Philippine English: The Legitimacy of

The legitimacy of
PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
SHIRLEY N. DITA, Ph.D.
De La Salle University – Manila
ARIANE MACALINGA BORLONGAN, Ph.D.
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
(Japan)
BACKGROUNDER
• Brief history of Philippine English
• World Englishes
• The ICE
• Status of PE
LECTURE BODY
OUTLINE • Phonological features of PhilE
• Lexical features of PhilE
• Grammatical features of PhilE
CONCLUSION
• Concluding Remarks
• Final thoughts
@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE
ENGLISH
first official census of the American
government
newly-gained independence from •8,135 born in the US
the Spaniards •6,931,584 born in the Philippines
12 June 1898 1903
14 Aug. 1898 1918
the Americans established a military 5,774 - Americans in the Phils

government in the Philippines (below 0.1% of pop)
9,428,291 - Filipinos (91.4%).

BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE
ENGLISH
‘Pencionados’ - the 204
Filipino students sent by
1918 census – English
the colonial government 1900: McKinley – English,
overtakes Spanish (10 yrs
to study in the US medium of comm
old+)
•promoters of American
culture in the classroom.
1925 educational Thomasites had come;

survey: target language more Filipinos had been
in classrooms: AmE trained to teach English

BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
localization of English
phonology (despite 1,000++ teachers
their efforts to instruct observed and tested 3,500 children tested “Like teacher, like
Filipinos with American by the Commission pupil” (Board of
standard phonology) Educational Survey,
1925, p.154)
NOT ONE speaks

of the kind of NOT ONE spoke
English spoken in American-English
the United States,

July 4, 1946 – Philippine
independence
Raqueño (1940, 1952) distinctive

BRIEF way of Filipinos’ use of English
HISTORY OF
Nick Joaquin (1964):
PHILIPPINE
ENGLISH • “All these very young writers today. . . are
doing something with the English language.
. . It no longer is simple English. These young
boys are making it their English. . . It
couldn’t be expressed by an American,
British, or Indian.

• 1969: linguist Teodoro Llamzon
published ‘Standard Filipino English’
• a distinct variety of English; BRIEF HISTORY

• the type of English spoken by OF PHILIPPINE
educated Filipino circles;
• intelligible to Canadian and American ENGLISH
English

“ …when Filipino teachers

began teaching fellow Filipinos
English, Philippine English was
born! ”
-Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC (1997)
THE QUIRK-KACHRU DEBATE:
MONOCENTRIC VS PLURICENTRIC ENGLISH
• Quirk (1988, JALT Conference): • Kachru (1990, English Today 21):
• Standard English should be • Criticizes Quirk’s deficit
prescribed in the British educational linguistics position
system • “English is no longer the
• Nonnative Englishes are sole possession of the
inadequately learned versions of countries of the Inner
‘correct’ native English Circle”
• Nonnative Englishes are not valid as • Views Quirk’s proposal as
teaching models an outright attack on the
• ESL speakers must be discouraged “recognition of
from using the variety they hear pluricentricity and multi-
spoken around them, because “[it] is identities of English”
neither liberal nor liberating to permit
learners to settle for lower standards
than the best”

THE QUIRK-KACHRU DEBATE
• BRAJ KACHRU
• Born in 1932 in Kashmir, India
• Ph.D. from Edinburgh University
• Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of
Illinois
• the President of the American Association of Applied
Linguistics (1984)
• Initiated, shaped, and defined the field of World
Englishes which describes the spread of English across
the globe

THE THREE CIRCLES MODEL
(KACHRU, 1984)
• the post-colonial era

(1960 onwards)
• The ‘Inner Circle’
• ENL
• norm-providing
• The ‘Outer Circle’
• ESL
• norm-developing
• The ‘Expanding
Circle’
• EFL
• norm-dependent
Three ‘modified’ The overlapping
Concentric bubbles model
Circles (Kachru, 1992)
BRAJ KACHRU (1986):
CONCENTRIC CIRCLE MODEL
The nativized variety of English incorporates innovations in vocabulary,

grammar, and discourse.
New items of vocabulary (e.g. for food, for technology, for common
expressions) and different patterns for speech events (e.g., for greetings, for
apologies, etc.) are developed when English is transplanted to a new culture;
English is no longer an exclusive possession of users in the Inner Circle --

The plural form is advocated by
Kachru (1992: 357):
WORLD “The result of this spread is that,

formally and functionally, English
ENGLISHES now has multicultural identities.
The term ‘English’ does not

capture this sociolinguistic reality;
the term ‘Englishes’ does.”

