Kapampangan People and Their Language: A Case Study

Abstract

This study aims to understand the Kapampangan people and their language settling at the heart of Central Luzon or Region III in the Philippines. This study attempts to address the origin of the Kapampangan people, their language and their influences on the Filipino culture as a whole. In spite of the fact that the province of Pampanga is in the midst of the Tagalog, Pangasinese and Ilocano speaking provinces, it remains united in language and, up to this date, used by the native Kapampangans. They believed that it is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family and is also known as Pampango, Capampangan, Pampangueño or Amanung Sisuan. The province also declared that once Spain used it as the seat of the Spanish government in the Philippines. According to some historians, the people of Pampanga played an important role in the campaign for reforms and independence during Spanish, American and Japanese colonization. Kapampangans are very proud of their origin and language that remains the bedrock of their existence. Today, the Province of Pampanga is considered one of the fastest-growing provinces in the Philippines, notwithstanding it was devastated by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Perhaps the behavior and culture of the Kapampangans that made them bounce back from nature’s wrath and, in a short span of time, fully recover and on the track again. The objective of the study is to understand the Kapampangan and its language, origin and development. In particular, it seeks to answer the following: What are the sources of the Kapampangan language? What makes the language unique among other languages? What are the roles of the Kapampangan during colonization? Why the Kapampangan language is an endangered language? The finding of the study: The provincial government of Pampanga, in coordination with the Department of Education, must revive the Pampangan language in all schools in Pampanga as a medium of instruction for Kinder to Grade 12. In coordination with all the cities and towns, the provincial government of Pampanga should practice as part of their official communication the Pampangan language. The provincial government of Pampanga must create a center for Kapampangan Studies. If both Kapampangans make it compulsory to converse in Pampangan The scope of the research concentrates on the Kapampangan language. It will be presented through available records, media interviews and historical data. Social scientists, in particular, have made wide use of qualitative research methods to examine contemporary real-life situations and provide the basis for the application of ideas and extension of methods.