Singlish - Knowledge

183: 7636: 603:", "shiok" and "sabo" in both its online and printed versions. Several Singlish words had previously made it into the OED's online version, which launched in March 2000. Words such as "Lah" and "sinseh" were already included in OED's debut, while "kiasu" made it into the online list in March 2007. Reactions were generally positive for this Singaporean identity to be recognized on a global level, and Singlish has been commonly associated with the country and is considered a unique aspect of Singaporean culture. 7785: 416: 214: 7799: 7141: 6815: 6704: 6506: 6390: 6263: 5518: 5029: 4705: 4075: 799:'s free-to-air TV code states that the use of Singlish is only permitted in interviews, "where the interviewee speaks only Singlish," but the interviewer must refrain from using it. Despite this, in recent years the use of Singlish on television and radio has proliferated as localised Singlish continues to be popular among Singaporeans, especially in the 2 popular Singaporean local 925:, is heavily influenced by Malay, Hokkien and Cantonese. There are variations within Singlish, both geographically and ethnically. Chinese, Native Malays, Indians, Eurasians, and other ethnic groups in Singapore all have distinct accents, and the accentedness depends on factors such as formality of the context and language dominance of the speaker. 8367:

independence 50 years ago, and decided that English should be the common language for all its different races. That was the plan. It worked out slightly differently though, as the various ethnic groups began infusing English with other words and grammar. English became the official language, but Singlish became the language of the street.

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In Singlish, discourse particles are minimal lexemes (words) that occur at the end of a sentence and that do not carry referential meaning, but may relate to linguistic modality, register or other pragmatic effects. They may be used to indicate how the speaker thinks that the content of the sentence

706:, speakers of the pidgin form of Singlish speak another language as a first language and Singlish as a second language. However, since a substantial number of people today learn Singlish natively, the number of speakers at the "pidgin" level of Singlish is dwindling. This is because by definition, a 534:

used for communication between speakers of the many different languages used in Singapore. Singlish evolved mainly among the working classes who learned elements of English without formal schooling, mixing in elements of their native languages. After some time, this new pidgin language, now combined

875:

In recent times, Singlish is considered by linguists to be an independent language with its own systematic grammar. Linguists from universities around the world have referred to local productions to demonstrate to students how Singlish has become a unique language variety. There have been recent

828:

In many white-collar workplaces, Singlish is avoided in formal contexts, especially at job interviews, meetings with clients, presentations or meetings, where Standard English is preferred. Nevertheless, selected Singlish phrases are sometimes injected into discussions to build rapport or for a

591:

to eradicate Singlish, although more recent Speak Good English campaigns are conducted with tacit acceptance of Singlish as valid for informal usage. Several current and former Singaporean prime ministers have publicly spoken out against Singlish. However, the prevailing view among contemporary

8366:

Singapore is known for its efficiency and Singlish is no different - it's colourful and snappy. You don't have a coffee - you "lim kopi". And if someone asks you to join them for a meal but you've already had dinner, you simply say: "Eat already." Singlish first emerged when Singapore gained

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is used in a single-worded phrase, even with the same pronunciation, it can represent four different meanings. It can either be synonymous with "so what?", or it can be a sarcastic expression that the other party is making a statement that arose from his/her actions, or similarly an arrogant

3322:

in "I will try to go to the park to cycle" without carrying any of the suggestive meaning associated with a rise-fall tone in British English. In fact, a rise-fall tone may be found on as many as 21 per cent of declaratives, and this use of the tone can convey a sense of strong approval or

6583:(derivative of the parent, used interchangeably but sometimes may imply a stronger emphasis). Originally, it is often used by Malay peers in informal speech between them, sometimes while enraged, and other times having different implications depending on the subject matter: 5731:(hence "Yah lah!" and "No lah!..."). This can, with the appropriate tone, result in a less-brusque declaration and facilitate the flow of conversation: "No more work to do, we go home lah!" However, if the preceding clause is already diminutive or jocular, suffixing it with 8825: 3344:

Overall, the differences between the different ethnic communities in Singapore are most evident in the patterns of intonation, so for example Malay Singaporeans often have the main pitch excursion later in an utterance than ethnically Chinese and Indian Singaporeans.

