MAKING A CASE (AGAIN) FOR THE STANDARD FILIPINO ENGLISH

Apr 12, '10 1:42 AM for everyone

Making a Case (Again) for Standard Filipino English

I don’t rightly recall exactly when I first heard someone make a case for the so-called “Standard Filipino English.”  It must have been in the early part of the 1970’s, or roughly some 40 years ago (tempus fugit). 

He was the Guest Speaker at one of our regular luncheon meetings of the old Rotary Club of Baguio of which I was a member for many years.  He was an American exchange professor of English about to end his assignment at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio. It might as well have been his valedictory address.  Since I was never good at remembering names, I would simply have to apologize and refer to him as Professor JAMES BALL (after one of the last and likeable base commanders at John Hay Air Base).  His topic, appropriately enough, was “The Case for (Developing) the Standard Filipino English.”

Professor Ball was quick to explain exactly what he meant by “Filipino English,” or more accurately what he did not mean by it. No, he was not referring to what is more commonly known as “TAGLISH” or “Tagalog (mixed with) English” or vice versa (“ENGALOG”).  Neither did he claim to have invented the term “Standard Filipino English.” It seems an Ateneo professor (Llamson), had earlier published a more extensive work on the subject.

At any rate, Professor Ball opened his presentation with a statement everybody could agree with (and something our young local disc jockeys and radio announcers could take a cue from): “YOU DON’T HAVE TO SOUND LIKE AN AMERICAN, i.e., MIMIC THE AMERICAN ACCENT, IN ORDER TO SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH.”

 Next he said, at the rate Filipinos continue to freely mix Tagalog/Pilipino words and phrases while ostensibly trying to speak English, we will soon be speaking what we used to call “carabao English” or pidgin/creolized English and we will no longer be understood by other English-speaking countries; a fate not unlike the creolized Spanish spoken in Zamboanga and Cavite.

Gameshow Host: What "K" (kalabaw) is the national animal of the Philippines?
Contestant: Kuto?
Host: Hinde. Clue, it tills the land.  Contestant : Kutong Lupa!

As with most Rotary club speeches delivered right around siesta time, I imagine Professor Ball’s would have had hardly any impact on its listeners composed mostly of tired old men who will not easily trade their customary afternoon nap for some innocuous or bland after dinner speech.  I happened to be one of the few who thought then as I still do now that it was a most sensible and learned presentation.  In fairness, I might add I belonged then to the younger set in the club, not yet afflicted with nocturnal insomnia which needs to be compensated with the Spanish siesta that senior citizens are heir to.

As I recall, by “Standard Filipino English” Professor Ball meant or was referring to the type of English spoken and used by “educated” Filipinos at business, professional or “elitist” gatherings and/or acceptable in educated Filipino circles. Here he might have as well suggested as examples the kind of English used in Philippine courtroom hearings, Senate investigations, Rotary meetings, college symposiums, etc.   However, at the rate English has been losing out to “Pilipino” one is hard put to find any Filipino gathering these days where acceptable, unadulterated English is spoken.

The English professor started out by making a brief case for the English language itself.  He stressed the importance of the language which has since developed into the “lingua franca” of the civilized world, overtaking French, Spanish and other European languages in popularity.  Hence, familiarity with and fluency in the English language would be a decided advantage, especially for citizens of a tiny island country like the Philippines.

More importantly, he emphasized that nobody owns or can claim intellectual property rights over the English language.  Hence, Filipinos can freely claim as much rights over English as the English themselves.  Indeed, ever since the Spaniards were booted out of the country after the Battle at Manila Bay with Admiral Dewey (1898), Filipinos took to everything American including their English, Tootsie Roll, baseball, basketball, Hollywood, rock and roll - and never looked back.

Thanks in no small measure to the so-called “Thomasites” (a batch of about 500 pioneer American school teachers sent by the U.S. government in 1901 to teach and train Filipino teachers using English as the medium of instruction), the Filipinos were well on their way toward speaking English like little brown Americans. Then came Pearl Harbor and all hell broke loose, including our use of the English language.  After WWII, it seems we all then took up the Quezon battlecry: “I prefer a country run like hell by Filipinos…”  Nowadays, our English is almost unrecognizable, battered and scarred like a losing boxer by the Filipino’s penchant to do everything that way, you know, like hell.

Speaking of the Thomasites, our elders liked to remind us that they learned a better brand of English in their time, thanks in no small measure to those skilled and dedicated early American teachers. Particularly in the mountain provinces of the Cordilleras where they were later joined by American Protestant missionaries, these pioneer American teachers taught our parents the 3 R’s which would be the envy of any public educational system.  This explains why even today people in those highlands generally speak English much better than their lowland cousins.

Possibly on account of our three centuries of Spanish which greatly influenced our native dialects, Filipinos never quite managed to learn to pronounce the American short letter “a” sound as in “back,” “Mac,” “tack,” “tank,” ”Jack,” “pack,” “barracks,” etc.  The best the Thomasites could manage was to teach the children to sing thus:

          “I heb 2 hens, da lep end da right,

          Hold dem appay, so clean and bright,

          Klep dem soplee, one two tree,

          Clean leetel hens are good to see.”

