Leitmeritz, Bohemia, Austria
29 June 1890
Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt
My Brother,
For a long time we have been waiting for some sign of life from you and we hope that you are well. My wife always tells me not to worry about you, because an extraordinary and capable man as you are is under the protection of the highest powers.
An idea has occurred to me: In reading the Letura Popular,[1] I have noticed that in Tagalog there are still many Spanish words. I believe that many of these words could be combined anew through the new formation of Tagalog words and roots, because, like all Malayan languages (and also German), Tagalog is very suitable for the formation of new words. We Germans are now beginning to clean our language of foreign words; thus we say now:
Erdkunde instead of Geographie
Volkerkunde instead of Ethnographie
Weltweisheit instead of Philosophie
Sprachenkunde instead of Linguistik
Gesichtskreis instead of Horizont etc.
I believed that the same thing should be done to Tagalog; it will not be difficult.
I’m writing a little article for La Solidaridad.
Affectionate greeting from my family and your friends and an embrace from
Your faithful
Blumentritt
02-549 [Blumentritt V.2]
[1] A Catholic biweekly in Spanish and Tagalog published at Manila.