Spanish influence on the Kapampangan language

Kapampangan is a language spoken by the Kapampangan ethnic group who can be found in the province of Pampanga, southern half of Tarlac province and some parts of Bataan province in the Philippines. It is the 6^th most spoken language in the Philippines. Just like any other languages or dialects in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, it belongs to the family of Austronesian languages. Due to the 333 years of Spanish occupation of the Philippines, a lot of words were borrowed from Spanish. As a result, one will be surprised both languages have a lot of similar words.  Here is a list of some of those words borrowed from Spanish with their English translations.

Kapampangan	Spanish	English
papelis	papeles	papers
sipilyu	cepillo	toothbrush
mansanas	mansanas	apple
primeru	primero	first
kutsara	cuchara	spoon
tinidur	tinidor	fork
kutsilyu	cuchillo	knife
kusina	cocina	kitchen
gubyernu	gobierno	government
Dumingu	Domingo	Sunday
Kumusta?	Como estas?	How are you?
telepanu	telefono	telephone
eroplanu	Avion, aeroplano	airplane
kalbu	calvo	Bald, ball-headed
espada	Espada, sable	sword
lamesa	mesa	table
plantsa	plancha	iron (for clothes)
basu	vaso	Drinking glass
tasa	taza	cup
kabayu	caballo	horse
libru	libro	book
embudu	embudo	funnel
banyu	baño	bathroom
sapatus	zapatos	shoes
kotsi	coche	car
arinola	orinal	Chamber pot
lapis	lapiz	pencil
baka	vaca	cow
bola	bola	ball
agila	aguila	eagle
pabu	pavo	turkey
edad	edad	age
posu	pozo	well
kurtina	cortina	curtain
oras	horas	Time, hour
umpisa	empieza	Start, beginning
mantsa	mancha	stain
garayi	Garaje, cochera	garage
lugar	lugar	place
parul	Farol, linterna	lantern
gripu	grifo	faucet
sementeryu	cementerio	cemetery
Kampu santu	camposanto	graveyard
sigarilyu	cigarrillo	cigarette
kalabasa	calabaza	squash, pumpkin
pusta	apuesta	bet
diretsu	derecho	straight
berdi	verde	green
asul	azul	blue
unano	enano	midget
pantalun	pantalones	pants
Bandila, bandera	bandera	flag
inidoru	inidoro	Water closet
pero	pero	but
kanta	cantar	Sing, song, to sing
butika	botica	Pharmacy, drug store
San Jose, San Osip	San Jose	Saint Joseph
sibuyas	cebolla	onion
bastos	bastos	rude, impertinent, impolite, vulgar

Here are some examples of false friends or words that are similar in both languages but the meaning is totally different:

