Philippine English

Introduction

Learn more about a variety of English found in the Philippines.

Background

Philippine English is one of the few varieties of English that came from the Americas, not from Britain. Danica Salazar, World English Editor at the Oxford English dictionary, offers a brief history for Philippine English in the OED’s world language hub. In 1902, with the end of the Philippine-American War, the Philippines became an unincorporated territory of the United States.

As such, American officials in the Philippines quickly introduced the English language in matters of government, business, and education. For instance, they sent American teachers across the country to teach English to school children. After a few decades, Filipino school children were even learning English from their Filipino teachers. Even when the Philippines regained independence from the United States in 1946, the English language remained important in Filipino society and culture.1

Currently, more than 100 million people live in the Philippines.2 The country’s official languages are Filipino and English. Thus, English is integral to the country’s pursuits in business, science, technology, government, education, media, and the arts. One misconception is that Philippine English is a second language for all Filipinos. In actuality, a sizable number of Filipinos learn English as a first language—sometimes, it is even their only language. Another misconception is that the Philippine variety is stagnant, or that it is simply American English; however, Philippine English has distinctive pronunciation features, unique vocabulary, and its own grammar.

Pronunciation

KIT-FLEECE Merger

  • Manny Pacquiao (1:27): “I think it’s not enough for us.”
    • It’s is pronounced with a FLEECE vowel instead of a KIT vowel, so it’s and eats sound the same.3

Unstressed Vowels

Unstressed vowels tend to be pronounced as with their full vowel, rather than with more centralized vowels like schwa.4

  • Philippines 14 (0:19): “Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse…”
    • [bɛtɪnɛɾaɾi] 
    • None of the vowels in the word veterinary are pronounced as a schwa (/ə/). Every vowel is pronounced fully.

Voicing

The consonants /z/ and /ʒ/ are devoiced, becoming /s/ and /ʃ/, respectively.5

  • Manny Pacquiao (0:50): “I was, um, twelve years old, yeah.”
    • [wʌs]
  • Manny Pacquiao (1:50): “It’s good for us that our dad is not around because we’re not relying on Dad.”
    • [bikäs]
  • Learn English (3:28): “Crazy Philippine television”
    • [tɛlɛbiʃon]

The consonants /f/ and /v/ are approximated into the stop consonants /p/ and /b/.6

  • Philippines 14 (0:19): “Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse…”
    • [bɛtɪnɛɾaɾi]
  • Philippines 14 (4:26): “I got married at age 29 in the Philippines…”
    • [pilɪpins]

Rhoticity

Philippine English is a rhotic dialect. It uses both the approximant r (similar to the Standard American English dialect) and the alveolar tap.7

  • Philippines 14 (0:16): “Well, here’s a story for you.”
    • [stɔɾi]
  • Manny Pacquiao (1:11): “Sometimes, we don’t have food to eat one day and we just drink water.”
    • [dɾiŋk]

Dentalized Fricatives

The interdental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ are realized as /t/ and /d/.8

  • Manny Pacquiao (0:30): “We have to work everyday to make money to buy food for the family.”
    • [də]
  • Manny Pacquiao (3:09): “I experienced that life that—to have nothing.”
    • [nʌtiŋ]

Goldman-Fristoe

WordStandard American EnglishPhilippine English
Teeth[tiθ][tit]
Drum[dɹəm][dɾəm]
Shovel[ʃəvl][ʃəbl]
Zoo[zu][su]
Fish[fɪʃ][piʃ]
That[ðæt][dæt]
Vegetable[vɛdʒtəbl][bɛʃɛtɛbl]
Pig[pɪg][pig]

Grammar

Subject-Verb Agreement

Often, a singular subject will be accompanied by a plural verb, especially in the context of a noun phrase being used as a subject.9

  • “One of my brothers run fast.”

Verb Tense and Usage

The most common kind of verb tense usage is the leveling of the past participle, or using the present perfect (have + verb) when a simple past tense verb is usually used. Sometimes, the past perfect (had + verb) is also used in place of the present perfect (have + verb).10

  • Present perfect in place of simple past: “I have finished the housework yesterday.”
  • Past perfect in place of present perfect: “We had studied for the test today.”
  • Past tense verb replaces the past participle:11 “The boy had saw his friend.”

Finally, transitive verbs are occasionally used intransitively, or without an object to receive the action of the verb. This form sounds incomplete to StE speakers.12

  • “She buys today.”
  • “We will fix.”

Use of Prepositions

Philippine English sometimes inserts prepositions after verbs, and nearly always places to after the word result.13

  • “This will result to great chaos.”

Lexicon

Normal Lexicon Expansion14

  • Pampers: ‘any disposable diapers’
    • She needed a pamper for her newborn
  • Pentel pen: ‘any color marker’
    • He used a pentel pen to make the poster vibrant and colorful

Shifting15

  • Conscienticize: ‘to raise one’s consciousness and to simultaneously prick one’s conscience’
    • The workshop aimed to conscienticize participants about social inequalities.
  • Fiscalize: ‘to call attention to abuse’
    • The journalist’s role is often to fiscalize the actions of those in power.

Preservation of Lexicon16

  • Solon: ‘any lawmaker’
    • The solon proposed a new bill to address climate change.
  • In the family way: ‘pregnant’
    • She whispered that her cousin was in the family way.

Analogical Construction17

  • honoree: ‘someone being honored’
    • The honoree gave a heartfelt speech at the ceremony.
  • Rallyist: ‘a participant in a rally’
    • The rallyists gathered to protest against the new policy.
  • Bedspacer: ‘someone who rents a bed in a boarding house, dormitory, or private home’
    • As a bedspacer, he shared a room with three others.

