Chinese Language in Philippine Localities

Abstract

There was no easier way for my wife, Marissa, and me to confuse people than through our language-use. Marissa, a Philippine-born, American-raised Ilokana, who understands but no longer speaks her family’s first language, would frequently accompany me through the city market. Shopkeepers, perhaps assuming us to be a stereotypical White American-Filipina marriage (i.e., military related or “mail order”), would first address her in Tagalog. Always looking for opportunities to practice my Tagalog, I would then respond in that language. The surprised shopkeepers would often then remark to each other, in Ilokano, about the oddity of my speaking Tagalog or, occasionally, make a snide remark about my wife’s seeming refusal to speak Tagalog. Marissa, who from her childhood retained the ability to understand Ilokano perfectly but could no longer speak the language well, would respond in her fluent, American-accented English.