MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATIONS IN THE STRUCTURE OF GAY LANGUAGE

IN DAVAO CITY

A Research Study
Presented to

The Faculty of Master of English in Applied Linguistics

College of Arts and Sciences
University of Southeastern Philippines
Bo. Obrero, Davao City
In Partial Fulfillment Of The
Requirements for the Course
AL 112: Foundation of Sociolinguistics and Psycholinguistics

By

JOHN RYAN J. ESTANA

May 2018
 INTRODUCTION

Bubukesh ang floweret

Jojosok ang reynabelz

Shochurva ng chacha

Pa jembot jembot fah

Boom tiyayavush

Tiyayavush chenes

Boom tiyayavush

Tiyayavush chenes

Funny and queer as it may seem, this gay specific argot of the children’s playsong

“Bubuka ang Bulaklak” signal a new age in sexual identity and culture of the Lesbian, Gay,

Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) society in the Philippines. The jocular switching of

codes, blithe exchange of verbal wit, and the garish voices of the loud and proud gays secured

the existence of a social dialect endemic to the Philippine gay culture – the Swardspeak.

Born as a coded talk, it has propagated into different variations and forms. The

Swardspeak is a mishmash of different lects like Filipino, Spanish, English, Japanese and some

recognized Polari codes. Cayabyab (2013) in her article Chuva Chenes Atbp: A Beginner

mentioned that the gay language is funny and irreverent all at the same time. It is a  language

that is sophisticated and vulgar, serious and light, timely and timeless (Remoto, 2008). This gay

uses other elements, such as names of famous personalities, trademark brands, national issues

and local dialects to a whole new flair of lively and animated repartee.
 Swardspeak is a variation of the many gay languages in the world. It has proliferated and

has become influential in language and sexuality that linguists devoted their time in the study of

the lavender linguistics (the study of the gay language). William Leap in 1995, edited a book

entitled “Beyond the Lavender Lexicon”, he summarized the overwhelming bulk of research that

had been conducted on queer language. The emergence of this study purports the exploration

into the nature of language variation within the gay community.

The inclusion of Swardspeak in the communication base of the queer community

expanded the domain of the Lavender Linguistics. Other queer languages are the Polari of the

UK and Gayle or Gail of South Africa. It has become popular and unstoppable that

Sociolinguists made concerted effort to put into perspective this new form of communication.

The advent of linguistic revolution, advancement of social media and support in gay

rights has led to the social acceptance of general population to the gay community. Decoo in

2014 cited Keleher and Smith (2012) study “Growing Support for Gay and Lesbian Equality

Since 1990” that public acceptance of gays and lesbians has grown dramatically.

This development leads to the proliferation of the gay discourse worldwide and in the

Philippines in particular. It can never be denied that the language is becoming a part of the

mainstream. The most popular television and radio shows, advertisements and social media, to

name a few, use this language to interact with their clienteles. Remoto (2008) mentioned that the

gay language has even become a mediator among the many languages spoken in the country. He

further added that it has generated so many words and idioms that have been inserted in the

mainstream of everyday conversation, especially in Taglish.

SWARDSPEAK LINGUISTIC PROFILE

Swardspeak or the Philippine gay lingo is a dynamic discourse. It continues to evolve

giving way to new lexicons from emerging trends, popular personalities and current events that

shape the society. It has been prevalent throughout the Philippines, and is being used by the

homosexual community as a tool to interact with each other.

This once hard to break slang is a veiled conveyance among the members of the Lesbian

Gay Bisexual Transvestite and Queer (LGBTQ) community to cloak the content of their

conversation or their ardent sexual desires. The need for discretion has resulted into a creation of

gay lexicons which gives the LGBTQ the opportunity to establish their own individuality and

propensity.

