Ang Pagsasakatutubo mula sa Loob/Kultural na Pagpapatibay ng mga Salitang Pandamdaming Tumutukoy sa “Sayá”: Isang Semantikal na Elaborasyon ng Wikang Filipino sa Larangan ng Sikolohiya

Abstract

The Philippines has often been recognized as one of the most emotional countries in the world. Despite this, there is a scarcity of research pertaining to emotions in the context of Filipinos’ own language and culture; instead, the convenient practice of explaining phenomena based on studies published abroad continues. This is the reason why even local scholarship remains ethnocentric, particularly Anglocentric, in nature. This paper answers the need to contextualize studies about emotions by adopting cultural revalidation or indigenization from within that was developed by the Father of Filipino Psychology, Virgilio G. Enriquez, as an approach to the semantic elaboration of Filipino words pertaining to “happiness.” In analyzing the scope and depth of such words, as well as their similarities and differences, it is essential to consider the universal aspect of understanding emotion through the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) developed by Anna Wierzbicka and her colleagues and the particular aspect embedded in the loob-labas (internal-external) dimensions and the Filipino culture-specif ic use of language. Through this, highlighting the uniqueness of the words alíw, galák, ligáya, lugód, luwalhatì, sayá, siyá, tuwâ, and wíli becomes possible. In the end, the researcher poses the challenge of continuous examination of the language of emotion toward understanding Filipino personality.

Keywords: Indigenization from within, cultural revalidation, emotion research, semantic elaboration, Filipino psychology