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• Just like any English in the world,

Philippine English has its own features:
• Phonological features
• Lexical features
• Grammatical features
• Discoursal features
• - >> distinctly Philippine

16
STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• No sovereign state accords a national language status to English, not
even its traditional origin the United Kingdom, but the Philippines joins
59 sovereign states which have it as de jure official language.
Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States
only have English as de facto official language.
• Among those which have it as de jure official language are Canada,
Ireland, and South Africa as well as India, Jamaica, and Singapore.
Though in all these sovereign states mentioned, not one has English as
the lone official language and it is always co-official with another
language, as in the case of the Philippines.
@2020 Shirley Dita

17

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• The Philippines is among the largest English-using societies in the world.
A survey (Borlongan, Agoncillo, & Cequena, 2014) would tell us that
90.63% of Filipinos identify themselves as someone who can use English
at least to a communicative level. That represents roughly over 90
million Filipinos and makes the Philippines the fourth largest English-
knowing population, surpassing the United Kingdom, Canada, and
Australia by large numbers.
@2020 Shirley Dita

18

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• Contrary to predictions, positive attitudes towards Americans were not
crucial in the Filipinos’ desire to learn English. Rather, feelings of
satisfaction with the Philippine community were associated with the
integrative motive and English language achievement. This
association suggests that English is perceived in part as a Philippine
language, and the integrative motive to learn English in the Philippines
derives from an identification with a set of Filipinos, and this particular
set is believed to constitute a Filipino English speaking community.
(Santos, 1969, p. 47)
@2020 Shirley Dita

19

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• Gonzalez (2004, and even earlier) pointed out that proficiency and use of English in
the Philippines are a by-product of (good) education. It is also a stratifying agent in
the society.
• Martin (2014) though lamented on the variational fragmentation of Philippine English,
most especially with reference to education and socioeconomic status, of the
Philippine society. She argues that is symptomatic of the elusiveness, inaccessibility,
and irrelevance of (Philippine) English to a large part of the population. And hence
she was able to further draw three more circles — in true Kachruvian fashion (1985) —
within Philippine English, in itself an outer circle in the Kachru’s concentric circles
model of the spread of English, i.e. the inner circle (the educated elite using and
promoting it), the outer circle (the people accepting Philippine English as a
legitimate new English but doing nothing about/for it), and the expanding circle
(those unable to use English of whatever variety but needing it to move upward in
the society).
@2020 Shirley Dita
20

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• Gonzalez (2004, and even earlier) pointed out that proficiency and use of English in
the Philippines are a by-product of (good) education. It is also a stratifying agent in
the society.
• Martin (2014) though lamented on the variational fragmentation of Philippine English,
most especially with reference to education and socioeconomic status, of the
Philippine society. She argues that is symptomatic of the elusiveness, inaccessibility,
and irrelevance of (Philippine) English to a large part of the population. And hence
she was able to further draw three more circles — in true Kachruvian fashion (1985) —
within Philippine English, in itself an outer circle in the Kachru’s concentric circles
model of the spread of English, i.e. the inner circle (the educated elite using and
promoting it), the outer circle (the people accepting Philippine English as a
legitimate new English but doing nothing about/for it), and the expanding circle
(those unable to use English of whatever variety but needing it to move upward in
the society).
@2020 Shirley Dita
21

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
• And a fourth circle could still be added to what Martin initially conceived — the
marginal circle (Lee & Borlongan, 2019). This circle includes what is called in sociology as
‘hard-to-reach groups’. It is those totally not having any access to English, which bars
them from life chances in a society where English is the primary language of the
controlling domains. It may also be those not needing English for upward mobility in their
own social circle, e.g. indigenous minorities living in (semi-)isolation. This circle may well
thought to be a group not within the first three circles but it may also be important to
account for their presence in talking about the spread and penetration of English in the
Philippine society.
• Admittedly, (Philippine) English remains to be a stratifying agent in the Philippine society
but, undeniably, this resulting social stratification is likewise an agent to internal variation.
Furthermore, it is unescapable that a language or a language variety, for that matter,
may be(come) a stratifying agent in the society, with or without any established or
perceived standard for this language (variety).
@2020 Shirley Dita

