2021. Notes on the Philippines PDF

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Notes on the Philippines Piers Kelly, 2021 How to use this document This document is a kind of Commonplace Book. That is, a compilation of direct quotations I have made from texts that I have read in the course of my research. All these texts are relevant to Philippine studies with a strong bias tow...

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Notes on the Philippines Piers Kelly, 2021

How to use this document This document is a kind of Commonplace Book. That is, a compilation of direct quotations I have made from texts that I have read in the course of my research. All these texts are relevant to Philippine studies with a strong bias towards my own interests: language, the Visayas, ethnography, ritual, millenarian movements etc. My aim in making it public is a) to make make the documentary basis of my research transparent; and b) share portions of texts with other researchers (some of the materials are difficult or impossible to find outside of the archives in which they are kept.) The quotations are arranged in chronological order by date of publication. The best way to navigate them is to do do a CTRL+F search and to use the tags below if necessary. Many of these tags are meaningful only to me! A list of searchable digital sources on Philippine studies can be found here: https://bravenewwords.info/cache/digital-resources-for-philippine-studies/ —P.K.

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#acculturation #aglipay, #ambiguity, #anthropology of language #antinganting [see also #mutya] #article: abakano #article: bio of anoy #article: broome #article: counter-canon #article: dagohoy #article: feature #article: literature #article: lumina #article: rizal #article: virgin birth [see also: #definition: indigenous #construction of indigeneity #second-wave migration theory] #article: vocabulary #article: writing system #articulation #authenticity #available objectification #bio of anoy #boholano-eskaya traditions chapter 4, #chapter 10, #chapter: sounds and shapes, #chapter: significance, #chapter: introduction #chd #colorums #commensuration, #construction of indigeneity #contested histories #cosmography of the marvellous, #cryptolects #cults #cultural expressions #dance , #definition: indigenous, #definition: visayas #deliberate language change #destruction myths #epistemology #eskayan etymology #faking it in visayan [see also #language learning in other notes document] #female cult leaders #finish reading #folk etymology [see also Eskaya Bibliography], #folk literacy, #funny

#genealogy #general vs. particular #globalisation #hermeneutics #history: language documentation #history of biabas #history of bohol, #history of loon #history of taytay #house blessing #hypercorrection #iconicity #ideology: antiquity #imagined communities, #immortality/longevity #indolence [see also #lost treasure] #invented traditions, #invisibility #invulnerability #kitchen spanish #land policy, #language diversity, #language ideology, #language policy, #language prestige, #language quantification, #latin #lexical archeology #linguistic anthropology: methodology, #literacy, #literacy: spanish, #literature, #localised history #lost treasure #lost tribes of israel #messianism, #methodology, #methodology: ethnographic history, #methodology: anthropology #methodology: folklore #methodology: literature #mexican-filipino encounters #millenarianism #mimicry and rejection, #miracles (food), #mutya #nakedness and authenticity #narrative intersections #national language #nativism #old books, #oral history, #origin myths, #orthogaphy #pamilacan cross #penis mutilation #phonology: allophones, #phonotactics, #polygamy #polyglossia #popes, #population #postcolonialism #primacy of writing, #prognostication #progressivism #pulahanes #reincarnation, #ritual languages, #ritual registers, #route to biabas #rural ilustrados #sapir-whorf, #second-wave migration theory, #suno, #symmetrical schismogenesis #syncretism #the fantastic #tingguianes, #transcendence, #translation #unintelligibility, #unrepresentability, #urasyun [see also Eskaya bibliography], #urasyunan (definition) #visayan dictionaries #visayan literature #weird, #word play, #writing and language change, #writing system, #written language

