A unisex term referring to a
person or persons of ethnic descent originating from the Republic of the Philippines.
Pilipino refers to a
person born in the Philippines. Filipino refers to a
person not born in the Philippines, but of Philippine ethnicity.
This delineation is due to the fact that there is no phonetic equivalent of the letter '
F' in any of the Philippine Islands’ indigenous languages. Spaniards who named the Philippine Islands after King Phillip II (Las Islas Filipinas) had such a sound in their language. The closest phonetic sound inhabitants in the Philippines could use was ‘P.’
Hence,
people Philippine-born refer to themselves as Pilipino (they even write it as ‘Pilipino’), while those born outside the Philippines (e.g. the United States) refer to themselves as Filipino (or Filipino-American in the above
case).
Pilipino
Example 1:
My
dad was born in the Philippines; he’s "Pilipino". I was born in Rampart,
California; I’m Filipino-American.
Example 2:
Person 1: What’s your nationality?
Person 2: Full-Blooded American.
Person 1: No, where’re you from?
Person 2: West Covina,
California.
Person 1: No, I mean, where’re your parents from?
Person 2: Oh – the Philippines.
Person 1: Oh so they’re Filipino.
Person 2: No, They’re "Pilipino".
Person 1: That’s what I said: Filipino.
Person 2: No, my parents are Pilipino. And I’m Filipino-American.
Person 1: …?
