Tagdamun language

 

Tagdamun
Kuydil tagdamun
"Kuydil tagdamun" in Tagdamun script
Pronunciation	[kuj'dil tagda'mun]
Native to	Qenuga
Ethnicity	Tagdamun people Chungganese people
Native speakers	740,000,000 (3225)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Greater Central Philippine Central Philippine Tagalog Filipino Tagdamun
Official status
Official language in	Qenuga
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tg
ISO 639-2	tgm
ISO 639-3	tgm
States where Tagdamun is the majority language   States where Tagdamun is a minority language

Tagdamun (Tagdamun or Kuydil tagdamun /kuj'dil tagda'mun/) is a Philippine language of the Austronesian language family. It is a descendant of the Filipino language of the Philippines. The language is spoken by more than 700 million native speakers, all in Qenuga. It is also used as a lingua franca by virtually every Chungganese and is promulgated as an official language of Qenuga, alongside the Cienugueza language.

Tagdamun vocabulary consists of mainly Tagalog words, however also contains words from other Philippine languages such as Cebuano and Ilocano due to extended contact between its different speakers among the Filipino-Chungganese community (later Tagdamun people) across Qenuga. It is the most widely-spoken Austronesian language. Tagdamun is the predominant language of education, media, research, governance, and daily Qenuga life, and is considered generally conservative in loaned vocabulary compared to other widely-spoken Austronesian languages as Tagdamun retains some vocabulary not found in present languages. Tagdamun is a highly-inflected language with productive morphology, liberal word compounding, and various affixes indicating tense, aspect, and mood.

The Tagdamun language is regulated by the Tagdamun Language Council (Pulmayun Pantagdamun).

Etymology

The term Tagdamun as a people only came about around the 23rd century, seeking to differentiate themselves from Filipinos in the Philippines and abroad, as well as from Spanish speakers in Qenuga. The term is a shortening of tagdamunlupa, which first referred to members of the Filipino Chungganese minority, then to all the language's speakers. The term tagdamunlupa is reserved to all Chungganese people residing in Qenuga.

After 2365, the year that premier Balattaz da Scorial declared a distinct Cienugueza language from Spanish, many Tagdamun speakers fought for the officiation of the Tagdamun language as well. This did not materialize until during the Tagdamun Revolution of the 27th century.

History

21st century

Starting the 21st century, Qenuga experienced a mass influx of Filipino migration. These Filipinos mostly settled in the southern portion of the country where the climate was more similar to the weather in the Philippines.

Self-Determination era

Around the 23rd century, a Tagdamun identity emerged, arising from a desire for a distinct identity from Filipino speakers worldwide and from Spanish speakers in Qenuga. With this came the "Self-Determination Era", where various writers and academics (mostly from modern-day Imanon and Carciad) experimented with the Tagdamun language by reviving archaic Tagalog words and purging "unnecessary Spanish influence" from Tagdamun. These changes were mostly present in the Carciad region, whose variant was chosen to be the basis of Standard Tagdamun centuries later.

The first attempt at standardizing the Tagdamun language was the Saltaklat Panlahatan (General Dictionary; Standard Tagdamun: Kaskuslat Lahat) in 2244 by Emanvél Abredo. It most prominently featured the loss of the /e/-/i/ and /o/-/u/ distinction, as well as the revival of archaic Tagalog words. This publication was seen as the "gold standard" of Tagdamun for many centuries and was the basis for the Kaskuslat Pangkusug Dinihayus (Organized Scientific Dictionary) in 2627.

In 2266, the first Tagdamun-language Bible was published by TBD. Succeeding versions were released according to personal interpretation or linguistic shift in Tagdamun.

Tagdamun Revolution and Standardization Debate

Even before the years of the Tagdamun Revolution, a hotly-contested topic was the variant of choice for the standard Tagdamun language. The Ruytabal variety was traditionally considered as this variant of choice due to the capital state's dominance in Chungganese society. However, many also considered the Carciad variety to be "more suitable" as the standard variant because the Ruytabal variety was "laden with slang words unpleasant for the Tagdamun language", and that the Carciad region played a big role in the Tagdamun Revolution and the nationalization of the Tagdamun language. On January 1, 2618, six months into the Tagdamun Revolution, premier Benfaci Lesancio's government declared the Carciad variant as the basis of the Tagdamun language.

in 2620, writer Cisanto Kulima published the book Sabyuning Pagtagdamun (Tagdamun Grammar). Many of the grammar points set forth in the book were adopted, however some of his word choices were heavily criticized for being "too purist", with words such as dikuslat (book), gau (old), musim (beer), and hulguput (February), being some examples. In common Tagdamun parlance, these words coined by Kulima, as well as the general notion of "words of excessive purity" are deemed (kasing) kulimlad (kulimlad words).

Modern-day

Tagdamun dialects became increasingly distinct from one another, and calls to reflect these in Qenuga's constitution were made. These dialects were mostly influenced by the kinugaut communities in their area, e.g. Manlusoc Tagdamun having reduced vowels. To resolve these differences amongst the various dialects, a "Standard Tagdamun" language was implemented several times, first during the Tagdamun Revolution in 2618 with the recognition of the Carciad dialect as the standard, and the next time in 2972 when Ruytabal's dialect was adopted as the standard.

Vocabulary

Tagdamun vocabulary is mostly derived from Tagalog vocabulary, however loans from other Philippine languages such as Cebuano and Ilocano also exist. A minority of Tagdamun words have Spanish or Cienugueza, Amorese, Ceralouga, and Hantaamij influences as it came in close contact with the Chungganese languages. Many of these vocabulary entered Tagdamun even before the official recognition of Tagdamun as a national language.

During the century of the Tagdamun Revolution, the standardized language underwent several spelling and lexical reforms to better reflect Tagdamun characteristics of the time.

Comparisons with Philippine languages

Below is a chart comparing thirteen (13) words in Tagdamun and some Philippine language counterparts.

English	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	coconut	day	new	we (inclusive)	what	fire
Tagdamun	sak	dalab	talyu	apat	tau	balay	asu	niug	adab	bagu	ta	ali	apuy
Central Bikol	sarô	duwa	tulo	apat	tawo	harong	ayam	niyog	aldaw	bâgo	kita	ano	kalayo
Cebuano	usá	duhá	tuló	upát	tawo	baláy	irô	lubí	adlaw	bag-o	kitá	unsa	kalayo
Hiligaynon	isá	duhá	tatlo	apat	tawo	baláy	idô	lubí	adlaw	bag-o	kitá	ano	kalayo
Kapampangan	isa	adwa	atlu	apat	tau	bale	aso	ngungut	aldo	bayu	ikatamu	nanu	api
Ilocano	maysa	dua	tallo	uppat	tao	balay	aso	niog	aldaw	baro	datayo	ania	apoy