Say Pangasinan nen Saman

Anengneng yo ni iyan taytay diad Carmen?

This was called Plaridel Bridge then. It collapsed during an earthquake in 1990 and it was completely replaced with a new bridge.

The steel spans of the bridge were later used in the construction of a bridge now linking the towns of Bolinao and Anda.

The old Plaridel Bridge in Carmen consisted of thirteen 160-foot steel spans on 12 concrete piers and 2 abutments, with timber pile foundations. The construction of the substructure was done under contract with Mr. Wm. Anderson for the sum of P134, 944 in 160 days’ time.

The Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company furnished the structural steel at Manila, in 220 days’ time. The er****on of the steel superstructure and the construction of the reinforced concrete floor slab, including the painting of the bridge, was also done by Mr. Wm. Anderson of Manila for the lump sum of P129,500. The project was completed in September, 1927. (Source: Bureau of Public Works Bulletin, Jan. 1, 1928)

NEN SAMAN, in 1930, this building was the assembly hall of the Lingayen High School. Natan, it is the Sison Auditorium.

The first floor of the building provides for an auditorium, stage, offices, storeroom, library, toilets, lobby and corridor, and the second floor provides for alleys, balconies and corridors.

Its principal outside dimensions are 37.0 x 37.0 meters. The work including the electric light wiring and fixtures is being done by contract for P213,400. This project was 99 per cent completed at the close of the year. (Text and photo from the Bureau of Public Works Bulletin, Jan. 1, 1931)

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CAPITOL IN LINGAYEN

NEN SAMAN, nen impaalagey day capitol dimad LIngayen, from 1917 to 1918, a big force of skilled and non-skilled laborers, including technical men were hired.

A Filipino assistant engineer was employed for the technical parts of the work and an American foreman to direct the construction.

The work force was practically composed of Filipinos, with the exception of two Japanese carpenters. There were 145 Filipino carpenters and one Spanish mason for the stucco finish.

Construction materials for the capitol were transported from Dagupan to Lingayen, 13 kilometers apart, by two road rollers with 26 wagons.

In addition, 30 bull carts transported materials about the building and four wooden scows were used in moving crushed rock from the quarry at Labrador to Lingayen, about the same distance as Dagupan. A concrete mixer with elevator was erected to properly handle the distribution of the concrete.

For the construction of the capitol, which was the largest and most elaborate ever undertaken by any province in the Philippines at that time, the sum of P360,000 was appropriated. (Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, October 1, 1918)

NEN SAMAN. More than 100 years ago, the dumaralos of Manaoag were using bamboo water wheels to fetch water from the Sapang River to irrigate their rice fields. Theirs was a unique irrigation equipment.

A UNIQUE IRRIGATION WATER HOIST

A Dominican friar was the originator of the bamboo water wheel, which has, for the past half century, been irrigating the fields of Manaoag.

There are 50 of these water wheels [installed in the Sapang River], which were operated annually in the municipality. They vary in diameter — from 20 to 30 feet — and are constructed entirely of bamboo with the sole exception of the wooden axle and a frame on which they rest.

Each year just previous to the floods, they are removed from the streams and stored until the next dry season. They are used for irrigating rice and buyo land, chiefly the latter. The total area of these lands does not exceed 30 hectares.

The life of the wheel is two years. Its original cost approximates P25, with an annual maintenance fee of P5.

One may see as many as 8 wheels within 100 meters [in the Sapang River]. The head of water necessary to operate them is very small. In several cases, no more than a 2-inch head is used. To secure the necessary head, two fences of cogon grass converging on the wheel are built in the stream.

No earth or lumber is used in the construction of these fences or dikes other than a few stakes to hold the grass in place.

A bamboo cup with a capacity of 0.05 cubic foot is used in raising water. The cup is placed on the circumference of the wheel at an angle of 15 degrees and discharges on one side.

These cups when at the top, discharge into a trough parallel to the plane of the wheel. This trough connects with a bamboo aqueduct which runs into the fields. With a head of 3 inches, a revolution of the 20-foot wheel is made in 12 seconds. With 16 cups, this would give the wheel a capacity of 0.065 cubic foot per second. (Text and photo: Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, April 1, 1914)

KM 32 VILLASIS-NORTH ROAD

Nen saman, nen 1913, onya labat kaawang su highway. Now, the roads are wider and the government continues to widen them.

Iner kasi iyay KM 32? This should be anywhere between the present Barangay Puelay and Barangay Bacag in Villasis. (Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, October 1, 1913)

CAPE BOLINAO LIGHTHOUSE

This was how the CAPE BOLINAO lighthouse looked like in 1914, when the photograph was taken. Only the ruins of the building beside the tower in this photo are there now for visitors to see.

