The UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino collects the more than 200,000 words currently being used by Filipinos all over the country.

Puwede or pwede? Siya or sya? Sari-sari or sarisari?

How you spell these Filipino words may not matter to the average Filipino youth who is just trying to pass a note to a classmate. But to linguists and academics pushing for a standard version of the national language, such is a very, very serious matter.

It is with this goal in mind that the University of the Philippines’ (UP) Sentro ng Wikang Filipino (SWF), together with Anvil Publishing, released the second edition of the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, featuring more than 200,000 words being used by the different languages spoken in the country today.

Edited by National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino aims to cultivate, strengthen, and standardize Filipino as our national language.

“Ang ating layunin ay kahit hindi ginagamit ng karaniwang Pilipino, dapat meron tayong diksiyonaryo na kapag kailangan mong humanap ng salitang Bisaya o salitang Ilokano ay makikita mo,” Almario explains.

Not 100 years

The idea for the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino first came about in 1996, after a conversation Almario had with De La Salle University’s Br. Andrew Gonzalez. Gonzalez remarked that it would take 100 years before there would be a standard Filipino language, and Almario had expressed his distress.

“Sinabi kong ayokong mamatay na bigo. Hindi ako makakapaghintay ng 100 years, ni hindi ako makakapaghintay ng 20, kailangan kong gawin kung ano ang dapat gawin,” Almario recalls. “Sinabi niya dalawa lang ang dapat kong gawin, grammar at depinisyon. Naisip ko na mainam kong gawin ay gumawa ng diksiyonaryo.”

As the director of the SWF at that time, Almario would use the center’s resources to collate some of the more than 200,000 words being used in the country to complete the dictionary.

“Nag-hire kami ng researchers, editor, at iba pang makakatulong upang halughugin at kunin ang lahat ng impormasyon. Naging isang malaking proyekto ang pagsusulat ng diksiyonaryo. Limang taon namin ginawa iyon,” he recounts.

But even as the book was being launched in 2001, Almario says that he was already thinking of coming up with a revised edition, thanks to a chance look at the Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala, one of the earliest Tagalog dictionaries written by Spanish clergymen.

“Ang nabuklat kong pahina ay page 228 at nakita ko sa unang pagkakataon ang salitang sari. Palagi kong sinasabi na walang salitang ugat na sari kaya dapat walang gitling ang salitang ‘sarisari’. Pero malinaw sa Vocabulario na meron!” he recalls with a laugh.

This wrong entry – along with calls from academics complaining about words that were not included in the first edition – spurred Almario to start work on the second edition. It would take him longer to come up with this new edition, he says, because of the lack of researchers and the rapid changes that have happened to the language since 2001.

“Mabilis ang nagaganap na pagbabago sa Pilipino nitong nakaraang dekada. Mabilis ang pagdagdag ng hiram na salita, hindi lamang sa Ingles kundi sa ibang wikang pandaigdig. Mabilis din itong pinayayaman ng mga likhang salita, lalo na ang napaka-creative na paglikha ng salita ng mga Bekimon (the new slang for gay lingo),” he explains.

Standardizing the Filipino language

Despite its admitted flaws, academics do not deny the importance of having a dictionary towards the standardization of the national language. De La Salle University’s Dr. Isagani R. Cruz reveals that he always directs people who ask how to spell Filipino words to consult the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino.

“Kapag humihirit pa ang nagtatanong at sinasabing mga taga-UP at taga-Anvil lang naman ang naniniwala rito, ang sinasagot ko ay ito – ipakita ninyo sa akin ang diksiyonaryong pinagbabatayan ninyo ng inyong baybay, gamit, o salita,” Cruz says. “Hanggang ngayon ay wala pang nakakasagot sa akin dahil, sa totoo lang, wala naman sagot. Ang diksiyonaryong ito, gustuhin man natin o hindi, ay ang kaisaisang diksiyonaryo ng wikang Filipino.”

Cruz is even calling on the dictionary’s creators to come up with an online version so as to service the needs of Filipino speakers outside of the country.

“Makatutulong din sa mga kababayan natin sa ibang bansa – alalahanin natin na mahigit sampung milyon na iyon, karamiha’y hindi na nag-aaral dahil OFW – para maging tama ang kanilang paggamit sa wika,” he says. “Kailangan nila, at kailangan ng ating mga kababayan hindi lamang sa ibang bansa kundi dito sa atin mismo, ng isang gabay sa bigkas, baybay, gamit, varyant, at kahulugan ng mga salita natin, at ang mga ito mismo ang inaalok sa atin ng UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino.”

The University of the Philippines is certainly backing this project 100 percent. Dr. Jovy M. Peregrino, SWF current director, says that UP chancellor Dr. Sergio S. Cao has already given the green light to make the UP Diksiyonaryong Pilipino a continuing project of the university.

“Ang SWF ay lumapit kay Dr. Sergio S. Cao, at mula sa hakbang na ito ay naganap ang institusyonalisasyon ng gawaing pangdiksiyonaryong upang patuloy itong makagawa ng sunod-sunod na edisyon kada limang taon,” Peregrino reveals. “Proyekto na ng Unibersidad ang pagbuo ng diksiyonaryo bilang nangungunang institusyon sa pagpapalaganap at intelektuwalisasyon ng wikang pambansa. Ito ay isang hakbang para sa modernisasyon ng anumang diksiyonaryo.”