Formation processes and teachers’ attitude on Philippine English Lexicon

Date of Publication

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics

Subject Categories

Applied Linguistics

College

Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC College of Education

Department/Unit

English and Applied Linguistics

Thesis Adviser

Leah E. Gustilo

Defense Panel Chair

Shirley N. Dita

Defense Panel Member

Cecilia F. Genuino
Jose Cristina M. Parina
Jennifer Tan-de Ramos
Alejandro Bernardo

Abstract/Summary

This paper is inspired by Bautista‘s (1997) lexicon study and Salazar‘s (2013- 2014) lexicographic project that paved way to the inclusion of 40 new Philippine English words in the Oxford English Dictionary. It aimed at producing a word list of early 21st century Philippine English (PhilE) lexicon, analyzing the word-formation processes that operated in the creation of the lexical patterns, and determining university ESL teachers‘ attitude of acceptance towards PhilE lexicon. The lexical items were culled from a newly-built 400,000-word corpus of printed texts written from 2005 to 2014. They were analyzed using the parameters set by the researcher based on the word-building frameworks reviewed for the study. A descriptive approach to language was observed in the treatment of the items. The study also utilized language-attitude questionnaire to determine the teachers‘ attitude of acceptance towards the lexicon. Analysis revealed a total of 681 linguistically acceptable words and expressions that confirmed productive word-building in the early 21st century PhilE writing. Five hundred three lexical items were coined through the existing L1 and ESL mechanisms namely: 1) normal expansion, 2) coining through compounding, blending, derivation, and analogy, 3) shortening through clipping and initialisms, and 4) borrowing.Coining recorded 235 lexical items 140 of which were compounds. The numbers were the highest frequencies which incidentally affirmed the productivity of coining and compounding among the identified traditional processes. Normal expansion which covers shift in part of speech and unidiomatic verb-preposition combinations registered the least number of lexical items. One hundred seventy eight new lexical items were formed through creative expansions or modifications of the traditional processes and through the deliberate integration of figures of speech like: anagram, metonymy, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, and pun in the word-formation processes. These included: 1) blending English and non-English elements, 2) affixing non-English lexemes with English morphemes, 3) borrowing Tagalog blends and compounds as well as oral expressions, 4) redefining borrowed words, 5) clipping hypocoristically, 6) narrowing and shifting L1 semantic sense, 7) punning and forming metonymic, puny, and common collocations, 8) using onomatopoeic expressions, 9) compounding Tagalog and oxymoronic elements, 11) creating special types of initials, 12) changing L1 English words’ graphological structures, calquing English spelling, and 13) overgeneralizing a linguistic rule. A tentative modified word-formation framework for early 21st century PhilE writing was then proposed based on the research findings. The attitude test revealed the 200 ESL teachers‘ ambivalence towards the legitimacy and prestige of PhilE lexicon. The Likert-scale statements divulged healthy attitude; whereas, the acceptability test revealed unhealthy and negative attitude. Out of the 99 lexical items subjected to acceptability test, only five were accepted for formal writing, and only two were accepted for informal writing. Not even one of the lexical items was accepted for formal oral context, and only 33 were accepted for use in informal oral contexts; nonetheless, only 20 were judged unacceptable PhilE lexicon for use in any of the four given domains.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Accession Number

CDTG006904

Shelf Location

Archives, The Learning Commons, 12F Henry Sy, Sr. Hall

Physical Description

1 computer optical disc ; 4 3/4 in.

Keywords

English language -- Word formation -- Philippines; English language -- Variation -- Philippines

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