Mabuhay is a
Filipino greeting, usually expressed as ''Mabuhay!'', which literally means "
long live
''Viva'', ''vive'', and ''vivat'' are interjections used in the Romance languages. ''Viva'' in Spanish (plural ), Portuguese, and Italian (Also . in plural is rare), ''Vive'' in French, and ''Vivat'' in Latin (plural ) are subjunctive form ...
". The term is also occasionally used for
toasts during celebrations to mean "cheers". It is similar to the Hawaiian expression "
aloha
''Aloha'' ( , ) is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is used to define a f ...
".
A more modern appropriation of the
greeting
Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between indi ...
is its use in the
local hospitality industry to welcome guests—a practice rooted in a 1993 campaign launched by restaurateur Rod Ongpauco to more uniquely welcome foreign visitors to the Philippines.
"Mabuhay" is also the name of
the inflight magazine published by
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. (Philippine Stock Exchange, PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Cen ...
, as well as its
frequent-flyer program
A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline.
Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...
.
Examples
* "''Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang Repúblika!''"
("Long live the Philippines! Long live the Republic!")
* "''Mabuhay ang
Pangulo!''"
("Long live the President!")
* "''Mabuhay ang bagong
kasál!''"
("Long live/cheers to the newlyweds!")
Cognates in other languages
A number of other
Philippine languages
The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...
have terms that are cognate with the term. The
Bisayan languages
The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Mo ...
, for example, use the term "Mabuhi" in a manner similar to "Mabuhay".
''Viva''
Alternatively, the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
equivalent ''Viva'' is used in almost exclusively
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
contexts, specifically in shouts of praise directed at a
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
or to
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
during fiestas and assemblies (e.g., "''¡Viva
Señor Santo Niño!''")
See also
*
Merdeka
''Merdeka'' is a term in Indonesian and Malay which means "independent" or " free". It is derived from the Sanskrit ''maharddhika'' (महर्द्धिक) meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term h ...
*
Aloha
''Aloha'' ( , ) is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is used to define a f ...
*
Talofa
Talofa is a salutation or greeting in the Samoan language of the Samoan Islands.{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ptk9xUamLeUC&q=ali%27i&pg=PA209, title=Linguistic anthropology, first=Alessandro, last=Duranti, publisher=John Wiley ...
*
Kia Ora
Kia ora (, approximated in English as or ) is a Māori-language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It translates literally as "have life" or "be healthy", wishing the essence of life upon someone, from one speaker to the other ...
*
Tagalog language
Tagalog (, ; ; '' Baybayin'': ) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines, and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, ...
*
Filipino language
Filipino (; , ) is an Austronesian language. It is the national language ( / ) of the Philippines, and one of the two official languages of the country, with English. It is a standardized variety of Tagalog based on the native dialect, spok ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabuhay (Expression)
Greetings
Tagalog words and phrases
Filipino language