Digging into the Art of Conyotics

The world today is far more developed than it was years ago. The communication between people with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds has resulted an ever-growing number of contacts from the areas of business, military cooperation, science, education, mass media, entertainment, tourism and immigration. With all of these contacts, there is communication which needs to be constructive as possible to avoid misunderstandings and breakdowns.

Throughout the world, human beings use thousands of languages to communicate with one another. Some of these languages are standardized and internationally used, while othersare just spoken by smaller groups of people. Language, in itself, is a system of systems. It possesses various characteristics that must be considered to thorough understand its nature.

As published in neoenglish.wordpress.com, language can have scores of characteristics but the following are the most important ones:

Language is Arbitrary: Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no inherent relation between the words of a language and their meanings or the ideas conveyed by them. There is no reason why a female adult human being be called a woman in English, aurat in Urdu, Zen in Persian and Femine in French. The choice of a word selected to mean a particular thing or idea is purely arbitrary, but once a word is selected for a particular referent, it comes to stay as such. It may be noted that had language not been arbitrary, there would have been only one language in the world.

Language is Social: Language is a set of conventional communicative signals used by humans for communication in a community. Language in this sense is a possession of a social group, comprising an indispensable set of rules which permits its members to relate to each other, to interact with each other, to co-operate with each other; it is a social institution. Language exists in society; it is a means of nourishing and developing culture and establishing human relations.

Language is Symbolic: Language consists of various sound symbols and their graphological counterparts that are employed to denote some objects, occurrences or meaning. These symbols are arbitrarily chosen and conventionally accepted and employed. Words in a language are not mere signs or figures, but symbols of meaning. The intelligibility of a language depends on a correct interpretation of these symbols.

Language is Systematic: Although language is symbolic, yet its symbols are arranged in a particular system. All languages have their system of arrangements. Every language is a system of systems. All languages have phonological and grammatical systems, and within a system there are several sub-systems. For example, within the grammatical system we have morphological and syntactic systems, and within these two sub-systems we have systems such as those of plural, of mood, of aspect, of tense, etc.

Language is Vocal: Language is primarily made up of vocal sounds only produced by a physiological articulatory mechanism in the human body. In the beginning, it appeared as vocal sounds only. Writing came much later, as an intelligent attempt to represent vocal sounds. Writing is only the graphic representation of the sounds of the language. So the linguists say that speech is primary.

Language is Non-instinctive, Conventional: No language was created in a day out of a mutually agreed upon formula by a group of humans. Language is the outcome of evolution and convention. Each generation transmits this convention on to the next. Like all human institutions languages also change and die, grow and expand. Every language then is a convention in a community. It is non-instinctive because it is acquired by human beings. Nobody gets a language in heritage; he acquires it because he has an innate ability.

Language is Productive and Creative: Language has creativity and productivity. The structural elements of human language can be combined to produce new utterances, which neither the speaker nor his hearers may ever have made or heard before any, listener, yet which both sides understand without difficulty. Language changes according to the needs of society. 

With all of these characteristics cited, there emerge a peculiar way of expressing ones ideas. From the combination of Spanish, English, and Filipino, the so-called ‘conyo’ is formed.

Now a days, many individuals are into using ‘conyo’ in their daily conversation. Each of them consciously or unconsciously mix different languages to explain thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a struggle to fit into the society. It has been said that speakers of this language are trying to establish differences between themselves and from others.  In spite of this rampant use, others don’t know exactly what the word ‘conyo’means and where it came from.

Talking about its terminology, ‘conyo’ originated from the Spanish word cono meaning cunt. More so, according to several anecdotes,cono is also an interjection used by the Spaniards to finish their sentences. As one of the colonies of Spain before, Filipinos picked up this word to refer to Spaniards for it was also considered as a synonym for their name and eventually used to signify a person who belongs to upper middle class and is living in an exclusive neighborhood. Later on, it has become a solution to intercommunication problems where some Filipinos tailor different languages that they know to meet communicative needs. More so, ‘conyo’ talk is an emulation of how English and/or Spanish speakers communicate with Filipinos.The knowledge drown from the all of these facts would shed light on how historical memory contributed to the innovation of this language.

