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MEDICAL COLLEGES OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

VARIETIES AND REGISTERS

of
Spoken and Written Language
FELCITO GARCIA, LPT
Instructor

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 KEY TERMS
A B C D E F G

genre register style field mode tenor edulects

World
Englishes
acrolect mesolect basilect digital transmedia
multi-media literacy multi-modal text
VARIETIES OF LANGUAGE
 SPOKEN
language provided by articulation of
sounds

spontaneous

momentary

mostly maintained in the form of a

dialogue
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WRITTEN
language that is carefully organized

more explanatory

Deliberate in its word choice

LANGUAGE VARIETIES
Language Varieties
- is a specific set of linguistic items or human
speech patterns (sounds, words, grammatical
features) which can be associated with some
external factor such as geographical area,
social background, gender, age, etc.) -
Wardhaugh, 1986, as cited in Mu’in, 2008
●
PIDGIN - a new language which develops in
situations where speakers of
CREOLE different languages need to
communicate but do not share a
REGIONAL common language. Once, a stable
DIALECT pidgin has emerged, it is generally learned
MINORITY as a second language and used for
DIALECT communication among people who speak
different languages. (e.g. bueno, señor,
INDIGENIZED
VARIETY amiga, etc.)
 PIDGIN
- this is a language when
CREOLE children start learning a pidgin
REGIONAL as their first language and it
DIALECT
becomes the mother tongue of
MINORITY a community (e.g. Mindanao
DIALECT
Chabacano)
INDIGENIZED
VARIETY
 PIDGIN

CREOLE
– is not a distinct language
REGIONAL but a variety of language
DIALECT spoken in a particular area
MINORITY of a country
DIALECT
INDIGENIZED
VARIETY
 PIDGIN

CREOLE
- sometimes members of a
particular minority ethnic group
REGIONAL
DIALECT
have their own variety which
they use as a marker of identity,
MINORITY usually alongside a standard
DIALECT variety (e.g. Negritos)
INDIGENIZED
VARIETY
 PIDGIN

CREOLE
- are spoken mainly as
REGIONAL
DIALECT second languages in ex-
MINORITY DIALECT colonies with multilingual
populations
INDIGENIZED
VARIETY
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
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AMERICAN AUSTRALIAN BRITISH

ENGLISH ENGLISH ENGLISH
(AmE) (AuE) (BrE)

BLACK PHILIPPINE
ENGLISH ENGLISH
American English (AmE)
- a variant of English language spoken
mainly in the US, introduced to North
America by British settlers in the 17th
century.
Australian English (AuE)
– a variant of English language spoken
mainly in Australia, began to diverge from
British English shortly after Australia was
settled in the late 18th century; bears
semblances to New Zealand English and
certain dialects of South East England.
Black English
– refers to British and American English
spoken by black communities in the US
and the UK; also refers to a variant of
English spoken widely in the Caribbean
and Africa.
British English (BrE)
– is a variant of English spoken mainly in
the UK; an English variant, together with
AmE, are taught in most English as a
Second Language (ESL) and English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) programs.
Philippine English
– originated in the US intervention of 1898 by the American
teachers who arrived in the Philippines; legitimate nativized
variety of English used by the Filipinos in controlling domains
such as science and technology, the judiciary, bureaucracy,
higher education and scholarly discourse; it has linguistic
properties ascribed to other varieties of English, especially
those used in Asia.
Linguistic Core
 1 2 3 4

LIST OF BRITISH ENGLISH TERMS

AND THEIR EQUIVALENCE IN
AMERICAN ENGLISH
 British American British American British American
trousers pants moisturise moisturize tram streetcar
lift elevator licence license travelled traveled
aubergine eggplant practise practice tyre tire
billfold wallet analyse analyze underlay carpet pad
garden yard humour humor undertaker mortician
year grade colour color vest undershirt
loo comfort labour labor wardrobe closet
room
tap faucet clamour clamor to wash wash up
lorry truck favour favor wing fender
British American British American British American
candy cotton neighbour neighbor zebra crosswalk
floss candy crossing
sweet candy biro ball-point metre meter
pen
oven mitt oven glove bonnet hood flat apartment
cooker stove braces suspenders diversion detour
biscuit cookie car park parking lot duvet comforter
nappy diapers caravan trailer engaged busy
pavemen sidewalk caretaker janitor enquiry inquiry
t
zip zipper catalogue catalog fancy dress costumes
post mail centre center football soccer
 British American British American British American
post code zip code chips French fries full stop period