1803:" (use your brain) and "'Don pray pray!'" (Don't play-play, i.e. Don't fool around) may seem to indicate, it is more of a self-deprecating, rather self-aware joke, like "died-ed". One might note, however, that both these examples involve initial consonant clusters ( 9586:

Wee, Lionel (2004) 'Singapore English: morphology and syntax'. In Bernd Kortmann, Kate Burridge, Rajend Mesthrie, Edgar W. Schneider and Clive Upton (eds.) A Handbook of Varieties of English. Volume 2: Morphology and Syntax, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp.

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Like all languages, Singlish and other creole languages show consistent internal logic and grammatical complexity, and are used naturally by a group of people to express thoughts and ideas. Due to its origins, Singlish shares many similarities with other

10218:

9305:

Tan, Ludwig (2003) 'Topic prominence and null arguments in Singapore Colloquial English'. In David Deterding, Low Ee Ling and Adam Brown (Eds.) English in Singapore: Research on Grammar, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp.

4163:) 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 nasalising the previous vowel. This makes nasalisation the only mark of the negative. 5679:) or the same word in Malay. It simultaneously softens the force of an utterance and entices solidarity, though it can also have the opposite meaning so it is used to signal power. In addition, there are suggestions that there is more than one 592:

linguists is that, regardless of perceptions that a dialect or language is "better" or "worse" than its counterparts, when dialects and languages are assessed "on purely linguistic grounds, all languages—and all dialects—have equal merit".

6004:), is a casual, sometimes jocular way to assert upon the listener either direct observations or obvious inferences. It also carries a sense of resignation, or alternatively, dismissiveness. that "it happens this way and can't be helped": 7227:" is a phrase often used at the end of a sentence or after a warning of the possible negative consequences of an action. Can be directly translated as "and you will regret not heeding my advice". Also a direct translation of the Chinese 5624:

has connotations of disapproval, it is considered to be slightly offensive if it is used in situations where a more polite register is expected, e.g. while speaking to strangers in public, people in the workplace or one's elders.

9324:

Leong, Alvin (2003) Subject omission in Singapore Colloquial English. In David Deterding, Low Ee Ling and Adam Brown (Eds.) English in Singapore: Research on Grammar, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp.

5301:(two beats) call you" will imbue the subtext with a questionable sense of irony, a lasciviousness for seduction (three beats), or just general inappropriateness (random two beats indicating a Hong Kong comedy-influenced moleitou 3385:. This means that Singlish sentences often begin with a topic (or a known reference of the conversation), followed by a comment (or new information). This contrasts with Standard English, which is subject-prominent and thus the 525:

Singlish originated with the arrival of the British and the establishment of English language education in Singapore. Elements of English quickly filtered out of schools and onto the streets, resulting in the development of a

9047:

Lee, Ee May and Lim, Lisa (2000) 'Diphthongs in Singaporean English: their realisations across different formality levels, and some attitudes of listeners towards them'. In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (eds.),

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can be used to return an insult/negative comment back to the originator. When used in such a way, there must first be an insult/negative comment from another party. In such contexts, it is a translation from the Chinese

1899:, etc.). This is caused by the popularity of American TV programming. Current estimates are that about 20 per cent of university undergraduates sometimes use this American-style pre-consonantal when reading a passage. 3889:

The past tense is more likely to be marked if the verb describes an isolated event (it is a punctual verb), and it tends to be unmarked if the verb in question represents an action that goes on for an extended period:

3348:

Generally, these pronunciation patterns are thought to have increased the clarity of Singlish communications between pidgin-level speakers in often noisy environments, and these features were retained in creolisation.

