Spanish affixes in Tagalog

Summary

Affix function number of borrowed affixes

Description

Information and examples are mainly from Baklanova and Bellamy (2023), with additions from Baklanova (2016; 2017), and Wolff (2001). Examples are spelled in accordance with the phonetic transcription in Baklanova and Bellamy (2023). Tagalog has borrowed multiple affixes from Spanish, some of which have overlapping functions. Vowel alternations in many of these specify the gender of the referent, with -o for masculine gender and -a for feminine. Native Tagalog affixes, on the other hand, do not usually mark gender. Baklanova (2017) therefore claims that Tagalog has developed ‘marginal gender’ as a result of borrowing these affixes from Spanish.

2 adjectivizing suffixes. They appear to form both adjectives and nouns (Baklanova 2017:342, Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:333).

  • -ado/a, ‘adjectivizer/nominalizer’, e.g. palinghado (paling ‘awry, to veer, slew’) ‘crooked, twisted; low in quality; contradiction, confusion’. Baklanova (2017:342) characterizes this form as an ‘agentive suffix’.
  • -ete, ‘adjectivizer/nominalizer’, only one pair of hybrid formations appears to be currently in use: kaliwéte (kaliwáʔ ‘left’) ‘left-handed; leftist’; kananéte (kánan ‘right (side)’) ‘right-handed’, formed by analogy from a non-native, non-Spanish stem, kanan ‘right (side)’, which is originally from Malay.

1 nominalizer suffix

  • -o/a, ‘noun from adjective’, e.g. lasenggo/a (lasing ‘drunk’) ‘drunkard, m/f’ (Baklanova 2016:30). This is the only example of a hybrid formation that was found in the consulted literature.

2 agentive nominalization suffixes

  • -ero/a, ‘agent of a verb, occupation, or a person with a certain characteristic’, e.g. ansikutero (ansikót ‘loitering, truancy’) ‘loiterer, truant’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:339), babaero (babae ‘woman’) ‘philanderer’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:339), bangkéro (bangkáʔ ‘boat’) ‘boatman’ (Wolff 2001:241), bungangéro/a (bunganga ‘gullet of animals/fish; mouth’) ‘chatterbox, m/f’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:339), kaing(in)éro (kaingín ‘burning off in field for cultivation; cleared land in a forest’) ‘one who clears land for farming’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:339), kaskaséro/a (kaskás ‘sudden effort; spurt; rush’) ‘speed maniac, m/f ‘ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:339), sipéro (sipáʔ ‘kick with the boot; game with rattan ball’) ‘sipa player’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:318). baságuléro (baságúlo ‘altercation; scuffle’) ‘squabbler’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:318), daldalero/a (daldál ‘gossiping; jabber; talkative’) ‘gabbler; gossiper; chatterbox, m/f’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:340), hambugéro (hambóg ‘boastful, arrogant’) ‘boaster, braggart’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:340), Katipunéro/a (Katipunán ‘a revolutionary society’) ‘Katipunan revolutionary’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:340). There are also some hybrid formations with non-native, non-Spanish stems: balitero (balítaʔ ‘news’ ［originally from Malay］) ‘reporter’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:339), butangéro (butang ‘act of beating or hitting a person mercilessly (like a thug)’ ［originally from Cebuano］) ‘goon’ (Wolff 2001:241).
  • -ista, ‘person with a certain propensity/trait, generally having more neutral connotations than -ero/a’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:321, 327), e.g. wangwangísta (wangwáng ‘1. completely exposed; 2. special car signal to give a priority pass’) ‘one who uses special car signal to demonstrate authority’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:324). The affix is also used to form nouns denoting a follower of a tendency/movement/party’, e.g. balagtasísta ‘follower of poet Balagtas’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:323), and in hybrid formations with a non-native, non-Spanish stem, e.g. aghamísta (Tagalog aghám ‘science’ < Sanskrit āgama ‘religion; sacred science’) ‘scientist’ (Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:323). It is also used to form nouns denoting a person of a certain profession and relational adjectives corresponding to professional nouns, but no hybrid examples are found in the literature.

2 diminutive suffixes

  • -ito/a, ‘diminutive noun’, e.g. dalagíta (dalága ‘young unmarried lady’) ‘preadolescent girl’ (Wolff 2001:241, Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:330), bagito (bago ‘new’) ‘amateur (adj.), newbie/inexperienced person (n.)’ (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Tagalog_terms_by_suffix ［accessed: 02.04.2024］), baklita/o (bakláʔ ‘homosexual person’) ‘gay, lesbian, sissy’ (Baklanova 2016:30).
  • -ilyo/a, ‘diminutive noun’, e.g. binatílyo (binátaʔ ‘bachelor, young teenage boy’) ‘young preadolescent boy’ (Wolff 2001:241, Baklanova and Bellamy 2023:330).

1 adjectivizer prefix

  • de-, ‘adjective or gerund associated with a certain noun or verb’, e.g. desakbát (sakbát ‘sling, put over a shoulder’) ‘slinging over a shoulder’, dekahoy (kahoy ‘wood’) ‘wooden’, depadyák (padyák ‘to stamp on, trample’) ‘stamping, trampling’ (e.g. machina depadyák ‘sewing machine with a pedal’, example provided by M. Futagami), desusì (susì ‘key’ ［originally from Hokkien］) ‘with lock, something opened with a key’ (e.g. desusing kahon ‘a box with lock’), desalamín (salamín ‘glass, mirror, spectacles, crystal’ ［originally from Malay］) ‘wearing spectacles’ (Rachkov 2012:363, Baklanova 2017:343).