The flamboyant culture of the gay community in the Philippines has become

overwhelmingly influential in language that some Filipinos have become accustomed to the

words. Swardspeak, chiswisang Baklush, Bekimon or Bekinese, the different derivatives of the

local gay lingo, is being spoken by the Bakler, Baklush, Bading, Bakla or the Beki. It is also

spoken by gay and babaeng bakla, women who associate exclusively or mostly with gay men

(Salao, 2010).

Historically though, it is known as Swardspeak, a word coinage in the 1970s attributed by

Jose Javier Reyes to columnist and movie critic Nestor Torre. Reyes himself devoted a book on

the subject titled Swardspeak: A Preliminary Study. No other term has replaced Swardspeak in

local usage since the 70s but Ronald Baytan (in his essay “Language, Sex, and Insults: Notes on

Garcia and Remoto’s The Gay Dict”) opines that the term sward these days has become

anachronistic, making it improper to call the language of the gay people as “Swardspeak”

preferring instead to term it gayspeak (Alba, 2015).

 Murphy Red, in his article Gayspeak in the Nineties, as cited by Alba (2015) in “In

Focus the Filipino Gayspeak (Filipino Gay Lingo)”, said that gayspeak observes no rules as far

as its structure is concerned but its “evolution is rapid , like the ‘queens’ who have started to

break the walls of the subculture.” He cited the word chaka (meaning cheap) and how it evolved

from “chapter, champaka, chapacola, or chararat to champorado, chapluk, chapa, chop suey

and champola.”

Even though there is an apparent increase in tolerance and decrease in discrimination

towards homosexuality in our societies, and, consequently, an upsurge in studies devoted to

issues related to non-heterosexuality from different fields, little considerable attention has yet

been given to the morphological variations in the use of gay language in the locality.

MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION

Meecham and Rees-Miller study in 2001 "Language in Social Contexts" it was explained

that morphology concentrates on studies regarding words including grammatical structure,

phonology and meaning while Variation in language is a characteristic where it can be spoken

and written in a lot ways for the same thing. Speakers may vary pronunciation (accent), word

choice (lexicon), or morphology and syntax (sometimes called "grammar").

Morphological variation is the study of the way language varies and changes in

communities of speakers and concentrates in particular on the interaction of social factors (such

as a speaker's gender, ethnicity, age, degree of integration into their community, etc) and

linguistic structures (such as sounds, grammatical forms, intonation features, words, etc) Britain

(2016).
 The way language changes and gives rise to new varieties is not something new.

Language variation is an occurrence in all languages of the earth. Languages continuously

change because it is a living organism. New words and new uses are being coined at a furious

rate to describe new inventions and new experiences (Belvez, 2015).

The studies on morphological variations concentrated on the way language varies and

changes. It explains the dynamics of how gender and identity expression are conceptualized and

articulated based on an interphase of social class, economic status, ethnic affiliation and

educational background.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study determined the most common gay terms used in gay discourses and analyzed

the morphological variations in the usage of gay language in Davao City.

METHODS

Research Site

The study was conducted in three areas in Davao City: beauty parlors within the

Bangkerohan market, Guadalupe Village in Matina Pangi and Boyz Town and The Grid bars in

Jacinto Extension and Bajada Street respectively. The research sites were selected based on the

perceived notion that these sites provide different types of respondents. The beauty parlors in

Bangkerohan were the areas that loud and proud gays converge. They had no inhibitions and

were very much open to speaking the language. The bamboo bridge in Guadalupe Village in

Matina Pangi was the second site where the younger generations of gay frequent. And, the last

site was the Boyz Town and The Grid Bars were bisexuals, straight men and the “babaeng bakla”

spend a night of drinking and fun.

Research Design

The investigation was descriptive in nature as it determined the common terms in gay

discourse and analyzed the morphological variations in the structure of gay language in Davao

City.