Clipping18

  • ballpen: ‘ballpoint pen’
    • She borrowed a ballpen to sign the document.
  • Aircon: ‘air conditioning unit’
    • The room felt comfortable because the aircon was running.
  • promo: ‘sales promotion’
    • The store’s holiday promo attracted many customers.

Abbreviation19

  • CR or comfort room: ‘restroom’
    • She excused herself to go to the CR.
  • DH: ‘domestic helper’
    • The DH was responsible for cleaning and cooking in the household.
  • GRO: ‘guest relations officer’
    • The GRO welcomed guests and ensured they had a pleasant stay at the hotel.

Coinage20

  • Imeldific: ‘anything exaggeratedly ostentatious or in bad taste’ (relating to Imelda Marcos)
    • The chandelier in the living room felt a bit imeldific.
  • Presidentiable: ‘likely presidential candidate’
    • The senator was considered a strong presidentiable for the next election.
  • Number two: ‘a mistress’
    • Rumors spread that he had a number two in another city.

English Compounding21

  • Captain ball: ‘the captain of a basketball or volleyball team’
    • The captain ball led the team to victory
  • Dirty kitchen: ‘the kitchen in rich homes where the messy or “real” cooking is done, while the other kitchen is for show’
    • the meal was prepared in the dirty kitchen, away from the guests.
  • Green joke: ‘risqué or obscene joke’
    • He was reprimanded for telling a green joke at the party.

Hybrid Compounding22

  • Bakya crowd: ‘crowd from lower socio-economic classes’
    • The movie was popular among the bakya crowd.
  • Common tao: ‘ordinary Filipino’
    • The politician promised to serve the common tao.
  • Sari-sari store: ‘small variety store found in residential neighborhood’
    • She went to the sari-sari store to buy snacks.

Borrowing (from Tagalog, Primarily)23

  • Bakya: ‘wooden clogs worn by peasants’
    • She bought a pair of bakya as a souvenir.
  • Tao: ‘human being’
    • Every tao deserves respect and dignity.
  • Sari-sari: ‘assortment’
    • Her bag contained a sari-sari of items.
  • Sampaguita: ‘fragrant small white flower’
    • She wore a garland of sampaguita around her neck.
  • Tamaraw: ‘wild carabao’
    • The tamaraw is native to the Philippines.
  • Lechon: ‘roasted suckling pig’
    • The lechon was the highlight of the fiesta feast.
  • Pancit: ‘generic term for a noodle dish’
    • They served pancit at the birthday celebration.
  • Pakikisama: ‘value of “getting-along-with”‘
    • Pakikisama is essential in maintaining harmony in a group.
  • Utang-na-loob: ‘debt of gratitude’
    • He felt utang-na-loob to the family who helped him.
  • Kundiman: ‘plaintive native love song’
    • The singer performed a beautiful kundiman at the event.
  • Barangay: ‘smallest unit of local government’
    • The barangay officials organized a cleanup drive.
  • Hacienda: ‘big land estate’
    • The family owned a vast hacienda in the countryside.
  • Barkada: ‘group, gang’
    • She went on a trip with her barkada over the weekend.
  • Beinvenida: ‘a party given to welcome somebody’
    • They hosted a bienvenida for the new teacher.
  • Yaya: ‘nanny’
    • The yaya took care of the children while the parents worked.
  • Kwan: ‘to refer to something at the tip of one’s tongue’
    • Can you pass me the kwan…the thing on the table?
  • Sayang!: ‘”What a pity!”‘
    • Sayang! The tickets were sold out before we got there.

References

  1. Salazar, Danica. “Introduction to Philippine English.” Oxford English Dictionary – Philippine English. https://www.oed.com/discover/introduction-to-philippine-english?tl=true
  2. Borlongan, Ariane Macalinga, and Joo Hyuk Lim. “Philippine English.” In The Electronic World Atlas of Varieties of English, edited by Bernd Kortmann, Kerstin Lunkenheimer, and Katharina Ehret, 2020. http://ewave-atlas.org/languages/75
  3. Oxford English Dictionary. “Philippine English.” https://www.oed.com/information/understanding-entries/pronunciation/world-englishes/philippine-english/
  4. Lean English Pronunciation, “The Philippine Accent & Philippine English Pronunciation,” posted September 1, 2023, by Lean English Pronunciation, YouTube, 5 min., 01 sec., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taNgsuXu9GM
  5. Lean English Pronunciation, “The Philippine Accent & Philippine English Pronunciation,” at 3:08–3:32.
  6. Lean English Pronunciation, “The Philippine Accent & Philippine English Pronunciation,” at 3:08–3:32.
  7. Oxford English Dictionary. “Philippine English.”
  8. Lean English Pronunciation, “The Philippine Accent & Philippine English Pronunciation,” at 2:37–3:08
  9. “Introduction to Philippine English.” Oxford English Dictionary – Philippine English. https://www.oed.com/discover/introduction-to-philippine-english?tl=true#grammar
  10. Oxford English Dictionary, “Introduction to Philippine English.”
  11. Borlongan, Ariane Macalinga, and Joo Hyuk Lim. “Philippine English.” In The Electronic World Atlas of Varieties of English, edited by Bernd Kortmann, Kerstin Lunkenheimer, and Katharina Ehret, 2020. http://ewave-atlas.org/languages/75
  12. Oxford English Dictionary, “Introduction to Philippine English.”
  13. Borlongan, Ariane Macalinga. Philippine English: Development, structure, and sociology of English in the Philippines. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2023.
  14. Maria Lourdes S. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching and the Lexicon of Philippine English,” Asian Englishes 1, no. 1 (1998): 51–52, https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.1998.10800994
  15. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  16. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  17. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  18. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  19. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  20. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  21. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  22. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.
  23. Bautista, “Tagalog-English Code-Switching,” 51-52.