22
INTERNATIONAL CORPUS OF ENGLISH (ICE)

• Aim: to collect material for comparative studies of English worldwide
• “educated’ English
• 15 different parallel corpora
• Common design (for comparison)
• 1M words (600,000 spoken; 400,000 written)
• 32 Text categories
• 500 texts; 2,000 words per text
• 300 spoken English (approx. 600,000 words)
• 200 written English (approx. 400,000 words)
@2020 Shirley Dita

INTERNATIONAL CORPUS OF ENGLISH (ICE)
• Aim: to collect material for comparative studies of English worldwide
• “educated’ English
• 15 different parallel corpora
• Common design (for comparison)
• 1M words (600,000 spoken; 400,000 written)
• 32 Text categories
• 500 texts; 2,000 words per text
• 300 spoken English (approx. 600,000 words)
• 200 written English (approx. 400,000 words)

ICE-PH I
• the first mega-word electronic corpus produced in the Philippines
• A great majority of them are accomplished users of English as a
second language
• Acrolectal speakers
• Collected between 1994-2004
• the corpus provides a solid basis for many kinds of studies that were
not previously possible to do in the Philippines

INTERNATIONAL CORPUS OF
ENGLISH (ICE)

BIGGEST ONLINE CORPORA

GloWbE (1.9B words)

PRE-ICE STUDIES ON PHIL ENGLISH
Llamzon (1969):
Standard Filipino English
Gonzalez (1985): Alberca (1978), Alberca &

Gonzalez (1978)
Bautista (2000a,2000b); Gonzalez, Romero,

Jambalos (2004)
PHONOLOGICAL
Gonzalez & Alberca (1978),
Gonzalez (1985),
Bautista & Gonzalez (2006)
Tayao (2004, 2008)
Berowa (2018)
FEATURES
LLAMZON (1969):
• used the sociolectal approach
• Acrolect: approximation to the General American
English (GAE) formal style
• standard variety, high prestige
• Mesolect: phonological productions are quite different
when compared with American English
• the speech of the majority of the population
• Basilect: speaker‘s ethnic tongue forms the substratum
• pertains to the widest form of popular speech
pertains to the widest form of popular speech

• Voiceless /f/ (fabric, form)
• Voived /v/ (vain, vote)
Absence of
• *this feature is present in Ibanag
labiodental
• - nafafatu (very hot), inafi (rice)
fricatives
• - bavi (pig), uvovug (speak),
gavva (int.)
LLAMZON
(1969) The voiceless • /s/ voiceless fricative -
alveolar fricative - /z/ voiced equivalent
/s/ may
correspond to
• /š/ voiceless palatal
four phonemes
fricative
in GAE • /ž/ voiced equivalent

Absence of the vowel reduction rule and a
tendency toward spelling pronunciation
Substitution of schwa to vowel sound
ALBERCA &
GONZALEZ, Substitution of [t] for soft –th; [d] for hard –th
1978; Absence of aspiration of initial voiceless

GONZALEZ, stops
1985 Simplification of the consonant clusters in

final position
Shift of the primary stress (ex: ‘exciting)

Absence of schwa
Absence of aspiration of stops in all positions
Substitution of [a] for [æ], [‫כ‬for [o], [I] for [i], [ε]
for [e]
BAUTISTA & Substitution of [s] for [z], [s] for [ʒ], [t] for [θ], [d]
GONZALEZ for [ð], [p] for [f], [b] for [v]
(2006) Simplification of consonant clusters in final

position
Syllable-timed, rather than stress-timed, rhythm
Shift in placement of accents

TAYAO (2004)
• Aspirations of voiceless stops /p/,/t/,/k/ in syllable-initial stressed position was
rare
• Labiodental /f/ voiceless and /v/voiced were absent
• GAE interdental fricatives /θ/ (voiceless) and /ð/ (voiced) are also largely
absent
• GAE consonant sibilants are coalesced as /s/
• Omission of the final consonant
/pαs/ not /pæst/
• Addition of a vowel before an initial consonant
/iskul/ for ‘school’

BEROWA (2018)
• The phonology of PhE: Its features across speakers of the major Philippine
languages
• Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicolano, Waray, Kapampangan,
Pangasinan, Kinaray-a, Tausug, Maguindanao, Maranao, Chavacano
• the voiced fricative /z/ is not a feature of PE
• because [bɪkɔs], always [ɔlwes],
• the palatal-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ is not a feature in PE phonology (e.g.
pleasure)
• Inconsistent production of the voiced-interdental fricative /ð/

