Congratulations to Asst. Profs. Jem R. Javier and Elsie Marie T. Or on the publication of their chapter entitled “Tagalog Linguistics: Historical development and theoretical trends” in “The Routledge Handbook of Asian Linguistics” (edited by Chris Shei and Saihong Li)! The print and ebook version of the book, which “aims to provide a systematic overview of Asian languages in both theoretical and functional perspectives, optimally combining the two in intercultural settings,” is now available for purchase online. Below is the abstract of Javier and Or’s work:
Tagalog Linguistics:
Historical development and theoretical trends
In this essay we map out the development of linguistic research on Tagalog, a major Philippine-type Austronesian language indigenous to the Philippines, by providing a historical overview of studies done on Tagalog. The first part is an overview of the works done as well as the motivations and implications of studying Tagalog during the colonial period. It will also discuss how Tagalog has become the basis for the formation of a national language, an imposed prerequisite for sovereignty shared with other postcolonial Southeast Asian countries in the earlier part of the 20th century. The second part of the essay looks at how Tagalog has led scholars to debate on and challenge theoretical notions, specifically on grammatical categories and subjecthood. This paper ultimately aims to consolidate major Tagalog linguistic studies and to systematically present them as an integrated body of knowledge in order to review what has been accomplished and what possible research directions can be taken in the future.
Published by UP Department of Linguistics