The lighthouse has a height of 101 feet from its base to its focal plane. Its total height is 301 feet and is visible from 24 miles. (Photo source: Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, January 1, 1915)

TIENDAAN NA SAN SAN CARLOS

Niya may tiendaan na San Carlos nen saman. Asumpal kunon ginawa ya nen May 15, 1913 tan say agastos da et P29,935.73. (Source: Bureau of Public Works Quarterly Bulletin, July 1, 1913)

Sankairapan kuno ya aralen su salitan Pangasinan. Anto'y nibaga yo met ey?

Why it's difficult to learn Pangasinan
By Gabriel Cardinoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:10:00 06/17/2009

EVER wondered why it's difficult to learn the Pangasinan language if you were not born in a Pangasinan-speaking community? It’s because in the family tree of Philippine languages, Pangasinan has no relative.

Pangasinan is one of the 13 indigenous languages in the country with at least a million native speakers. These include Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Bikol, Albay Bikol, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a and Tausug.

“Linguists don’t really know where to put the Pangasinan language, on which branch [in the family tree],” said Edgardo Quiros, a division chief at the National Library who has been doing research on the Pangasinan language for his doctoral dissertation at the University of the Philippines.

He said that even the Sentro ng Wikang Pambansa had aired this concern when he consulted the office.

Quiros, a Pangasinense, said the theory was that if two languages belong to the same family tree and a person was born with the first one, it will be easier for him or her to learn the language in the same branch.

“For example, Ilocano is your first language and you try to learn Pangasinan. It will take you longer to learn Pangasinan than if you were born in a Pangasinan-speaking environment,” he said.

“But if you were born an Ilocano and you try to learn Tagalog, it will be a lot easier for you to learn it than Pangasinan.”

Linguists baffled

Why the Pangasinan language is the way it is today continues to baffle linguists, Quiros said.

“Until now, there are no proofs or documents that could tell why the Pangasinan language is the way it is today although we have archeological evidence and some cultural distinctions that could point to something,” he said.

For example, he said, the Chinese have been trading in Pangasinan even before the Spaniards came. And there are families in Pangasinan, he said, that have in their possession artifacts proving that their families had been in Pangasinan when it was trading with China in the pre-Hispanic era.

“But there has been no formal studies on Pangasinan language,” he said.

Asked if he was aware that in the history of Dagupan City, the early settlers were believed to have come from the Flores Islands in Indonesia, where the language was said to be similar, Quiros said it was possible.

“But you can never tell. That community already existed like us then. So, maybe, we should confirm the similarity of our languages,” he said.

Quiros also said the closest language to Pangasinan was Ibaloi.

“During one of my field research activities in the barrios and sitios along the Agno River, in the upstream of the San Roque Dam, we validated the idea that the Ibaloi were actually from Pangasinan,” he said.

He said people he interviewed had told him that their ancestors were located in Pangasinan. “So, Ibaloi and Pangasinan are the same because they came from Pangasinan. There’s no debate about it,” he said.

Five dialects

So far, Quiros said, the only definite about Pangasinan language was that it has five dialects.

“It’s easy to distinguish, for example, the Pangasinan that is spoken in the central part of the province. It’s very distinct,” he said.

“However, if you talk about Pangasinan spoken somewhere in the areas of Camiling [Tarlac] and Mangatarem towns, and compare it to the Pangasinan in the coastal areas, such as Dagupan, then compare it to those spoken in places like San Carlos City, you’ll easily spot the difference,” Quiros said.

He said Pangasinenses in central Pangasinan have more detailed words to describe specific phenomena.

“One good example is the rain. Rain is associated with adjectives, like maksil [strong] or makapuy [weak] in other places. But in central Pangasinan, there are many terms for rain. It can be maya-maya [drizzle], tayaketek [light rain] or ambusabos [heavy rain],” Quiros said.

Fully developed

This shows, he said, that in central Pangasinan, the language has been fully developed because these were also the oldest places in the province.

He said anthropologist and UP professor Jerome Bailen, a Pangasinense, had proposed to conduct diggings around Mangabul Lake in Bayambang town to find archaeological evidence to prove that Pangasinan already existed even before the Spanish period, but he was not able to get funding.

“Mangabul is a very good place to go. If there’s a big lake or there’s a big river, the communities during the pre-Hispanic period were there. So, it’s there where you can find a good study of the language,” Quiros said.

He said he pursued the study of Pangasinan language “more on of interest rather than a necessity.”

“Language is an accumulation of experience of a society. Language, in itself, is history. And I find it as a sense of fulfillment to know more about a culture of a place where I am supposed to come from and yet I know little about,” he said.