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Singlish, a portmanteau of "Singapore" and "English", is the English-based creole spoken colloquially in Singapore. Although English is the lexifier language, it may be difficult to understand for speakers of standard varieties, such as British, American or Australian English. The main difficulties in understanding are Singlish's unique slang and syntax, which are more pronounced in informal speech.

Contents

Overview

Singlish originated with the arrival of the British and the establishment of English language schools in Singapore. Soon, English filtered out of schools and onto the streets, to be picked up by non-English-speakers in a pidgin-like form for communication purposes. After some time, this new form of English, now loaded with substantial influences from Indian English, Baba Malay, and the southern varieties of Chinese, became the language of the streets and began to be learned "natively" in its own right. Creolization occurred, and Singlish then became a fully-formed, stabilized, and independent English creole.

Singlish shares substantial linguistic similarities with Malaysian English (Manglish) in Malaysia, although distinctions can be made, particularly in vocabulary. One noticeable difference is that "don't know" in Singlish is "donno", whereas in Manglish, "don't know" is used, although neither is confined entirely to one country or the other. Initially, "Singlish" and "Manglish" were essentially the same language, when Singapore and peninsular Malaysia were a single geographic entity — Malaya. In old Malaya, English was the language of the British administration whilst Malay was spoken as the lingua franca of the street. Thus, even the Chinese would revert to Malay when speaking to Chinese people who did not speak the same Chinese dialect.

After Singapore's independence in 1965, and successive "Speak Mandarin" campaigns, a subtle language shift among the post-'65 generation became more and more pronounced as Malay idiomatic expressions were, and continued to be, displaced by idioms borrowed from Chinese spoken varieties, such as Hokkien.

The English language in Singapore is a sociolect continuum. The continuum runs through the following varieties:

Acrolectal: This is the "highest-class" form of speech, used by the well-educated in formal situations. Acrolectal Singaporean English is roughly the same as formal British English, with the exception of some pronunciation differences that occur due to the influence of Singlish pronunciation. Acrolectal Singaporean English does exhibit, however, a much smaller degree of Singlish pronunciation features than do Mesolectal, Basilectal, and pidgin variants of Singlish. For example, speakers of acrolectal Singaporean English attempt to restore the phonemes /θ/ and /ð/ (as in thin and then).

Mesolectal: This is more "middle-class", and is used in formal and semi-formal situations. At this level, features not found in other forms of English begin to emerge.

Basilectal: This is the colloquial speech used by everyone, educated or not, in informal settings, and is the speech usually referred to as "Singlish". Here can be found all of the unique phonological, lexical, and grammatical features of Singlish. Many of these features can be attributed to Asian languages such as the Chinese languages, Malay, or Indian languages such as Tamil, though some cannot.

Pidgin: This is the "pidgin" level of Singlish, which is probably a good representative of an earlier stage of Singlish, before creolization took place and solidified Singlish as a fully-formed creole. Like all pidgins, speakers at the pidgin level speak another language as a first language, and Singlish as a second language. However, since many people today learn Singlish natively, the number of speakers at the "pidgin" level of Singlish is dwindling. This is because by definition, a pidgin is not learned natively.

The coexistence of basilectal Singlish and acrolectal Standard English can also be analyzed as a diglossia, which is a split between a "high" formal language and a "low" informal language.

 The Sociolect Continuum of Singaporean English
Basilect ("Singlish")
"Dis guy Singrish si bey
powdehfoo wan. Hoh seh!" 		Mesolect
"Dis guy Singlish
very powerful one." 		Acrolect ("Standard")
"This person's Singlish
is very good."

The phenomenon of code switching, or the alternation between multiple languages within the same conversation, further complicates the linguistic situation in Singapore. Since many Singaporeans can speak English at multiple points along the sociolect spectrum, code switching can occur very frequently between acrolectal and basilectal Singaporean English. In addition, as many Singaporeans are also speakers of the Chinese languages, Malay, or Indian languages such as Tamil, code switching between English and other languages also occurs very frequently.

Usage in society

Due to its origins, Singlish shares many similarities with pidgin varieties of English, and can easily give off the impression of "broken English" or "bad English" to a speaker of some other, less divergent variety of English. In addition, the profusion of Singlish features, especially loanwords from Asian languages, mood particles, and topic-prominent structure, can easily make Singlish downright incomprehensible to a Briton or American. As a result, the use of Singlish is greatly frowned on by the government, and two former prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have publicly declared that Singlish is substandard English that handicaps Singaporeans, presents an obstacle to learning good English, and renders the speaker incomprehensible to everyone except another local. In the interest of promoting equality and better communication with the rest of the world, the government has launched the Speak Good English Movement to eradicate it, at least from formal usage. In spite of this, in recent years the use of Singlish on television and radio has proliferated as localized Singlish continues to be popular among most Singaporeans.

