The Tagalog language, encompassing its diverse dialects, and serving as the basis of Filipino — has developed rich and distinctive vocabulary deeply rooted in its Austronesian heritage. Over time, it has incorporated a wide array of loanwords from several foreign languages, including Malay, Hokkien, Spanish, Nahuatl, English, Sanskrit, Tamil, Japanese, Arabic, Persian, and Quechua, among others. This reflects both of its historical evolution and its adaptability in multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual settings. Moreover, the Tagalog language system, particularly through prescriptive language planning, has drawn from various other languages spoken in the Philippines, including major regional languages, further enriching its lexicon.
Spanish
The Filipino language incorporated Spanish loanwords as a result of 333 years of contact with the Spanish language. In their analysis of José Villa Panganiban's Talahuluganang Pilipino-Ingles (Pilipino-English dictionary), Llamzon and Thorpe (1972) pointed out that 33% of word root entries are of Spanish origin. As not all words are used with the same frequency in daily conversation, a pair of studies were conducted by Antonio Quilis to understand the percentage of Spanish-derived words used by Filipinos in their daily conversations; Quilis found that Spanish was the origin of 20.4% of the Tagalog lexicon and 20.5% of the Cebuano lexicon, publishing his findings for each language in 1973 and 1976, respectively. According to Patrick O. Steinkrüger, depending on the text type, around 20% of the vocabulary in a Tagalog text are of Spanish origin. In an analysis of a Tagalog-language corpus consisting of random news, fiction and non-fiction articles published between 2005 and 2015, Ekaterina Baklanova found that Spanish-derived words constitute 20% of the lexicon used. An example is the sentence below in which Spanish–derived words are in italics (original in parentheses):
Tagalog: "Puwede (Puede) ba akóng umupô sa silya (silla) sa tabí ng bintanà (ventana) hábang nása biyahe (viaje) táyo sa eroplano (aeroplano)?" Translation in English: ("May I sit on the chair near the window during our voyage in the aeroplane?")
The adoption of the Abakada alphabet in 1940 changed the spelling of the Spanish loanwords present in the Filipino language. The spellings of Spanish loanwords were reformed according to the new orthographic rules. Examples include:
agila (from Sp. águila), alkalde (from Sp. alcalde), bakuna (from Sp. vacuna), banyo (from Sp. baño), baso (from Sp. vaso), biktima (from Sp. víctima), bintanà (from Sp. ventana), bisita (from Sp. visita), biyahe (from Sp. viaje), braso (from Sp. brazo), demokrasya (from Sp. democracia), diyaryo (from Sp. diario), estudyante (from Sp. estudiante), henerál (from Sp. general), hustisya (from Sp. justicia), kama (from Sp. cama), kambiyo (from Sp. cambio de marcha), keso (from Sp. queso), kutsara (from Sp. cuchara), kuwarto (from Sp. cuarto), kuwento (from Sp. cuento), lababo (from Sp. lavabo), mensahe (from Sp. mensaje), meryenda (from Sp. merienda), mikrobyo (from Sp. microbio), niyebe (from Sp. nieve), panyô (from Sp. paño), pila (from Sp. fila), plema (from Sp. flema), presyo (from Sp. precio), prinsesa (from Sp. princesa), reseta (from Sp. receta médica), reyna (from Sp. reina), serbisyo (from Sp. servicio), sinturón (from Sp. cinturón), teklado (from Sp. teclado), telebisyón (from Sp. televisión), tinidór (from Sp. tenedor), trabaho (from Sp. trabajo), tuwalya (from Sp. toalla) and yelo (from Sp. hielo).
