CHAPTER 1
HISTORY OF LANGUAGE Language is a set of symbols of communication and the elements used to manipulate them. It is one of the most important innovations of men. Language can be used in different ways for different purposes. But mostly, its primary use is for communication. Language was considered to have a “life cycle” and to develop according to evolutionary laws. In addition, it was believed that language, like the human animal, has a “genealogical tree” –that is, that each language can be traced back to a common ancestor.” Ethnologue organization, the most extensive catalog of the world’s languages, presented a detailed classified list which currently includes 6,809 distinct languages. Although there are many languages, these are not uniformly distributed around the world. Some places are more diverse in terms of distribution of languages. According to Stephen Anderson (YEAR) of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), out of Ethnologue’s 6,809, for instance, only 230 are spoken in Europe, while 2,197 are spoken in Asia. Among these 2,197 languages in Asia, 171 are spoken in the Philippines. Associated with language are the different systems of writing in the past. Hieroglyphics and cuneiform are some of them. But here in our country, alibata is the primitive form of writing. It is also known as baybayin which literally means “to spell.” It is used even before the Spaniards conquered our country. There are many languages which influenced our official language in the country. Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Malay and other South Asian languages are just some of these influences. But the two most influential are Spanish and English. Spanish was introduced to us during the Spanish occupation which lasted three hundred thirty three years. During their reign, Spanish became the language of education, trade, politics and religion and by the nineteenth century, it became the country’s lingua franca or working language although it was only used by a small population. As the Spanish occupation began to decline, the use of Spanish language followed suit. But not after they left a big mark on our language. Americans not just replaced Spaniards in colonizing our country but also replaced the use of Spanish to English. The difference between these two is that until now, English remains an official language in the Philippines. Even though colonization of our country has its negative effects, one cannot deny that it is also the reason why our language has become what it is now. Filipino is constitutionally designated as the national language of the Philippines, and along with English, as one of two official languages. Even though there are debates on the difference between Filipino and Tagalog, it is said that they are synonymous. Tagalog just implies a regional origin while Filipino is used to refer to the national language.

CHAPTER II
CHANGES IN THE LANGUAGES USED IN THE PHILIPPINES

1 In ordinary times, we often pay little attention to the words we speak. We take into account the meaning of these words and how we want to express it. As we go deeper into this, most of us do not really know where the words that we often use come from or how they have acquired those meanings.

2 Change, of course, is inevitable whether it is in terms of culture or even language. Thus, the Philippines is no exception. Words in the general languages used in the country have changed through time. However, before arriving with these so-called new words, there are various processes to bear in mind which would be explained bit by bit.