Like any other known languages, ‘conyo’ has its own phonological and grammatical systems. Speakers of this language establish linguistic rules to follow which is called “conyo-mandments”. There are 10 things to consider in a ‘conyo’ talk and these are enumerated below:

1.    Thou shall make gamit “make + pandiwa”

Examples:

“Wait lang! I’m making kain pa!”

“Come on na, we can’t make hintay anymore!”

2. Thou shall make kalat “noh”, “di ba” and “eh” in your pangungusap

“I don’t like to make lakad in the bahanga, noh? Ed di ba it’s like, so ewwwst, di ba?”

“What ba? Stop nga being maartenoh!”

3. When making describe a whatever, always say “It’s SO pang-uri!”

“I know right? So sarapnga eh!”

“You’re making me so inggitnaman, I’ll make bilinga my own burger.”

4. When you are lalake, make parang punctuation “dude”, “tsong” or “pare”

“Dude, ENGANAL is so hirap, pare.” (ENGANAL = Engineering Analysis in DLSU)

“I know, tsong, I got bagsaknga in quiz one, eh.”

5. Thou shall know you know? I know right!

“My bag is so bigat today, you know.”

“I know, right! We have to make dala pa kase the jumbo Physics book eh!”

6. Make gawa the plural of pangalans like in English or in Spanish

“I have so many tigyawats, oh!”

7. Like, when you can make kaya, always like. Like, I know right?

“Like, it’s so initnaman!”

“Yeah! The air-con, it’s like sirakase eh!”

8. Make yourself feel so galing by translating the last word of your sentence, you know, your pangungusap?

“Kakainisnaman in the LRT! How plenty the tao, you know, people?”

“It’s so tight nga there, eh, you know, masikip?”

 9. Make gamit of plenty abbreviations, you know, daglat?

“Like OMG! It’s like traffic sa EDSA.”

“I know, right? It’s so kaka!”

“Kaka?”

“Kakaasar!”

10. Make gamit the pinakamaarte voice and pronunciation you have para full   effect!

 "I’m like, making aral at the Arrhneow!“

"Me naman, I’m from Lazzahl!”

In the conyo-mandments, redundancy is evident as to how verbs are repeated from one language to another. It would also show the capacity of the speaker in translating words to another language. Eg. “Let’s make pasokna to our class!” More so, if fillers are discourage in standardized language, it is then highly recommended in ‘conyo’ talk. The words “noh”, “di ba” and “eh” are spread within the sentences. Eg. “Eh as if you want naman also, di ba?”In addition the adverb “so” is always used to intensify the degree of description of a certain thing. Eg. It’s somalaki, you know, and somainit!”

The names used in calling men are the words “dude”, “tsong” or “pare”. Eg. “I know, tsong, I got bagsaknga in quiz one, eh.” The fact of knowing things has to be obvious, so the phrases “I know right!” and “You know.”  are utilized. Eg. “My bag is so bigat today, you know.” One should also note that nouns expressed in other language like Filipino are pluralized in English. Eg. “I have so many tigyawats, oh!” Similarities are shown by the use of like in a sentence. Eg. “Like, it’s so initnaman!” Abbreviations are also encouraged, but some aren’t correct. Eg. “I know, right? It’s so kaka (kakaasar)!” Finally, the utterance or the way of uttering the sentences should in a very artistic voice or tone to heighten its effect.

Colonial mentality has something to do with the reason that lines on the use of ‘conyo’ as a language of expression. It has been perceived that having the ability to speak Spanish and English would create a sense of belongingness to the so-called superior countries which colonized Philippines long time ago. As stated by Garvida (2012), conyo talk has become the response for many Filipinos who, constrained by their background and having been deprived, at one point, of ‘power’ -  economic as well as social -, are constantly subjected to the idea of being ‘the other’. ‘Conyo’ talk has become a metaphor of what have been denied – the Spanish language, and an affirmation of their existence and the power that should be theirs and should continually flow to them. Thus, ‘conyo’ speakers are perceived as people coming from upper class or simply individuals with power.

