Exploring the link between language and emotion, Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), through its Center for Language Studies (CLS) in partnership with the Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan, the Department of English, and the Mindanao Heritage and Indigenous Knowledge Research Center (MHIRC), hosted a lecture titled “Worded Feelings: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) Approach to Emotions” on Saturday, November 15, at the COE Amphitheater.
The session featured guest speaker Michael Manahan, a lecturer at the University of the Philippines - Diliman (UPD) Department of Linguistics who teaches linguistics and Japanese, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in anthropology focusing on Filipino emotion words through the NSM approach.
Manahan has received international recognition for his research, earning the Bert Peeters Prize for Best Student Project in NSM Semantics, a worldwide competition for outstanding NSM research.
He mentioned utilizing historical and contemporary dictionaries, online KWF resources, his experience as a Bulacan Tagalog speaker, and corpus data from the Leipzig Tagalog Corpus to capture formal and lived meanings.
During the lecture proper, he specifically examined Filipino emotion words through the NSM framework, first explaining how takot (fear) is structured into an event or trigger, model thought, feeling, and typicality.
“Exam results, kaba talaga muna yung nararamdaman. And then, when they finally see a score lower than expected, ayun, that’s when takot hits, especially if it’s high stakes,” he said, illustrating how nervousness (kaba) often precedes full-blown fear.
Manahan added, “Kaba acts as the first signal—tightening in the chest, faster heartbeat, slight shaking—before the mind fully names it as takot,” noting that kaba can linger even after the danger has passed.
He also discussed pangamba, often translated as apprehension or worry, saying, “Pangamba captures the moment when the mind senses a threat even before it is fully formed.”
This emotion, he articulated, involves recognizing possible danger, wanting to act, and uncertainty, and is slower and more reflective than sudden fear, often overlapping with kaba and pag-aalala.
His lecture also addressed magkahalong takot at kaba, or simultaneous fear and nervousness, noting, “This is the moment when the mind is in takot, the body is in kaba,” emphasizing how Filipino emotional experiences are layered, interconnected, and culturally nuanced.
Moreover, he mentioned that the concept of bahala na, often translated as “come what may,” goes beyond mere surrender, beginning with fear and uncertainty before shifting into decisive action.
“It is courage at the edge of surrender, carrying fear into action rather than erasing it,” Manahan said.
The UPD lecturer and researcher encouraged viewing Filipino emotions as dynamic networks rather than isolated categories.
“Takot, pangamba, kaba, and bahala na form a spectrum of responses to uncertainty, danger, and the unknown. Fear is something we need, share, and can begin to understand,” he emphasized.
Manahan concluded by reflecting on the evolving nature of studying emotions, saying, “How do words feel, and how do we feel with words? These questions may never have final answers.”
He pointed out that our emotions and the words we use for them are constantly evolving, emphasizing that this exploration is not the end but an ongoing invitation to engage with our language, feelings, and culture.
Written by Bea Faye Eumague
Proofread by Andrea Ross Sedero
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