Mukha ng Pinoy

Mukha -- Number 2 in a series of articles about Tagalog Words and everything Tagalog by Evelyn Miranda Feliciano, a best-selling author of books on Filipino culture and family life. Mrs Evelyn Miranda Feliciano is also a Wordhouse Consultant in Ilonggo.

”Mukha,” a word rich in literary connotation, is the Tagalog word for face.. So much today is made out of our physical face, our mukha. The trillion-dollar cosmetics industry mostly revolves around this small surface of our body – to make it’s skin smoother, finer, whiter, the eyes smoky and alluring, the eyebrows just right, the nose tall and small, the lips inviting and kissable. But that’s just the physical mukha.

For the Filipino, our pagmumukha, how our face presents itself to the world, is as important, if not more than crucial than it’s physical contour or beauty. One may not have an attractive face, but has a magaan (light and pleasant), maaliwalas (refreshing), or Masaya (smiling or happy) face that more than compensates for the lack of actual beauty. And woe to those who may have good looks but mabigat (heavy), maasim (sour) and problemado (problem-ridden) ang mukha.

“Ate, we thought you were a snob,” younger friends would tell me once they begin to know me a little better. “Kasi, parang suplada ang mukha ninyo” (because your face has that snotty look). Well, thank God, they stayed around to enable me to show them there was more to my character than just my face. “Mukha lang ‘yan,” (It’s just my face) we also say.

For better or for worse, we compare other people’s faces with that of animals to better picture their emotional state. An irate father is mukhang tigre o leon. A nagging wife is mukhang inahing nagtatatalak palagi (a hen cackling constantly). We also compare our faces or its general look with stereotype icons and images. A sweet, obedient child is mukhang anghel (angel). A brat however is mukhang maliit na demonyo (a little imp or devil). And in acknowledgement of our of pop culture, an all time kontrabida in our life is mukhang Max Alvarado, a late character actor who had set a benchmark as a very mean anti-hero in the local celluloid world. [Just how much we look at a face is not a unique trait though. Every generation has it's idol. A recent shampoo jingle goes: "Uy ang Ganda..." (Beautiful!) "Ay, anghel siya..." (she's an angel, literally meaning Angel Locsin who is a popular soap actress)]

Giving a face or context to "mukha", we can immediately point out about Filipinos (and most Asians) not wanting to lose face. We have a “face culture” they say. “Wala po kaming mukhang ihaharap sa kanila,” (We can't face them; we've lost face), said a young couple who eloped and asked my husband for help. They looked “mukhang kawawa (pitiful). They wanted my husband to mediate between them and their parents. Every time we think we fail others, whether by intent or omission, we often feel that we have lost face or nahihiya tayo (we feel embarrassed). And rather than face the issue we take flight by avoiding the offended party, by pretending he or she does not exist, or by hiding in some remote place.

On the extreme end is one who is makapal ang mukha, translated in the lingo of the young as kapalmuks or thick-faced or shameless. An upstart, a braggart na walang ibubuga (all air and no substance) strutting about is makapal ang mukha. Yet the same expression can also convey daring and faith. “Writing is basically pakapalan ng mukha,” one teacher said. “You’ve got to be thick-faced enough to be able to continue writing inspite of an editor’s insulting remarks and a publisher's constant rejections."

And finally, "Ipamumukha ko sa kanila!" (I’ll show them to their faces!)is the battle cry of those who feel belittled, oppressed, rejected, scandalized. And whatever victory and accomplishment they will have gained is going to be sampal sa mukha, (a slap on the face) of those who tried to put them down and ignored them.

Mukhang tapos na, we say when we come to the end of whatever we do. Out of modesty we don’t assert that the work is really done. We say with a shrug of our shoulders, "mukha...", or "more or less..." because we don’t want to appear as mukhang mayabang di ba? (arrogant)

July 2006

Possible source synonyms in a literary document:

• picture --litrato/larawan
  
• front -- harap/ harapan
• appearance - mukha (seemingly)
• looks --
• description -- paglalarawan
  

  
  Mukha yatang dapat kitang makilala. Anong pangalan mo?
  (It seems as if I need to know you. What's your name?)
  Iba pang mukha ng Pinoy? See Sama-sama Kasama.