Swardspeak

Swardspeak
Chuva
Native to	Philippines
Ethnicity	Gay community
Language family	Creole Taglish and Englog Swardspeak
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-2	cpe
ISO 639-3	–

Swardspeak (or Chuva) is a secret language that came from the mixed language with the names Taglish and Englog. It is used by gay people in the Philippines.^[1]

Swardspeak uses word from Tagalog, English, Spanish, Cebuano, Japanese, Sanskrit, and other languages. Names of Celebrities and trademark brands are also used.^[2][3]

Gay people use Swardpeak to make themselves feel special.^[4] The language changes a lot.^[5] People who use the language are called Bekimons. This word is from the words bakla (gay) and Jejemon.^[2][6]

The word "Swardspeak" came from the 1970's book called "Swardspeak: A Preliminary Study".^[7] "Sward" is slang for "gay male" in the Philippines.^[8]

Rules

Swardspeak is a form of slang.^[9] It changes a lot and the meaning of words are hard to know.^[10] The rules are explained below.^[11]

• The first sound changes to the letter "J" or "Sh" or to the sounds "Jo-", "Sho-", "Ju-", "Shu-", "Ky-", or "Ny-".

Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
shorts	English	trousers	nyorts	trousers
alalay	Tagalog	assistant	julaylay	assistant
asawa	Tagalog	spouse	jowa	lover
asawa	Tagalog	spouse	jowabelle	lover
bata	Tagalog	child	kyota	child
kapatid	Tagalog	sibling	shupatid	sibling
mabaho	Tagalog	stinky	kyoho	stinky
punta	Tagalog	to go [to a place]	jonta	to go [to a place]

• The last sound changes to "-ash", "-is", "-iz", "-ish", "-itch", "-ech", "-ush", or "-oosh" as a suffix.

Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
dyotay	Cebuano	a small amount	jotis	a very small amount
ano	Tagalog	what	anech	exclamatory what
ito	Tagalog	this one	itich	this one
taba	Tagalog	fat	jubis	very fat
taray	Tagalog	bitchy	taroosh	very bitchy
wala	Tagalog	nothing	wash	nothing

• Changing "a", "o", or "u" sounds with "or", "er", or "ur", especially with "l".

Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
hello	English	hello	heller	hello (used as a wake up call)
kaloka	Tagalog	maddening or insanely [entertaining]	kalurkey	maddening or insanely [entertaining]
ganda	Tagalog	beautiful	gander	beautiful

• Changing places of letters in a word. Used mostly in Cebuano swardspeak.^[12]

Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
dili	Cebuano	no, not	ilij	no, not
lain	Cebuano	bad, unpleasant	nial	bad, unpleasant
uyab	Cebuano	lover	bayu	lover

• Puns, code-switching, onomatopoeic Anglicization of words.

Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
bayot	Cebuano	gay	biyuti	beautiful, pretty
drama	English	drama	drama	melodrama, exaggeration, drama [queen]
career	English	job	karir	to take seriously (used as a verb)
carry	English	carry	keri	to carry [oneself well]
feel	English	to sympathize	fillet o'fish	to be attracted to someone
G.I.	English	a member of the United States armed forces	g.i. joe	a foreign lover, particularly American
opposition party	English	opposition party	opposition party	a party with a lot of unexpected problems
gurang	Hiligaynon	old	wrangler	old gay man
Wake up and smell the coffee.	Philippine English	Wake up and smell the roses.	kape	to be realistic
madre	Spanish	mother	mudra	female friends with children
antipatika	Tagalog	obnoxious, unpleasant	antibiotic	obnoxious, unpleasant
baboy	Tagalog	pig	boy band	fat kid
libre	Tagalog	free (as in the price of goods), to treat someone out for free	liberty	free (as in the price of goods), to treat someone out for free
pokpok	Tagalog	prostitute, to pound, to hammer	hammer	prostitute
silahis	Tagalog	[sun]beam, ray	silahis	bisexual male

• Words from popular culture, mostly celebrities or TV shows. Based the things they were famous for, because parts of the words rhyme, or both.

Person / Object	Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
Crayola	cry	English	cry	crayola	to be sad
X-Men	ex-man	English	a male person who came out	X-Men	a male person who came out
Gelli de Belen	jealous	English	jealous	gelli de belen	jealous
Noel Coward	no	English	no	noel coward	no
Oprah Winfrey	promise	English	promise	oprah winfrey	promise
Sharon Cuneta	sure	English	sure	sharon cuneta	yes, sure
Jesus Christ Superstar	resurrection	English	resurrection	jesus christ superstar	fashion make-over, to change into [more fashionable] clothing
Maxine Hong Kingston	taxi	English	taxi	taxina hong kingston	[to wait for a] taxicab
Optimus Prime	transformation	English	transformation	optimus prime	fashion make-over, to change into [more fashionable] clothing
Coffeemate	Wake up and smell the coffee.	Philippine English	Wake up and smell the roses.	coffeemate	to be realistic
Carmi Martin	karma	Sanskrit	karma	carmi martin	karma
Anaconda (film)	ahas	Tagalog	"snake", slang for "to betray"	anaconda	traitor, to betray
Mazinger Z	bading	Tagalog	gay	badinger z	homosexual)
Barbra Streisand	bara	Tagalog	to block	barbra streisand	to be rejected bluntly, blocked
Jiminey Cricket	chimay	Tagalog	housemaid	chiminey cricket	housmaid
Tommy Lee Jones	gutom	Tagalog	hungry	tommy lee jones	hungry
Julie Yap-Daza (famous the book Etiquette for Mistresses)	huli	Tagalog	to be caught	julie yap-daza	to be caught [cheating][13]
Jupiter	kapatid	Tagalog	sibling	jupiter	sibling
Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara	lupit	Tagalog	cruel	lupita kashiwahara	cruel
Mahalia Jackson	mahal	Tagalog	expensive, precious, dear	mahalia jackson	expensive
Mariah Carrey	mura	Tagalog	cheap	murriah carrey	cheap
Rita Gomez	nakakairita	Tagalog	irritating	rita gomez	irritating, annoying
Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion	pagod	Tagalog	tired, exhausted	pagoda cold wave lotion	tired, exhausted
Ayatollah Khomeini	payat	Tagalog	thin	fayatollah kumenis	thin
Pocahontas	pokpok	Tagalog	prostitute	pocahontas	prostitute
Winston Churchill	sosyal	Tagalog	high society	churchill	high society
Tom Jones	tomguts	Tagalog	hungry	tom jones	hungry

