Talk:Pinay (disambiguation)

Pronunciation
Pronounced as 'pee-nay'. Simple!

Can anyone add the pronunciation of this word here? Seems needed, and I don't know it because I'm stupid.--Plaidfury 22:20, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I added the pronounciation of the word and also of the French politician's name and commune because they might be pronounced differently. However, I'm not sure if the pronounciation is accurate. -- ユージェイ 16:59, 1 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Think of the last two syllables of the word gemini.

NetScout55 23:50, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Reference to Oxford
If the Oxford English Dictionary defined the word Filipina as "a domestic helper, that has nothing to do with the word "Pinay'. I am missing something or is the text missing something? Grant | Talk 10:57, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Reference to Oxford - false
The Oxford English Dictionary does not do so, never has done so, has never planned to do so, issued no 'trial version' containing the description. It was, in fact, an invention by a columnist on the Philippine Star newspaper. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobcouttie (talk • contribs) 12:55, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Some insight on the Pinoy/Pinay terms
There is quite some confusion on the usage of the terms Filipino and Pilipino (and all their derivatives). Even some Filipinos themselves tend to interchange the terms loosely.

Filipino - The term is the official nationality of the citizens of the Republic of The Philippines. The term Filipino itself is genderless, and applies to both male and female citizens. For official documentation and records, Filipino is the correct term when defining one's citizenship or enthnicity.

Example: I am a Filipino, therefore I speak Pilipino.

Pilipino - The term is the official language of the Republic of the Philippines. The language is based mostly on the Tagalog dialect which is the predominant dialect in the country.

"Filipina" is a derivative of Filipino, which most likely evolved as a result of an attempt to infuse some gender-sensitivity to the word. Traditionally, the Tagalog dialect is gender-specific and some words and names will be spelled differently to reflect either male or female orientation. The "pinoy" and "pinay" words are clear examples of this. Pinoy applying to males, while pinay apply to females.

Pinoy and Pinay are coloquialisms of the word Filipino. The origins of these coloquialisms are numerous and varied. But one common theory is that Filipinos are not very fond of strict formalities, specially amongst themselves so they formulated a shorter, more endearing term for their people.

Misconceptions: There are several misconceptions about the Pinoy/Pinay word. The most common one is that pinoy/pinay translates to a domestic helper or housemaid. Another one gaining notoriety is that "pinay" translates to a mail order bride or even a prostitute. The pinoy/pinay words in these cases fall victim to definition by association, or by example. We all know that these are big no no's when publishing a dictionary, right? These are not only inaccurate, but are offensive to the Filipino people.

Pronunciation: Here are some guidelines when pronouncing traditional* Tagalog/Pilipino words:

1. There are no long vowels. Think only of "ah" "eh" "ih" "oh" "oooo"

2. Every word is pronounced exactly as they are spelled. Pinay is thus pronounced as "P Nai". (Just think of the last two syllables of gemini)


 * These rules might not apply to foreign words that were adopted into the Philippine vocabulary. Most foreign words adopted by the Philippines respect their original pronunciation.

Whats up with the P and F?

Some people are wondering why the letters P and F (and several other letters)appear to be interchanged loosely in the Pilipino language. This is explained by the evolution of the Pilipino alphabet. The original Pilipino alphabet did not contain any of the "modern" or complex phoneme such as C, F, J, Q, V, X and Z.

When the Philippines was colonized by Spain, several Spanish letters were infused into the native alphabet to faciliate better adoption of Spanish words.

Generations later, as the pressure to compete in an international market grew, so did the need to assimilate an internationally recognized alphabet. The American English alphabet (using the Latin architecture) was the most feasible candidate and the Pilipino alphabet evolved to adopt new letters. Several old letters were also dropped from the list.

The latter stages of the Pilipino alphabet evolution (1980s through early 1990s) was so fast, that some Filipinos were exposed to two or three different alphabet versions within their lifetime.

One of the consequences of restructuring a nation's alphabet system is that the older, more traditional educators still insisted on using the original alphabet and the "new" system had to work its way into the educational network. Several generations of mixing old and new alphabets have resulted in the loose interchangeability of similar sounding letters.

Additional source: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tagalog.htm

NetScout55 23:37, 16 February 2007 (UTC)