late 1800s, while they spoke Spanish, did not always use the same oral expressions as native Spaniards. Aside from not using seseo (therefore pronouncing the z and c in ce, ci as the voiceless dental fricative [θ], instead as [s]), the over-used coño expression set the expatriate Non-Andalusian Spaniards apart from the native-born locals. Coño thus became a term that certain Latin Americans (as well as Filipinos of the late 1800s) used for Spaniards which was in analogous fashion to how New Zealanders and Australians continue to refer to the British (especially the English) as "Pommies".

The usage of coño as the favorite expletive for expatriate Spaniards therefore gave them the label. As these expatriate Spaniards, referred to colloquially as coños, were at the top of society in the Philippines and generally held the highest prestige, the term coño later on found itself being used on the broader insular Spanish and mestizo caste who may not necessarily have been of Spanish descent (some were of French, German, Lebanese, etc. backgrounds).

As time went by, the label's usage broadened further to include most members of the Philippine upper classes, regardless of their ethnic background. Today, rich people who are seen to have a very affluent standard of living and betray overtly Western mannerisms, even if they are of Chinese mestizo or ethnic Filipino descent are sometimes referred to as being coño, most particularly if they speak Konyo English.

The word coño often requires a certain Eurocentric orientation, since the richest members of Philippine Society — namely, the ethnic Chinese Taipan class—do not even qualify for the label due to their non-European orientation. That the word coño originally meant "cunt" and later meant "Spaniard" has surely gone a long way to becoming a word associated with a certain Euro-centric sector of the upper crust of Philippine society shows just how far a word's meaning can change.

[edit] Origin of Coño English

There is no definitive explanation why some people use this corrupted form of English, and why only a certain sector of society predominantly uses it. One plausible hypothesis has been proposed regarding the origins of Konyo English, namely, an attempt by younger members of the affluent and highly prestigious insular Spanish caste (people of Caucasian phenotypes) of Manila to assimilate, integrate, or at least be accepted into mainstream Tagalog-speaking society.

Prior to World War II, Spanish was predominantly spoken in the homes of the upper class insular Spanish and mestizo families (usually of Basque descent), the situation altered drastically after World War II's liberation from the Japanese and the granting of Independence by the USA to the Philippines. The Americans were seen as benevolent liberators and the prestige level of American English increased at the expense of Spanish. Insulares, mestizos, and upper-class families in general, thus began shifting their focus towards making English the first or major language of their children. Some Spanish families tried to maintain the use of Spanish at home, but due to the heavy influence of English-language media and the need to communicate with their peers in the English-oriented exclusive "schools for the very rich" ensured that English would be the language that such children of affluent families would grow to be most comfortable in.

By the time many of these children entered Manila-based Philippine universities, they had to contend with their exposure to a large number of people who did not necessarily speak English as their primarily language of expression. While these "Konyos" were rather comfortable speaking English among themselves, other people were not so comfortable with their own English ability and thus spoke Tagalog most of the time, speaking English only when required to do so by their teachers or superiors. The Konyos, mostly being insulares or mestizos (mixed-race) often stood out among the crowd due to their European features and generally lighter complexion, and sometimes faced potential alienation from the mainstream Tagalog-speaking majority in Manila. Moreover, the Philippine capital in the 1960s was characterized by a rise in expressions of nationalism such as the "Filipino First Policy" and many other movements that paralleled the growth of nationalism among former colonies of Western powers.

The Konyos of Metropolitan Manila, therefore, seem to have felt the need to proclaim their oneness and solidarity with the Tagalog-speaking majority in Manila in the light of this nationalistic resurgence. If not that, they at least needed to appear “acceptable” and non-foreign to the mainstream. In part because many of these Filipinos of European descent (sometimes of unmiscegenated Basque descent) appear completely Caucasian and could therefore be mistaken for foreigners.

One variant of Konyo English is known as "Colegiala English" (pronounced [kole'xjala]) which refers to students of very expensive all-girl convent schools (formerly known during the Spanish-dominated era as "Colegios") which were run by Roman Catholic nuns. The bulk of the students in these schools were, of course, insulares and mestizas. It is primarily Colegiala English which contributed to the make + Tagalog verb sentence construction found in Konyo English. This variant largely developed in parallel to the Konyo English spoken by their male counterparts who were sent to Manila's all-boy schools for the rich.

In other words, Konyo English (as an Englog) has been analyzed to have primarily arisen as an attempt by English-dominant people of physically foreign-looking physiognomy to assert their Filipino identity through the heavy use of Tagalog words.

For the most part, Konyo English is not used (and is in fact abhorred and avoided) by Anglophone members of the non-European and non-mestizo Filipino professional classes (families of nurses, doctors, lawyers, engineers, office workers, writers, educators — often referred to as the "Educated Middle Class"), and instead, the most highly English-influenced among them strive to speak straight English with a North American accent. For the most part, members of this class are often described as "highly diluted" or "highly miscegenated" Chinese mestizos (some would probably have distant or not-so-distant links to a European ancestor) who may bear some foreign-looking facial features, but are not too foreign-looking to be mistaken for white foreigners. Among this caste, the need to assimilate with or be accepted by the Tagalog-dominant majority of Manila is low. As they know themselves to be unmistakably considered Filipino by other Filipinos due to their physical appearance, they feel they have no need to prove their Filipino identity by overusing Tagalog words while speaking English.

However, due to the general prestige and respect that the European and mestizo classes still command, many other Manila-based Filipinos of non-European ethnic backgrounds have slowly but passively begun to copy Konyo English, since, in a stratified society, it connotes "class". Usually these people are classmates or close friends of the originally European core group of Konyo English.

Konyo English is a sociolect of Philippine English which draws from a Tagalog lexicon. Philippine English, which is primarily North American English spoken with a slight Filipino accent and occasionally uses English words that have been indigenized for local Filipino use, is a largely middle-class phenomenon and is used by the educated class. Taglish, on the other hand, is essentially Tagalog but merely uses English nouns and verbs, yet retains Tagalog grammatical function words for the most part, and is used by the broadest range of people in the Philippines.