Role/Status of English

in the Philippines

Linguistic Features of
Philippine English

Peoples Attitudes
toward using English
 History of English in the Philippines

1521

1762

1898
 Peoples Attitudes toward English

1. Filipinos with poor English skills become a target victim of

criticism and cyberbullying

2. On the contrary, those who possess or seem to possess high

English proficiency tend to receive/assert a higher status
(people with high educational background, call center agents,
Filipinos who teach English in , and those who have experienced
living in countries like USA, Canada, England, and the like)

How about in Korea?

Cyberbullying
Lets pray for her uncle.

Correct sentence:
My ankle hurts
Linguistic Features of Philippine English

1. Grammar
Follows American English
spelling and grammar
Redundancy and pleonasm

2. Phonology
Differences in diction and
pronunciation due to L1

3. Vocabulary and Context

Differences of terms used
for certain nouns
 Grammar

(1) Subject-verb agreement

(e.g.) One of the boys give a report to the teacher every morning.*

(2) Verbs that are generally transitive used intransitively:

(e.g.) Did you enjoy?*
I cannot afford.*
I don't like.*

(3) Tautologies
(e.g.) Redundancy I will be the one who will go I will go
Pleonasm At this point in time Now
 Pronunciation

(1) /r/ in Philippine English vs. /r/ in American English (AmE)

(2) Intonation - singsong.

(3) Varying success with the vowel contrasts in sheep/ship, full/fool,

and boat/bought.

(4) Few Filipinos have the // in AmE mask; instead, they use //
as in AmE father.

(5) Replace [p] for [f] & vice-versa; No distinction of [b] and [v], Soft
th [] becomes [t]; hard th [] becomes [d]
surface private mountain history
purchase candidate captain mastery

Schwa in unstressed sounds is pronounced in full vowels

No glottal stops or flaps
 Epenthesis, Suprasegmentals,
Yod-coalescence

Epenthesis older generations pronunciation of star, stampede, sky

become istar, istampede, isky due to Spanish influence

Suprasegmentals emphasis on the wrong syllable

Ex. Putting stress on the 2nd syllable of category & ceremony

Yod-coalescence - clusters [dj], [tj], [sj] and [zj] are turned into [d], [t], []
and [] respectively.
Ex. dew, tune, tube
- occurs in Australian, Cockney, Estuary English, South African
English, etc
 Vocabulary and Context

1. Giving commands
Can you switch the light on?
Can you open the light?

2. Asking someone to repeat what has been said

Philippines: Come again?
America: Pardon?/I beg your pardon?

3. Asking for some personal information

Philippines: Where do you live?
America: Where are you from?
 Philippine English American English
comfort room bathroom/restroom
cabinet closet
rubber shoes sneakers
brownout blackout
take-out (food) to-go/take-out
References:
https://www.academia.edu/3997144/Philippine_English_Vocabula
ry_A_Semantic_Study
http://www.slideshare.net/rhinautan/development-of-english-in-t
he-philippines
http://americanenglish.ph/misunderstanding-english-pinoy-vs-am
erican-vs-british/
http://asianjournal.com/news/40-filipino-terms-added-to-oxford-
english-dictionary/
http://www.thedailypedia.com/2015/03/facebook-status-updates
/