5947:), 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, and in some contexts is similar to English's 630:, a subtle language shift among the post-1965 generation became more and more evident as Malay idiomatic expressions were, and continued to be, displaced by idioms borrowed from Chinese spoken varieties, such as 6655:

However, Singlish itself takes influence only from the general expression of the term without any negative implication, and non-Malay speakers (or Malays speaking to non-Malays) pronounce it either as a nasal

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as in the above examples will not be understood, and may even be greeted with a confused reply: "But strike lottery good wat!" ('But it's a good thing to win the lottery!'). However, when used in sarcasm,

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language - in this case, English. Due in part to this perception of Singlish as "broken English", the use of Singlish is greatly frowned on by the government. In 2000, the government launched the

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and shopping malls, Singlish is used without restriction. For many students, using Singlish is inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders. Singapore humour writer

714:

Since many Singaporeans can speak Standard English in addition to Singlish, code-switching can occur very frequently along the continuum. In addition, as many Singaporeans are also speakers of

4505:() is used as an interjection or exclamation at the beginning of a sentence, and it usually has a negative connotation. It is derived from a Hokkien or Teochew phrase that means 'my father' ( 3329:

There is often an 'early booster' at the start of an utterance, so an utterance like "I think they are quite nice and interesting magazines" may have a very high pitch occurring on the word

8648:

Deterding, D. & Poedjosoedarmo, G. (2000). To what extent can the ethnic group of young Singaporeans be identified from their speech? In A. Brown, D. Deterding, & E. L. Low (Eds.).

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Ong Po Keng, Fiona, Deterding, David and Low Ee Ling (2007) 'Rhythm in Singapore and British English: a comparison of indexes'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds. 2005),

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Singaporean English or Singlish, as it is better known to the local populace, is an English creole that has long been a contesting issue between pro–Singlish and anti–Singlish proponents.

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often marks a negative, non-volitional outcome (either in the future or the past), while the above sentences express volition and are set in the present. Consider the following examples:

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There is a lack of the de-accenting that is found in most dialects of English (e.g. British and American), so information that is repeated or predictable is still given full prominence.

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Poedjosoedarmo, Gloria (2000) 'The media as a model and source of innovation in the development of Singapore Standard English’. In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (eds.),

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Moorthy, Shanti Marion and Deterding, David (2000) 'Three or tree? Dental fricatives in the speech of educated Singaporeans.' In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (Eds.),

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Lim, Lisa (2000) 'Ethnic group differences aligned? Intonation patterns of Chinese, Indian and Malay Singapore English'. In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (eds. 2000)

4359:). 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: 5332:

can be used at the beginning of a sentence as a link to the previous sentence. It often has the meaning "after that". In other cases, it carries a connotation of an exclamation.

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It is derived from a Malay word that means "to encounter or to come into physical contact", and is only used with objects that have a negative effect or connotation. Verbs after

8909:

Gut, Ulrike (2005) 'The realisation of final plosives in Singapore English: phonological rules and ethnic differences'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds.),

7968: 7915: 3389:

relationship between topic and comment is not as important there. In Singlish, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and even entire subject-verb-object phrases can all serve as the topic:

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present in the classroom. This is rather inevitable given that Singlish is the home language of many students, and many teachers themselves are comfortable with the variety.

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can also be used to mean both 'send a letter' and 'take children to school', so perhaps both Malay and Chinese have combined to influence the usage of 'send' in Singapore.

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There is a tendency to use a rise-fall tone to indicate special emphasis. A rise-fall tone can occur quite often on the final word of an utterance, for example on the word

8622:

Lim, L. (2000). Ethnic group differences aligned? Intonation patterns of Chinese, Indian and Malay Singaporean English. In A. Brown, D. Deterding, & E. L. Low (Eds.)

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Note in the final example that although the speaker is narrating a story, they probably use the present tense in the belief that the tour guide is probably still alive.

