Tagalog: the Language of the Phillipines

Tagalog: the Language of the Phillipines

By McElroy Translation,
Austin, Texas 78701 USA

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http://www.mcelroytranslation.com/

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McElroy is continuing this series of interviews that highlight some of the characteristics of languages used in doing business globally. This month, we look at Tagalog, in an interview conducted with McElroy translator Ilse Wong. Tagalog, or Filipino as it is officially named is native to the Philippines and is spoken in the many Philippino communities worldwide.

Tagalog, or Filipino language map picture

Map courtesy of Wikipedia

What are some pitfalls specific to Tagalog to avoid that a client should be aware of when translating into this language?

The greatest pitfall with English-Tagalog translations involves the mistaken notion entertained by many clients that there is a Tagalog term for every English word or concept. Some clients may even insist that a Tagalog translation contain only "pure Tagalog" words. What’s worse, when some clients see a proper Tagalog translation that incorporates English terms, they may even think that the translator has not done his/her job.

There are also language purists who believe that mixing Tagalog and English (in the blend often called "Taglish") is lazy and "unpatriotic." That point is debatable, but in any case, in the real world, Tagalog speakers in the Philippines or in other countries do indeed incorporate English words into their everyday speech and written materials. After all, English is one of the official languages of the Philippines, is taught in schools, and pervades even popular journalism, mass media, and advertising. A proper, professional translation should reflect this reality rather than the wished-for ideal of some academics or the misled expectations of non-Tagalog-speaking clients.

The bottom line: To a Tagalog speaker, many words or concepts are more readily understood in English, even if there may be awkward, "coined," or obscure "pure Tagalog" terms for these. Such words or concepts may be specialized or technical terms from various fields or disciplines, or they may simply be terms that people have gotten used to hearing or reading as English words.

For example, some clients insist on using Tagalog words for names of positions that are easily understandable in fact, more understandable in English. Tagalog speakers would have no problem with the term "Special Accounts Manager," for example whereas they might actually have to think twice before they can understand the "pure" Tagalog version (e.g., "Tagapamahala para sa mga Espesyal na Akawnt"). Likewise, telling a Tagalog speaker that he or she needs an "appendectomy" is much clearer than trying to describe the operation in Tagalog words.

Then, too, there are English terms for concepts that are not native to Filipino culture for example, the four seasons. The Philippines has only two seasons summer ("tag-init") and the rainy season ("tag-ulan"). The Philippines does not have winter, fall, or spring and therefore has no commonly used words for these seasons. When Filipinos (for example, those living in North America) refer to these seasons, they simply use the English terms. Yet some clients still want these season names translated! Sure, one can coin a term like "taglagas" (literally, "falling off") to approximate "fall" but it’s very likely that 99 out of 100 Tagalog speakers would understand "Fall 2007 edition" much better than "Edisyon ng Taglagas 2007"!

What are characteristics of Tagalog that are unique or different from English and/or other languages?

As mentioned previously, everyday Tagalog is characterized by the inclusion of many English terms. The trick is to determine when to use actual Tagalog words and when to simply stick with the English terms.

Another characteristic of Tagalog that may make it different from other languages (especially widely spoken languages such as English, French, German, Spanish, etc.) is that there is a great deal of flexibility in terms of factors such as word choice, word formation, and spelling. There is a good deal of subjectivity when it comes to Tagalog.

Take the term for "work," for example, which is "trabaho" in Tagalog. To express the idea of "working," one translator may form the word as follows: "nagtatrabaho." Another translator, though, may spell this differently: "nagtratrabaho." There is no hard and fast rule to determine which version is "correct." Both are acceptable.

Because the rules of Tagalog usage are not always clear, and because Tagalog itself is a comparatively obscure language to those who are not from the Philippines, many clients do not have a firm basis for determining who is qualified to do a Tagalog translation.

The profession of translating, as it is practiced with other languages, requires that the translator have some actual training or education for this particular job. When it comes to Tagalog, however, it sometimes seems that anybody who speaks both English and Tagalog will do. This is hardly the approach people would take with other languages! I cannot imagine, for example, that a client who needs a German document translated into English would settle for a "translator" who just happens to speak both languages!

How do these characteristics make it important to use properly qualified, professional translators?

The Tagalog translator really needs to be more than a "mere" translator of words; he or she needs to be a bilingual communicator. In other words, the professional Tagalog translator must ensure that the translation communicates the intent of the source English to the intended audience, and must tailor the translation to suit this readership.

Tagalog: the Language of the Phillipines As mentioned above, there is a tendency among clients to rely on Tagalog “translators” who are simply bilingual but are not actually trained or do not have sufficient experience as translators’ or even as communicators. Precisely because there are often no hard and fast rules in Tagalog, a client needs a professional communicator who knows how to properly address a Tagalog-speaking audience.

Do you know examples where translation or localization mistakes have occurred with Tagalog, such as problems with text expansion, date/time formats, counting errors, character encoding, etc., or mistakes with the translation itself?

Most of the time, problematic Tagalog translations come off as “merely” unprofessional or awkward-sounding. But in the worst cases, there can also be misunderstandings and inaccuracies due to a faulty Tagalog translation.

Particularly when the Tagalog translator is not really a trained translator, but is simply a bilingual speaker hastily recruited for want of a trained Tagalog translator, the lack of training and of a communications orientation can lead to serious mistakes. Often, these errors are due to the fact that the “translator” did not himself/herself understand the meaning of parts of the source document! The “translator” then simply provides a word-for-word translation of the source text—resulting in a totally mistaken and often incomprehensible translation.

Relate an example or two where you found a website page or form difficult to use because it was poorly localized. How might a business lose money, prestige, or incur legal risk due to this bad translation?

Obviously if a Tagalog reader has difficulty understanding a translation, anything may happen. The reader can simply give up and stop reading. Or he may read the material but come away with the wrong idea of the product or the information because of the poor translation. Or he may be able to glean the correct information, but form a very low opinion of the company because of the poor translation.

If possible, provide one example of a particular phrase or concept that only a properly qualified, professional translator would be able to correctly communicate.

One example is as follows: An English text mentioned that something should not be done “just before or right after heart surgery.”

The apparently untrained translator provided a Tagalog version that, when back-translated, meant “moments before the heart surgery or when it’s done.” This obviously does not communicate the meaning of the original English, and may even be misleading, particularly the “when it’s done” part, which does not at all capture the meaning of “right after.”