1500–1599 Pigafetta, Antonio. [1525] 1903. Primo viaggio intorno al mondo. In The Philippine Islands, edited by E. H. Blair and J. A. Robertson. Cleveland: A.H. Clark. Vol XXXIII. I saw many kinds of birds, among them one that had no anus; and another, [which] when the female [39] wishes to lay its eggs, it does so on the back of the male and there they are hatched. 41 #weird #the fantastic For a king of diamonds, which is a playing card, they gave me 6 fowls and thought that they had even cheated me. 41 #funny They live according to the dictates of nature, and reach an age of one hundred and twenty-five and one hundred and forty years. 43 #immortality #the fantastic One day a beautiful young woman came to the flagship, where I was, for no other purpose than to seek what chance might offer. While there and waiting, she cast her eyes upon the master’s room, and saw a nail longer than one’s finger. Picking it up very delightedly and neatly, she thrust it through the lips of her vagina, and bending down low immediately departed, the captain-general and I having seen that action. [see long footnote] 49 #weird Jnanzi q̃ venisse lora de cenare donay molte cose al re q̃ haueua portati scrisse asai cosse como le ciamanão Quanto Lo re et le alti me vistenno scriuere et li diceua qelle sue parolle tutti restorono atoniti in questo mezo venne lora de cenare 118 Before the supper hour I gave the king many things which I had brought. I wrote down the names of many things in their language. When the king and the others saw me writing, and when I told them their words, they were all astonished. While engaged in that the supper was announced. 119 #literacy #folk literacy They [natives of Limasawa] replied that they worshipped nothing, but that they raised their clasped hands and their face to the sky; and that they called their god “Abba”. 127 [Footnote: cf Morga vol xvi, p 132] #lost tribes of israel The males [of Cebu and Mactan], large and small, have their penis pierced from one side to the other near the head, with a gold or tin bolt as large as a goose quill. In both ends of the same bolt, some have what resembles a spur, with points upon the ends; others are like the head of a cart nail. I very often asked many, both old and young, to see their penis, because I could not credit it. In the middle of the bolt is a hole through which they urinate. The bolt and the spurs always hold firm. They say that their women

wish it so, and that if they did otherwise they would not have communication with them. When the men wish to have communication with their women, the latter themselves take the penis not in the regular way and commence very gently to introduce it [into their vagina], with the spur on top first, and then the other part. When it is inside it takes its regular position; and thus the penis always stays inside until it gets soft, for other-[171]wise they could not pull it out. Those people make use of that device because they are of a weak nature. 173 #weird They [natives of Cebu and Mactan] have as many wives as they wish, but one of them is the principal wife. 173 #polygamy Rice is cooked there under the fire in bamboos or in wood; and it lasts better than that cooked in earthen pots. [West North west of Palawan] 207 #boholano-eskaya traditions (Anoy’s miracle of rice from bamboo) At the end of their blowpipes they fasten a bit of iron like a spear head; […] 211 [PK: ask Peter Bellwood about this] They told us that their king [of Brunei] was willing to let us get water and wood, and to trade at our pleasure. Upon hearing that seven of us entered their prau bearing a present to their king, which consisted of a green velvet robe made in the Turkish manner, a violet velvet chair, five brazas of red cloth, a cap, a gilded drinking glass, a covered glass vase, three writing books of paper, and a gilded writing case. 215 #literacy #chapter 1 [PK: mention gilded writing case, not just paper?] Trees are also found there [the head of Burne between it and an island called Cimbonbon] which produce leaves which are alive when they fall, and walk. Those leaves are quite like those of the mulberry, but are not so long On both sides near the stem, which is short and pointed, they have two feet. They have no blood, but if one touches them they run away. I kept one of them for nine days in a box. When I opened the box, that leaf went round and round it. I believe those leaves live on nothing but air. 233 #weird #the fantastic At a cape of that island of Butuan and Caleghan, and near a river, are found shaggy men who are exceedingly great fighters and archers. They use swords one palmo in length, and eat only raw human hearts with the juice of oranges or lemons. Those shaggy people are called Benaian. [see footnote] 243 #weird #the fantastic

Loarca, Miguel de. [1582] 1903. Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas. In Blair and Robertson, vol 5, pages 34-187 [...] I shall commence with the island of Çubu and those adjacent to it, the Pintados. 35 #definition: visayas