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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:

3187:, etc.). There is a greater tendency to use a full vowel in a syllable which is closed off with a final consonant, so a full vowel is much more likely at the start of 7411:

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

9774:

Deterding, David and Low Ee Ling (2003) 'A corpus-based description of particles in spoken Singapore English'. In David Deterding, Low Ee Ling and Adam Brown (eds.)

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Low, Ee Ling (2000) 'A comparison of the pitch range of Singapore English and British English speakers'. In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (eds. 2000)

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One of the most prominent and noticeable features of Singlish is its unique intonation pattern, which is quite unlike non-creole varieties of English. For example:

848:(1986), which are essentially a glossary of Singlish, which she terms 'Pasar Patois'. This is later followed by publishing of a few other Singlish books including 3365:, with some structures being identical to ones in Chinese varieties. As a result, Singlish has acquired some unique features, especially at the basilectal level. 892:

in both its online and printed versions. Several Singlish words had previously made it into the OED's online version, which launched in March 2000. Words such as

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In many cases, words of English origin take on the meaning of their Chinese counterparts, resulting in a shift in meaning. This is most obvious in such cases as

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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

9253:

Levis, John M. (2005) 'Prominence in Singapore and American English: evidence from reading aloud'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds. 2005),

7327:, or less politely, 'There isn't/aren't any!'; also more loosely, 'What are you talking about?'; generic response to any accusation. Translation of the Malay 5266:

take taxi, otherwise don't take. – 'When I'm late, then do I take a taxi; otherwise I don't take taxis.' = 'I only take a taxi when I'm late.' (see usage vi)

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origin generally retain their original tones in Singlish. On the other hand, original English words as well as words of Malay and Tamil origin are non-tonal.

551:, became the primary language of the streets. As Singlish grew in popularity, children began to acquire Singlish as their native language, a process known as 10287: 9690:

Loke Kit Ken and Low, Johna M. Y. (1988) 'A proposed descriptive framework for the pragmatic meanings of the particle LA in colloquial Singaporean English',

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Gopinathan, S. (1998) "Language policy changes 1979–1997: Politics and pedagogy", in S. Gopinathan, Anne Pakir, Ho Wah Kam and Vanithamani Saravanan (eds.),

9706:

Wee, Lionel (2004) 'Singapore English: morphology and syntax'. In Bernd Kortmann, Kate Burridge, Rajend Mesthrie, Edgar W. Schneider and Clive Upton (eds.)

650:: Acrolectal Singaporean English is very similar to Standard English as spoken in other English-speaking countries, with some differences in pronunciation. 10282: 8240: 8883:

Brown, Adam and Deterding, David (2005) 'A checklist of Singapore English pronunciation features'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds.)

4960:. It might also be analysed as a relative pronoun, though it occurs at the end of the relative clause instead of the beginning (as in Standard English). 814:. Singlish is sometimes used by ordinary people in street interviews broadcast on TV and radio on a daily basis, as well as occasionally in newspapers. 734:

Each of the following means the same thing, but the basilectal and mesolectal versions incorporate some colloquial additions for illustrative purposes.

5599:), is commonly used in Singlish, as in other English varieties, to draw attention or to express surprise or indignation. Some examples of the usage of 904:

made it into the online list in March 2007. Local celebrities were generally pleased for this Singaporean identity to be recognized on a global level.

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Heng, Mui Gek and Deterding, David (2005) 'Reduced vowels in conversational Singapore English'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds.)

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jackpot, come back to school after so long den got so much homework! ('He received a lot of homework upon returning to school after a long absence.')

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particle, so there may be a stressed and an unstressed variant and perhaps as many as nine tonal variants, all having a special pragmatic function.

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There may be greater movement over individual syllables in Singlish than in other varieties of English. This makes Singlish sound as if it has the

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punish/punished then you know. – 'If you don't listen to me, you will be punished, after which you will know that you were wrong.'

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Research on Singlish discourse particles have been many but varied, often focusing on analysing their functions in the sentences they appear in.