taxi cab notice board bulletin board to hire to rent

underground subway number plate license plate indicator blinker

chemist’s drug store, petrol gas icing sugar powdered

shop pharmacy sugar

shop store polo neck turtle neck ladybird ladybug

head master principal quid buck match game

solicitor, lawyer, roundabout traffic circle, motorbike motorcycle

barrister rotary
attorney

airplane plane rucksack backpack mum mom

 British American British American British American
a pack of a deck of rubber eraser trolley cart
cards cards
pants underpant rubbish garbage boot trunk
s
phone box phone share stock cosy cozy
booth
pepper bell shop sales clerk double heavy
pepper assistant cream cream
postman mailman sick nauseated draughts checkers
prawn shrimp single one-way dummy pacifier
ticket ticket
 British American British American British American
programme program Sorry. Excuse me. earth wire ground wire

primary elementary sports day fields day expiry date expiration

school school date
grade school

to queue to line up sultana raisin fortnight two weeks

anorak jacket, parka sweet candy store mackintosh raincoat

shop
at the on the term semester mashed mashed
weekend weekend potato potatoes
 British American British America British American
n
bank holiday national theatre theater motorway freeway, highway,
holiday, expressway,
interstate
federal holiday
base rate prime rate timetable schedule litre liter

to bath to bathe tin can lost lost and found

property
beetroot beet town downtown maths math
centre
bill check torch flashlight jewellery jewelry
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WORLD
ENGLISHES
WORLD ENGLISHES (WE)
WE actually stands for the localized varieties of
English as they are used or spoken in certain areas. In the
Asian context, the concept was introduced by Braj Kachru.
The famous “Three Concentric Circles of Asian Englishes”
attributed to Kachru presents the three circles: Inner
Circle with ENL (English as a Native Language) member
countries; the Outer Circle with ESL (English as a Second
Language) member countries; and the Expanding Circle
with EFL (English as a Foreign Language) member
countries.
Kachru’s Concentric Circles of English
 As regards structural variation, Kachru &
Nelson (2006) claim that these varieties of English
are influenced by the local language(s) in various
areas of their grammars and exhibit specific
phonological, lexical, syntactic, and discoursal
characteristics.
 For instance, in terms of stress and rhythm, Outer and
Expanding Circle varieties observe syllable-timed rhythm rather than
stress-timed rhythm. Nigerian say ‘success for suc`cess and Indians and
Nigerians say recog`nize for ‘recognize. Moreover, speakers from the
Outer and Expanding Circles do not make any changes in their
pronunciation to make a distinction between nouns and verbs in pairs
which Inner Circle countries observe as in the case of `import and
im`port and do not utilize contrastive stress for focusing (Bamgbose,
1992 & Gumperz, 1982a, 1982b, as cited in Kachru & Nelson, 2006).
 As regards sounds, Outer and Expanding
Circles do not observe initial aspiration of voiceless
plosives such as p, t, k and these are often perceived
by Inner Circle countries as b, d, g. Some speakers
of expanding Circle varieties, as in the case of
Japanese speakers, do not properly distinguish
between r and l.
 According to Pope (1976, as cited Kachru & Nelson,
2006), in the case of syntactic features, question-answering
systems differ between Inner and Outer-Expanding Circles.
While the former observes positive-negative system where
the answer follows the polarity of the question (i.e. If the
question is in the positive the answer confirming the
assumption of the questioner is in the positive, and the
answer disconfirming the assumption is in the negative.)
 If, however, the question is in the negative, the
answer confirming the assumption of the questioner is in the
negative as well, while the answer disconfirming the
assumption of the questioner is in the positive), the latter
observes the agreement-disagreement system which poses
difficulty to speakers who follow the positive-negative
system particularly in interpreting the yes or no of the
response unless it is followed by a clarification (i.e., Yes, I
think you’re right: No, that’s not so)
 With respect to lexicon, vocabulary words
peculiar only to some English varieties in Southeast
Asia can be noted as seen in the following examples.
 Singapore English

