On the Origins of Philippine Particle/Pronominal Sociol~nguistic Use

Tagalog, like the other languages of the Philippines, belongs to the Western Indonesian grouping of the Austronesian family of..... languages. Like many other languages, it exhibits forms of respect ful address in terms of overtly shown categories. Such sociolin guistic devices express formally and explicitly the social relation ship between co-Iocutors in a given interaction. The key formal devices for showing sociolinguistic differences in Tagalog are the respectful use of enclitic particle and pronominal forms. Two enclitic particles, po and ho ~ correlate with the use of the pronouns ikawlka 'you (sg) ' and kayo 'you (pI) ' in showing sociolinguistic differences in conversational interaction. The possible historical origins of these sociolinguistic devices in Tagalog is assessed by examining the earliest available descrip tions of Tagalog, and comparing them with later descriptive treat ments. Another guide is the appearance or non-appearance of such respect forms in the syntax of other languages of the Philippines