What is the pre-colonial word for "Kumusta" (Hello) in Tagalog?

 By

Dayang Marikit

Philippine History Professor

(Kumusta) is derived from the Spanish phrase (Como Estas?) which translates to (How are you?). In Tagalog this would translate to (Na pa'ano ka na?).

• During pre-colonial times, the earliest type of greeting that was recorded is (Swasti), which was written on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. This was dated to be from 900AD, or 1,100 years ago. This greeting was adopted from Hinduism.

• The second greeting was (Salamat), which is derived from the Islamic greeting (Salaam). This is also related to (Shalom), which is a Hebrew greeting. However, in modern times (Salamat) simply translates to "Thank You" in Filipino. In our neighboring countries of Malaysia and Indonesia, (Selamat) is still a greeting.

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Answer requested by 

Anne Ariate