DITA (2013)
• The intelligibility of PE to international students
• Speakers: ‘Low Proficient’ and ‘High Proficient’ PE
• 24 international students from 8 Asian countries
• Findings:
• Less proficient speaker has higher intelligibility
• Phonology is not a factor of intelligibility
• High intelligibility equals to high comprehensibility
• Linguistic environment affects intelligibility
• Speakers’ related factors such as rate and effort affect
intelligibility

LEXICAL FEATURES
Bautista (1995, 1998)
Anvil-Macquarie Dictionary (2000)
Bolton & Butler (2008)
OED (2013, 2016, 2018)
LEXICON OF PE (BAUTISTA 1995, 1998)
• Normal expansion (Pampers - disposable diaper)
• Shifts in POS (horn: Noun-Verb)
• He stopped in front of Toyota and horned loud and long.”
• unidiomatic verb-preposition combination (fill up the form)
• Preservation of items which have become lost or infrequent in other varieties (folk,
solon, wherein, etc )
• Analogical constructions (Octoberian, honoree, masteral)
• Clipping (aircon, sem)
• Total innovation (promdi, trapo)
• Combination of English and 1 borrowed element (balikbayan box, sari-sari store)
• Compounding forms of –mate, -boy (church mate, gasoline boy)

ANVIL- Academician – (noun Philippine English)
a teacher in a college, university, or
MACQUARIE institution of higher education (Note: This
DICTIONARY word is from the French acadèmicien)
OF PHILE FOR
Bedspacer – (noun Philippine English)
HS (2000): someone who stays in a dormitory or
shared room of a board house but does
not take meals there.
dirty kitchen – (noun Philippine English) a

kitchen for everyday use or use by maids,
as opposed to a kitchen used for show or
by the owner of the house.

Bolton & Butler (2008:)
‘Localized vocabularies of English Usage in Philippine dailies’
…Politicians are found guilt of economic plunder (large scale embezzlement of public
funds) or challenged by the press in ambush interviews (surprise interviews)
… Hapless citizens borrow money from five-six money lenders (borrowing at high rates
of interest,‟ i.e. borrowing five thousand and returning six...)
Meanwhile, motorists stuck in traffic get high blood (enraged) in frustration, and the
affairs of various topnotchers (high achievers) fill the gossip columns.

PHIL ENGLISH ENTRIES IN OED
(JUNE 2015)
1. Mabuhay 9. Utang na loob 17. Baon
2. Balikbayan 10. Comfort room 18. Mani-pedi
3. High-blood 11. KKB 19. Dirty kitchen
4. Sari-sari store 12. Barong 20. Sinigang
5. Estafa 13. Pandesal 21. Kuya
6. Despidida 14. Suki 22. Buko juice
7. Carnap 15. Bahala na 23. Kikay
8. Halo-halo 16. presidentiable 24. Barangay
25. Barkada
@2020 by Shirley Dita
26. Gimmick 30/06/2020
PhilEng in OED: March 2016
• KILIG
• Noun or adjective: a shudder or a thrill
• it can be used as part of the phrase:
• "kilig to the bones"
• compounds "kilig factor"
• "kilig moment
Other words:
- Teleserye
- Vlog

• ambush interview (n.) – impromptu
interview
OCTOBER 2018 ENTRIES • accomplish (v.) [forms and
questionnaires rather than fill them
out]
• bagoong (n.) – fish sauce
• bihon (n.) – long thin noodles
• ensaymada (n.) – spiral-shaped pastry
w/butter & cheese
• bold (adj.) [erotic or sexually explicit,
not courageous]
• carinderia (n.) – low-key resto
• cartolina (n.) – thick, colored paper for
posters
• dine-in (n. and adj.) – cf eat in (SA); for
here
OCTOBER 2018 ENTRIES
dirty ice
cream, n. viand. n holdupper, n. palay, n.
panciteria, n. querida, n. rotonda, n. sorbetes, n.
trapo, n. turon (n.)

