Linguistic variation, Philippine English and mental health issues

Abstract

This article is a study of how Filipinos talk about their depression and recovery in Philippine English, as compared to how users from other Englishes talk about their experiences with the same illness. As such, this is an attempt at examining what contextual factors give rise to variations in Englishes. World Englishes research has posited that different geographical and cultural contexts engender ‘new’ Englishes; hence, different Englishes are named via country or culture and are considered to be distinct from each other. This article is concerned with the issue of how contexts of use, such as depression, can lead to systemic changes in the English that different individuals use. This study extends research on how particular discursive features may characterize one variety of English as compared to another by examing how ideational and interpersonal meanings relate to construe a ‘world’ of depression in Philippine English and Inner Circle Englishes.