Respondents

This study involved twenty (20) homosexuals, bisexuals and straight girls (who know how

to speak the gay language) in Davao City. Five (5) were certified homosexuals and transvestites

working from different beauty parlors in Bangkerohan and Matina areas, five (5) young gays and

five (5) gay professionals from different institutions and five (5) straight girls (babaeng bakla)

who know how to speak the language.

Instrument/Tool

The first instrument used in this research work was observation. The researcher talked to

members of the gay community in their work (beauty parlors) and at BoyzTown Karaoke Bar

where bisexuals and homosexuals converge. Notes were taken from face to face conversation to

observe the behavior, obtain the codes, and pronunciation style of the speakers. The difficulty of

this method is the problem of obtaining the full transcript of the conversation. Participants were

not be able to concentrate for either they entertain incoming customers or talk to their dates in

the bar.

The researcher employed the method of written questionnaire in collecting data to aid the

personal observation that was previously conducted. The questionnaires were either given to

them at their convenience or sent through a private message on Facebook. Not everyone had

access to computers and the best and most convenient way to answer the questionnaire was using

the messenger app on their mobile phones. The questionnaires were written in English and
Filipino. The demographic profile of the respondents was not included because the information

was not necessary in the conduct of this study.

Data Gathering Procedure

Before the actual data gathering during the one-on-one interview, the researcher introduced

himself, provided the title of the research and explained the nature of the study. Some of the

respondents did not want to be named. The researcher assured them that it will be confidential

and no personal information will be disclosed in study. The participants were asked to list at least

thirty (30) codes which they often use in their interaction whenever they are with members of the

LGBTQ community. They were asked to provide the meaning, context clues and language

function for each code if possible.  They will need to classify the function, its meaning and how

the words are formed. The second task was to translate a paragraph in gay language to spot

patterns of similarities and how these codes function in the sentence. For those who received the

survey online, they were asked to send their answers to the researchers’ messenger account.

Data Analysis

Language is a heterogeneous system of communication; variation affects all languages as

members of any society are different in terms of social variables such as age, gender, affiliation a

level of education and etc. Languages are also affected by change and this may be due to various

extra linguistic factors which can be political, social and economic. The investigation has proven

that the speech of the gay community has been affected by a number of social and external

pressures, thus promoting morphological variation in the usage of the gay language.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Table 1:Common Gay Codes in Davao City

(Frequency, English meaning and Language Function)

English Words Codes Gay Frequency

Language (f)
Function
gay bayot Noun 29
baklush Noun 25
bakler Noun 10
bayotar Noun 7
bayeeet Noun 12
beautiful erps Adjective 29
shofa Adjective 19
make up taplak Noun 27
foundation Noun 21
day
penis notch Noun 26
junjun Noun 13
notring Noun 7
nota Noun 21
bisexual maya Noun 26
just kidding charot 26
eat lafang Verb 25
lapor Verb 3
ams Verb 1
girl ebay Noun 25
belat Noun 20
girlalu Noun 14
big daks Adjective 25
daku Adjective 22
boy keks Noun 23
kiki Noun 20
kikiru Noun 8
ikal Noun 16
blow job hada Noun 23
money datch Noun 23
anda Noun 14
ambi Noun 6
handsome mems Adjective 22
shofu Adjective 12
Sexual jerjer Noun 21
intercourse toyi Noun 19
bj and sex sing and Noun 21
dance
AIDS Aida Noun 20
aidahu Noun 18
hungry Tom Jones Noun 20
Tommy Noun 7
Lee Jones
old gorz Adjective 18
gurang Adjective 17
thundercat Adjective 11
s
anal sex uring Noun 18
ugly chaka Adjective 17
kamras Adjective 5
cry crylalu Verb 17
crayola Verb 17
goodbye babelles Noun 17
babshe Noun 9
lets go gorabelles Verb 15
gora Verb 13
poor below Phrase 14
minimum
porita Adjective 6
sleep burlog Noun 14
sosyal laysho Adjective 14
afraid shudlok Adjective 14
foreigner afam Noun 14
small jutay Adjective 13
me shokims Pronoun 13
jokims Pronoun
correct pak Adjective 13
never wiz Adverb 12
don't wit 12
wititit
wake coffee Noun 12
party
correct Curriculu Noun 12
m Vitae
planggana
OPM Oh 11
Promise
Me
lost Luz Valdes Noun 11
fat shumbok adjective 11
 social climber katkat Noun 11
beauty ganda lang adjective 11
angry embey Adjective 10
keep mum Bengka Noun 10
Bengka sa Noun 8
Digos
plastic Tupper Noun 9
Ware
lonesome/lonel Ming Noun 8
y Ramos
boobs joga Noun 8
boobae 4
mother mudra Noun 8
father pudra Noun 8
rain Lani Noun 8
Misalucha
Teenage girl Lilet Noun 7
HIV ABCDHIV Noun 5
Drugs Tinker Bell Noun 4
Maranao Moshi Noun 2