Words which are used in the country come from several different sources. They develop naturally over the course of centuries from ancestral languages. They are also borrowed from other languages, and people create many of them by various means of word formation. Meanings of old words have been modified gradually through generations. Several words have been shortened for a more convenient use. Clipping (or truncation) is a process whereby an appreciable chunk of an existing word is omitted; leaving what is sometimes called a stump word. When it is the end of a word that is lopped off, the process is called back-clipping: thus examination was docked to create exam and gymnasium was shortened to form gym. Once in a while, a word is created spontaneously out of the creative play of sheer imagination. New words have been formed from combining two different words or in other words, coinage or blends, to name an innovation. A blend is a word made by combining other words or parts of words in such a way that they overlap. Also, different parts of society (such as ‘jejemons’ and ‘beckymons’ etc.) have given rise to completely new words. They give new words to the society based from their sense of culture or style. Each of these sources has made an impact on the availability of the vocabulary today. When the meanings of old words have been modified gradually through generations, the meaning of the word may be either worsened or improved. There are two processes which contribute to this alteration. They are perjoration and amelioration. Perjoration is the process by which a word's meaning worsens or degenerates, coming to represent something less favorable than it originally did. Amelioration is the process by which a word's meaning improves or becomes elevated, coming to represent something more favorable than it originally referred to. {Lagyan ng kung san nakuha, and year}Here are some words which acquired a different meaning through time. The word ‘artificial’ originally meant ‘full of artistic or technical skill.’ Now its meaning is unnatural. The word ‘nice’ originally from Latin meant ‘not to know.’ Therefore the meaning of a ‘nice person’ before was someone who was ignorant or unaware. The word ‘awful’ previously meant ‘full of awe’ or something that is wonderful, delightful, amazing. However, in due time its meaning has evolved to mean exactly the opposite. The word ‘brave’ was once meant to signify cowardice. Now, it is also the contradictory meaning. The word ‘manufacture’ is originally in Latin, its meaning is ‘to make by hand.’ Again the meaning is altered and today, it is the opposite, ‘made by machines.’ The word ‘counterfeit’ previously meant a perfect copy. Now it means illegally imitate something. In the word ‘tell’ the original meaning was ‘to count.’ The term ‘bank teller’ came from this. The word ‘salvage’ which up to now, means ‘to save’ is different for the media or other Filipinos since it means murder. Strangely, some of the words’ original meaning was very different or totally the opposite of what it is now. Communication has always been a very vital part of our daily lives. Because we use it every day, we tend to shorten some of the words in the language that we are using so that it will be more convenient and easier for us to express them. This is one of the causes of language change here in our country and is known to be the process of clipping or shortening. These shortened words have eventually been part of our every day communication with others as a larger group of people use them. Some may even be more familiar and comfortable in using those shortened words because those are the words that the people around them are using. Moreover, using those shortened words helps save time in speaking and it is somehow more appropriate in the modern world now. Examples of these words include: exam from examination, flu from influenza, indie from independent, gym from gymnasium, phone from telephone, and fax from facsimile. Contractions, abbreviations, and acronyms are subgroups of clipping or shortening. Words like won’t and never are examples of contractions from the words will not and not ever, respectively. Prof, on the other hand, is an abbreviated form of professor, and is commonly used in casual conversations in universities. The University of the Philippines is also known for its acronym, UP. The omission of chunks of the original words can be seen in this process. Indeed, those shortened words are more common, more convenient, and easier to understand nowadays. The process of clipping or shortening may also develop from a certain group or part in our society. The word totes, for example, is commonly used by teenage girls to say totally. The word totally has obviously been clipped to be more convenient and stylish. “I totes want to go to the shoe store because I totes need to purchase new heels.” Now that they have invented a new word from shortening another word, they can spread it to other people until that word will be known to all. Language change has obviously taken place. It has been a very long time since people used different languages as their means of communication. Since language change and evolve through time, some of the words that existed before do not exist today anymore. Some may still exist but only few people or groups of people can understand them. Some are still used but have already changed their meaning. Some, however, have gone through a process called compounding. It is a process wherein new words with new meanings are formed from recombining two different words to name an innovation. Compound words are the most common examples of this. The words rain and bow are two different words and they have nothing in common but when they are combined, they form the word rainbow which has a totally different and new meaning. The process of compounding is commonly used when people suddenly had the urge to name a new idea or when they just feel to combine the characteristics of the words that they will combine. With this, they can express that idea in their own unique and creative way. There are also words which formed from a process called blending. This is done by overlapping the words or the chunks of words that one has combined. Examples of this are the words brunch from breakfast + lunch and chortle from snort and chuckle. When words like these become “in” and popular to a large group of people, these will now begin to spread and be accepted to the existing language in the society. In our country, a lot of the words that we are now using have developed from these processes. Some of the words that have recently formed in the Philippines which started from just a group of people in our society are boomcycle which came from the words boom box and bicycle, jeggings from jeans and leggings, and spork from spoon and fork. These words may seem weird and pointless at first but we cannot prevent nor avoid the usage of these especially when they have already gained their uses in the society’s language. This combining of words may be one of the reasons why those who are already in their middle age or old age are having a hard time relating to some of the words nowadays. Indeed, the people in a society play an important role in the language change. Humans have always been diverse beings who are capable of communication. In effect, our communication means have also become diverse to the point that its changes could be accounted to the addition or subtraction of particular words. Human society has always been made up of different social groups may it be by gender, occupations, age, faith or nationality. This variety in social groups became a factor that gives rise to change in the lexicon of humanity. The world is now well aware of the presence of the LGBT or the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. An obvious way of knowing them is by their use of LGBT slang because it is what defines their culture. The slang makes use of known words or names but in a different meaning and formulates new words for their own use. A popular example would be chuva which could refer to anything that the person cannot express in words. An example of a name would be Bitter Ocampo, a modified name of the actor Diether Ocampo, meaning one is feeling bitter and sad. Ordinary words with different meanings include fly, means to go or leave, and emote, means over acting. A pop culture in the Philippines known as Jejemons was also formed and became a part of the Philippine society. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (2010), Jejemons are a “new breed of hipster who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own sub-culture and fashion.” They mainly originated from the transformation of English, Tagalog, or Taglish (a language combination of Tagalog and English) sentences with the use of alphabets, numbers and special characters to form them. A word could be created by excessive use of the letters H, X, or Z, alternating capital and small letters, and even by rearrangement of the letters. A popular example is 3ow ph0w, mUsZtAh nA? which literally means “Hello po, musta na?” in Taglish form or “Hello, how are you?” in English. The jejemons mainly derive their new spelled words from pre-existing ones with the same sound and meaning. There are various ways as to how different social groups gave way to change in language. The most popular and effective way is through media. According to Kathleen Jamieson (1983), “Specialized media also called segmented or minority media, are aimed at and limited to an audience defined geographically or by interest.” Specialized media are directed towards a certain part of society, meaning this part of society is the one mainly exposed to the influence of this media. The exposure of new words through this influence easily makes a path for them to be used by the society. For example a women’s magazine which is aimed for women and feminists may contain a word like PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) making them aware of this word but a men’s magazine would rarely if not at all have it because it is not directed to them. Types of media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazine, and internet contribute knowledge to people every day. They may appeal to a specific group or as a whole nevertheless, each one also gives rise to new or modified words. An example of this would be the word salvage which means “to save from loss or danger” according to the Webster’s dictionary but in Philippine tabloids the word salvage embodied a very different meaning, to kill someone in a very vicious way. Since it is the media that presented it, people are easily influenced into believing that meaning.

