Philippine English Philippine English refers to the English language as it is spoken in the Philippines, where it is one of two official languages, the other being Filipino, which is based on Tagalog. Filipinos are at least bilingual, knowing their native, regional language (which can be Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, or one of a number of other languages), and Filipino and/or English as their second and third language. English is widely used in areas such as education, print and broadcast media, and business, and is used as a lingua franca throughout the archipelago. Spelling There is no universally accepted standard of Philippine English, though most Filipinos tend to follow after American spelling. Usage of British spelling, though, is widely understood. Pronunciation Educated Philippine English tends to follow American rather than British pronunciation, as is the case in most other countries in Southeast Asia. English is often the language of choice for reading and writing among educated Filipinos, but it is less commonly used in everyday speech. As such, mispronunciation can sometimes occur for English words whose spellings differ significantly from their correct American or British pronunciations. Examples of common mispronunciations are margarine (mispronounced with hard g as in get instead of the j sound or soft g as in gem), lead (as in lead pipe, mispronounced to sound like "lead", meaning leadership, instead of sounding like "led"), lettuce (mostly pronounced as spelled instead of sounding like "letis"), salmon (silent L often pronounced), almond (silent L often pronounced), climber (silent b sometimes pronounced), etc. Filipinos, in informal situations, sometimes infuse native words into their English . For example, "Let's go home na" (Let's go home already). More on this can be found at Englog, although many Filipinos still refer to this as Taglish. Most of the peculiarities of Philippine English pronunciation have to do with the lack of certain sounds in the indigenous Philippine languages. For example, the sounds for the short a (as in cap, IPA: æ), short o (as in cop, IPA: ɑ), and short u (as in cup, IPA: ʌ) are often merged into the same sound like the a as in father (IPA: a). The closest sound when Filipinos pronounce the three words will be like cop (as the sounds for IPA symbols a and ɑ have merged in most American dialects). Dipthongs are also sometimes pronounced as individual vowels. The sounds for k, p, and t are oftentimes without aspiration. Vocabulary and Usage Where Philippine English shares vocabulary with other English dialects, it shares more similaraities with American English than with British English. Some areas where Philippine English (PE) usage differs from American English (AE) are: Numbers between 1,000 and 9,999 inclusive are enumerated as thousands, not as hundreds. For example, 1,500 is read as one thousand five hundred rather than fifteen hundred as is common in AE. Years, however, remain the same—e.g. nineteen ninety-five for 1995. For non-alcoholic cold beverages, soft drink is used instead of American variants soda, coke, and pop. Some words in Philippine English have a different meaning from their counterparts in standard American or British English. In addition, there are some words and phrases which are peculiar to Philippine English and do not appear in other English dialects at all. Some examples are: aircon - air conditioner (as opposed to A.C. in AE) Commander - (slang) for My wife. C.R. - toilet, bathroom. C.R. are initials for Comfort Room. every now and then - often for a while - used on the telephone to mean please hold get/go down the bus - Get off the bus. open/close the light. - Switch on/off the light. ref - refrigerator salvage - murdered for political reasons or by police/military elements. take home - take-out (or "to go" in AE) the other day - the day before yesterday traffic - traffic jam or congestion course - one's major in college (as opposed to a single class in AE) History Although the first exposure to English was in 1762, when the British invaded Manila, English from that time never had any lasting influence. English was assimilated when the United States took over the government. In 1898, Spain ceded control of the Philippines to the United States under the Treaty of Paris, and thereafter the Americans controlled the Philippines until it gained its independence in 1945. The Americans established a system of public education wherein English was used as the main language of instruction. After independence, the Philippine government continued public education in English, while at the same time establishing Filipino as its national language. A parallel system of private schools, many of which were established by the Catholic Church, follows with the dual-language system, although private schools tend to use English more than Filipino in their instruction. At present, the abundant supply of speakers of English in the Philippines and low labor costs have enabled it to be competitive in the international call center and outsourcing industry. Related Articles Tagalog language Taglish Englog Engrish History of the Philippines category: Languages of the Philippines category: English dialects Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. 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