This is no longer a commonly used word in contemporary Philippines.
Most Filipinos these days come across it in the title of Pedro Dalandan’s story “At Nupling ang Isang Lunting Halaman,” which won first prize in the first Linggo ng Wika in 1947. It’s about a soldier who was shot while fighting the Japanese in Bataan. As he lay slumped by a tree, the man in his death throes hallucinates while reminiscing happy days with his mother, girlfriend, and motherland.
The word nupling is all part of the lyrics to the Quezon City Hymn.
KAHULUGAN SA TAGALOG
nupling: sumupling, sumibol, sumipot, sumilang, ipinanganak