10211:

Wee, Lionel (2004) 'Singapore English: Phonology'. In Edgar W. Schneider, Kate Burridge, Bernd Kortmann, Rajend Mesthrie and Clive Upton (eds.)

446: 9140:

Low Ee Ling, Grabe, Esther and Nolan, Francis (2000) 'Quantitative characterisations of speech rhythm: syllable-timing in Singapore English',

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take taxi, otherwise dun take. – 'When I'm late, then do I take a taxi; otherwise I don't take taxis.' = 'I only take a taxi when I'm late.'

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separately, sometimes in a form of exaggeration of the past tense. Most of the time, the user uses it intentionally to mock proper English.

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In addition, there have been recent surges in the interest of Singlish internationally, sparking several national conversations. In 2016,

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Suzanna Bet Hashim and Brown, Adam (2000) 'The and vowels in Singapore English'. In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (eds.)

9473:

Deterding, David (2003) 'Tenses and will/would in a corpus of Singapore English'. In David Deterding, Low Ee Ling and Adam Brown (eds.)

8579: 8490: 8301: 7975: 7922: 4484:

regardless of the remainder of the sentence. Most of the particles are borrowed from southern Chinese varieties, with the tones intact.

11138: 7285:, so that sentences can be translated in either way back into British/American/Australasian English. This is equivalent to the Chinese 5451:

in a phrase, as in "Ah bu den" or "Ah den". In this case it serves approximately the same purpose as 'duh' in American English slang.

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expression which indicating that the other party is stating the obvious, or it can be used as a short form for "what happened then?".

10033:

Foley, J. A., T. Kandiah, Bao Zhiming, A.F. Gupta, L. Alsagoff, Ho Chee Lick, L. Wee, I. S. Talib and W. Bokhorst-Heng (eds. 1998)

5864:, is used to remind or contradict the listener, especially when strengthening another assertion that follows from the current one: 623: 9609:

Alsagoff, Lubna (1995) 'Colloquial Singapore English: the relative clause construction', in Teng Su Ching and Ho Mian Lian (eds.)

5692:

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

9013:

Lim, Siew Siew and Low, Ee Ling (2005) 'Triphthongs in Singapore English'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds.)

7698:', and is used to indicate behaviour such as queueing overnight to obtain something; and the most common borrowing from Malay is 3340:

of Chinese, especially when speakers sometimes maintain the original tones of words that are borrowed into Singlish from Chinese.

690:, though some features appear to be innovations unique to Singlish. Both the basilect and mesolect are referred to as "Singlish". 7606:

Wah, hungry liao! You eat yourself, we eat ourself, can? ('Hey, I/you should be hungry by this time! Let's split up and eat. (')

7309:

so many people one! 'There were so many people at Marina Bay Sands yesterday. / Marina Bay Sands had so many people yesterday.'

2965:. Which vowel occurs in each word therefore appears in these cases not to be predictable. This is illustrated by the fact that 1446: 3289:, which has lexical stress on the second syllable, is pronounced with a rising series of level tones. In compound words, e.g. 9965: 9868: 8598: 8320: 1966: 10001:

Deterding, David and Hvitfeldt, Robert (1994) 'The Features of Singapore English Pronunciation: Implications for Teachers',

6642:. This particular form of usage is often seen in expressing emphasis. There is a further third application of it, in that a 1844:). The following describes a typical system. There is generally no distinction between the non-close front monophthongs, so 10323: 8531: 804: 796: 11018: 10751: 10055:

Gupta, Anthea Fraser (1992) 'Contact features of Singapore Colloquial English'. In Kingsley Bolton and Helen Kwok (eds.)

8440:

Gupta, Anthea Fraser (1992) "Contact features of Singapore Colloquial English". In Kingsley Bolton and Helen Kwok (eds.)

