e a little wealth,
as the vessel is so limited, immediately it swells out and then they
do not know what to do; and, to let it be known that they are rich,
they immediately waste it in expenses that are at best useless, until
they remain as they were before. Thus their inclination [genio] is
opposite to their judgment [ingenio] in this direction; and although
they have sufficient intellect, they yield to their natural disposition
[genio], which dominates them, and in this never allow themselves to
be directed.

CHAPTER XLI

Of the letters, languages, and civilization of the Filipinos

417. Just as in Italia the Tuscan, Lombard, and Sicilian languages
resemble one another, and in Espana the Castilian, Portuguese,
and Valencian--for they all recognize one origin (namely, the
Roman), although they are, strictly speaking, quite distinct among
themselves--so it happens in the languages of these Philipinas
Islands. The principal cultured languages found here at the conquest
were six, namely, the Tagalog, the Visayan, the Pampanga, the Cagayan,
the Ilocan, and the Pangasinan. It is a fact that all the languages
here resemble one another, and he who knows one of them can easily
talk the others, for the structure of them all differs but little. We
trace them all to one origin, which cannot be other than the Malayan
language, according to the comparison which has been made of words,
and to the formation and construction of them all. Consequently,
although these Indians have regarded their origin as distinct from
that of various other nations, in the manner already mentioned, it
is evident that the more immediate generations must have been Malays,
since their letters and languages alone are found in these islands.

418. The vowels in the characters proper to their language are three
in number, although they have the same value as our five in use;
for the E and the I form one single letter, as do also the O and
the U. The consonants are thirteen in number, but they are never
used alone, for the vowel is always used with them. Thus by the use
of the C and the M alone they write cama [i.e., "bed"]. In order to
pronounce words with other vowels, they make use of certain commas,
placed either below or above. Consequently, as all the pronunciation of
their writing for the most part makes it necessary for them to supply
it at the expense of commas, the difficulty that was experienced
was considerable, even in the natives