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So far, 2012 has been a colorful year for language, as seen in this year's crop of suggestions for Filipinas Institute of Translation's (FIT) Salita ng Taon.

Level-up, pick-up line, wangwang, fish kill, pagpag, palusot, trending, SALN, impeachment, wagas, android and wi-fi among these is the word of the year, which will be declared during the Sawikaan 2012 conference this month.

In 2010, jejemon was word of the year, followed by Ondoy and korkor.

The word of the year is chosen from nominations from students, teachers, scholars, professionals, and others who are interested in language.

"Ang pangunahing criteria ay naging mahalaga ang salita sa pang-araw-araw na buhay at pangkamalayang buhay ng mga Filipino," said FIT executive director Romulo Baquiran Jr.

"Puwedeng sumali ang guro at estudyante. Kahit nga ang batikang propesor at kolumnista na si Randy David ay sumali at nanalo noong kauna-unahang Sawikaan para sa salitang 'canvass.' Nitong huli, si Dean Rolando Tolentino ng UP College of Mass Communication ay nagwagi rin para sa salitang 'jejemon.' Mayroon din namang kagaya ni Rachelle Joy Rodriguez na noong una ay estudyante pa at ngayon ay kasali pa rin bilang isang butihing guro na rin. Kaya, ang kagandahan ng paligsahang ito ay ang demokratisasyon sa 'pag-angkin' ng mga salita!" FIT's Vim Nadera told GMA News Online in an email.

The call for nominations is usually made around January, with April as the deadline. This year's deadline was on March 30, 2012. The finalists were chosen from words that became popular in the last two years.

"Mga 12 salita ito na naging popular sa nakaraang dalawang taon. Kaya ang 2012 salita ng taon ay sumasakop sa mga taong 2010-2012," Baquiran said.

On the other hand, a few suggestions did not meet the criteria of bearing new meaning. "Halimbawa ay 'planking' na higit na angkop sa Ingles na konteksto," Baquiran said.

"Ang salita ay dapat na may bagong aspekto ng kahulugan. Halimbawa, ang 'ukay' ay dating 'hukay' lamang. Pero nang maging tawag ito sa pagbebenta ng segunda manong gamit, nagkaroon ito ng bagong kahulugan sa maraming paraan," Baquiran said.

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From pick-up line to palusot: Sawikaan 2012 to select word of the year