Table 1 showed fifty (50) frequently used codes by transvestites, gays, bisexuals and

women (babaeng bayot) in their discourses. The codes were taken from the survey form which

the respondents filled out. Data were obtained from beauty parlors, cruising points of LGBTQ

(Boyztown and Grid Bars) and neighboring points in Crossing Matina where younger generation

of gays merged. The researcher accordingly listed the codes based on the frequency of use. The

highest frequency was first on the list and so on and so forth. The codes with the same meaning

were grouped together and the number of frequencies was indicated respectively.

The language functions specified were nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs and phrases. The

numbers indicated on the left side of the frequency column are the highest that came out in the

tally. Codes that convey the same meaning were grouped together and the highest in number was

indicated on top of that group.

 Nouns were on top of the list but these functions may change depending on how it was

used in the sentence. It was noticed that codes that pertain to or associated with beauty and sex

are on the top list. It could be assumed that respondents were generally artful in nature and that

their work in some way or another revolved around beauty. Sex had never been a taboo topic

among the respondents. It was pretty normal part of the conversation and almost all of these

respondents were also aware of the stigma of AIDS associated with the homosexual community.

According to the participants of the survey, the Davao City lingo grew and evolved

according to the passage of time. The user of the language must be adept to currents trends,

issues and famous personalities to understand the flow of the discourse. They added that the

codes may also vary depending on where the speaker stay, ethnic background, and the kind of

lifestyle the speaker follows – all these contribute to variations in the usage of codes.

The codes, however, do not follow a particular rule. Based on the table, what was codified as

a standard word and has been generally accepted by the majority may take a different meaning in

the gay lingo. Take the word “thundercats”, it means “old” in the gay discourse. But, in the

urban dictionary, it generally means “a younger man for an older woman to have sexual

relations with.” There were other codes in the table (e.g. “Lani Misalucha” means rain, “katkat”

means social climber, “foundation day” means make up and etc…) mentioned that defy the

lexical meaning of the word.

Table 2: Sample gay conversation in Bangkerohan beauty parlor and at Boyz Town/The Grid

Gay 1: Super like nako ning sai bay.

Gay 2: Bayeeet bet jud ni syokims kanang keks

Gay 3: Betsung ko siya ... sa sightseeing ko dakota harrison ang notes niya.

Gay 4: Girl... antibiotic ka stop na pagka reklamo kay Thunder Cats na ka ...
Grab mo na ang opportunity para ma hammer na ang imuhang uranus
 Gay 5: Maam performance artist sa ko run kay variables lang ang akuang money..
lisud pud basin ma ABCDHIV ko …. Famous baya na siya na sholbam.

Gay 6: Curriculum vitae bayeeet…

Parlorista 1: Besh crayola khomeni ang blusang itim gabii...na shokits ang gorz ever sa
chopopo na boylet… chizmax

Parlorista 2: Yots klapeypey-klapeypey shukims na shuningning ang shupang.... na shubaw-an

na dingalou man pud diay ang iyahang shulaki

Parlorista 3: Baki na warlush jud ko pero kish lang maski embirikish shukim di man pud to
shungayan ang callbam.