I still remember some old folks in Pampanga, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley area say “kendle” as in “Candle in the Wind;” or “Lem of God who takes away the sins of the world…” or “write on the bleckboard.”  Now, try asking the average Filipino to pronounce “factory” and you’ll hear something that sounds vaguely like some “f” word.  Who hasn’t heard of the now infamous Abalos “humboorjer?”

Of course, when we try hard enough to mimic the American twang on our short “a” it does come out sounding rather funny, stilted or artificial; hence, invariably rejected by most and mistakenly identified as “slang.”  Which partly accounts for our apparent losing battle with the English language.  When someone has taken the pains to speak English well and fluently, he becomes the envy of all and in Marikina he is derisively branded an “Inglisero” – a label which could be the death of any local politician.  Despite claims to the contrary, Marikina folks hate English.

Then there’s the characteristic problem of many regions in the country which tend to confuse or interchange the English vowels, thereby contributing some awkward if hilarious new meanings or nuances in an already rich English vocabulary.  An unforgettable classic immediately comes to mind when a distinguished legislator from the south uttered the famous phrase at an impeachment trial – live on nationwide TV:

 “Now, Madam wetness…”

 Teacher:  Use “deficient” in a sentence. 

Student: “Ma’am, di fishent was rushed to the hospital.”

The Kapampangans have no letter “h” and freely interchange “f” and “p.”

Gameshow host: "Anong 'P' ang Tagalog ng 'storey' o 'floor' ng building?" Kapangpangan contestant: "PIP PLOR!"

The Visayans like to pronounce “bicycle” to rhyme with “ismagol.”

Bisaya: Hulaan mo alaga kong hayop nagsimula sa liter I.

DJ : Isda? Bisaya: Dili man!

Dj : Ibon?  Bisaya: Lapit na.

DJ : Ano nga, siret na!  Bisaya: IGOL.

Let’s face it.  English as we used to know it is fast losing ground, for one reason or another, to Tagalog or Pilipino, otherwise known as our national language.

 Hence, Professor Ball had proposed (as did Professor Llamson) the urgent need to systematically and diligently develop a “standard Filipino English” if we were to remain the 3^rd largest English-speaking country in the world.  Then he fell back on his original premise and caveat:

“You don’t have to sound American, i.e., mimic the American accent, in order to speak good English.  Filipinos can develop their own brand of Filipino English as long as they do not mix or intersperse Tagalog and English words in their speech.”

In this regard, we might blame Ateneo for inadvertently promoting that “slang-ish” twang among its students, the influence no doubt of so many American Jesuits who taught in those Jesuit-run schools. For instance, I personally prefer the kind of “natural” or “typical” Filipino English of President Ramos or even Marcos, rather than the stilted style of Manglapus or Guingona.  In this regard, the U.P. students seem to be on the right track with the brand of English that has developed in their campus.  I prefer the English of Cito Beltran or Senator Enrile to that of say Leah Salonga or Maria Ressa, or heaven forbid, Angelo Castro.  

After all this time I was all for this proposition.  Unfortunately, however, with the recent advent of “call centers” all requiring the American accent or its closest equivalent for all their agents, I guess this is another advocacy that must remain in the back burner.

A call center agent told a foreign customer regarding the change in the due date of her credit card: "Ma'am,” he said as best he could trying to sound every bit like a native Texan, “doncha werry now, I already changed your monthly period."

Host: Saan "B" (beach) tayo madalas pumunta pag summer upang maligo?
Contestant: Banyo?
Host: Hindi, pag pumunta ka doon, maaarawan ka.
Contestant: Bubong?
Host: Hindi, marami kang makikita duong mga babaeng naka-bikini.
Contestant: Beerhouse!

> Host: Anong "L" (Lifeguard) ang tawag sa tao na sumasagip sa iyo pag
ikaw ay nalulunod?
Contestant: Lifebuoy?
Host: Hindi, pero kahawig nga ng pangalan ng sabon ang pangalan ng ito.
Contestant : Safeguard?
Host : Hindi, pagsamahin mo yung dalawang sagot mo.
Contestant : Safe Buoy?
Host: Hindi siya "boy" at matipuno nga ang kaniyang katawan.
Contestant: Ah, Mr. Clean!

An Eat Bulaga contestant was asked by Joey and Vic: "Ano sa Tagalog ang grasshopper?" Contestant: "Ahmm. . .Huling Hapunan?"

An emcee was once heard saying: "Let's give her a warm of applause!"

