SA AKING

MGA KABATA
 CONTENT:
CONTENT:
HISTORY OF THE POEM
THE REASONS
THE POEM
INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM
LESSON/VALUES OF THE POEM
IT IS A POEM ABOUT THE LOVE OF ONE'S
NATIVE LANGUAGE WHICH IS WRITTEN IN
TAGALOG.
IT IS WIDELY ATTRIBUTED TO OUR PHILIPPINE
NATIONAL HERO WHICH IS DR. JOSE RIZAL
WHO SUPPOSEDLY WROTE IT IN 1869 AT THE
AGE OF 8.
HOWEVER, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO
SUPPORT AUTHORSHIP BY RIZAL AND AROUND
7 HISTORIANS BELIEVES THAT IS A HOAX.
THE ACTUAL AUTHOR OF THE POEM IS
SUSPECTED TO HAVE BEEN THE POETS
GABRIEL BEATO FRANCISCO OR
HERMENIGILDO CRUZ.
NO MANUSCRIPT FOR SA AKING MGA KABATA
WRITTEN IN RIZAL'S HANDWRITING EXISTS.
THE POEM WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1906
WHICH IS A DECADE AFTER RIZAL'S DEATH. IT
WAS IN A BOOK AUTHORED BY THE POET
HERMENIGILDO CRUZ, BUT CRUZ CLAIMED
THAT HE RECEIVED THE POEM FROM ANOTHER
POET WHICH IS GABRIEL BEATO FRANCISCO.
Gabriel Beato Francisco received it
in 1984 from an alleged close friend
of rizal who is Saturnino Raselis.
Rizal, however has never
mentioned anyone by the name
Saturnino Raselis.
The poem may have actually been
written by Cruz or Francisco.
Many historians have debunked
Rizal's authorship because of lot of
reasons.
REASONS THAT MAKES
RIZAL AS THE AUTHOR
DOUBTFUL
The poem uses the Tagalog word kalayaan
(liberty/freedom). However, Rizal first encountered the
word at least by 1882, when he was 25 years old - 17 years
after he supposedly wrote the poem.
The fluency and sophistication of the Tagalog used in the
poem also do not match Rizal's grasp of the language.
Although Rizal's native tongue was Tagalog, his early
education was all Spanish. He would later lament his
difficulties in expressing himself in Tagalog.
In 1886, Rizal was in Leipzig working on a Tagalog
translation of Friedrich Schiller's William Tell, which he
sent home to his brother Paciano. In the accompanying
letter, Rizal speaks of his difficulty finding an appropriate
Tagalog equivalent of Freiheit (freedom), settling on
kalayaan. Rizal also attempted to wite Makamisa (the
intended sequal to El Filibusterismo) in Tagalog, only to
give up after only ten pages and start again in Spanish. The
8-year old Rizal's apparent familiarity with Latin and
English is also questionabe.
In his memoir as a student in Manila, a
year after pthe poem's supposed
writing date, he admitted only having
'a little' knowledge of Latin from
lessons by a friend of his father. Rizal
also did not study English until 1880,
more than ten years after the poem
allegedly written. The poem also
makes use of the letters 'K' and 'W',
whereas during Rizal's childhood,
Tagalog spelling was based on Spanish
orthography where neither letters
where used. The letters 'C' and 'U'
where used instead.
 THE
POEM
Sa Aking Mga Kabata
KAPAGKA ANG BAYA'Y SADYANG UMIIBIG
SA KANYANG SALITANG KALOOB NG LANGIT,
SANGLANG KALAYAAN NASA RING MASAPIT
KATULAD NG IBONG NASA HIMPAPAWID.
PAGKA'T ANG SALITA'Y ISANG KAHATULAN
SA BAYAN, SA NAYO'T MGA KAHARIAN,
AT ANG ISANG TAO'Y KATULAD, KABAGAY
NG ALIN MANG LIKHA NOONG KALAYAAN.
ANG HINDI MAGMAHAL SA KANYANG SALITA
MAHIGIT SA HAYOP AT MALANSANG ISDA,
KAYA ANG MARAPAT PAGYAMANING KUSA
NA TULAD SA INANG TUNAY NA NAGPALA.
ANG WIKANG TAGALOG TULAD DIN SA LATIN
SA INGLES, KASTILA AT SALITANG ANGHEL,
SAPAGKA'T ANG POONG MAALAM TUMINGIN
ANG SIYANG NAGGAWAD, NAGBIGAY SA ATIN.
ANG SALITA NATI'Y HUWAD DIN SA IBA
NA MAY ALFABETO AT SARILING LETRA,
NA KAYA NAWALA'Y DINATNAN NG
SIGWA
ANG LUNDAY SA LAWA NOONG DAKONG
UNA.
THE FIRST STANZA IN RIZAL'S POEM SHOWS THAT LONG
BEFORE HE SPROUTED THE FIRST FRUITS OF HIS YOUTH, HE
HAD ALREADY PLACED DISTINGUISHED VALUE IN THE
IMPORTANCE OF ONE'S MOTHER TONGUE. ACCORDING TO
THESE VERSES, IF AN NATION'S PEOPLE WHOLEHEARTEDLY
EMBRACE AND LOVE THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, THAT
NATION ALSO SURELY PURSUE LIBERTY. HE LIKENS THIS IDEA
TO A BIRD SOARING FREELY IN THE VAST, ETERNAL SKY
ABOVE.

