Filipino Dictionary
If you are looking for a really in-depth Filipino dictionary, one has been published recently. If you are looking for a Filipino dictionary that will translate Filipino to English and English to Filipino, there are many online to help you. Let’s get more information on the latest dictionary and places online for translations.
The Center for Filipino Language at the University of the Philippines published a monolingual Filipino dictionary, UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, in 2001. A second edition was released in 2010 on the University’s centennial. The current second edition contains more than 200,000 entries and new editions will be released every five years. There has been talk of producing an online version as well.
Virgilio S. Almario is the editor-in-chief and the book was published by the University and Anvil Publishing, Inc. This book is part of a process to standardize the Filipino language as well as cultivating and strengthening it. This dictionary has been compared to the Oxford English Dictionary in quality and detail.
You can purchase a copy of the 2001 dictionary in soft cover or hard cover at Anvil Publishing, Inc. It is also available through Amazon.
Online Translation Sites
- Bansa.org has 32,159 entries for Tagalog - English translations.
- Gabby’s Dictionary offers Filipino - English translations.
- Google Translate will translate text, a website, or a document from English to Filipino and vice versa.
Words with Foreign Origins
If you are looking for Filipinio dictionaries, you may also be interested in which Filipino or Tagalog words have their origin in English. Here is a list of some of them:
- basketbol - basketball
- biskwit - biscuit
- bisnes - business
- ekonomiks - economics
- interbyu - interview
- iskrin - screen
- isports - sports
- karir - career
- kechap - ketchup
- keyk - cake
- kompyuter - computer
- laybrari - library
- nars - nurse
- perpyum - perfume
- websayt - website
On the flip side, here are English words that have an origin in Filipino or Tagalog:
- abaca - a kind of banana
- boondocks - a remote area, means “land area inland”
- calamondin - an evergreen citrus tree used as a house plant in parts of the world.
- capiz - mother-of-pearl shells used in decorating
- cogon - grass used in thatching, from the word “kugon”
- cooties - head lice -taken from the word “kuto”
- manila - fiber taken from the leaves of the abaca plant
- ylang-ylang - a fragrant flower
- yo-yo - a toy
Phonology
There are 21 consonants and 5 vowels which make up the 26 phonemes in the Filipino language. There are also six diphthongs. Many years ago, Tagalog only had three vowels, A, I, and U, until the introduction of Spanish and Kapampangan, a Filipino language spoken in certain regions. Most syllables are made up of at least one consonant and one vowel.
The main stress of syllables occurs on the last or next to last syllable. Which syllable is stressed differentiates words with the same spelling but different meanings.
Filipino and Tagalog
You may be wondering about the difference between the Tagalog language and the Filipino language.
- Tagalog is like the core language which is the basis for Filipino. Filipino is the national language of the Philippines and is taught in all the schools.
- Filipino is more expansive and includes words from different languages.
You could make a comparison between Filipino and Tagalog to American English and British English.