SAMPLE SEARCH: BALIKBAYAN BOX VS
PARCEL

PHILIPPINE ENGLISH WORDS

GRAMMATICAL
FEATURES
BASED FROM / RESULT TO
Corpus Occurrences of Occurrences of Occurrences of Occurrences of
Based on Based from Result in Result to
(Standard Use) (Non-standard (Standard Use) (Non-standard
Use) Use)
ICE-PHI 207 (97.6%) 5 (2.4%) 83 (93.3%) 6 (6.7%)

ICE-SIN 154 0 85 0
ICE-HK 165 0 72 0
ICE-IND 123 0 65 0
ICE-GB 76 0 82 0

BASED ON VS BASED FROM

EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Literature during the

Colonial America were Morphological characteristics
written based from the were based from Seki and
experiences of the writer Kan-no (1977). (PHI, w2a-022)
(PHI, w1a-015)
It might result to people

If you don’t solve the
joining the insurgency
problem ultimately it’s
because they want to
going to result to more
change the whole system
crime. (PHI, s1b-020)
(PHI, s1b-020)

Ø MAJORITY
Corpus Occurrences of With Article Without Article
__ Majority (Correct Use)
(Incorrect Use)
No. %
No. %
ICE-PHI 76 54 71.1 22 28.9
ICE-SIN 62 58 93.5 4 6.5
ICE-HK 87 74 85.1 13 14.9
ICE-GB 95 95 100.0 0 0.0

Generally, articles are problematic for second
language learners of English.
“Three of the most common words in the English

language are also three of the most difficult to use:
a, an, the.” (Swales and Feak, 1994, p. 221)
Ø MAJORITY But a survey done by Pulse Asia shows majority of

their respondents want President Estrada to keep his
post. (PHI, s2b-003)
The Philippine production system is currently at the

pre-industrial stage, i.e. majority of the animals
subsist on valueless resources. (PHI, w2a-029)

SUCH + Ø SINGULAR NOUN
Such should be
followed by the
the article is not
indefinite article a/an
needed when the
when such is used with
noun following such is:
a count noun (e.g.
such a story)
preceded by a
modifier such as no,
a mass noun (e.g. a plural count noun
one, any, first (e.g. no
such information) (e.g. such books)
such proposal, one
such proposal).

the House of Representatives is not
attempting to raise the standard of
ethical perfection for our political
leadership nay for all of us. Such person
does not walk the earth today even after
Jesus Christ redeemed mankind from
EXAMPLES IN original sin. (PHI, s2b-024)
THE
CORPUS…
But the President said he is willing to do
that for the sake of the people if such act
would bring down the oil prices. (PHI,
w2c-014)

CORPUS FINDINGS: SUCH
Corpus Total Number Use of a/an or Ø
of Such + Correct Use Incorrect Use ? Use
Noun No. % No. % No. %
ICE-PHI 256 224 87.5 20 7.8 12 4.7
ICE-SIN 282 259 91.8 17 6.0 6 2.1
ICE-HK 419 318 75.9 71 16.9 30 7.2

ASSURE + Ø INDIRECT OBJECT
• Quirk et al. (1985, p. 1213) point out, the verb
assure requires an indirect object followed by a
(that)-clause direct object
• The President assured he is not merely laying

down the basis to declare Martial Law (PHI,
s2b-003)
• Rasendyll is set, on the other hand, to assure
that the throne will not befall the evil hands
of the king’s brother (PHI, w1a-017)

CORPUS FINDINGS: ASSURE
Corpus Occurrences + Indirect Ø Indirect Followed by a
of Assure Object or Object or Simple Noun
Passivized Other Wrong Phrase
(Correct Use) Usage (? Use)
No. % (Incorrect No. %
Use)
No. %
ICE-PHI 75 55 73.3 9 12.0 11 14.7
ICE-SIN 42 37 88.1 4 9.5 1 2.4
ICE-HK 33 23 69.7 7 21.2 3 9.1
ICE-GB 18 17 94.4 0 0.0 1 5.6

WHEREIN IN THE DIFFERENT
CORPORA
Corpus Occurrences of
Wherein
ICE-PHI 78
ICE-SIN 0
ICE-HK 2
ICE-GB 1
EXAMPLES OF WHEREIN IN ICE-PHI
• Yeah just like the Flintstones that Flintstones’ advertisement wherein
[where, in which] the kid one time uhm her Mom went out oh I think
went to work. (PHI, s1a-016) – Conversation
• so we cannot afford to dump our sugar into the world market simply
because the world market is is a market wherein [where, in which] all
surplus and excess sugar are dumped by the producing countries.
(PHI, s1b-025)
– Broadcast Discussion

Actually – the most popular disjunct in PE (673);
Definitely, Basically, Honestly, Obviously, etc.
DITA (2011): Basic disjuncts are Practically speaking, technically
‘DISJUNCTS’ compounded with

