MANILA, PHILIPPINES – If you think Philippine English is not a legitimate variety of the English language, think again.

Dr. Danica Salazar, a lexicographer, and editor of the Oxford English Dictionary stressed the validity of Philippines English. The language expert pointed out that Philippine English is “not a slang, not wrong, not carabao English or any other derogatory word that’s been used over the years.”

During the live discussion on Philippine English on August 20, Dr. Salazar the significance of the English variant in World Englishes. The linguist pointed out that Filipino English has even added the word ‘abaca’ as early as 1884 in the Oxford English Dictionary.

“Philippine English plays an important role in the historical development of the language, which OED seeks to document.”

Contrary to what others think, Dr. Salazar cited a simple analogy that confirms why Philippine English is legitimate. In particular, she said that Philippine English is just the same as British, American, Australian, and Singaporean variants. According to her, the English variant used by Filipinos can be compared to Australian or New Zealand English, which is copied from British English.

“Philippine English, just like American or British, or Indian or Singapore English, are all part of the same story. We all have a role to play in this. Evidently, Filipino English has as much of a place in the history in the lexicon of the English language as all these other varieties.”

“What OED does is it tells the history of the English language through the development of its words, and that story is not complete if we don’t tell the part that Philippine English plays,” she said in a recent webinar organized by the Philippine Embassy in Spain.