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
Comparing the simple drawings on caves to the complex forms of language in the present, the modifications in man’s forms of communication are certainly evident. These modifications have been of various types ranging from combination of completely different words, shortening of words, variation of the meanings of words through time and the arising of ultimately new words. After much research, it can be hypothesized that the developments that have affected man’s language is due partly to the fact that, going back to the phrase itself, it is man who uses the language. Men are obviously dynamic beings who quickly adapt to changes over time and even change themselves from time to time. As an essential part of man, language must, in essence, acquire changes too. Language comes from the creations and innovations of the inner workings of the human being’s brain. Thus, men are the ones responsible for whatever changes they want to effect into the language. At most times, men do not even realize that they have effected changes into the language. They never even think that they are actually creating these changes since it has become so commonplace and ordinary for them. The different types of variations in language may also be rooted in the different aspects of man. Shortening of words can be linked to the rapid pace of lifestyles in modern times. Convenience in everything is a much needed feature for men to be able to juggle every aspect of their hectic and demanding lives. The combination of completely different words can be related to men’s boundless creativity and imagination. Creativity and imagination are part of it in such a way that men tirelessly mix things up and innovate. Combination of words is just a practical adaptation for new things or words that come from two or more previously separated things or words. Of course, the creation of completely new words are necessary for different fields which find the need for names matching or words to define their discoveries or inventions seen as their current language is not sufficient to match those requirements. Lastly, meanings change through time because that is what man is, a meaningful being. Evolution works in as much the same way. Meanings of words evolve from simple and primitive environments to adapt to the complexities arising with the development of man himself. Many factors have contributed to the various changes in language. The exact reasons for which are still unbeknownst to man. It can be guessed that language changes for along with the notion that everything changes. It is in the nature of everything in the world to change and as said by Heraclitus over a thousand years ago, "All is flux, nothing stays still, nothing endures but change” (Fromkin& Rodman, 1984).

WORKS CITED
Published works:
Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R. (1983). An introduction to language (3rd Ed). London: Holt-Saunders.
Jamieson, K. H., & Campbell K. K. (1983). The interplay of influence: Mass media and their publics in news, advertising, politics. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Laird, C. (1959). Thinking about language. New York: Charlton Laird.
Marcoleta, Harvey (2010-04-24). "Jejemons: The new ‘jologs’". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved last April 24, 2010.
Nacino, Joseph (2010-04-26). "Jejemon in the Philippines". CNET Asia. Retrieved last April 30, 2010.
Smith, N., & Wilson, D. (1979). Modern linguistics: The results of Chomsky’s revolution. London: Penguin Group.
"The jejemon phenomenon: What do language experts say?". GMANews.tv. 2010-04-29. Retrieved last May 1, 2010.
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