<P> An unspecified number of Filipinos refer to themselves as Pinoy or sometimes the feminine Pinay instead of the proper word Filipino. Filipino is the proper word to call the people in the Philippines . The word is formed by taking the last four letters of Filipino and adding the diminutive suffix - y in the Tagalog language (the suffix is commonly used in Filipino nicknames: e.g. "Ninoy" or "Noynoy" for Benigno Jr. and III respectively, "Totoy" for Augusto, etc .). Pinoy was used for self - identification by the first wave of Filipinos going to the continental United States before World War II and has been used both in a pejorative sense and as a term of endearment, similar to Chicano . Although Pinoy and Pinay are regarded as derogatory by some younger Filipino - Americans, the terms have been widely used and have recently gained mainstream usage particularly among members of the Filipino masses and the Filipino - American sector . </P> <P> Pinoy was created to differentiate the experiences of those immigrating to the United States but is now a slang term used to refer to all people of Filipino descent . "Pinoy music" impacted the socio - political climate of the 1970s and was employed by both Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and the People Power Revolution that overthrew his regime . Recent mainstream usages tend to center on entertainment (Pinoy Big Brother) and music (Pinoy Idol), which have played a significant role in developing national and cultural identity . As of 2016, the term has been extensively used by the government of the Philippines itself with apparently no derogatory connotations . It is now more positive than the slang term "flip". </P> <P> According to Filipino American historian Dawn Mabalon, the earliest appearance of the terms "Pinoy" and "Pinay" was in a 1926 issue of the Filipino Student Bulletin . The article that featured the terms is titled "Filipino Women in U.S. Excel in Their Courses: Invade Business, Politics ." </P> <P> The desire to self - identify can likely be attributed to the diverse and independent history of the archipelagic country - comprising 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean - which trace back 30,000 years before becoming a Spanish colony in the 16th century and later occupied by the United States, which led to the outbreak of the Philippine--American War (1899--1902). The Commonwealth of the Philippines was established in 1935 with the country gaining its independence in 1946 after hostilities in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War had ended . The Philippines have over 170 languages indigenous to the area, most of which belong to the Malayo - Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family . In 1939, then - president Manuel L. Quezon renamed the Tagalog language as the Wikang Pambansa ("national language"). The language was further renamed in 1959 as Filipino by Secretary of Education Jose Romero . The 1973 constitution declared the Filipino language to be co-official, along with English, and mandated the development of a national language to be known as Filipino . Since then, the two official languages are Filipino and English . </P>

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