• From other languages like Japanese.^[14]

Word	Language	Meaning	Swardspeak	Swardspeak meaning
ビール (bīru)	Japanese	beer	berru	beer
男 (otoko)	Japanese	male	otoko	manly man
私 (watashi)	Japanese	me, I	watashi	me, I
chiquito	Spanish	small	chiquito	small
coño	Spanish	vagina	coño	high society
coño	Spanish	vagina	coño	speaker of Coño English
puñeta	Spanish	obscenity, means "in a fist"	puñeta	profanity, equal to "fuck"
Siete Pecados	Spanish	seven deadly sins	siete pecados	nosy, gossipmonger

Examples

• Tagalog nursery rhyme "Ako ay may lobo" (I Have a Balloon) into Swardspeak.^[3]

Tagalog	Swardspeak	English
Ako ay may lobo Lumipad sa langit Di ko na nakita Pumutok na pala Sayang lang ang pera, Pinambili ng lobo Sa pagkain sana, Nabusog pa ako.	Aketch ai may lobing Flylalou sa heaven Witchels ko na nasightness Jumutok lang pala Sayang lang ang anda Pinang buysung ng lobing Kung lafangertz sana Nabusog pa aketch	I had a balloon It flew up in the sky I can't see it anymore [I didn't know] it had popped Wasted my money Buying the balloon If I had bought food instead At least I would have been satisfied

• Tagalog nursery rhyme "Bahay Kubo" (Nipa Hut) into Swardspeak.

Tagalog	Swardspeak	English[15]
Bahay kubo, kahit munti Ang halaman duon, Ay sari-sari Singkamas, at talong, Sigarilyas at mani Sitaw, bataw, patani Kundol, patola, upo’t kalabasa At saka meron pa Labanos, mustasa Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya Sa paligid-ligid Ay puno ng linga	Valer kuberch, kahit jutay Ang julamantrax denchi, Ay anek-anek. Nyongkamas at nutring, Nyogarilyas at kipay. Nyipay, nyotaw, jutani. Kundol, jotola, jupot jolabastrax At mega join-join pa Jobanos, nyustasa, Nyubuyak, nyomatis, nyowang at luyax And around the keme Ay fulnes ng linga.	Nipa hut, even though it is small The plants it houses Are varied Turnip and eggplant, Winged bean and peanut String bean, hyacinth bean, lima bean. Wax gourd, luffa, white squash and pumpkin, And there is also radish, mustard, Onion, tomato, Garlic, and ginger And all around Are sesame seeds.

References

1. "Deciphering Filipino Gay Lingo". United SEA. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
2. "Gayspeak: Not for gays only". 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
3. "GAY LANGUAGE: DEFYING THE STRUCTURAL LIMITS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES". Kritika Kultura, Issue 11. Kritika Kultura. August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
4. "swardspeak". Retrieved 23 December 2010.
5. "A SEMANTIC LOOK AT FEMININE SEX AND GENDER TERMS IN PHILIPPINE GAY LINGO" (PDF). University of the Philippines. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
6. "Ang Bekimon (Baklang Jejemon)". July 7, 2010. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
7. "The Filipino Gayspeak (Filipino Gay Lingo)". June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
8. "GAY SPEAKS on "SWARDSPEAK"". May 13, 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
9. "On Philippine gay lingo". 2008-05-05. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
10. "Gay Lingo (Made in the Philippines)". November 16, 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
11. "Deciphering Filipino Gay Lingo". United SEA. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
12. "The Filipino Gayspeak (Filipino Gay Lingo". June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
13. "Etiquette for Mistresses". April 28, 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
14. "Gay Lingo Collections". July 5, 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
15. "Philippines Children's Songs and Nursery Rhymes". Retrieved 25 December 2010.

Books

• Visayan Swardspeak: The language of a gay community in the Philippines" - Crossroads, 1990
• “’Performing’ the Filipino Gay Experiences in America: Linguistic Strategies in a Transnational Context.” Beyond the Lavender Lexicon: Authenticity, Imagination and Appropriation in Lesbian and Gay Language. New York: Gordon and Breach, 1997. 249–266
• “Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora”, Duke University Press Books, November 19, 2003. ISBN 978-0822332176