The Three Mindanao Language-Spanish Dictionaries (1565-1898)
In 1892, the year when Jose P. Rizal formed the La Liga Filipina and was subsequently arrested and banished to Mindanao and Andres Bonifacio started forming the Katipunan, a group of dedicated missionaries studiously completed writing their magnum opus. During the eve of the Philippine Revolution, the three members of the Compañia de Jesus (Society of Jesus) were meticulously preparing the Bagobo, Tiruray and Moro-Maguindanao dictionaries for publication. While the Katipuneros were getting ready to oust the Spaniards from Philippine soil, the Manila printing presses were busy printing the dictionaries that will be used for the evangelization of Mindanao. A task assigned to the Jesuits when they returned to the Philippines in 1859.
Only three Mindanao language-Spanish dictionaries were printed during the Spanish Period (1565-1898) of our history (1) . All of them were published by the Compañia de Jesus and all of them were printed in 1892. The following are the three dictionaries:
1.Bennasar, Guillermo. Diccionario tiruray-español. Manila. Tipo-Litog. de Chofre y Comp., 1892. 201 pp. 80.
Part 1. Diccionario Tiruray-Español
Part 2. Diccionario Español-Tiruray
2.Gisbert, Mateo. Diccionario español-bagobo. Manila: Est. Tip. De J. Marty. 1892. 188 (2), 65 pp. 80.
Part 1. Español-bagobo.
Part 2. Bagobo-español
3.Juanmarti, Jacinto. Diccionario Moro-Maguindanao-Español. Manila. Tipografia “Amigos del Pais,” 1892. 270, (2), 242 pp. 80.
Part 1. Moro-Maguindanao-Español.
Part 2. Español-Moro-Maguindanao
All the three dictionaries listed above are included in the Filipiniana Book CD Collection except for Part II Diccionario Español-Tiruray. The scanned images were obtained from the Southeast Asian Collection of the University of Michigan Library using open source software. The images were compiled, bookmarked and indexed using the latest optical character recognition software and converted to Portable Document Format (pdf) for trouble-free use. The Part II Diccionario Español-Tiruray can be viewed at the University of the Philippines Main Library or Ateneo de Manila University Rizal Library. The missing section will be included in the future version of this collection. It is worthwhile to note that the University of the Philippines copy of the Part II of the Gisbert Bagobo dictionary was printed by Tipografico de Ramirez y Cia while the copy included in this collection was printed by Tipografico de J. Marty. This brings to four the total number of printers employed by the Compañia de Jesus to produce the Mindanao dictionaries. The number of printers commissioned by the Compañia de Jesus can give us an indication of the magnitude of the endeavor in 1892.
The Bogobos traditionally live in the east and south of Mount Apo and the eastern side of Cotabato while the Tirurays inhabit the southwestern Mindanao mountain range facing the Celebes Sea. The Maguindanaons dwell in the Philippine province of Maguindanao concentrated in the towns of Dinaig, Datu Piang, Maganoy and Buluan and historically in the low-lying delta of the Pulangi River, the present location of the modern city of Cotabato. Tirurays inhabit the towns of Upi, South Upi, Dinaig and Ampatuan also in Maguindanao and are in continuous contact with the Maguindanaons while maintaining their cultural uniqueness. In addition, there is also a Tiruray group in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato(2).
Aside from the dictionaries, the missionaries also wrote Mindanao language grammar books. Father Guillermo Bennasar wrote the 54 pages Observaciones gramaticales sobre la lengua tiruray which was printed in Manila by Lit. de M. Perez, also in 1892 and the fifth printer commissioned by the Jesuits. Father Jacinto Juanmarti wrote a Maguindanao grammar book, the 110 pages Gramatica de la lengua de maguindanao, del la Isla de Mindano, printed in Manila by Amigos de Pais and also in 1892. The 1906 English translation by Cornelius Cole Smith is included in the CD collection.
The missionaries are not only writers but explorers as well. The highest mountain of the Philippines, Mt. Apo, was ascended for the first time by Father Mateo Gisbert, S.J. together with Don Joaquin Rajal, Dr. Joseph Montano and Datu Manig and 18 of his men. The group started their trek on October 6, 1880 and reached the summit on October 10, 1880. For the next twelve years as a missionary of Davao, Father Gisbert studied and compiled the Bagobo vocabulary. In 1891, a year before the publishing of the dictionaries, Fathers Jacinto Juanmarti and Eusebio Barrado undertook the first exploration of the Pulangui River in Mindanao. One started from Cotabato and one from Bukidnon. Following the course of the river, they met on May 26, 1891 in the middle of the mountains(3).
The 1,394 pages computer text format of the 1613 Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala of Pedro de San Buenaventura prepared by Jean-Paul G. Potet motivated this author to put together this dictionary collection. Bapa Antoon Postma gave this author an electronic copy of the Potet work and immediately became an indispensable linguistic research tool. Another stimulus is the support given by the Society of Jesus for the editing and publishing of early Tagalog dictionaries. Two dictionaries were already released to the public, the Tagalog-Spanish Dictionary of Miguel Ruiz, O.P.(4)and the Vocabulario Tagalo (5)compiled by Francisco de San Antonio, O.F.M. A third dictionary, the Blancas de San Joseph compilation is currently being edited by Bapa Antoon Postma and will soon be published by the Ateneo de Manila University.
To complete the list of dictionaries published during this period though not in Spanish, are the two English-Sulu-Malay Vocabularies written by William Clark Cowie(6) and T. H. Haynes(7). The English-Sulu-Malay Vocabulary of William C. Cowie can be viewed at the University of the Philippines Diliman Main Library and Ateneo de Manila University Rizal Library.
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(1) Based on the following references:
Library of Congress. A list of books (with references to periodicals) on the Philippine islands in the Library of Congress by A. P. C. Griffin; with Chronological list of maps in the Library of Congress by P. Lee Phillips. Washington: Govt. print. off., 1903, 52-57.
Library of Congress. Griffin, Appleton P. C. (Appleton Prentiss Clark), 1852-1926., Phillips, Philio Lee, 1857-1924., Pardo de Tavera, T. H. (Trinidad Hermenegildo) 1857-1925. Bibliography of the Philippine islands ... Published under the direction of the Library of Congress and the Bureau of insular affairs, War department. United States. Bureau of Insular Affairs. Washington: Govt. print. off., 1903.
Quilis, Antonio. Los Estudios de Las Lenguas Filipinas Hasta 1898 in “Fray Francisco de San Jose Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala”. Spain, 1997, 63-78.
(2)Peralta, Jesus T. Glimpses: Peoples of the Philippines. Pasig City, 2003. 13-52.
(3)Bernad, Miguel A. S.J. The “Snows” on Mount Apo in “History Against the Landscape: Personal and Historical Essays”. Manila. 1968.
(4)Edited by Jose Mario C. Francisco, S.J.; electronic copy of the dictionary is also available.
(5)Edited by Bapa Antoon Postma.
(6)Cowie, Andson. English-Sulu-Malay vocabulary, with useful sentences, tables. London, 1893.
(7)Haynes, T.H. English, Sulu and Malay Vocabulary in Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Dec., 1885, no. 16, pp. 321-384; Dec., 1886, no. 18, pp. 193-239
