Spelling and Punctuation

This chapter discusses the currently available empirical evidence on spelling and punctuation in Philippine English (PhE), including recent diachronic change. While PhE overwhelmingly follows American English (AmE) in spelling and punctuation, a diachronic perspective shows that, in recent decades, the existing, small but noticeable proportion of cases following British spelling and punctuation norms has become even smaller. From a broader perspective, the apparent shift toward more consistent adherence to AmE spelling and punctuation also begs the question of norm orientation. The chapter uses the terms ‘British’ and ‘American’ to refer to specific spelling variants, which is grounded in a sense of relative differences in frequency in few varieties, it might not necessarily be the case that users of PhE perceive these variants as British or American.