FTA PAREDES--- BRACING THE SINURIGAO DIALECT AT UP 12th PHILIPPINE LINGUISTICS CONGRESS

By: Norberto Betita

Francis Tom Aragon Paredes

Surigaonons should be very proud and grateful for having been represented in the 12th Philippine Linguistics Congress held at the University of the Philippines, Diliman on November 26-28, 2014 by our very own young teacher from Alegria National High School, Francis Tom A. Paredes. His presentation is entitled “Sinurigao: Pormada, Plastada, Tunada, Pasabot.” This presentation is all about the pure “Sinurigao” as a local dialect. His efforts in studying the language and writing it in a thesis format and presenting it before an international congregation of linguists deserve every Surigaonon’s accolade. It represented that as Surigaonons we have our own cultural identity apart from our national identity as Filipinos. It proves that we have a unique and distinctive heritage.

Francis Tom A. Paredes was born at Navarro St., Surigao City to a teacher mother---Ms. Florpina Aragon Paredes. He is a member of Linguistics Society of the Philippines; a student of Master of Arts in Education, major in English at the Surigao State College of Technology. All his life is spent in Surigao City and the province of Surigao del Norte. He was born when the Sinurigao dialect was already starting to be adulterated by different languages as a result of continuous flow of migrants from other Provinces. But his childhood was still adept at speaking the pure Sinurigao. Yet as he grows older he discovered that the Sinurigao as a language is starting to be endangered. It was shortly after he became a teacher himself that he was motivated to take an in depth study of the local language with noble intentions to preserve, regenerate, and reinvigorate the use of the dialect.

At the UP 12th  Philippine Linguistics Congress

His work, the “Sinurigao: Pormada, Plastada, Tunada, Pasabot,” is intended to be published in a book form to serve as a suitable medium to help in the comprehensive study of the Sinurigao grammar, especially as it relates to the required extensive bilingualism in public schools. He hopes that this work will be able to serve well as one effective channel upon which the teachers and students in the Province of Surigao del Norte and Surigao City may be encouraged and persuaded to effectively use the language both in oral and written communications.

The lengthy study and survey landed him to different municipalities in the Province of Surigao del Norte and the barangays in Surigao City. Time consuming research on morphology, syntax, phonology, and semantics had to be undertaken for him to best introduce grammatical configurations and word usage. These relentless efforts compelled him to establish the Sinurigao Yare Ameliorator Grammar Establisher Theory (SYAGET). It was never an easy task, yet he felt it a duty to enliven and strengthen back our withering cultural and language identity and heritage. He observed that the use of the Visayan language superimposed the local Sinurigao dialect in the utilization of mother tongue for learning instructions in public schools. Consequently, he seriously engaged himself in this work to be able to finally write a Sinurigao Grammar Learning Manual as ready reference for teachers and students.

The venue---University of the Philippines, Diliman

I have read his work and I find it as being a no easy job. I learned many grammatical and language configurations, outlines, and patterns that I need to correct in my future writings in Sinurigao. Although my ancestry may be traced back to the islands of Leyte, yet since childhood I have been most comfortable in using the Sinurigao dialect in my conversations with friends and at home with my family until now. I lived in Surigao all of my life, hence I felt like a pure Surigaonon, and therefore acknowledged and recognized with deep gratitude the work of Francis Tom A. Paredes in reinventing the Sinurigao language and revitalizing its use as part of the bilingual medium of instruction in public schools and in our daily conversations. It is also hoped that the DepEd Divisions in Surigao del Norte and Surigao City will recognize Sinurigao as a mother tongue language for bilingual instruction in public schools and utilize the work of Mr. Paredes as a grammar learning reference manual. Perhaps in consideration of the efforts of Mr. Paredes in the preservation of our vernacular, the Provincial and City governments should also support and recognize his efforts.