‘speaking’:
speaking, logically speaking,
etc. (14 combinations)
IN PE The forms of PE disjuncts are dominantly –ly

single-word adverbs, prepositional phrases,
infinitives, clauses
disjuncts: discourse fillers

EXAMPLES. . .
• It’s not who is right and who is wrong uh academically speaking
<S1B:044>
• Philosophically speaking, what it means to be human. . . <W2B:007>
• So practically speaking we built that on the purpose of word. . .
<S1A:005>
• Okay so definitely in terms of your question. . . <S2A:049>
• No uh well actually it’s a. . . <S1A:018>

DISTRIBUTION OF OTHER –LY SA
ACROSS VARIETIES
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
ly
tl y
ly
sly
ly
ly
ly
lly
ll y
in
te
te
al
ul
ra
en
ou
ia
rta
f
sic
na
na
tu
pe
nt
ar
vi
ce
ba
na
tu
rtu
se
ob
ho
r
ap
es
fo
fo
un
@2020 by Shirley Dita PHI HK SNG IND 30/06/2020

OTHER CLAUSAL STANCE ADVERBS ACROSS
ASIAN ENGLISHES
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
I guess I believe I bet I suppose Who knows
@2020 by Shirley Dita PHI HK SNG IND 30/06/2020

VERB PHRASE (BORLONGAN 2010)
• Filipino speakers of English prefer a simpler verb

phrase construction;
• They tend to avoid the more complex VP
construction
• The more complex the construction, the less likely
it will be used.
• the most complex combinations namely ABCD
and BCD never occurred in the data even once

FORMING COMPLEX VP
“The doctor examined the patient.”

A – modal
The doctor may examine the patient.
B – perfective
The doctor has examined the patient.
C – progressive
The doctor is examining the patient.
D – passive
The patient was examined by the doctor.

THE COMBINATIONS (QUIRK ET AL. 1985)
• AB - may have examined
• ABC - may have been examining
• ABD - may have been examined
• ABCD - may have been being examined
• AC - may be examining
• ACD - may be being examined
• AD - may be examined
• BC - has been examining
• BCD - has been being examined
• BD - has been examined
• CD - is being examined
Type Printed Conversational Total
Present Past Present Past
B 795 383 329 33 1540
AB 67 0 143 0 210
ABC 2 0 3 0 5
ABCD 0 0 0 0 0
ABD 12 0 16 0 28
BC 52 17 30 1 100
BCD 0 0 0 0 0
BD 227 55 24 1 307
Total 1155 455 545 35 2190
There is an obvious lexical poverty in
the use of intensifiers (usually so,
very, too)
To express intensity, PE tends to

reduplicate intensifiers
DITA (2010):
INTENSIFIERS I also don't like Posh, she is too too
IN PE too too too posh for me<ICE-
PHI:S1A-046#36:1:A>
Flat finals that 's why I 'm very very

very very very happy <ICE-PHI:S1A-
045#117:1:B>

DISJUNCTS IN WORLD ENGLISHES (DITA, 2017)

MORE WORKS ON THE GRAMMAR
OF PHIL ENGLISH
• Morales (2015): Adjuncts in Philippine English
• Villanueva (2015) The Features of the Emerging Regional Varieties of
Philippine English
• Herrera (forthcoming): conjuncts in Philippine English
• Laurente (forthcoming): downtoners in PhilE
• Alonzo (forthcoming): subjuncts in PhilE
• Ella (2019): multi-word verbs in World Englishes
• Brylko (2020): The grammar of linking adverbials in World Englishes
• And a lot more!

Philippine English is not English that falls
short of the norms of Standard
American English; it is not badly learned
English as a second language;
its distinctive features are not errors

BAUTISTA committed by users who have not
(2000, P. 20) mastered the American standard.
Instead, it is a nativized variety of

English that has features which
differentiate it from Standard American
English because of many factors.

PE is the language of
educated Filipino;
It is the type of English that is

CONCLUDING acceptable in educated
REMARKS Filipino circles;
It is not the type of English

which simply mixes Tagalog
and English.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The use of PE is a way of establishing our identity apart from
other Englishes of the world;
PE is our way of enriching the English language, not

bastardizing it;
PE is a testimony of our linguistic curiosity and creativity;
The use of PE is a way of promoting our own culture;
The use of PE is a sign of rich linguistic identity in our country.