Other loanwords underwent phonological changes. Vowel changes can be observed to some of the Spanish words upon adoption into the Filipino language, such as an /i/ to /a/ vowel shift observed in the Filipino word pamintá, which came from the Spanish word pimienta, and a pre-nasal /e/ to /u/ vowel shift observed in several words such as unanò (from Sp. enano) and umpisá (from Sp. empezar). Prothetic /a/ is added in the loanwords alisto (from Sp. listo) and aplaya (from Sp. playa). Other words underwent vowel deletion, e.g., pustá (from Sp. apostar), tarantado (from Sp. atarantado), kursonada (from Sp. corazonada), Paskó (from Sp. Pascua) and labì (from Sp. labio).
Consonant shifts can also be observed to some of the Spanish words upon their adoption into the Filipino language. The [r] to [l] consonant shift can be observed in the following words:
albularyo (folk healer, from Sp. herbolario), alma (from Sp. armar), almusál (from Sp. almorzar), asukal (from Sp. azúcar), balbás (from Sp. barba), bandilà (from. Sp. bandera), dasál (from Sp. rezar), hiblá (thread or strand, from Sp. hebra), hilo (dizzy, from Sp. giro), hulmá (to mould, from Sp. ahormar), kasál (from Sp. casar), kumpisál (from Sp. confesar), lagadera (from Sp. regadera), litratista (photographer, from Sp. retratista), litrato (photograph, portrait or picture; from Sp. retrato), multo (from Sp. muerto), nunál (from Sp. lunar), pastól (from Sp. pastor) and pasyál (from Sp. pasear).
The loss of the /l/ phoneme can be observed in the Filipino word kutsón derived from the Spanish colchón. The loss of the /t/ phoneme can be observed in the Filipino words talino (intelligence or wisdom, from Sp. talento) and tina (dye, from Sp. tinta). Some Spanish-derived words have also undergone consonant or syllable deletion upon introduction to Tagalog like in the case of limós (from Sp. limosna), masyado (from Sp. demasiado), posas (from Sp. esposas), restawran (from Sp. restaurante), riles (rail, railway or railroad; from Sp. carriles), sigurado (from asegurado), sindí (from Sp. encender) and sintunado (from Sp. desentonado).
The Spanish digraph [ll] is pronounced by the Spaniards as /j/ during the Renaissance era and this reflected on the pronunciation and the spelling of Spanish-derived loanwords in Tagalog introduced before the 19th century, where the digraph [ll] becomes [y] in Tagalog. Such is the case of the words baryá (from Sp. barrilla), kabayò (from Sp. caballo), kutamaya (from. Sp. cota de malla), lauya (a stew of meat and vegetables, from Sp. la olla), sibuyas (from Sp. cebollas) and tabliya or tablea (from Sp. tablilla de chocolate). Spanish loanwords in which the digraph [ll] is pronounced as /lj/ in Tagalog might have been introduced (or reintroduced) during the 19th century. Examples include apelyido (from Sp. apellido), balyena (from Sp. ballena), kalye (from Sp. calle), kutsilyo (from Sp. cuchillo), makinilya (from Sp. maquinilla de escribir), sepilyo (from Sp. cepillo de dientes), silya (from Sp. silla) and sigarilyo (from Sp. cigarrillo). There are also rare cases of Tagalog doublets coming from the same Spanish etymological root which exhibit both the influences of the Renaissance /j/ and the latter /λ/ sounds, like in the case of the Tagalog word pair laryo and ladrilyo, both from Sp. ladrillo. There are also instances of the Spanish digraph [ll] being transformed into [l] upon adoption by Tagalog. Such is the case in kulani (lymph node, from Sp. collarín).
