What is Philippine English?

IN the last weeks and months, we have been talking about not only the spread of English worldwide and English in the Philippines but, more specifically, about Philippine English. In defining “Philippine English,” more than saying what it is, I guess it is better to begin by saying what it is not. First and foremost, and probably most importantly, Philippine English is not poorly learned English. It is not English spoken by a student who has not reached the proficiency level enough for him or her to pass his or her English language classes, to be admitted into his or her desired school, or to be hired by a company s/ he applied for. It is not broken English nor what is sometimes called “broken English,” or even “bamboo English” or “carabao English.” It is not English with mispronunciations, grammatical errors and faulty expressions.

Philippine English is, first of all, a legitimate variety of English. It is at par with other national varieties, such as British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English, Indian English and Singapore English in terms of legitimacy. Indeed, there are more influential varieties, such as British English, American English and, to a lesser extent, Australian English. But in terms of linguistic form and function, Philippine English is not any less than these.

And that brings me to the next point: Philippine English is systematic and rule-governed. It is not full of errors. It has structure. It has characteristics that distinguish it from other varieties of English (I will discuss more about these in my next columns).

Finally, Philippine English is the English of Filipinos, of the Philippines. It is the variety of English that emerged out of the localization of the language in the Philippine context, in the same way as English has been localized in many other national contexts. Philippine English is English, yet it carries the Filipino identity. By using Philippine English, Filipinos may be able to use English without losing their identity.

In relation to the legitimacy of Philippine English vis-a-vis other Englishes, I also wish to note that Philippine English is not in any way inferior to American English. It is not English that falls short of Standard American English, as Philippine English also has its own standards adhered to by educated speakers. Examples of (spoken) Standard Philippine English could be those broadcast newscasters in local English-language news channels.

In closing, I wish to reproduce here the definition of Philippine English that I wrote in “Philippine English: Development, Structure, and Sociology of English in the Philippines,” published by Routledge last year. It serves as the handbook of Philippine English. That definition is:

“Philippine English is a postcolonial English that has emerged in the Philippines. It was introduced to the country through American colonization; hence, its exonormative standard is American English, but it has since then developed its own norms and standards. It is used in many controlling domains, including government, education, science and technology, and commerce, and also in everyday life. It has formal registers and educated dialects, but it also has informal registers, primarily code-switching in a Philippine-type language, and sociolects. Some registers and dialects have also been emerging with reference to other sociolinguistic factors, particularly educational attainment, socioeconomic status, ethnolinguistic group, and mode of communication, but also more traditional factors like age, gender, genre and context.”

Ariane Macalinga Borlongan is one of the leading scholars on English in the Philippines who is also doing pioneering work on language in the context of migration. He is the youngest to earn a doctorate in linguistics, at 23, from De La Salle University. He has had several teaching and research positions in Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore and Taiwan. He is currently an associate professor of sociolinguistics at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in Japan.