• Philippine English is a legitimate nativized
variety of English. It is the language used
by Filipinos in controlling domains such
as science and technology, the
judiciary, the legislature, bureaucracy,
higher education, scholarly discourse,
and the like.
• Dayag (2012)

76
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In very simple terms, English is here,

English is ours, English is here to stay. And
this is true at least in this century, the next,
and even after next.
@2020 Shirley Dita

To use English is not anti-Filipino. To use
English is very much characteristically
Filipino. English is a Filipino language.
Across the world, almost in the same
way as being Catholic, using English is
synonymous to being Filipino.

• Gonzalez (1987), in defining the Philippine
language for the 21st century, prophesied:
• [l]ooked at it in terms of features, the variety
of English developing in the Philippines and in
the process of standardization will be one of
the new Englishes in the Third World, different
in many features of pronunciation, lexicon,
THE FUTURE idioms, and syntax, as well as of style and
rhetoric, from general American English. This
OF PHIL. will be a pronounced development in the
next century which will have to be accepted
ENGLISH and its potentialities exploited. Legitimacy for
this variety has de facto been achieved; it is
now a question of standardizing it and
ensuring its intelligibility to an international
audience if we are to use it as an international
language variety and as a language of wider
communication. (p. 214-215)
30/06/2020 @2020 by Shirley Dita
79
FINAL THOUGHTS
• By and large, (Philippine) English is the most extensively researched
language in the Philippines, even more than Tagalog!
• Data allow us to better understand concepts and theories. Bigger data
make us best understand these concepts and theories, and could even
rewrite these concepts and theories.
• It is an imperative to understand, theorize, and analyze in more
contemporary terms each and every time.
• Comparisons give us a better view of things. To be more specific about it,
most especially in relation to Philippine English, distinctness can only be
recognized when there are comparisons being made.
• Philippine English has distinct phonological, lexical,
and grammatical features that are uniquely
Filipino.
• Language, culture, and identity are intertwined.

We use language to communicate our culture and
identity. If we deny the use of PE, it is tantamount
to denying our own culture and identity.

ECHOING DAVID CRYSTAL (AUG, 2019)
• Two most important concerns: INTELLIGIBILITY & IDENTITY

• … there is no such thing as homogeneity in language… there is
always variation. And as long as variation doesn’t get in the way
of intelligibility, it has to be respected first then fostered because
these are the makers of identity…
• …the difference between intelligibility and identity is not just a
matter of intelligence. Intelligibility is full of head; identity is full of
heart …

• Your (Philippine) English is as
valid and as legitimate as
Singaporean English, or
Australian English, or British
English, or any variety of
English out there. No variety is
more superior to, or more
inferior from, other varieties!

83
ECHOING TRUDGILL (1999) …
… I hope this “linguistic bigotry” will

one day “no longer be acceptable,
just as racism and sexism . . . have
become unacceptable” …
@ShirleyDita 2020 June 27, 2020

“I am a Filipino and
I speak Philippine
English”

Philippine English: The Legitimacy of

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The legitimacy of

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

12 June 1898 1903

14 Aug. 1898 1918

the Americans established a military 5,774 - Americans in the Phils

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

1925 educational Thomasites had come;

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

NOT ONE speaks

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

Raqueño (1940, 1952) distinctive

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

• a distinct variety of English; BRIEF HISTORY

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

“ …when Filipino teachers

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

• the post-colonial era

The nativized variety of English incorporates innovations in vocabulary,

English is no longer an exclusive possession of users in the Inner Circle --

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

WORLD “The result of this spread is that,

The term ‘English’ does not

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

• Just like any English in the world,

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

@2020 Shirley Dita

STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

@2020 Shirley Dita

STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

@2020 Shirley Dita

STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PHILIPPINES AND

@2020 Shirley Dita

INTERNATIONAL CORPUS OF ENGLISH (ICE)

@2020 Shirley Dita

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

Gonzalez (1985): Alberca (1978), Alberca &

Bautista (2000a,2000b); Gonzalez, Romero,

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

Substitution of schwa to vowel sound

1978; Absence of aspiration of initial voiceless

1985 Simplification of the consonant clusters in

Shift of the primary stress (ex: ‘exciting)

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

Absence of aspiration of stops in all positions

(2006) Simplification of consonant clusters in final

Shift in placement of accents

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020

@2020 by Shirley Dita 30/06/2020