Singlish is strongly discouraged in Singaporean schools at a governmental level as it is believed to hinder the proper learning of standard English, and so faces a situation of diglossia. The use of Singlish when speaking in classes or to teachers, however officially frowned upon, is rather inevitable given that many teachers themselves are comfortable with the dialect. For many students, using Singlish is also inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders. In polytechnics, students feel the greater need to socialise with their peers in a learning environment less rigid than primary or secondary school, and as a result Singlish is popular. The government continues to wage an uphill battle in discouraging students from developing a Singlish-speaking habit.

Singaporean men find speaking Singlish necessary during their time in the military, or national service, as Singlish has replaced Hokkien as the standard vernacular in the Singapore Armed Forces. The informality of Singlish fits well in stressful training situations, and are used among soldiers regardless of ethnic groups and level of education. Many phrases originating in the military have filtered into the lexicon over the years and they have become a method of distinguishing those who have undergone NS.

In most workplaces, Singlish is avoided in formal settings, especially at job interviews, meetings with clients, presentations or meetings. Nonetheless, select Singlish phrases are sometimes injected into discussions to build rapport or for a humorous effect, especially when the audience consists mainly of locals.

In other informal settings, such as during conversation with friends, or transactions in kopi tiams (coffee shops) and shopping malls, Singlish is used without restriction. The only exception is that that it may be considered impolite to speak Singlish when a foreigner is present, as it is likely that he or she will have difficulty comprehending what is being said.

It should also be noted that Singlish itself consists of a diverse continuum ranging from an acrolect that is very similar to British or American English, to a mesolect that is more divergent, to a basilect that is nearly incomprehensible to the average native speaker of English. In a formal situation, the acrolect may be acceptable, while the basilect would be unacceptable; in an informal situation, the situation may be reversed with the acrolect being too stiff and the basilect more acceptable.

Phonology

Singlish pronunciation, while built on a base of British English, is also heavily influenced by Chinese and Malay.

There is variation within Singlish, both geographically and ethnically. Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, and other ethnic groups in Singapore all have distinct accents.

The East Coast area, particularly the districts that stretch from Siglap to Katong, is renowned as a residential and cultural mecca of sorts for the Peranakan and the Eurasian communities. The teaching professions, especially teaching English, was a popular option in the Eurasian community form the beginning of the last century up till the 1970's. As a result, whole generations of school children in the Siglap/Katong districts were taught English with a Eurasian accent. For example, words like "door" and "four" were pronounced as "doe" and "foe".

The phonology of Singlish:

Consonants

  Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stops          
Affricates              
Fricatives   s (z)     h
Nasals     n      
Laterals              
Approximants          
(See International Phonetic Alphabet for an in-depth guide to the symbols.)

In general:

Vowels

Monophthongs
  Front Central Back

Close {{IPA   {{IPA

Close-mid {{IPA {{IPA {{IPA

Open-mid {{IPA {{IPA
Open   {{IPA

Diphthongs

The vowel system of Singlish can be generally derived by merging vowel phonemes in the British Received Pronunciation vowel system. The following describes a typical system. Some speakers may further merge /e/ and /ɛ/; other speakers make a distinction between /i/ and /ɪ/, /ɛ/ and /ɛə/, or /ɑ/ and /ʌ/.

At the acrolectal level, the merged vowel phonemes are distinguished to an extent, and elements from American English are introduced, such as rhotic vowels (pronouncing the "r" in bird, port, etc.)

Singlish phoneme RP phoneme(s) as in
/i/ meet
pit
/e/ day
/ɛ/ leg
/ɛ/ set
map

hair

/ɑ/ /ɑː/ car

pass

father

bus

mile

/ɔ/ mock

/ɔː/ thought

court

/o/ low

/u/ room

put

/ə/ - see below bird

/ə/ idea

better

my

mouth

boy

here

tour

cure

fire

power

/ɛ/ remains /ɛ/ in Singlish, except when followed by a voiced plosive (/b/, /d/, or /g/), in which case it becomes /e/ among some speakers. /ai/ remains /ai/ in Singlish, except when followed by /l/, in which case it monophthongizes to /ɑ/.

Examples of words have idiosyncratic pronunciations:
flour /flɑ/ (expected: /flɑ wə/ = flower)
their /djɑ/ (expected: /dɛ/ = there)
Flour/flower and their/there are therefore not homophones in Singlish.

