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Philippines

Having a long history of being colonized by other nations, the Philippines have subsequently experienced a vast influence on their language environment. Once a Spanish colony for nearly 300 years, the islands have thus experienced their first major foreign language impact. However, the influence of Spanish was not nearly as widespread as the language of the American successors. By the very end of the 19th century, power over the Philippines was handed to the US government. Despite first resistance, the US influence was more widely accepted in the years to come than that of its predecessor. This increased even more after the Japanese attack on the country during WW II. The US forces liberated the country, and the USA, along with their language, have ever since been an important source of influence that lasts until today.

This historical background can be considered the stepping stone for the rise of English in the Philippines. Especially the rapid expansion within a few decades is remarkable. Today, it remains one of the two official languages of the country, next to Filipino, and is spoken by approximately 65% of the population. Noticeably, the number of bilingual speakers in the capital region is among the highest in ESL countries. Since the first few years of American rule, English has also been introduced as the language of education and government. Nowadays, English remains very prominent in media of all sorts, often resulting in a mixture of languages, the most widespread variety is often referred to as Taglish (Tagalog-English).

Rizal Monument (Manila, Philippines) © Heiko Schittek 2010

The phenomenon of code-switching very often occurs in Philippine English, which sometimes makes it difficult to tell what is Tagalog and what is borrowed into English. English words are incorporated into the lexicon of Tagalog, often written in phonetic spelling (e.g. drayver/driver, magasin/magazine). This mixing of both languages (also called halo-halo) is considered to be less formal than speaking Standard English.

Towards the end of the 19th century, British protectorates were established in several territories, and English became the language of law, administration and education. At the same time, in 1898, Guam and the Philippines were ceded to America by Spain.

Tricycles in traffic (Cebu, Philippines) © Heiko Schittek 2010

Given this history, American English has been influential in the latter two countries, whereas the influence of British English can still be felt in the other areas. The numbers of first language speakers is very low, however, and most speakers of English use it as a second language.

Since the English spoken in the Philippines is primarily derived from American English, we can find several similar phonological and grammatical structures. For example, Philippine English is also a rhotic variety, yet at the same time it is syllable timed. Also the schwa sound is usually articulated as a full vowel. The distinction between the unstressed /s/ and the stressed /z/ is often lost. The fricative /f/ is often realized as the plosive /p/, the dental fricative /th/ may be simplified and articulated as a /d/ or /t/. Grammatical innovations include the transitive use of intransitive verbs (e.g. I cannot afford) and varying use of prepositions (e.g. This results to).

© Heiko Schittek 2010