LANGUAGE HERE LIKENED TO A PEOPLE BORN INTO FREEDOM.

IN RIZAL'S TIME, FILIPINOS WERE HELD IN SLAVERY BY SPAIN.
RIZAL, HOWEVER, BELIEVED THAT IF THE PEOPLE TREASURED
AND LOVED AND USED THEIR MOTHER TONGUE, IT WOULD
BECOME A SYMBOL OF RELATIVELY FREEDOM, AND OF
IDENTITY.
IT IS HERE IN THESE LINES OF VERSE THAT WE FIND RIZAL'S
FAMOUS QUOTE: "HE WHO DOES NOT LOVE HIS OWN
LANGUAGE IS WORSE THAN AN ANIMAL AND SMELLY FISH".
HE FURTHER ADDS THAT FILIPINOS MUST WORK TO MAKE
THE LANGUAGE RICHER, AND LIKENS THIS ENDEAVOR TO A
MOTHER FEEDING HER YOUNG. THE NATIVE TONGUE IS NOW
COMPARED TO A HELPLESS CHILD THAT MUST NURTURED IN
ORDER TO GROW AND FLOURISH.

THE TAGALOG LANGUAGE IS, ACCORDING TO THESE LINES,

EDUAL IN RANK TO LATIN, ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND EVEN THE
LANGUAGE OF THE ANGELS. IT IS NOT INFERIOR TO ANY
OTHER LANGUAGE, NOR MUST IT BE CONSIDERED SO. FOR IT IS
GOD WHO HAS BESTOWED UPON THE FILIPINOS THIS GIFT,
JUST AS HE HAS BELESSED THE OTHER NATIONS AND LANDS
WITH THEIR NATIVE TONGUES.
THESE LAST LINES MAY VERY WELL REFERRING
TO THE ALIBATA, OR THE OLD FILIPINO
ALPHABET WHOSE CHARACTERS ARE UNIQUE IN
EVERY ESSENCE, FINDING NO LIKENESS IN ANY
OTHER ALPHABET. THE TAGALOG LANGUAGE,
ACCORDING TO RIZAL, HAS LETTERS AND
CHARACTERS OF ITS VERY OWN, SIMILAR TO THE
WAY OTHER "ELITE TONGUES" DO. THESES
LETTERS, HOWEVER, WERE OVERTHROWN BY
STRONG WAVE AND LOST, LIKE FRAGILE, FICKLE
BOATS IN THE STORMY SEA, MANY LONG YEARS
AGO.
LESSON AND
VALUES
FROM THE
POEM
LOVE FOR OUR MOTHER LANGUAGE
NATIONALISM
TO BE PROUD OF OUR COUNTRY
AND BEING A FILIPIPINO
TO REMIND US OF THE
IMPORTANCE OF THR FILIPINO
LANGUAGE
THE FILIPINO LANGUAGE IS A GIFT
FROM GOD
Thank
you!!
REFERENCES:
RIZAL AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND
NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS BY M.C.
ROMERO
"DID YOUNG RIZAL REALLY WRITE POEM FOR
CHILDREN ?" BY AMBETH OCAMPO
SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT RIZAL POEM BY
PAUL MORROW
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL WEBSITE:
http://thelifeandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/
01/interpretation-sa-aking-mga-kababata.html