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What’s with this “Wren” thing?
The oldest extant version of the fable
we
are presenting here appeared in 1913 in the first volume of a two-volume anthology
of Low
Saxon folktales (Plattdeutsche
Volksmärchen “Low German Folktales”)
collected by Wilhelm Wisser (1843–1935). Read
more ...
Many
Waray-Waray-speaking areas of Samar and Leyte
are destinations
for foreign vacationers and retirees.
Language information:
Waray-Waray has several alternative names, foremost among these being “Waray,” “Winaray,” “Samarenyo,” “Samar-Leytean” (Sinamar-Leytenhon) and “Lineyte-Samar Visayan” (Binisaya
nga Lineyte-Samarnon). Beginning with the middle of the 20th century, these tended to be preferred
because it was felt that the traditional name “Waray-Waray” had negative, ridiculing connotations. However, lately there has been a movement
back to using and owning “Waray-Waray” in order to ridding it of past negativism.
Waray-Waray is used by approximately
three million people, mostly in the Philippine provinces of Samar, Northern
Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Biliran. Its closest relatives are the fellow-Warayan
languages Waray Sorsogon and Masbate Sorsogon, and Warayan is a sub-group of
the Visayan group used on several islands of the Central Philippines.
Among these, Waray-Waray is used at the eastern end.
Probably partly due to
their language and culture having been at the receiving end of chauvinism,
many ethnic Waray authors chose to write in Tagalog or English rather than
in Waray-Waray, especially during the
second half of the 20th century when Waray-Waray newspapers ceased to be puplished
and local Tagalog papers ceased to feature Waray-Waray articles and poems.
However, the tide is now turning in that there has been an increase in Waray-Waray
literature
of
late.