Another look at the Phonological Features of Lectal Speakers: Re-validation of the Description of the Philippine English’s Phonology

Abstract

One of the linguistic aspects making Philippine English (PE) distinct from the so-called General American English (GAE) is its phonological feature. Llamzon (1997) underscored that although PE is historically derived from GAE, Filipinos rarely conform to the norms of GAE in all things. That is, when educated Filipinos interact to their fellow Filipinos, they speak the Filipino way. To strengthen Mc Kaughan’s (1993) claim that PE has emerged as an autonomous variety of English with its own self-contained system, such as in the area of phonology, there is a need to conduct more studies in order to contribute to the existing literature of the features of PE phonology. Following Tayao’s (2004) preconceived notion on lectal grouping, the present paper aims to look at the phonological features of the acrolect, mesolect and basilect speakers from Central Luzon to validate previous findings on the features of PE phonology.

Keywords: phonology, General American English, Philippine English, lectal speakers

JEL Classification: I21