Sound – Daily Prompt

You are a Filipino if… you say “open/kill/close the TV.” Yes, that’s right, we literally translate “buksan mo… ” or “isara mo…” which is “open” or “close”. We can’t say: turn it on/off….for appliances/devices.

You are a Filipino if… at the middle of a sentence or story, you switch your “he” to “she” or the other way around. The Filipino “siya” is neutral, no sex, either a boy or a girl. That’s why when we are not really thinking, we can easily interchange he and she.

You are a Filipino if… we use a long phrase like “.. will be the one …”, and “… will be the one who will …” instead of “… will …” – e.g., “I will be the one who will go …”, rather than “I will go …”. I guess we thought it would sound we know how to speak English if we use them, however redundant they could be.

You are a Filipino if…you cannot pronounce “v” – we say “b” or “f” – we say “p”. In Filipino, we don’t have the “f” phoneme, that’s why we substitute “p”, and at the same time, “b” for “v”. Some of the other sounds that Philippine languages lack include [ɪ], [æ] and [ʌ]; only a few still retain [ə].

You are a Filipino if…you use code-switching,”taglish” (Tagalog-English) i.e. mixing Filipino or other dialect with English in one sentence. Sub-varieties of Philippine English are emerging based on the regional location and thus linguistic influences of the speakers.

Blackbird looking from the top of the tree
People assemble from their back alley
Barbaric whistling from the gatherings
As the players clad as queens and kings
The ladies and their bawds on their break
They’ll make it up later on with their take
An afternoon off to see the pantomime
And why not, anyway, it’s their downtime
The stage whirled as they change scenes
Nothing obscene as folks look at the screen
Piercing sound from the scream and shout
The advertising code is being flouted
Fun with rhythms as the play continues
An old man having his afternoon snooze
As it starts snowing and the night begins
One of the characters plays the violin
The performance moved the audience to tears
One of the best plays they’ve seen in years

For: Sound

Other “sound” posts:

Apparently I can draw!

http://www.devildollmusings.com/2017/02/16/the-sound-of-silence/
https://confessionsofanindiancurryeater.com/2016/11/20/jumaira-ecclesfield-sheffield-74/

Heartbeat

Sound