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Question:
Is there a difference in your use of Kapampangan and Capampangan?
My answer:
No, not actually, because they are interchangeable.
In the List of Abbreviations Used, I listed four variations:
Capam. – Capampangan; Kapampangan; Pampango; Pampangueño
They are synonymous, but I preferred Capampangan because it is the original spelling and the peculiar demonym and language of Pampanga.
Allow me to share the following:
It’s a fact that until today, historians and intellectuals are still quarreling over which one is the original, genuine Capampangan – is it “k” or “c.” Though some of the ancient written literature of Pampanga were found inscripted in old cursive writing system called kulitan, it was the Spaniards who first decoded and translated the kulitan writing system by using “c” for whatever that sounds like “k” and its usage remained for the entire duration of Spanish colonization of Philippines (of more than 3 centuries). The use of “k” only exists after the Spaniards left the country. It was Aurelio Tolentino and Zoilo Hilario who replaced “c” with “k,” which for me was an act that Tagaloganized the Capampangan literature, being that Aurelio Tolentino was during his time (late 1800s and early 1900s) was largely influenced by his attachment to the El Parnaso Filipino, the school that promoted the Tagalog literature. Letter “K” is dominantly used in Tagalog. K was so popular for insurgents, such that the Katipuneros proudly designed their revolutionary red flag sewn with the acronym “KKK” in big bold white letters.
Atty. Zoilo Hilario, a native of San Fernando, Pampanga was a well-known writer in Capampangan and Spanish language. In adopting the use of “k” in Capampangan, he was influenced obviously by Aurelio Tolentino, who was senior to him. In the early part of their lives, Aurelio Tolentino and Atty. Zoilo Hilario consistently used “c” in the former’s playwrights and in the latter’s poems and their other writings. They replaced “c” with “k” as their own way of deserting the Spanish influence, which for me was a bastardly act of altering the linguistic treasure of Pampanga, which if we look deeply and extensively was a mistake because it allows Tagalog literary influence to dominate and eventually abhorred the original existence of Pampango language. They forgot or probably did not realize that the origin and legacy of Pampanga was not exclusively from the Spanish colonization. Pampanga is actually a quilt of multicultural influences from other Asians (Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Indian, Malay, etc.), Europeans (Mexican, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc), and those from the west (American, African, Latinos, etc).
We should rather be thankful to Spanish colonizers for the effort of transcribing the kulitan using the Spanish alphabet and writing system. The Spanish alphabet was originally based on the Latin script, closely similar to the English orthography. Because of this, remnants of Capampangan history and legacy that were written by old-time settlers were preserved and made known today when kulitan is no longer used and understood by us. Such that we should be grateful of the effort of early word compilers and lexicographers like Fray Diego Bergano, the brilliant lexicographers of the Augustinian Order, who created the 1732 Pampango-Spanish dictionary, Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga en Romance. Otherwise, most of the original forms of Capampangan words, pronunciations, and grammar structure as they were altered by centuries and by the Capampangans themselves would have vanished into oblivion.
Time will come when the Capampangan language will become a near-extinct if not forgotten, like what happened to the Cavite's Chavacano and Ternateño (a.k.a. Bahra). Slowly eaten by the encroachment of Tagalog both in written and spoken language. Starting by the way they spell their words.
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