Lexical Nativization: Filipinized Hispanic Words in Select Hiligaynon Visayan Written Discourse

This linguistic research, Lexical Nativization: Filipinized Hispanic Words in Select Hiligaynon Visayan Written Discourse investigates and determines the phenomenon of lexical nativization in terms of morphology and phonology, in the Philippine languages, specifically Hiligaynon Visayan, from Hispanic words. To further find out the linguistic borrowing phenomenon in Philippine languages which nativized the borrowed Hispanic words, two magazine articles are focused as model textuality for lexical analysis: “Sa Aton Puluy-an: Magsupot sang Kinitaan†, and “Mga Sugilanon ni Mal-am Huana: Si Propesor Bukol,†which are extracted from Hiligaynon Magazine of Western Visayas, and uses Hiligaynon Visayan as their linguistic medium. Fifty-eight (58) Hiligaynon Visayan words are analyzed following Pesirla’s (2019) classification of words: nouns, verbs, and modifiers, utilizing separate descriptive matrices for each. The result of the study reveals that majority of the Hispanic borrowed words in Hiligaynon Visayan are nouns, followed by verbs, and modifiers. It is found out that these words are acculturated through nativization of their orthography that corresponds to nativized phonology. Lexical nativization is further displayed through the adding of native affixes which are dominant in Hiligaynon Visayan verbs. The result of the study may serve as a springboard for further researches involving bigger corpora in both spoken and written discourses in the Hiligaynon Visayan and other Philippine languages, as a resource material to language teachers and language students, and as a reference by the native speakers.