Philippine English

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Basic facts

III. History
3.1 Negritos
3.2 Spanish Colonization
3.3 Arrival of English

IV. Present-day language situation
4.1 Language variety
4.2 Code-switching or code-mixing

V. Characteristic features of Philippine English
5.1 General facts
5.2 Phonology
5.3 Morpho-syntax
5.4 Lexis

VI. Teaching Philippine English and its problems

VII. Conclusion

VIII. Bibliography

IX. Appendix

I. Introduction

The spread of English around the world has offered us a diverse range of varieties of English.

Within the framework of Postcolonial English varieties, I have investigated the Philippine variety of English, which was a result of and emerged from its colonial background.

In Braj Kachru’s model of World English dialects, Philippine English belongs to what are called the ‘outer circle’ countries and is used in the major institutions as a legacy of colonisation.^[1] As a result, English has a great historical importance and serves as a lingua franca between the different ethnic and language groups.

To fully understand the make-up of Philippine English, we need to take a look at the derivation and spread of the language. Aside from introducing general facts about the country, I will examine the origins of the language and the arrival of English in Philippine history. Furthermore, I will briefly explore the present-day language situation, especially the different local languages and the code-switching or code-mixing between the two official languages Filipino and English. By looking at the characteristic features of Philippine English, I want to show the general, phonological, morpho-syntactical and lexical differences from General American English. Finally, I want to discuss the significance of Philippine English for a teacher of foreign languages and to draw conclusions regarding the impact of English on the Philippines.

II. Basic facts

The Philippines are located in Southeast Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. The land has an area of 298,170 km² and is slightly larger than Arizona. The Philippines consist of 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, of which only eleven are bigger than 2500 km². The biggest islands are: Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, Cebu, Leyte, Mindoro, Panay and Palawan. Only 1000 islands are bigger than 1 km². An estimated population of 91,077,287 (July 2007) lives in the Philippines. The capital of the Philippines is Manila and the largest town is Quezon City. Religious affiliations include Roman Catholic 80.9%, Muslim 5%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%, Aglipayan 2%, other Christian 4.5%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.6% and none 0.1% (2000 census). In addition to a mixture of religions there are also several languages. The two official languages are Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English, but about 180 languages and dialects exist on the island.^[2]

When investigating the English language of the Philippines it is important to consider the history and the arrival of the languages beforehand.

III. History

3.1 Negritos

It all began about 30000 years ago with the arrival of the Philippines’ aboriginal inhabitants: the Negritos. Negritos are various ethnic groups in isolated parts of Southeast Asia. The population includes the Aeta, Agta, Ayta, Ati, Dumagat and at least 25 other Philippine tribes. The exact route of and the reasons for their immigration to Asia are still a matter of great speculation and controversy.^[3]

The name Negrito, which means little Negro, refers to the small stature of the people. It was given by Spaniards who supposed that the Negritos were from Africa (see appendix).

The Negritos, however, differ not only in appearance from ‘true’ African Negroes, but also genetically.^[4]

The Negritos speak Borneo-Philippine languages, also called “Outer Hesperonesian” or “Outer Western Malayo-Polynesian” languages. Borneo-Philippine languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian language family and have many small groups of languages, with the most important languages being Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Malagasy and Tausug.^[5]

3.2 Spanish Colonization

An important person who mentioned Negritos living in the island of Panglao was Ferdinand Magellan. By the 14th century A.D. extensive trade was being carried out with India, Indonesia, China and Japan. In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan explored the Philippines and claimed the island for Spain. He built up friendly relations with some of the local chiefs and tried to convert them to Roman Catholicism. Later, he was killed in a dispute with indigenous tribal groups. The name Philippines was given to the island in honour of King Philipp II. of Spain.

Subsequently, Spanish troops invaded the islands, but didn’t establish a settlement until 1565.

Because of the Spanish settlement, Spanish was declared as the official and main language.

Today’s capital Manila became the centre of the Spanish government.  It was used for military, religious and commercial activities.^[6]

3.3 Arrival of English

The Spanish control lasted for more than three centuries, until the islands were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), as a consequence of the Spanish-American War.

The history of Philippine English has been rather short, but unusually intense, because the language spread very quickly.^[7] The number of English speakers in the Philippines increased from practically zero in 1898 to a census figure of 16,409,133 or 44.7% of the population in 1970.^[8] This makes Filipino English a product of American colonial expansion.

Spanish, however, had only made a limited impact under the last colonial regime, and the Americans also judged their own culture and language superior to the indigenous ones. Because of this, English was declared the official language, as well as the and main language of education. By enforcing this rule, the US sent about 523 teachers on board the USS Thomas to the Philippines in 1901. The teachers became known as the “Thomasites” and helped to intensify education in English (see appendix). Apart from teaching basic education, they also trained Philippine teachers in English as a means of instruction. The US colonial rule of the Philippines started in 1905 with very limited local rule. In 1935 partial autonomy or limited sovereignty was granted under a “commonwealth” status, which was the foundation for a planned full independence from the United States in 1946.^[9] On May 14th, 1935 Manuel L. Quezon (Nacionalista Party) won the election of the “newly created office for President of the Commonwealth in the Philippines and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles superficially similar to the US Constitution”.^[10] In the Constitution of 1935, English was added as an official language. Furthermore, in 1937, Tagalog was developed into a national language by the new government. During the Second World War (between 1941 and 1945) the Philippines were occupied by Japan and the path towards full independence was briefly interrupted. Following Japan’s surrender, the US and the Philippine Governments signed the Treaty of Manila (or the Treaty of General Relations) on July 4th, 1946. This treaty provided full independence for the Philippine government and the surrender of American control over the Philippine islands.^[11] English and Tagalog were promoted in a bilingual education scheme and Tagalog was officially renamed Filipino in the Constitution of 1973. English, however, continued to spread vigorously even after the Philippines had gained independence.^[12]

[...]

^[1] cf. Bloomer et al. (2005). Introducing Language in Use, 414-416.

^[2] cf. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/rp.html [15.2.2008]

^[3] cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negrito [13.2.2008]

^[4] cf.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00113204%28198108%2922%3A4%3C421%3ATGOOTP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H

[13.2.2008] 421-422.

^[5] cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines#Languages [14.2.08]

^[6] cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines [14.2.08]

^[7] cf. Schneider (2007). Postcolonial English. Varieties around the World, 140.

^[8] cf. Gonzalez, Andrew (1997). Philippine English: A variety in search of legitimation, 205.

^[9] cf. Schneider (2007), 140-141.

^[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines_%281898%E2%80%931946%29

^[11] cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines_%281898%E2%80%931946%29

^[12] cf. Schneider (2007), 141.