actsy ‘showoff,’ missy ‘nurse,’ chop ‘rubber stamp,’ Marina

kids ‘youngsters who spend their leisure time at/or around Marina
Square, a shopping center,’ graduate mothers ‘graduate (well-educated)
married women, encouraged to have more children and accorded
certain privileges in Singapore,’ as compared to non-graduate mothers
(Pakir, 1992, as cited in Kachru & Nelson, 2006).
 Philippine English
deep ‘puristic or hard to understand’ as an attribute of language, stick
‘cigarette,’ high blood ‘tense or upset,’ blow out ‘treating someone with a snack or
meal,’ motel ‘a hotel used for pre-marital or extra-marital affairs,’ manualize ‘to
prepare manuals,’ go ahead ‘leave before others with host’s permission,’ studentry
‘student body,’ Amboy ‘a Filipino perceived to be too pro-American,’ promdi
‘from the province,’ behest loan ‘unguaranteed bank loan given to presidential
cronies,’ pulot boy ‘boy who picks up tennis balls in a game,’ and balikbayan box
‘box where Filipnos returning from abroad put all their shopping,’ among others
(Bautista, 1997 as cited in Kachru & Nelson 2006).
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

PHILIPPINE
ENGLISH
Varieties of Philippine English
a.Acrolectal – is associated with academics, bilinguals from English speaking homes and
English majors at university level.

b.Mesolectal – is spoken by professionals who are non-English majors and who mostly use
English in the workplace, and who display a noticeably Philippine accent.

c.Basilectal- typically differs from the standard language in pronunciation, vocabulary, and
grammar, and can often develop into different languages; it is also characterized by the use
of words that are typically considered slang or colloquialisms, which are usually spoken by
factory workers, janitors, drivers, etc.

(Note: The three varieties of Philippine English are what Bautista and Gonzales (2006),
term as edulects.)
Linguistic Features of Philippine English

a. Phonological features - include devoicing of sibilant

consonants in words like beige, pleasure, seize, bees and
cities which are articulated as [s]and the rendering of
“th”sounds as [t], [d], in words such as this [dis], thin [tin].
With vowels, other features may occur including a loss of
distinction between long and short vowels in such pairs as
sheep/ship, full/fool’ bought/boat, etc.
Linguistic Features of Philippine English

b. Lexical features – borrowed extensively from Spanish (despedida

‘farewell’, estafa ‘faud’ ‘scandal’, querida ‘mistress’, and Tagalog. Loan
translations are also widely used including open/close the light/radio for
“turn on/off the light/radio”, joke only for “I’m teasing you”, and you
don’t only know for “you just don’t realize”; local coinages include such
items as to carnap, highblood, hold-upper, and topnotcher, while archaic
items derived from late 19th century American English include comfort
room (CR), solon, and viand.
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

MALAYSIAN
ENGLISH
Malaysian English
● antilog ‘a male hated by a girl,’ popcorn ‘a loquacious
person,’ kachang ‘peanuts, easy,’ slambar ‘relax,’ red
spot, open shelf ‘girls who are popular and those who are
not,’ day bugs ‘those who come to attend school but do
not live in residence halls’ (Said & Ng, 2000, as cited in
Kachru & Nelson, 2006).
English/Language Register
 When it comes to language variation, the terms genre,
register, and style are often encountered.

David Crystal (2008) defines register as “a variety of

language defined according to its use in social situations e.g. a
register, scientific, religious, formal English.” He added: “In
Hallidayan linguistics, the term is seen as specifically opposed to
varieties of language according to the characteristics of the users (viz.
their regional or class dialect), and is given a sub-classification into
field, mode and manner of discourse.
 Register refers to a kind of language whose forms
are of a definable social institution, regardless of the status
of the participants – thus one finds the register of legal
language, liturgical language, and so on.

According to Lee (2001), genre is associated

more with the organization of culture, register is
associated with the organization of the situation. To this
end, register is understood as the context-specific variety
of language to which the field-mode-tenor framework is
important.
 To give a concrete example, with the genre of
recipe, field may be analyzed in terms of the social
setting and the communicative purpose in which the text
is produced. Tenor may be described in terms of the
role/s required of the writers and readers including the
cultural values shared by both. Mode could be explained
in light of the knowledge of other texts required of
speakers/listeners and writers/readers as regards the genre
including the formal text features.
LEGALESE VS. TEXTESE
 Legalese or legal language is highly
characterized by archaic expressions, technical
jargon intrinsic only to the community of legal
professionals, embedded structures,
nominalizations, passive voice, as well as long,
kilometric sentences, which are not the features
of textese, or language of texts.
 Conversely, the features of SMS language or textese
language are exactly the opposite – use of abbreviations,
acronyms, slang words, and expressions. This is so since
messages used to be limited to a certain number of
characters/spaces that made texting much easier and quicker.
However, misinterpretation and/or miscommunication in text
messaging may arise if vocabulary and knowledge of context
are limited. Hence, extra care should be practiced when
comprehending text messages.