In general, Singlish vowels are tenser — there are no lax vowels (which RP has in pit, put, and so forth). The diphthongs are pronounced with less glide than the diphthongs in RP. The vowels of day and low are pronounced as monophthongs—i.e. vowels with no glide.

In addition, where other varieties of English have an unstressed /ə/, reduced from another vowel, Singlish tends to restore the full vowel based on orthography. This is because Singlish de-emphasizes the role of stress. This can be seen in words such as accept /ɛksɛp/, example /ɛ(k)sɑmpəl/, purchase /pətʃes/, maintenance /mentɛnəns/, presentation /prisɛnteʃən/, and so on.

In loanwords from Hokkien that contain nasal vowels, the nasalization is often kept - one prominent example being the mood particle hor, pronounced as /hɔ~/—somewhat like the vowel in French dent.

One of the most prominent and noticeable features of Singlish is its unique intonation pattern, which is quite unlike British, American English or Australasian English, etc. For example:

  • Singlish is syllable-timed compared to other varieties of English (which are mostly stress-timed). This in turn gives Singlish a very rhythmic and staccato feel.
  • Pitch contours are more well-defined and distinct in Singlish than in other varieties of English. This makes Singlish sound as if it has the tones of Chinese.
  • * Singlish has a tendency to use a low tone for single-syllable "function" words like prepositions and conjunctions.
  • * Singlish has a tendency to start words on a lower tone and gradually "step" the tone up at each syllable, ending it on a high tone, or a falling tone if the word ends on a plosive (unless the plosive is lost).
  • * Singlish tends to use flat pitches across each syllable, and abrupt changes in pitch between syllables.
  • * The position of the stress in stress-based dialects of English (e.g. British and American) is de-emphasized. It can however be marked by a sharp "step-up" of tone at that syllable.
  • * Singlish tends to preserve the tones of loan words from Mandarin and other Chinese languages.
Coxford Singlish Dictionary, a published book on Singlish
Enlarge
Coxford Singlish Dictionary, a published book on Singlish

Grammar

The grammar of Singlish has been heavily influenced by other languages and dialects in the region, such as Malay and Chinese, with some structures being identical to ones in Mandarin and other Chinese languages. As a result, Singlish has acquired some unique features, especially at the basilectal level. Note that all of the features described below disappear at the acrolectal level, as people in formal situations tend to adjust their speech towards accepted norms found in other varieties of English.

Topic prominent

Singlish is topic-prominent, like Chinese and Japanese. This means that Singlish sentences often begin with a topic (or a known reference of the conversation), followed by a comment (or new information). Compared to other varieties of English, the semantic relationship between topic and comment is not important; moreover, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and even entire subject-verb-object phrases can all serve as the topic:

The above constructions can be translated analogously into Chinese, with little change to the word order.

The topic can be omitted when the context is clear, or shared between clauses. This results in constructions that appear to be missing a subject to a speaker of British, American, Australian or New Zealand English:

Nouns

Nouns are optionally marked for plurality. Articles are also optional:

It is more common to mark the plural in the presence of a modifier that implies plurality, such as "many" or "both".

To be

The copula, which is the verb "to be" in most varieties of English, is treated somewhat differently in Singlish:

When occurring with an adjective, "to be" tends to drop out, and is often replaced by an adverb, such as "very". The use of an adverb as the copula is strongly reminiscent of Chinese usage:

When occurring with "-ing" to form the continuous aspect, "to be" may similarly drop out, leaving the "-ing" form as the independent continuous form:

Slightly less common is the dropping out of "to be" when used as an equative between two nouns, or as a locative:

In general, "to be" drops out more behind nouns and pronouns (except "I", "he", and "she"), and much less behind a clause (what I think is...) or a demonstrative (this is...).

Past tense

Past tense marking is optional in Singlish. Marking of the past tense occurs most consistently in strong verbs (or irregular verbs), as well as verbs ending on -t and -d, such as:

Due to consonant cluster simplification, the past tense is unmarked when it is part of a complex consonant cluster:

The past tense tends to be unmarked if the verb in question goes on for an extended period, rather than as an isolated event (compare French imperfect):

Change of state

Instead of the past tense, a change of state can be expressed by adding already or liao (/liɑ̂u/) to the end of the sentence, analogous to Chinese 了 (le). This is not the same as the past tense, as it does not cover past habitual or continuous occurrences, and can refer to a real or hypothetical change of state in the past, present or future:

Negation

Negation works in general like English, with not added after "to be", "to have", or modals, and don't before all other verbs. Contractions (can't, shouldn't) are used alongside their uncontracted forms.

