Language

One of the most obvious ways that the era of the Spanish Philippines still affects the country is with
language. About one-third (4,000) of the words in Tagalog are of Spanish origin, and around 6,000 words
in other Filipino languages come from Spanish. Considering the Philippines have cultural influences from
China, Malaysia, Japan, and the United States, the fact that about a third of the words come from
Spanish shows just how influential the Spanish Philippines era was on the culture. Let’s see just how
similar some Tagalog words are to Spanish. Try reading just the Tagalog words first to see if you can
guess what Spanish word they come from.

The following are some of the words of Philippine origin that can be found in the Diccionario de la
lengua española de la Real Academia Española, the dictionary published by the Real Academia Española:

Spanish loan
Origin Tagalog English equivalent
word

abacá Old Tagalog: abacá abaká abaca

baguio Old Tagalog: baguio bagyo typhoon or hurricane

baranggay/
barangay Old Tagalog: balan͠gay barangay
barangay

bolo Old Tagalog: bolo bolo bolo

Waray-Waray:
carabao kalabáw carabao
carabáo

caracoa Visayan: karakoa karakaw karakoa, a war canoe

Baybayin was noted by the Spanish priest Pedro Chirino in 1604 and Antonio de Morga in 1609 to be
known by most, and was generally used for personal writings, poetry, etc. According to William Henry
Scott, there were some datus from the 1590s who could not sign affidavits or oaths, and witnesses who
could not sign land deeds in the 1620s. There is no data on when this level of literacy was first achieved,
and no history of the writing system itself. There are at least six theories about the origins of Baybayin.
Baybayin is a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system. It is a member of the Brahmic family and is recorded
as being in use in the 16th century. It continued to be used during the Spanish colonization of the
Philippines up until the late 19th Century.The term Baybay literally means “to spell” in Tagalog.

The Rizal Shrine in Calamba is an example of bahay na bato.

house of stone", also known in Visayan as balay na bato or balay nga bato; in Spanish as Casa Filipino)
is a type of building originating during the Philippines' Spanish colonial period. It is an updated version of
the traditional bahay kubo of the Christianized lowlanders, known for its use of masonry in its
construction, using stone and brick materials and later synthetic concrete, rather than just full organic
materials of the former style. Its design has evolved throughout the ages, but still maintains the bahay
kubo's architectural principle, which is adapted to the tropical climate, stormy season, and earthquake-
prone environment of the whole archipelago of the Philippines, and fuses it with the influence of
Spanish colonizers and Chinese traders.