Abstract
This paper attempts to describe the result of a data-based investigation of the phonology of the Basilectal Philippine English as a response to Tupaz’ (2004) challenge to conduct Philippine English studies that would describe not only the “educated English” (the acrolect and mesolect speakers), but the “linguistic practices of genuinely marginalized voices (the basilect speakers) in Philippine society” (p.54), as described by Llamzon, 1997 in Tayao, 2004). The findings of this study provide a description of the phonological features of these “marginalized” voices that include minimally functionally literate Filipinos such as jeepney drivers, nannies, janitors, market vendors, and the like from a particular region and Visayan language variety – Cebuano speakers from Region 7 – to distinguish it from the previous studies that have usually sampled subjects of Luzon origin only. Finally, the paper echoes the call for future studies of Philippine English phonology describing the range of segmental and suprasegmental features of various Basilectal Philippine English speakers across the country. Key words: Phonology, sociolinguistics, Philippine English, Basilectal speakers, Basilectal Philippine English speakers, Philippine English phonology.
Highlights
Background of the studyAs the additional and official language of Filipinos, Philippine English (PE) has its distinct characteristics, functions, and forms different from other World English like, for example, Singaporean English, MalaysianEnglish and Thai English (Kachru, 1992)
An attempt was made to include a novel way to elicit spoken English from the respondents, an impromptu speech where respondents were to answer a speaking prompt provided by the researcher, this was dropped because the researcher observed that during the pilot testing of the datacollection instrument, respondents demonstrated discomfort, uneasiness, and embarrassment that resulted in prolonged silence and the expressed request/ decision not to participate in the research anymore
The findings of this study on the phonology of the Basilectal Philippine English are presented in two sections, the first is the description of their segmental sounds, and the second is the description of their suprasegmentals, with particular reference to word stress and intonation patterns of Basilectal PE
Summary
As the additional and official language of Filipinos, Philippine English (PE) has its distinct characteristics, functions, and forms different from other World English like, for example, Singaporean English, Malaysian. Llamzon (1997) attempted to describe the phonology of the various groups of Filipino English speakers, which he categorized as Acrolect (considered formal and highstyle), Mesolect (falls somewhere between the prestige of the Acrolect and the informality of the Basilect; often the most widely spoken form of a language, generally being used by the middle class), and Basilect (typically differ from the standard language in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, and can often develop into different languages; a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area) following Strevens’ (1982). Following Llamzon’s (1997) group representative speakers of Philippine English, Tayao (2004), conducted a data-based study in an attempt to describe the distinctive phonological features shared in and between speakers of the three groups. Englishes (Kachru et al, 2006), Bautista and Gonzalez (2006) summarize previous descriptions of the phonology of PE into the following set of features:
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