However, due to final cluster simplification, the -t drops out from negative forms, and -n may also drop out after nasalizing the previous vowel. This makes nasalization the only mark of the negative.

Another effect of this is that in the verb "can", its positive and negative forms are distinguished only by vowel:

Also, never is used as a negative past tense marker, and does not have to carry the English meaning. In this construction, the negated verb is never put into the past-tense form:

Interrogative

In addition to the usual way of forming yes-no questions, Singlish uses two more constructions:

In a construction similar (but not identical) to Chinese, or not is appended to the end of sentences to form yes/no questions. Or not cannot be used with sentences already in the negative:

The phrase is it is also appended to the end of sentences to form yes-no questions. It is generic like the French n'est-ce pas?, regardless of the actual verb in the sentence. Is it implies that the speaker is simply confirming something he/she has already inferred: There are also many discourse particles, such as hah, hor, meh, ar, that are used in questions. (See the "Discourse particles" section further down in this article.)

Reduplication

Another feature strongly reminiscent of Chinese and Malay, verbs are often repeated (e.g., TV personality Phua Chu Kang's "don't pray-pray!" pray = play.) In general verbs are repeated twice to indicate the delimitative aspect (that the action goes on for a short period), and three times to indicate greater length and continuity:

The use of verb repetition also serves to provide a more vivid description of an activity:

In another usage reminiscent of Chinese, nouns referring to people can be repeated for intimacy. Only monosyllabic nouns can be repeated:

Adjectives of one or two syllables can also be repeated for intensification:

Due to the frequent use of these repetitions on short words, Singlish expressions often sound as if they are spoken by children, which non-Singlish speakers find quite amusing, and contributes to the impression of Singlish as an informal and sometimes intimate language.

Kena

Kena is used as an auxiliary to mark the passive voice, in addition to "to be" and "to get". It is derived from the Malay word with the same spelling that means to encounter or to come into physical contact. Kena can be used with either the infinitive or the past participle. It must be used with a verb that affects the subject in a negative way, and is similar in this respect to passive markers in Chinese, such as Hokkien tio or Mandarin 被 bèi:

Not:

When the context is given, Kena may be used without a verb:

Other Singlish phrases with Kena

One

The word one is used to emphasize the predicate of the sentence by implying that it is unique and characteristic. It is analogous to the use of particles like 嘅 ge in Cantonese, 啲 e in Hokkien, or 的 de in southern-influenced Mandarin. One used in this way does not correspond to any use of the word "one" in British, American English, Australian English, etc:

Under the influence of southern-influenced Mandarin, de can also be used in place of one.

Discourse particles

Particles in Singlish are highly comparable to Chinese. In general, discourse particles occur at the end of a sentence. Their presence changes the meaning or the tone of the sentence, but not its grammaticality.

Particles are noted for keeping their tones regardless of the remainder of the sentence. Most of the particles are directly borrowed from southern Chinese varieties, with the tones intact.

Lah

The ubiquitous word lah (/lɑ́/ or /lɑ̂/) is used at the end of a sentence. Lim (2004) describes it as a particle that simultaneously asserts a position and entices solidarity.

Note that 'lah' is often written after a comma for clarity, but there is never a pause before a lah. This is because in the original Malay, 'lah' is appended to the end of the word and is not a separate word by itself.

In Malay, 'lah' is used to change a verb into a command or to soften its tone, particularly when usage of the verb may seem impolite. To drink is minum, but 'Here, drink!' is minumlah. Similarly, 'lah' is frequently used with imperatives in Singlish:

'Lah' also occurs frequently with "Yah" and "No" (hence "Yah lah" and "No lah"). The results sound less brusque and facilitate the flow of conversation.

Lah is often used with brusque, short, negative responses:

Lah is also used for reassurance: Lah can also be used to emphasize items in a spoken list, appearing after each item in the list.

Although lah can appear nearly anywhere, it cannot appear with a yes-no question. Another particle should be used instead:

Wat

The particle wat (/wɑ̀t/), also spelled what, is used to remind or contradict the listener, especially when strengthening another assertion that follows from the current one:

Mah

Mah (/mɑ́/) is used to assert that something is obvious and final, and is usually used only with statements that are already patently true. It is often used to correct or cajole. This may seem condescending to the listener:

Lor

Lor (/lɔ́/), also spelled lorh or loh, is a casual, sometimes jocular way to assert upon the listener either direct observations or obvious inferences. It also carries a sense of resignation, that "it happens this way and can't be helped":

Leh

Leh (/lɛ́/) is used to soften a command, request, claim or complaint that may be brusque otherwise:

Hor

Hor (/hɔ̃ˇ/), also spelled horh, is used to ask for the listener's attention and consent/support/agreement:

Ar

Ar (/ɑ̌/), also spelled arh or ah, is inserted between topic and comment (often to give a negative tone):

Ar (/ɑ̌/) with a rising tone is used to reiterate a rhetorical question: Ar (/ɑ̄/) with a mid-level tone, on the other hand, is used to mark a genuine question that does require a response: ('or not' can also be used in this context.)