The same as other languages, ‘conyo’ has been used as a language of expression with the ease of conveying ideas. Although it has been associated to societal class where speakers of this language are perceived to be people with power, and from others point –of-view, dubbed as social climbers, ‘conyo’ talk embodies linguistic deviation which definitely contributes to newer studies that denote newer possibilities. Linguistic deviation will enable newer studies to understand why or how the deviation occurs and the underlying concepts that relates to sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics (Serapio&Baladjay). Hence, a newer identity is created from this linguistic deviance that stood on its own way through its accent, grammar, and phonetics which is not usually done in two languages.

Even though there are pros for the establishment of ‘conyo’ as a language, there will also be cons in which one cannot deny the fact that inconsistencies of this phenomenon would create effects on language acquisition for both languages: the mother tongue and the English as a second language. Poor vocabulary and mix up of grammatical rules would likely develop. Moreover, the cultural identity as Filipinos using Filipino language is at risk. People would likely be unaware of society’s accepted and practiced culture because of colonial mentality.

To recapitulate, ‘conyo’ talk is created due to the fact that language is dynamic and creative. It changes overtime, and discovers new ways of expression to help humanity. Hence, there is nothing wrong with being a ‘conyo’ speaker, but one must have to be fully aware of its limitations that there are certain situations in which it isn’t appropriate to use (eg. schools, workplace, etc.) and that it shouldn’t be affecting the language acquisition for other languages (eg. English as a second language) as well as our own identity as Filipinos embodied in our own language.

References:

Garvide (2012).” Conyo Talk”: The Affirmation of Hybrid Identity and Power in Contemporary Philippine Discourse. Retrieved July 8, 2015 https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsiba-ese.unisalento.it%2Findex.php%2Flinguelinguaggi%2Farticle%2FviewFile%2F12641%2F11252&ei=k9ycVY3hHNGxogT8rIbYBg&usg=AFQjCNEapdHT1WI5XZxD6W9NTKCbtDKLkA&bvm=bv.96952980,d.aWw

                                               

Neoenglish (2010). Characteristics and Features of Language Retrieved July 8, 2015 https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/characteristics-and-features-of-language/

(no author) (nd).10 Conyo-mandmentsRetrieved July 8, 2015 http://matabangutak.tumblr.com/post/29897374537

Serapio, S. &Baladjay, D. (nd). The Development of Conyoin DSLU: A Study.http://www.academia.edu/10457528/The_Development_of_Conyo_in_DLSU_A_studyRetrieved July 9, 2015

Jejemon: A Language Evolved in Texting

In the modern society where everything is made easy, we can’t deny the fact that the way of communication has also improved and just a click away. Every person now a days can be kept in touched through different means like social media and even through texting. Along with these innovations, the way of expression of people has also developed into not just simple and typical languages.

In the article entitled “Is texting killing the English Language?” by John McWhorter, issues pertaining to texting have been discussed and the author took a stand as to the effect of texting to the English language. More so, the author regarded texting simply as talking with the fingers.

As one critic said, texting is the penmanship of the illiterates. The reason points to the way people compose their messages which deviates the conventions of the normal language. Many would argue that texting or instant messaging has to cope with the speed of conversation. Hence, it is dubbed as a new kind of talking that involves economy, spontaneity, and even vulgarity.

Where there is a little attention paid to the capitalization, punctuation, and even to the grammar itself, texting is developing its own kind of grammar and conventions. Take for instance, the word LOL which means “laughing out loud”. But this definition goes beyond the literal meaning. This expression is commonly used to ease tension, show empathy, and sense of equality between texters. Eventually, attitude is also conveyed with the expressions used, not just by means of emoticons.

There are definitely special codes for texting, but this doesn’t just limit to the abbreviations that are familiar with like “wun” for “where u now?”, “wud” for “what ur doing”, “wuk” for “who u katext?”, and etc. In the Philippines which is considered as the “Texting Capital of the World” with one billion text messages sent daily, there is another creative language that has evolved in texting. This has been called as “Jejemon”.

