Dinaglat Example: Abbreviated Filipino Words and the Rules Behind Them

TL;DR: Dinaglat is the completed form of daglatin, to abbreviate, so a salitang dinaglat is simply a word written in shortened form. The standard examples in the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino manual are Bb. (Binibini), G. (Ginoo), Gng. (Ginang), Kgg. (Kagalang-galang), Dr. (Doktor) and atbp (at iba pa). The rule most exercises test is narrower than the list: a title is abbreviated and takes a period only when a full name follows. Sen. Loren Legarda is correct; Sen. Legarda is not, because that should be written Senador Legarda.

Most pages returned for "dinaglat example" are a bare list of shortened words with no source and no rule attached, which is why the same list keeps producing the same mistakes in homework. This guide gives worked examples grouped by type, states the rule each group follows, and names the document those rules come from.

Where the Rules Actually Come From

The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) is the body that standardises written Filipino, and two of its publications govern here. The Ortograpiyang Pambansa covers spelling and how shortened forms are read aloud. The Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat goes further and devotes an entire chapter, Kabanata 15, to Daglat, Inisyals, at Akronim.

That chapter opens with the definitions worth memorising, because Filipino distinguishes four things where English tends to say "abbreviation" for all of them:

If an exercise asks for mga salitang dinaglat, it is asking for the first row. If it asks for akronim, the answer is a body of some kind, not a person.

Worked Examples by Type

Pantawag at titulo

These are the ones that appear in almost every classroom list.

The rule attached to that table is the one people get wrong. The KWF manual states that titles and terms of address before a name are abbreviated and take a period when followed by the full name, and are not abbreviated when only the surname follows. So: Prop. Wilbert Lamarca but Propesor Lamarca; Dr. Purificacion Delima but Doktor Delima.

Pangalan ng tao

When the whole name is shortened, the initials go in capitals with no periods and no spaces: Alejandro G. Abadilla becomes AGA, Manuel L. Quezon becomes MLQ. When only the first and middle names are shortened, they are capitalised with periods: L.K. Santos, C.M. Recto.

The manual adds a caution that matters in research writing: respect however a person wrote their own middle initial, because it may carry meaning. It gives Iñigo Ed. Regalado as the example, where dropping the middle element would confuse the writer with his father, also a well-known writer of the same name.

Ekstensiyon at titulong akademiko

Jr., Sr. and roman numerals are always abbreviated when attached to a name: Phillip Kimpo Jr., Haring Felipe II. Academic and honorific titles with an established short form attach the same way but without a period: Purificacion Delima PhD, Teodoro T. Katigbak MBA, Gilbert Neri LLB, Bienvenido Lumbera NA.

Pangalan ng banal

Sn. Nicolas, Sto. Tomas, Sta. Isabel. But the manual is explicit that these are written out in full inside the official name of a place or institution: Parokyang San Nicolas, Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas, Kolehiyo ng Santa Isabel.

Katawagang teknikal

Units of measure take no period: m for metro, kg for kilogramo, min for minuto. Some English forms need changing for Filipino: seg for segundo, p for piye, pul for pulgada. The manual also lists g, km, sm, L, kw, tal (talahanayan), pig (pigura), dr (drowing), hal (halimbawa), prog (programa) and sk (sirka).

Daglat mulang Latin

Used in research and formal writing, kept in the traditional form, usually lowercase with periods: e.g. (exempli gratia), i.e. (id est), et al., etc., ibid., op. cit., NB or n.b., q.v., vs. One exception worth remembering for exams: sic takes no period, because it is not an abbreviation. Our APA citation guide covers how these behave in a reference list.

An Illustrative Worked Example

The sentence below is constructed for this guide as an illustration. It is not a quotation from any document.

Bago daglatin:

Dumalo ang Ginang Maria Santos, ang Doktor Jose Cruz, at ang Propesor Ana Reyes sa pulong ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino noong alas-dose at tatlumpung minuto, at nagdala sila ng dalawang kilogramo ng papel.

Pagkatapos daglatin:

Dumalo si Gng. Maria Santos, si Dr. Jose Cruz, at si Prop. Ana Reyes sa pulong ng KWF noong 12:30, at nagdala sila ng 2 kg ng papel.

Bakit ganoon:

• Gng., Dr. at Prop. ay may tuldok dahil buong pangalan ang kasunod. Kung apelyido lamang ang isusulat, ibabalik ito sa Ginang Santos, Doktor Cruz, Propesor Reyes.
• KWF ay akronim, hindi daglat, dahil pangalan ito ng isang kapisanan. Walang tuldok.
• kg ay daglat na panukat kaya walang tuldok, at pareho ang anyo sa isa at sa marami.

Mistakes That Cost Marks

• Abbreviating a title before a surname alone. Sen. Legarda should be Senador Legarda.
• Putting a period on an akronim. KWF, not K.W.F.
• Putting periods or spaces inside full-name initials. MLQ, not M.L.Q. or M L Q.
• Adding a period to sic. It is not an abbreviation.
• Shortening a saint name inside an institution name. Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas, not Unibersidad ng Sto. Tomas.
• Abbreviating an alyas. The manual states an alyas or pen name is not abbreviated.
• Adding a period to units of measure. kg, m, min stand on their own.

Where This Sits in Schoolwork

Abbreviation belongs to the writing and orthography strand of the Filipino learning area, and it recurs from the elementary grades through to research writing in Senior High. Our Filipino curriculum guide sets out how the learning area is organised, and the curriculum guides hub links the rest. If your assignment is tied to the annual language month, our Buwan ng Wika explainer covers who sets the theme and where the current one is published.

When you cite a rule in an essay or a report, cite the KWF manual rather than a list from a forum. The manual is the reason the rule exists, and quoting it is what separates a defensible answer from a copied one.

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Sources

• Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino - Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat (PDF)
• DepEd - MATATAG
• SchoolFinderPH - DepEd Curriculum Guide: Filipino
• SchoolFinderPH - DepEd Curriculum Guides Hub
• SchoolFinderPH - Buwan ng Wika Explained
• SchoolFinderPH - APA Citation Guide for Philippine Students