The entire island [Cebu] contains about three thousand five hundred Indians, living in different, and for the most part small, villages. 39 #population On the other side of the island of Matan [Mactan], and farther south, about eight leagues from the selltement of Çubu, lies the island of Vohol, which is an encomienda with two thousand Indians. The natives of this island are closely related to the people of Cebu and are almost one and the same people. 45 #population The settlements inland amoung the mountains [of Bohol] are small and poor, and are not yet wholly under subjection. 47 #tingguianes #chapter 1 Leyte is thickly settled, it may have a population of fourteen or fifteen thousand Indians, ten thousand of whom pay tribute because that has been a people hard to conquer. 49 #population Unlike the men of Visaya [...] 83 PK: Note Loarca uses Pintados and Visaya #definition: visayas Very rarely do they [Pintados] become angry when drunk, for their drunkenness passes off in jests or in sleep. 117 An abominable custom among the men is to bore a hole through the genital organ, placing within this opening a tin tube, to which they fasten a wheel like that of a spur, a full palm in circumference. These are made of tin, and some of them weigh more than half a pound. They use twenty kinds of these wheels; but modesty forbids us to speak of them. By means of these they have intercourse with their wives. [Fn: Cf. the descriptions of this custom in Morga’s Philippine Islands [...] and in account of Thomas Candish’s voyge, in Hakluyt’s Voyages] 177 #penis mutilation There are two kinds of people in this land [the Pintados islands], who, although of the same race, differ somewhat in their customs and are almost always on mutually unfriendly terms. One class includes those who live along the coast, the other class those who live in the mountains; and if peace seems to reign among them, it is because they depend upon each other for the necessities of life. The inhabitants of the mountains cannot live without the fish, salt, and other articles of food, and the jars and dishes, of other districts; nor, on the other hand, can those of the coast live without the rice and cotton of the mountaineers. In like manner they have two different beliefs concerning the beginning of the world; and since these natives are not acquainted with the art of writing, they preserve their ancient lore through songs, which they sing in a very pleasing manner – commonly while plying their oars, as they are island-dwellers. 121 #tingguianes #literacy

...y ansi tienen dos opiniones, en lo del prinçipio del mundo y por careçer de letras guardan esto naturales sus antiguedades en los cantares los quales coantan de ordinario en sus bogas como son ysleños con muy buena graçia 120 #literacy PK: Origin myths of coastal pintados and tingguianes p 121-127 Then they [tingguianes] relate also the story of the reed; but they say that the kite pecked the reed, and the aforesaid man and woman came out. 127 #origin myths The souls of the Yligueynes, who comprise the people of Çubu, Bohol, and Bantay, go with the god called Sisburanen, to a very high mountain in the island of Burney. 131 #definition: visayas The first man [among the Pintados] who waged war, according to their story, was Panas, the son of that Anoranor, who was grandson of the first human [parents: crossed out in Ms.] beings. He declared war aganist Mañgaran, on account of an inheritance; and from that time date the first wars, because the people were divided into tow factions, and hostility was handed down from ofather to son. They say that Panas was the first man to use weapons in fighting. 141 #eskayan etymology: panas When the old man has ended his speech [after the betrothal of a pintado couple], they take a dish filled with clean, uncooked rice, and an old woman comes and joins the hands of the pair, and lays them upon the rice. Then, holding their hands thus joined, she throws the rice over all those who are present at the banquet. 157 #boholano-eskayan customs They [pintados] divide the year into twelve months, although only seven [sc. eight] of these have names; they are lunar months, because they are reckoned by moons. The first month is that in which the Pleiades appear, which they call Ulalen. The second is called Dagancahuy, the time when the trees are felled in order to sow the land. Another month they call Daganenan bulan; it comes when the wood of those trees is collected from the fields. Another is called Elquilin, and is the time when they burn over the fields. Another month they call Ynabuyan, which comes when the bonanças blow. Another they call Cavay; it is when they weed their fields. Another they call [Cabuy: crossed out in MS.] Yrarapun; it is the time when they begin to harvest the rice. Another they call Manalulsul, in which the harvesting is completed. As for the remaining months, they pay little attention to them, because in those months there is no working in the fields. 165 #eskayan etymology: bulan In all these islands are great numbers of [167] cocoa palms. In some of the nuts are found stones as large as filbrts, which the natives prize, although thus far it is not known what efficacy they have. 169 #antinganting