Kapampangan	Meaning	Similar Word in Spanish	Meaning in Spanish
Pwedi	It can be done	puede	It is possible or it can be done
Syempre	Of course	siempre	Forever or always
salta	Newcomer or new in town or recently arrived person	salta	jump
salbayi	bad	salvaje	Wild, savage
basta	Just like that or as long as	basta	enough
Dospordos	Club or bat for hitting	Dos por dos	Two times two
emasyadu	Not much	demasiado	Too much
diprensya	defective	diferencia	Difference or disagreement
kuryenti	electricity	corriente	current
Letse	dammit	leche	milk
itsura	appearance or the way you look	hechura	Form, cut (traje), shape, fashion, make, figure or form given to a thing (forma).
matsura	ugly	Mala + hechura	Bad form or bad shape
kursonada	Object of desire, crush, you’re friendly or cool to each other, he find you interesting	corazonada	feeling, hunch, sudden impulse
pulubi	beggar	pobre	poor
malas	Bad luck or unlucky	mala	Bad, bad luck, Imperfect, defective, vicious, wicked
sige	OK, go ahead	sigue	To continue or go on, to follow or to pursue
mismo	exactly	mismo	Same, similar, equal, selfsame, like, right
kwalta	wealth	cuarta	Fourth, quarter
medyu	Just a little bit, almost	medio	Half, middle, medium, average
kasadu	All set, it is set	casado	Married man
kasu	Case, however	caso	Case, event,
pandesal	A kind of small bun or bread that is very inexpensive in the Philippines.	Pan de sal	Literally means: “Bread of salt”
sabi	Said, say, tell	saber	Knowledge, to know, to learn
medida	Measuring tape or tape measure	medida	Measure, moderation, extent, degree
Bolero	flatterer	bolero	Spanish dance and musical rhythm
almusal	breakfast	almorzar	To lunch, eat lunch
kubu	hut	cubo	Cube, bucket, vat, hub
Kasi	Because	casi	Almost, nearly
Kantu	Street corner	canto	Edge, border
kutis	cheeks	cutis	Skin, complexion
Manehu	drive	manejo	Handling, running, operation
enganyu	attract	engaño	Error, mistake, deception, trick
tinda	sell	tienda	shop
Tindaan, tindahan	Shop, store for selling goods	tienda	shop
siguru	Maybe, perhaps, I think so	Seguro	Safe, certain, sure, trustworthy, insurance
siguradu	sure	asegurado	assured
kubeta	toilet	cubeta	Bucket, pail
kasilyas	toilet	casilla	Cabin, hut, little house
mamun	A kind of sponge cake	mamon	sucker
maski	However, whatever, whichever, whatever	Mas que	More than
puto	A kind of Rice cake	puto	Male whore, male version of puta
lamierda	To hang out with friends	La mierda	The shit, the feces
bida	Good person in the movie, protagonist	vida	Life, lifetime, living
kontrabida	Bad person in the movie, antagonist	Contra vida	Against life
llamadu	The person with the upper hand in a game, the person winning, the bet favored in a game	llamado	Named, so-called, appeal
dehadu	The person or bet disadvantaged in a game	dejado	Careless, slovenly, sloppy, scruffy, idle, indolent, Dejected, low-spirited
muchacho, -a	Maid, servant (used as an insult for people)	muchacho, -a	Boyish, girlish, childish, boy, girl, servant (has different meanings in Latin America)
budega	Storage room	bodega	Wine cellar, tavern, bar
boti	bottle	bote	Pot, jar, tin can
pera	money	pera	pear
retoki	Plastic surgery	retoque	Retouching, alteration
tocino	Sweetened meat	tocino	Bacon, salt pork
pasyal	Travel, tour	pasear	To go for a walk
pera	money	pela	Peseta
perwisyu	Pain in the ass, trouble, troublemaker	perjuicio	Harm, damage
pikun	Hot-headed, person who easily gets angry	picón	Lampoon or nipping jest employed to induce another to do or perform something, touchy
pitaka	wallet	petaca	Cigarette case, tobacco pouch, hip flask, suitcase
pitsu	Chicken breast	pecho	Bosom, chest
porma	Dress in a nice and fashionable way	forma	Shape, form, manner
regla	menstruation	regla	Ruler, rule, menstruation
terno	Clothes that match in color or style	terno	Trio, three-piece suit
loko	Moron, crazy, insane, mad	loco	Mad, crazy
maldito, -a	Bad or naughty person	maldito, -a	cursed, damned
manubela	Steering wheel	manivela	crank
tarantado	Idiot, stupid	atarantado	Stunned, dazed
Gago, -a	Idiot, stupid	Gago, -a	Stammerer, stutterer
kobrador	Bet collector in jueteng which is an illegal numbers game played in the Philippines.	cobrador	Tax collector
Agrabyadu, argabyadu	At a disadvantage	agraviado	offended

For your information:

Remember, in Kapampangan, ts is pronounced as ch like chart becomes tsart.

Kapampangan has no h so that garaje becomes garayi.

Kapampangan has no z, v, and f and so each letter becomes s, b, and p respectively.

They love to change o to u, although the meaning will just be the same like gripo=gripu.

In the Philippines, Spaniards are called Kastila from the word Castilla which is a region in modern-day Spain that used to be a kingdom which united the different kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula to become what we now know today as Spain.

Puta means whore in Spanish while in Kapampangan it may mean whore or later like, “See you later.”

While there is extensive borrowing of words from Spanish, the grammar is basically Kapampangan.

Most Filipinos do not know that the Spanish word “mas” is Spanish in origin and they basically use it everyday to say something in comparative statement. For example:

Mas + tamad(lazy) = mastamad(lazier)

Mas + malagu(beautiful) = masmalagu(more beautiful)

If there are some corrections, opinions, clarifications, questions, or something you may want to add, please feel free to say it. However, I am a very busy person so please forgive me if I may not be able to entertain you immediately.
Sources:
spanishdict.com
wikipedia.com
The American Heritage Pocket Spanish Dictionary