Parlorista 1: Lilet ayaw ug sige shunga diha ...waswasi ning mga shugwig.... kaning jubelita
nang juping napud ni gabii mao na magshunga..

Parlorista 4: Shubi-shubi manang wiz ko nangjuping.....nagpaloooovey lang jukims...

Parlorista 5: Agoy kahadlok… lilet para ma nose lift nimo ang pa lovey pirmi ma Aida
Macaraeg shukaw… chizmiz.

Table 2 showed some transcription of the conversations during the face to face interview.

It showed some techniques on how to coin, clip, borrow, repeat and use words as some form of

figure of speech to illustrate what was being meant (thorough discussion and illustration of these

processes were discussed in the succeeding paragraphs).

It was also confirmed by the respondents that the morphological structure of the codes

may also vary depending on their affiliation, ethnic/educational background and social/economic

standing in the community. Though a lot of words maybe common to all respondents but some

codes and the way they were structured may vary.

The gays in beauty parlors and younger gays in the Matina Pangi were noted to speak

with speed and almost all words spoken were coded. The pronunciation and intonation of the

words for beauty parlor gays in Bangkerohan and the younger gays in the Matina Pangi were
distinct and loud as compared to gays who hang out in the bars. The bisexuals, babaeng bakla

and the discreet men in BoyzTown and The Grid were more refined and did not speak in

complete gay coded sentences.

In their conversation, code switching (English and Tagalog) was prevalent. These were the

gays that belong to the academe, business and tourism sector and therefore, were well educated

that some terms were borrowed from the jargons of their own occupation. The comparison can

be shown in the following sentences :

From a beauty parlor gay

Besh crayola khomeni and blusang item gabii… na shotkits ang gorz ever sa chopopo na
boylet…. Chizmax

Yots klapeypey-klapeypey shukims na shuningning ang shupang.... na shubaw-an na dingalou

man pud diay ang iyahang shulaki

Baki na warlush jud ko pero kish lang maski embirikish shukim di man pud to shungayan ang
callbam.

From a discreet gay/bisexual

Girl... antibiotic ka stop na pagka reklamo kay Thunder Cats na ka ... Grab mo na ang
opportunity para ma hammer na ang imuhang Uranus

It was admitted by the gay language practitioners that their everyday usage of the language

influences the way they converse with non-practitioners of the gay lingo. Even during formal transactions

they may speak out the codes causing difficulty in the communication process.

In some instances, most gays may get the meaning of “keri” as being able to carry a dress

in a particular event or being able to surmount a problem. But, only a handful of gays know that

keri came from the name of Kerima Polotan Tuvera, a famous personality in literature. In the
same way, the alta sosyedad gays would use “neuro” referring to head or the local gay term

“bayo” or biochemistry for masturbation.

Table 2: Sample narrative translated into Gay Lingo

The narrative that the participants must translate.

“Kayong mga drug lords sumuko na kayo kasi di ko kayo sasantuhin. Papatayin ko kayong
lahat. Tigbasin ko kayo. Paglalamayan kayo sa mga bahay ninyo. Sinasabi ko sa inyo pag di pa
kayo tumigil sa inyong pinaggagawa ay itumba ko kayo. Mga putang ina ninyo. Nakakaloko
kayo sa mga tao. Hindi ko kayo niloloko.”

A sample translation of the above narrative into Davao Gay Lingo.

Shumong mga budictuz benedictus ug Tinker Bell, magshurenderitch namoyez kay shudi tamo
ilhon…. taichihon tamo everyone one and all. Chugbason tamo, shugsak kung shugsak, shubey
kung shubey magcoffee party ta shunyong laichi. Pika shukimi shunyo, pag wit kayo
umistoplalu, mag stop and listen sa mga echos balungos day, ichumba tamong chunan ug
bonggang bongga mga shutang inabelles shumo. Chuluko mo sa mga general patronage nose
lift ko shumo chinacharot.

