Pilipino American Coalition

California State University, Long Beach

Hilario L.J. Balaa!ia, C"lt"ral Chair
#ee$ %
&he 'tymology an! Usage of Ate()"ya an! A!ing.
*allo+ &o all the ne, ates an! $"yas, congrats+ -o" get yo"r first a!ings. &o ol!er ates
an! $"yas, congrats for a!!ing to yo"r family lines. An! to o"r ne,.ies in PAC, / give yo" the
.iggest congrats+ -o" g"ys ,ill finally get yo"r ates an! $"yas an! .e p"t into PAC families+ B"t
first, this 0"estion... ho, many of yo" g"ys act"ally have ol!er si.lings1 #hat !o yo" call them1
Ate1 )"ya1 Ho, a.o"t yo"nger si.lings1 #hat !o yo" call them1 Ho, many of yo" g"ys $no,
the .ac$gro"n! of these ,or!s1
&"rns o"t, the ,or!s 2ate3 an! 2$"ya3 are !erive! from Chinese .ases. 2Ate3 !erive! from
2atchi3 an! 2$"ya3 from 2$oya3. /n fact, the !ialect of )apampangan still "ses the Chinese versions
of the ,or!s 2ate3 an! 2$"ya3 to!ay. Besi!es those t,o !ialects, /locano "ses the terms 2manong3
an! 2manang3, ,here in &agalog ,e "se those ,or!s for m"ch ol!er mem.ers that ,e have a
$inship relationship to. 24anong3 an! 2manang3 are act"ally more !erive! from Spanish ,or!s
than Chinese ,or!s 52hermano3 an! 2hermana3 respectively6.
#ho here has more than one ol!er si.ling1 7i! yo" $no, there3s more terms than "st
2ate3 an! 2$"ya3 ,hen referring to yo"r ol!er si.lings1 2Ate3 an! 2$"ya3 are "s"ally reserve! for the
el!est in each family. 8ollo,ing that, ,e have 2!i$o3 an! 2!ete3 meaning 2secon! ol!est .rother3
an! 2secon! ol!est sister3. 9"ess ,hat1 &hey also come from Chinese .ases+ 27i3 in Chinese
means secon!. /n fact, there are more honorifics .et,een si.lings in the Philippines separating
them .y age an! or!er from ol!est to yo"ngest 5li$e 2sang$o3 an! 2sanse3 for the thir! an! so on
an! so forth.
'no"gh tal$ a.o"t the 2ates3 an! 2$"yas3 here a ti!.it for the a!ings. &agalog, .y
!efinition, "ses the ,or! 2$apati!3 ,hen referring to a si.ling. &he yo"ngest in the family "s"ally
o.tains the nic$name of 2."nso3 meaning .a.y 5very fitting for the last si.ling in most families6.
:o,, / g"ess yo"3re ,on!ering, ,here !oes the ,or! 2a!ing3 come from1 &he ,or! 2a!ing3 is
from /locano, ."t has .een a!opte! into normal "sage since there is no !irect translation to
a!!ress yo"nger si.lings e;cept the ,or! 2$apati!3. A reason for this is that 2$apati!3 is "s"ally
"se! to refer to only yo"nger si.lings, ,hile 2a!ing3 can .e "se! to refer to yo"nger si.lings,
relatives an! frien!s.
&he ,or!s 2ate3 an! 2$"ya3 an! 2a!ing3 aren3t meant to "st "se! for si.lings. &hey also
relate to the ,or$place an! school+ Using these ,or!s .rea$ the ice .y a means of sho,ing
respect !"e to a gap of age or s"periority 5a yo"nger st"!ent as$ing an ol!er st"!ent, or a
mentee to a mentor6. &his "sage allo,s the e;change of common information an! the .eginning
of conversation .et,een t,o people. /t sho,s the respect given to someone ,ho is ol!er, ,iser,
or more e;perience!. /t3s $in!a li$e ho, here ,e refer to Professors an! &eachers .y their
honorific titles. &he Philippines as a nation, an! ,e as Pilipino people hol! high to this val"e.
&he respect .et,een people an! the "sage of these ,or!s sho,s "st that. An! its more than
"st respecting each other, its respecting yo"r c"lt"re. /t3s a placehol!er for $eeping in t"ne ,ith
yo"r c"lt"re .ac$ home an! honoring those ,ho share the same c"lt"ral val"es as yo".
http <(( ,,, .lin$e!in .com (in (pfloressfs"e!"
http <(( ons0"are! .,or!press .com (=>>?(>%(=@( filipino *si.ling *hierarchy (
http <(( ,,, .english *to *tagalog .com (8ilipino *val"es .html
http <(( ,,, ..ansa .org (1 0 A !ictionaries (cm! B !ict C lang A )apampangan