Jejemon (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈdʒɛdʒɛmon]) is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. According to Urban Dictionary, a Jejemon is a person "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility." Moreover, jejemon is anyone with a low tolerance in correct punctuation, syntax and grammar. They are usually hated or hunted down by Jejebusters or the grammar nazi to eradicate their grammatical ways.

For instance (On AIM or YM):

miSzMaldiTahh111: EoW pFuOh! (Hello po.)

You: Huh?

miszMaldiTahh111: i LLyK tO knOw moR3 bOut u, PwfoH. crE 2 t3ll mE yur N@me? jejejejeje! (I like to know more about you po, care to tell me your name? hehehe...)

You: You are a jejemon! Don't talk to me, you uneducated retard!

miszMaldiTahh111: T_T


The jejemon phenomenon is rampant especially with a number of users from the young generation. As experienced in the classroom set up, it is turning into a serious problem having the students’ use the jejemon even in writing their essays and narratives. The conventions of the language which includes the spelling not just in English, but also in Filipino have been deviated. With this circumstance, the communication skill of the students especially in writing is at risk. It is then a great challenge for teachers to come up with strategies that would regulate the practice of jejemon which is detrimental to the use of languages such as English and Filipino.

Aside from the effect of jejemon to the communication skill, it also sets a frame to the identity of its users. Jejemon serves as a name given to people not just to refer to the users of the said language, but also to name people with low tolerance of the conventions of the normal language. Unfortunately, the nicknaming embodies negative attributes to its users saying that they are uneducated or illiterate.

It is really alarming how jejemon sets a frame between the users and the people against it (jejebusters and grammar nazi). This is where the relationship starts and often develops; framing jejemons as inferior members of the society in which the fact, that the creativity of their imagination puts them into this kind of undesirable situation. Consequently, this is a matter of serious concern especially in schools.

Complexity of the English Language

Language is a God-given gift. It exists due to the communication that has to be made possible. One of which is the English language. As noted by Derek Walcott, “The English language is nobody's special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself.” Hence, with the characteristics of creativity and dynamicity of languages, there comes the idea of how one would properly adopt, acquire, and use the language to convey ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

For years of studying the English language, I would definitely say that it is driving me crazy. It isn’t as simple as combining letters to form words, nor connecting subject to predicate in order to form a sentence. It goes beyond that. There are indeed lots of considerations to take note in using the language correctly in context. One has to be fully aware and knowledgeable of the rules that govern the formation of words and sentences.  This task would then be a lot difficult for second language users.

With all the important points that speakers of the language has to learn, English language is also taken as a subject in school especially for non-native speakers. A number of years would be allocated in learning the grammatical rules and developing the four macro-skills such as listening, reading, writing, and speaking. It has been said that learning how to use a language in speaking comes immediately faster than writing. This is evidently true because the environment plays a vital role in language acquisition aside from the fact that there is a universal grammar by Noam Chomsky that govern the language acquisition process. The outside factors like the people in the environment and their language usage contributed to the way a learner mimic or copy a certain language. Speaking a language is easier to do since it comes spontaneously and it only involves giving and receiving information from receiver and sender. Whereas, in writing, one has to be keen enough to observe the appropriate characters to use in forming words and follow the grammatical rules on how to properly convey ideas in correct and felicitous way. The output of writing is prone to criticism since it is easier to check if some ideas are grammatically ill or ambiguous.  Therefore, it would take a long time and a process to be fluent enough in writing a language even if speaking has been learned in earlier stage.

The English language entails being familiar with the grammatical rules. But sometimes, these set of rules aren’t so consistent since there are some which are deviated, but are accepted and dubbed as an “exemption to the rule”, like in the case of some rules in subject-verb agreement.  Redundancy or repetitions are prohibited in the English language, however some statements though not grammatically correct because of redundancy, are accepted and used in context. Knowing all these biases in the system of the English language, there is a so-called “poetic license” that would validate the deviation from what is conventionally accepted as appropriate.

In spite of the craziness that is caused by the English language to its users, it’s still a subject for study that drives everyone eager to know more about its nature. Known as a language of prestige and power, the English language has emerged as a standardized and universal language which would equipped one to be globally competitive.