Table number 2 revealed how some gay codes were used in the sentences. These showed the

malleability of the codes to fit into what was intended. The malleability property of the gay

codes was the ability to transform from a standard language function to gaylinguish language

function. It clearly showed some of the morphological processes in the formation of the gay

discourse. For example, “coffee party”, generally this function as a noun in the standard English

language. However, in the gaylinguish function it was being referred to as a “wake for the dead”

or just simply means “lamay” in the local context.

In Table 2, the sentences in the translated narrative revealed morphological processes. As

shown, most of the coded words undergo through the process of clipping or cutting of words

with affixation, borrowing and connotation through actions. Example of these processes are:

Gay Lingo Meaning How it is done

 Shumong you Kamong clipped into “mong” + prefix “Shu”

Tinker Bell drugs Tin (referred to the foil used in pot sessions)

alluded to the famous character of Tinker Bell

shurenderitch surrender Surrender clipped into render + prefix “Shu” +

suffix “itch”

taichi dead Patay clipped into “tai” + suffix “chi”

shugmak drop Bagsak clipped into “sak” + prefix “shug”

pika tell Chika clipped into “ka” + prefix “pi”

laichi house Balay clipped into “lai” + suffix “chi”

shubey sugar Sugar clipped into “shu” + suffix “bey”

wititit never Wit (expression) + suffix “tit”

Among the processes that were involved, cutting of words with affixation was the most used.

DECIPHERING THE DAVAO GAY LANGUAGE

The use of gay lingo was first used to elude having other people understand what they are

talking about, especially when it comes to sexual desires or preferences. This is also a way of

creating one’s identity to the extent of defying social and cultural norms. Gay speak evolves

continuously, with obsolete words and phrases being replaced by new trends (famous

personalities, issues, items and etc). How do we understand the language?

Asturiano (2015), in his blog “Overview: Philippine Gay  Lingo” mentioned that

understanding is a lot easier than speaking the Filipino gay language. The mishmash of words

raises the difficulty to a higher level. It does not have any rules on spelling, grammar, and a lot

more of technical linguistics. He said that there are limitless chances to coin new words, and this
feature of the Philippine Gay Language makes it a language that cannot be encapsulated in a

dictionary because it keeps on growing. New words are added every day.

Despite of its lack of formal rules, there are certain ways or pattern on how to coin gay

words. 

1. Borrowing – act of using words from other language and regional dialects.
The Davao gay lingo loan words from the following languages and dialects: English,
Spanish, Japanese, Tagalog, Hiligaynun and to some extent Maranao and Maguindanaoan
words but were not included in this study.

Loanwords Meaning Origin

mujer Girl Spanish

sightsung To See English

hada Blow Job Polari

jerjer Sexual Intercourse Japanese

2. Metathesis – transposition of phonemes and alteration of order either by

syllable switching or full reversal.

Switched words Meaning Origin of the word

sai one isa (Tagalog)

ikal man laki (Hiligaynun)

toyi sex iyot (Cebuano)

3. Affixation – suffixes like “sung”, “ever” etc are added to the words but does

not change the meaning or the thought.

For example:

sightsung sight + sung To see

gorz Ever Gorz + ever Old

 4. Substitution - changing a sound or segment of a word to another sound

or segment usually in consonant sound, like k and h changed to j; p, l and b to sh; and the

first syllable of a word is changed to ju, bo, sho, kyo, ki and nyo.

