Segmental Inventory and Sociolectal Diversity in Philippine English Phonology: Insights from the Maximum Entropy Grammar

This study examines phonological variations in Philippine English (PhE) across acrolect, mesolect, and basilect sociolects by analyzing vowel and consonant realizations. Using the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model, these variations were investigated through auditory judgment and acoustic measurements of data from 30 participants with varying levels of English proficiency. The results reveal significant sociolectal differences in phonological patterns, with the MaxEnt model effectively capturing these variations. This study provides insights into the phonological diversity of PhE and suggests further research to explore sociolectal variations in other English varieties.