1600–1699 Chirino, Pedro. S.J. [1604] 1969. Relacion de las Islas Filipinas. Translated by R. Echevarria. Manila: Historical Conservation Society. In the island of Panay I saw all the people that were following a funeral, immediately upon leaving the church after the service, like Jews go straight to the river for a bath, although they had no knowledge whatever of this obsolete law. 258 #lost tribes of israel The island of Panay, as I have said, is in the province of the Pintados, within the dioces of Sebú. It has a coastline of a little over 100 leagues and is very pleasant and fertile, populated by very many Bisayans, who are white people. Among them however there are also some negroes, ancient inhabitants of the island who occupied it before the Bisayans did. They are a little less black and ugly than those of Guinea, smaller and frailer but in the hair and the beard perfectly similar. They are much more barbarous and wild than the Bisayans and the other Filipinos, for they have no homes like these, nor any permanent settlement. 261 #definition: indigenous There is more than one language in the Philippines, and there is no single language that is spoken throughout the islands[274]. In the island of Manila alone there are six different tongues, in that of Panay there are two, and in the others only one. 275 #history: language documentation Of all these languages the one that I have found most satisfying and admirable is Tagalog, for as I have told the first Bishop and other persons of authority both here and there I have found in it four qualities from the four finest languages in the world, namely Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Spanish. From Hebrew, the intricacies and subtleties; from Greek, the articles, and the distinctions applied not only to common but also to proper nouns; from Latin, the fullness and elegance; and from Spanish, the good breeding and courtesy. 275 PK: Frei notes that “This is one of the frequently quoted pasages in discussing the merits of Tagalog [in connection to the National Language Question]” 2 #lost tribes of israel #national language It seems extraordinary in this prayer [Ave Maria as translated by Chirino into Tagalog] that the first word, ABA, signifies greeting, like AVE in Latin. Bucor also is an unusual word, for it signifies diversity, distinction and singularity or uniqueness. The article is si Jesus, like TOV [PK: find characters] in the Greek. [...] The other two languages of the Visayans have none of these refinements, or at least very little, being as they are coarser and less polished. 276 #lost tribes of Israel #language prestige But their [Tagalogs] best manners are in their speech for they never address one as you, nor in the second person singular or plural, but always in the third: the master, the

gentleman, will want this or that. There are many examples to be found of this form of address in the Sacred Scriptures and in holy books, but especially in the psalms. Between women particularly, though they be of equal status and average rank, the form of address is never les than my lord, my lady, and this after every important word: as I was coming, my lord, up the river, I saw, my lord, etc..., a pleasant and affectionate use of title and pronoun that is known even in the most solemn languages, which are the three most sacred, namely Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 279 [PK: surely Usted is a third person form? Ask Margarita Escobar about this in relation to early 17th cent Spanish] #lost tribes of Israel #language prestige They [the Tagalogs] are punctiliously courteous and affectionate in social intercourse and are fond of writing to one another with the utmost propriety and most delicate refinement. 279 #literacy The Bisayans are more artless and unpolished, as their language is more uncultivated and coarse. They do not have so many terms expressive of good breeding, as they had no writing before they adopted that of the Tagalogs many years ago. 279 [Los Bisayas son más rústicos y llanos, como su lengua más bronca, y grosera. No tienen tantos términos de crianza, como ni tenían letras; pués las tomaron de los tagalos, bien pocos años há. 45] #literacy #language prestige So accustomed are all these islanders to writing and reading that there is scarcely a man, and much less a woman, who cannot read and write in letters proper to the island of Manila, very different from those of China, Japan and India [...] 280 [Son tán dados todos esto isleños á escribir y leer, que no hay casi hombre y mucho menos muger, que no lea y escriba en letras propias de la isla de Manila, diversísimas de las de China, Japón, y de la India [...] 45] #literacy In spite of this [deletion of syllable-final consonants in the writing system] they understand and make themselves understood wonderfully well and without ambiguities: the reader easily and skillfully supplies the omitted consonants. They have taken after us to writing horizontally from left to right, but formerly they used to write from top to bottom putting the first vertical line on the left hand side (if I remember well) and continuing towards the right, quite differently from the Chinese and Japanese who though they write from top to bottom proceed from the right hand side towards the left. They wrote on bamboos or on palm leaves, using an iron point for a pen. Now they write not only their own letters, but ours as well, with a very well cut pen and on paper like ourselves. They have learned our language and pronunciation and write it as well as we do, and even better, because they are so clever that they learn anything very quickly. I have brought home letters written by their hand in a very fine, flowing script. In Tigbauan I had a small [281] boy in school who in three months, by copying letters that I received written in good script, learned to write much better than I, and translated important papers for me most accurately, without errors or falsehoods. But enough now of languages and letters, and let us return to our business of souls. 282

#literacy #writing systems Of What was Done in Manila in the Year of 1596 and 97 As we have mentioned, courses in Latin Grammar and in Moral Theology we...