VALENTINE'S DAY: A LESSON IN LOVE
Maligayang Araw ng mga Puso! Happy Day of Hearts!
It's that time of the year again, where spring is in the air, birds are singing and people are looking to get twitterpainted . I've most likely dated myself with the Bambi reference but I love the movie and it's totally worth the watch!
Yup, it's Valentine's Day! So while many of you may or may not be looking for love, it's a perfect time for us to study what it means to love, especially in our native language, Filipino!
So let's take a look at the word mahal. It's an important part in one of the first phrases that many Filipino-Americans learn, which is mahal kita, or I love you. But what does mahal really mean?
mah´al adj. dear, loved, costly, noble, well-esteemed, expensive · magmaghal, mahal´in (mag-:-in) v. to hold dear, to love. Mahalin mo ang iyong mga magulang. Love your parents.
Many non-Tagalog speakers often miss that the English term for "love" is synonymous for "expensive" and "costly" in Filipino.
So why is that important to you as a student? Love, or in this case, mahal, in Filipino, expresses value or worth.
When you love someone, it means they mean a lot to you. Your dog, or a favorite stuffed animal are also worth a lot to you. Similarly, a brand new video game console is also worth a lot of money to your parents. In Filipino, the word mahal can be used to express all these things.
It can also be used as a noun. Much like couples will refer to each other as "honey", "dear" or as of late, "bae", you can also use "mahal" as a form of endearment.
So what's the opposite of love? In this case, it isn't hate. It's the word, mura. The first definition meaning to cuss!
mura 1) m´ura n. curse, scolding approach · magmur´a, mur´ahin (mag-:-in) v. to scold, to curse. Minura niya ang kaniyang mga katulong. He scolded his helpers (servants). 2) m´ura' adj. immature, unripe 3) m´ura adj. cheap, inexpensive
Learning words in Filipino can be difficult because a lot of words have several meanings, or a similar spelling but totally different pronunciation. So before you decide to plan your next break up in Filipino, let's be sure you're using the correct words!
It's no question that the word mura is the antonym, or opposite, of mahal. Remember, these words represent how much something or someone is worth. While mahal can be used to describe how valuable or important someone is to you, you cannot reverse this mechanism when speaking to or about another person.
Mura describes something of little value. To cuss at someone, or curse them, devalues their self-worth. So you can call something cheap using mura, but you can't call a person cheap using the same word! Using mura to describe someone will translate as immature, or naive.
Mura pa ang isipan. She's naive. Literally, the thinking (thoughts) are still unripe.
So let's practice a few ways to incorporate these new words! The worksheet below expands on what you learned in class, taken from the book, Basic Tagalog by Paraluman S. Aspillera.