I should better end right here before I start developing “seecan thots” on this subject.  James D. Lansang

reply

reply elmersarmiento wrote on Apr 12, '10 You made my day, James. Tek et awi, as Joe Quirino would have said.

reply cecilpf wrote on Apr 12, '10, edited on Apr 13, '10 Actually, we aren't the only ones... The Brits did and still do look down upon American English. Even the Brits themselves differentiate "civil" English from "english" in the gutters. (My Fair Lady). American English in itself, is so varied, especially the accent, that when spoken will inevitably betray one's locality and upbringing. When I came to US, I had no difficulty understanding or being understood, with my Pinoy English, by the locals - in Seattle, Chicago, in New England and in NY,NJ,PA. But when I went to West Virginia, I got the scare of my life! Honestly I thought I had regressed. I just couldn't understand their peculiar twang (southern accent that is, most especially the hillbillies). Regressed? How come, when I got home, I could understand perfectly and without any difficulty the newscasts and TV shows. It took me quite some time before I "learned" to understand their spoken English. Lately there has been a much heated issue on BLACK ENGLISH! You know what I mean. This surfaced more blatantly when Mr Barack Obama was elected President of USA. Hence, there's the Educated Black English (e.g Ivy League graduates) vs the black english in the streets. Furthermore, there's the Irish English, the Espangol, the ToRic, the Carribbean English (vs Afro-American English) and all those Europeans trying to speak the lingua francia. And what about the Japanese, the Chinese, the Malays and most especially the Hindus. (Note: call centers in India). Cosmopolitan? Indeed. It's linguistic hodgepodge. Nothing more evident than here in New York City! Ini-haw, my only regret is... when I am at home in the Philippines, my own kailian & kababayan laugh at my Ilocano and my Tagalog. Pumuti nga ako, pero pango pa rin ang ilong. Buti na lang, hindi ako nagpa-blond.

reply jeemsdee wrote on Apr 12, '10, edited on Apr 12, '10 elmersarmiento said You made my day, James  Tnx, Kuya ELMER. rgards to d misis. Btw, speaking of Manong Joe Q, haven't heard his name mentioned at all by anybody else lately. How fleeting indeed is fame. There was a time when JQ ruled the TV world and celebrities all desired to be featured with him. Too bad it's all been teken awi.

reply jeemsdee wrote on Apr 12, '10 Kuya CECIL, you seem to have given the subject a lot of thought yourself. Maybe you could take up the advocacy for developing Standard Filipino English. rgards

reply cecilpf wrote on Apr 13, '10 Padagdag... I used to deal in religious articles which I bring back to States from Italy. One time, a good friend of mine took interest on a picture frame I just got back from Rome. She immediately blurted out: Please, please save that Last Suffer for me.I believe that was a Leonardo da Vinci reproduction. One more thing, it amuses me every time I hear these... "overspeeding", "right and left turner" , natrap, narescue...and so on. However, I admire the fluidity and fluency by which the politicians, actors, reporters (with the exception of anchor people) speak Taglish. How they intersperse english words in Tagalog sentences and how they switch from Tagalog to English and vice versa. May susunod pa.

reply cecilpf wrote on Apr 13, '10 Eto na... The US INS recently released this list of names of Filipinos who changed their names when they became naturalized U.S. Citizens. Who knows, you might encounter them one day. Gregorio Talahib - George Bush Tomas Cruz - Tom Cruise Macario Maldonado - Mac Donald Remegio Batungbacal - Remington Steele Victoria Malihim - Victoria Secret Bienvenido Jurado - Ben Hur Juanito Lakarin - Johnny Walker Federico Hagibis- Federal Express Esteban Magtaka - Stevie Wonder Jaime Bondoc - James Bond Leon Mangubat - Tiger Woods Eleuterio Ignacio - Electronic Ignition Burgos Bahag-Hari- Burger King Kasimiro Bukaykay - Cashmere Bouquet Maria Calas - Mary Kay Rogelio Dagdagan - Roger Moore Topacio Mamaril - Top Gun Restituto Pruto - Tutti Frutti Samuel Tampipi - Sam Sonite Veneracion De Asis - Venereal Disease Alfonso De Asis - Alzheimer Disease Francisco Portero - Frank Porter Diosdado Durante- Deo Dorant Roberto Controlado- Bert Control Carpio Llanes - Carpool Lanes Julia Domingo - Holy Sunday Maria Pascua - Mary Christmas Ligaya Anonuevo - Happy New Year Elena Mangaso – Helen Hunt Nicasio Jaula – Nicolas Cage Demetria Dagdag – Demi Moore Mandolina Dagdag – Mandy Moore Miguelito Zapatero – Michael Schumacher Hugo Bigyan – Hugh Grant Cariazo Bigyan – Cary Grant Casimiro N. Cariazo – Cash N. Carry Guillermo Tarangkahan – Bill Gates Derelicto Ramos – Derek Ramsey Vedasto “Bhoy” Ramos – Ving Rhames Caridad Ginagabi-gabi – Kiera Knightley Mateo Damujo – Matt Damon Karen Batobato - Sharon Stone Roberto Maasahin - Bob Hope Hilaria Kulintang - Hillary Clinton William Pisara - Bill Board Amelia Pagbigyan - Amy Grant Labrador N. Kiskis - Love N. Kisses Barako Bombador - Barack Obama And who can beat this couple . .. . . Irineo BustaMante - IBM Linda BustaMante - LBM Courtesy of Cesar Mascarinas

reply jeemsdee wrote on Apr 13, '10 Tnx, Kuya CECIL, ang galing!