Vestigial influences of Middle Spanish voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ are evident in some of the Spanish-derived loanwords in Tagalog, where the /ʃ/ sound is transformed into the Tagalog /s/. Examples include relos (clock or wristwatch, from Sp. reloj, pronounced as /reˈloʃ/ in Middle Spanish), sabón (soap, from Sp. jabón, pronounced as /ʃaˈbon/ in Middle Spanish), saro (pitcher or jug, from Sp. jarro, pronounced as /ˈʃaro/ in Middle Spanish), sugál (to gamble, from Sp. jugar, pronounced as /ʃuˈgar/ in Middle Spanish) and tasá (to sharpen, from Sp. tajar, pronounced as /taˈʃar/ in Middle Spanish). Loanwords which have the pronunciation that reflects the transition from Middle Spanish /ʃ/ to Modern Spanish /x/ are also present in Tagalog. The Modern Spanish /x/ sound is rendered in Tagalog as [h], which is the standard pronunciation in other Spanish dialects. Example cases include ahedres (from Sp. ajedrez), anghél (from Sp. ángel), halayá (from Sp. jalea), hardín (from Sp. jardín), hepe (police chief, from Sp. jefe), kahera and kahero (cashier, from Sp. cajera and cajero respectively) and kahón (from Sp. cajón). There are also rare cases of doublets that exhibit influences of both the Middle Spanish /ʃ/ and Modern Spanish /x/ like for example in the cases of Tagalog muson and mohon (both from Sp. mojón) and relos and relo (both from Sp. reloj).
The compound word batya't palo–palo, a phrase in the laundry business where many Spanish words proliferate. The words were taken from the Spanish batea for "washing tub" and palo for "stick", something a typical Filipino might think had no Spanish provenance at all because of the Tagalog verb palò which means "strike".
Some loanwords have been associated to new meanings, such as kursonada (corazonada, originally meaning '"hunch"), which means "object of desire"; sospetsoso (sospechoso) is the "suspicious person" and not the "suspect" as in the original; insekto ("insecto"), which still means "insect" but also refers to a "pesty clownish person"; or even sige (sigue), a Spanish word for "continue" or "follow", which is popularly understood to mean "all right" or "go ahead".
Some Spanish affixes are combined with Tagalog words to make new words. For example, pakialamero (from Tag. pakialam, "to meddle" and the Sp. suffix –ero, masculine subject); majongero ("mahjong", ultimately from Chinese, and the Sp. suffix –ero); basketbolista, boksingero. Daisysiete is a word play and portmanteau of the English "daisy" and the Spanish diecisiete ("seventeen"), now meaning a sweet and sexually desirable underaged (17 year-old) female. Bastusing katawán (Sp.: basto -> bastós & Tag.: katawán) is an example of a two-word term for a bombshell body.
Tagalog still uses Spanish language influence in coining new words, e.g., alaskadór ("Alaska" + Sp. suffix '–ador'); bérde ("verde"="green", nuanced to "toilet humour" or "blue joke", a literal Tagalog translation of Philippine English term "green(-minded)".); which are not readily understood in Spain or any Latin American country.
Spanish influences on Tagalog morphosyntax
Although the overall influence of Spanish on the morphosyntax of the Tagalog language was minimal, there are fully functional Spanish-derived words that have produced syntactic innovations on Tagalog. Clear influences of Spanish can be seen in the morphosyntax of comparison and the existence of Spanish-derived modals and conjunctions, as will be discussed in more detail below.
Kumustá as an interrogative word in Tagalog
All of the interrogative words used in Tagalog are not related to Spanish, with the exception of kumustá. The word kumustá is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está? and it functions as a Tagalog interrogative word used as a substitute for an adjective of quality or condition equivalent to the English how. Kumustá can also be used as a greeting (similar to English "Hello!") or as a verb with the meaning of "to greet" or "to say hello". The native term can be used as Ohoy and Taupo, however these were lost in translations.
Spanish-derived comparative markers
Tagalog has several comparative markers that are etymologically derived from Spanish. The particle mas (meaning "more", from Sp. más), in conjunction with the various Tagalog counterparts of the English "than" (kaysa + sa-marker, sa, kay), is used as a comparative marker of non-equality. Another comparative marker of non-equality is kumpará (from Sp. comparado), usually followed with the appropriate sa-marker and used as the Tagalog equivalent of the English "compared to". Lastly, the word pareho (from Sp. parejo), commonly employed with the Tagalog linker -ng, is used as a comparative marker of equality.
Spanish-derived Tagalog modals