For example:

ikaw shokaw you

laki kiki male

mabaho mashuho bad odor/stinky

5. Acronymy - involves the use the initial letters of words.

For example:

OPM Oh Promise Me full of promise

L Labot concern

CB Callbam callboy

BRB Be Right Back will be back

6. Duplication or repetition means to repeat a word or a part of a word.

For example:

klapeypey-klapeypey to converse or gossip

chuchu and chenes-chenes for meaningless

7. Clipping / reduction is done by adapting the first syllable of a word.

ma for malay ko I don’t know

pa for pakialam ko I don’t care

8. Allusion or using names of popular persons, places, names of association or

pop culture.

For example:

Lani Misalucha ulan rain

Luz Valdez Luz lose

 Tommy Lee Jones Gu-Tom hungry

9. Determining the root word/word being referred to/initial syllable and

lengthening the word in a creative manner.

Root word Lengthened word How it is done

bayot bayotar bayot + tar

AIDS Aidahu AIDS + ahu

HIV ABCDHIV ABCD + HIV

Correct Curriculum Vitae Cor + Curriculum

Vitae

10. Knowing the irregular words - Irregular words are words whose origins
cannot be established/known.

Examples:

Wit/Wiz Hindi/Wala No/Nothing.

Pak Tama/Bongga Correct/Fabulous

11. Referring to what it sounds like.

Example:

know nose lift

RECOMMENDATION

The main concern of this research is to enrich studies on the gay culture, and to describe

and analyze the morphological features of the Swardspeak or the gay lingo. Though it is not

structured, it is recommended that we study the language because in our society the gay speech

communities are almost everywhere. They now occupy important seats in the government, they
sway their hips like forever in the entertainment industry and they are relevant force in the

academe and even in the barangay sector.

It is also recommended that when we talk about morphological variation, we must also

look into the many differences in the speech community to explain and analyze its linguistic

diversity.

CONCLUSION

The morphological variation and the analysis of the gay language structure is the

focal point of the study. It must consider the structure of words and parts of words, such as

stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. It must also take note of the continuous evolution of

the usage of words in the speech of the gay community. Based on the analysis and thorough

study of the morphological structure of the gay codes, it can be concluded that it borrowing,

coining and clipping are the most common process in the morphological evolution of the gay

codes.

Gay language became a phenomenon that it has developed a morphological variation

according to social affiliation, educational background and economic standing. The growing

penchant towards the gay language of the Dabawenyos has made it a mediator between the

standardized dialects in the region. It was suggested that a thorough consideration of studying

this gay discourse will open its doors in the realm of linguistic anthropology.

Our analysis has permitted us to conclude that the morphological variation have shed

light on the linguistic situation of gay communities in Davao City. The researcher has found out

that the Davao gay lingo is such a complex speech. It has shown a great deal of morphological

variation that led to answer the research questions. It can be concluded that there are gargantuan
gay codes available in the community. In such a way that a presently single gay code can have

various permutations, that a word can be read or uttered in complete reverse and that a

completely unknown word may have its lexicon in the gay lingo (e.g. wiz).

In the lexical categories of the gay words, only five out of the eight (8) parts of speech

were involved. They were the following: adjective, adverb, noun, verb and pronoun. Based on

the data gathered, the common morphological processes observed among gay respondents are:

clipping with affixation, straight words with affixation and common nouns and proper nouns.

Findings in the analysis demonstrated that the younger gays and those working in the

beauty parlors are more convergent in gay speech than their bisexuals/babaeng bakla

counterparts. And, finally, it can be concluded that social, cultural in addition to educational

norms, were the contributors of language variation and change in the gay community.

REFERENCES

Alba, R. (2015, February 26). In Focus: The Filipino Gayspeak (Filipino Gay Lingo). Retrieved
1 May 2018, from http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/in-focus/the-filipino-gayspeak-
filipino-gay-lingo/

Asturiano, R. (2015, July 7). Overview: Philippine Gay  Lingo. Retrived 2 May 2018, from
https://theelusivedoktora.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/overview-philippine-gay-lingo/

Britain, D. 2016. Sociolinguistic Variation. Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies.
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