The Ilokos have been distinguished with the other Filipino ethno-linguistic groups by their mother language—the Samtoy. According to Lopez (1621; 1767, in Dumagat 2007), Samtoy is the language “…spoken by the “Ilocan” or “Indian” of Ilocos or Ylocos,” which was derived from the Iloko phrase “saomi ditoy,” meaning “our language here.” According to Agoncillo (1990) the Ilokos even prefer the name Samtoy over “Ilocano.”
An analysis on the etymology of Samtoy reveals the unconscious declaration of ownership by the Ilokos the language that distinguishes them from other ethno-linguistic groups. The suffix mi—meaning “our,” attached to sao—meaning “word” or “language,” indicates the Ilokos’ claim on Samtoy. This is reasonably comprehensible since Samtoy was born out of the Ilokos’ collective transaction and contestation with their arid physical environment. Unlike the “supposed” national language, which is the Tagalog-based Filipino, being imposed by the hegemonic “powers-that-are,” Samtoy is a language that is distinctively an Ilokos’ collective production.
Likewise, the word ditoy (or here) suggests that Samtoy occupies a space of its own—or what we can call “lingual space”—in the consciousness of the Ilokos. While the ditoy in the Samtoy mentioned by Agoncillo (1990) indicates the region occupied by the Ilokos, this can also be extended to wherever the Iloko speaker is—i.e. outer Ilocos, Manila, Mindoro, Mindanao, Hawaii, US Mainland, Europe, and in other places. For lingual space, as this paper suggests, is wherever a particular language is used to perceive, think, rationalize, and express thoughts, particularly by the people who claim the language as their own. The lingual space of Samtoy is wherever Samtoy is spoken by the Iloko people. As the Ilokos perceive, think and rationalize about themselves and their transactional experiences using their “mother language,” they are also affording a space for Samtoy in their consciousness.
However, language does not only occupy space. Through symbolic interaction, language helps in the development of person’s awareness and consciousness—or in the formation of a person’s psyche or soul. That is, we are what we see and think we are as a consequence of our symbolic interaction as people. As people symbolically interact, collective consciousness is formed, shared, contested, and reformed. Language, therefore, “feeds” not only the individual soul but also the collective consciousness of people that distinguishes them with other peoples. Deprive a people of their language and you are gradually starving their “souls” that feeds on their language.
The etymology of Samtoy and the appreciation of the Ilokos themselves on their language (as indicated by the relatively substantial available Iloko literature compared to other Filipino languages—i.e. Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Wara-waray) provides the impression that the Ilokos acknowledge this value of language. Unlike the Tagalogs who identify their language with their territory, the Ilokos distinguish their language not just with themselves but with their community. Thus, Samtoy is not just a reflection of an individual Iloko’s soul but the collective soul of the Ilokos. Depriving, therefore, Samtoy from the Iloko renders an Iloko personally and culturally empty.
(References can be provided upon request. Send request to simoncaday@yahoo.com or to jrizal77@yahoo.cm)
thank you for writing that. even though i am ilokano (diasporic, in california) and do not speak my language, your last sentence reflects how i feel with the small amount of my language i do know, and the hunger i feel without it.
ReplyDeletedo you have recent entries to this blog. am too an ilokano.
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ReplyDeleteYes, for me as an Ilocano, I believe only an Ilocano can feel, understand, demonstrate etc. Blogs like this will mean to the same Ilocano!
ReplyDeleteIn many of his works and talks, F. Sionil Jose mention that he and his characters miss the sound of their language, Ilocano. In his novel, "Gagamba", he named the baby (found among debris left after an earthquake), Namnama, which means "hope." "What a beautiful name," said the man (Gagamba) who found her.
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