I just love it when SB19 incorporates words from regional languages/varieties into Filipino-dominant songs in order to elevate the lyrics. Hereâs an example from their song, Ilaw (âLightâ):
Napapamuni-muni sa kawalan ng huni
'Di mapapirmi aking sarili
I find myself contemplating in the absence of melody
Iâm unable to put myself at ease
Pirmi (meaning: always, remain, fixed) is, technically, borrowed from Spanish, but it has been widely adopted into the Bisaya language. The word is listed in Tagalog/Filipino dictionaries, but itâs not really used in everyday speech (at least here in Metro Manila). The preferred word is the native Tagalog palagi. However, conjugating palagi as âmapalagiâ (meaning: to make âalwaysâ) isnât quite fitting in the context of the lyrics.
To elaborate, palagi (root word: lagi) is more about time/frequency. Someone settling in a place can be said to have ânamalagiâ (literally, âalways thereâ). Meanwhile, pirmi is more about the state of being in place. Translating ââDi mapapirmi aking sariliâ into âIâm unable to put myself at easeâ is genius work.
Another example is from SB19âs most popular song, Gento. The title itself is from the CaviteĂąo dialect of Tagalog, and it means âlike this.â Standard Tagalog (Filipino), however, would say âganito.â Pablo, the leader and main songwriter of the group, is from Cavite, and he went with gento so they can use it in word play with ginto (âgoldâ).
And I need you to understand how important this is. Using regional languages and non-standard forms of a language is representation. It also normalizes the use of other languages/varieties in mainstream media.
Thereâs a long historical context behind this, but to keep it short, the Philippines has a lot of tensions with language (we have over a hundred indigenous languages, so yeah). There are those who believe that only the standardized form of Tagalog, Filipino, is the right way to speak Tagalog. Some also think regional languages are âinferior dialectsâ and that using them on national/international stages is inappropriate.
My professor in regional literature, who is a native from Marindique, speaks an old variant of Tagalog (MarinduqueĂąo dialect). In MarinduqueĂąo, you say âtumutulogâ when you are about to sleep (if iâm remembering her example correctly), while in Filipino, you say âmatutulog.â She shared once that when she first arrived in Manila, her Tagalog was often made fun of because it was âwrongâ and âweird.â There is nothing wrong about it. She just speaks a variety of the language that has been marginalized by institutional policies.
Iâm a Bisaya speaker, and online I often come across a lot of prejudice against us Bisaya (especially in recent years thanks to the last Bisaya president we had ugh). But because Ken, one of the members of SB19, is a proud Bisaya, I get to see a lot of Bisaya positivity within the fandom. Non-Bisaya fans would often add some Bisaya words when talking about Ken, like calling him âguwapo.â It means handsome. Although that word has already been incorporated into Filipino, Tagalog native speakers tend to use its back slang âpogi.â Itâs mostly the Bisaya who say âguwapoâ in everyday speech.
Ken also writes Bisaya lyrics in some of their songs. Like, in Kalakal, his entire rap was in Bisaya. That song was in collaboration with Gloc-9, one of the best Filipino rappers, and it was released for national audiences. Do you know how insane that is??? A Bisaya song on a national stage. That is rare.
Although many amazing Bisaya singers have debuted on a national level before (e.g. KZ Tandingan and Morisette), they donât usually make songs in Bisaya. Theyâre often made to sing Tagalog or English songs only. Bisaya songs are often limited to Bisaya-speaking areas. So, hearing Bisaya lyrics in a national-level mainstream song just makes me so happy.
bless SB19 and all the other artists who donât shy away from using our many other indigenous languages