Hah

Hah (/hɑ̌/), also spelled har, is used to express disbelief or used in a questioning manner.

Meh

Meh (/mɛ́/) is used to form questions expressing surprise or skepticism:

Siah

/sjɑ̀/, also spelled Sia, is used to express envy and for emphasis. The term "siah" is derived from the Malay word "sial" which means unlucky or damned. The term sial is still used extensively in the Malay context.

Damn

Damn is used as an intensifier, as in American and British English.

Summary

Summary of discourse and other particles:

Function Example Meaning Notes
(Nothing) Can. "It can be done."
Solidarity Can lah. "Rest assured, it can be done."
Seeking attention / support (implicit) Can hor / huh. "It can be done I guess."
Characteristic Can one / de. "This can be done, really."
(Vividness?) Very nice lidat. "This really appeared to be very nice."
Acceptance /
Resignation 		Can lor. "It can be done, for goodness sake."
Assertion (implies that listener should already know) Can wat. "It can be done... shouldn't you know this?"
Assertion (strong) Can mah. "See?! It can be done!"
Assertion (softened) Can leh. "Can't you see that it can be done?"
Yes / No question Can or not? "Can it be done?"
Yes / No question
(confirmation) 		Can is it? "It can be done, right?"
Yes / No question
(scepticism) 		Can meh? "Um... are you sure it can be done?"
Confirmation Can ar (low). "So... it can really be done?"
Rhetorical Can ar (rising). "Alright then, don't come asking for help if problems arise."
Change of state Can already / liao. "It's done!"
(Indifference?) Can huh (low tone). "It can be done..."

Miscellaneous

"There is"/"there are" and "has"/"have" are both expressed using got, so that sentences can be translated in either way back into British / American / Australasian English. This is equivalent to the Chinese 有 yǒu (to have):

Can is used extensively as both a question particle and an answer particle. The negative is cannot.

Can can be repeated for greater emphasis or to express enthusiasm: The Malay word with the same meaning boleh can be used in place of can to add a greater sense of multiculturalism in the conversation. The person in a dominant position may prefer to use boleh instead: The phrase like that is commonly appended to the end of the sentence to emphasize descriptions by adding vividness and continuousness. Due to its frequency of use, it is often pronounced lidat (lye-dat): Like that can also be used as in other Englishes: In British English, "also" is used before the predicate, while "too" is used after the predicative at the end of the sentence. In Singlish (also in American and Australian English), "also" (pronounced oso, see phonology section above) can be used in either position.

"Also" is also used as a conjunction. In this case, "A also B" corresponds to "B although A". This stems from Chinese, where the words 也 (yě), 還 (hái) or 都 (dōu) (meaning also, usage depends on dialect or context) would be used to express these sentences.

The order of the verb and the subject in an indirect question is the same as a direct question.

"Ownself" is often used in place of "yourself", or more accurately, "yourself" being an individual, in a state of being alone.

Not all expressions with the -self pronouns should be taken literally, but as the omission of "by":

Vocabulary

Singlish formally takes after British English (in terms of spelling and abbreviations), although naming conventions are in a mix of American and British ones (with American ones on the rise). For instance, local media have "sports pages" (sport in British English) and "soccer coverage" (the use of the word "soccer" is not common in British media). Singlish also uses many words borrowed from Hokkien, the Chinese dialect native to more than 75% of the Chinese community in Singapore, and from Malay. In many cases, English words take on the meaning of their Chinese counterparts, resulting in a shift in meaning. This is most obvious in such cases as "borrow"/"lend", which are functionally equivalent in Singlish and mapped to the same Mandarin word, "借" (jiè), which can mean to lend or to borrow. ("Oy, ci bai, can lend me your calculator?")

The following list of examples is far from complete, as new Singlish words appear once in a while, usually due to a certain fad or a casual utterance by an individual.

Examples:

Ordering at a coffee shop

Drinks

Food

English words with different meanings in Singlish

Expressions

In pop culture

Movie

Musical

Television

Literature

These published works are generally in English, but they describe the prevalence of Singlish in Singapore, and use many Singlish terms such as in dialogue.

See also

References

External links
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