1220: 1193: 165: 6141:, is used to ask for the listener's attention and consent/support/agreement: It is usually pronounced with a low tone. 5872:. – 'But he is very good at mathematics.' (Shouldn't you know this already, having known him for years?) 3998:(pronounced more like "oreddy" and sometimes spelt that way) in Singlish is probably a direct influence of the Hokkien 1986: 1368:. The contrast is usually maintained in acrolectal speech, though even among educated speakers there is some variation. 439: 9294:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics

9268:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics

9193:

Ng, E-Ching (1 March 2012). "Chinese meets Malay meets English: origins of Singaporean English word-final high tone".

5142:, it is often used to explain one's blunder/negative consequences. In such contexts, it is a translation from Chinese 10231: 10206: 10185: 10170: 10152: 10137: 10123: 10101: 10086: 10071: 10042: 10020: 9995: 9980: 9943: 9909: 7188: 6862: 6751: 6553: 6437: 6310: 5565: 5076: 4752: 4122: 3885:

him also never. – 'He talked for so long without stopping and wouldn't even stop when I asked him to.'

3098:, i.e. a reduced vowel, Singlish tends to use the full vowel based on orthography. This can be seen in words such as 10158:

Pakir, Anne (1991) ‘The range and depth of English-knowing bilinguals in Singapore’, World Englishes, 10(2), 167–79.

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to add a greater sense of multiculturalism in the conversation. The person in a dominant position may prefer to use

7170: 6844: 6733: 6535: 6419: 6292: 5547: 5058: 4734: 4104: 9826:

Deterding, David (2000) 'Potential influences of Chinese on the written English of Singapore'. In Adam Brown (Ed.)

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Lim, Choon Yeoh and Wee, Lionel (2001) 'Reduplication in Colloquial Singapore English'. In Vincent B. Y. Ooi (ed.)

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Tan, Ludwig (2007) Null Arguments in Singapore Colloquial English. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.

9179:

Brown, Adam (1988) 'The staccato effect in the pronunciation of English in Malaysia and Singapore'. In Foley (ed.)

8870:

Brown, Adam (1988) 'The staccato effect in the pronunciation of English in Malaysia and Singapore', in Foley (ed.)

1151: 1066: 5879:! – (It's not my fault, since) 'You didn't give it to me!' (Or else I would have gotten it, right?) 3975:). This is not the same as the past tense, as it does not cover past habitual or continuous occurrences. Instead, 11133: 10316: 10243: 7817: 7473:

is used after the predicative at the end of the sentence. In Singlish (also in American and Australian English),

5100:. When used, it represents different meanings in different contexts. In this section, the word is referred to as 2010: 1107: 155: 9677:

Kwan-Terry, Anna (1978) 'The meaning and the source of the "la" and the "what" particles in Singapore English',

9664:

Bell, Roger and Ser Peng Quee, Larry (1983) '"Today la?" "Tomorrow lah!" The LA particle in Singapore English',

8635:

Tan, Y. Y. (2010). Singing the same tune? Prosodic norming in bilingual Singaporeans. In M. Cruz Ferreira (Ed.)

5768:! – 'Argh, I don't know any more than what I told you!' or 'I give up trying to understand this!' 5150:

is prolonged twice the usual length in emphasis, as opposed to the short emphasis it is given when used to mean

3283:) have a low tone. Every other syllable, including stressed ones, is assigned a mid tone. For example, the word 2113: 10767: 10744: 10293: 10226:. CAS research paper series, no. 30. Singapore: Centre for Advanced Studies, National University of Singapore. 9788: 7837: 7206:, which originated from Hokkien, means 'only', mostly used to play down something that has been overestimated. 7166: 6840: 6729: 6531: 6415: 6288: 5543: 5054: 4884:

of the sentence by implying that it is unique and characteristic. It is analogous to the use of particles like

4730: 4100: 2042: 580: 483: 300: 75: 8974:

Deterding, David (2007). 'The Vowels of the Different Ethnic Groups in Singapore'. In David Prescott (ed.fg),

6234:) with a mid-level tone, on the other hand, is used to mark a genuine question that does require a response: ( 10527: 10386: 8826:"Negotiating social meanings in a plural society: Social perceptions of variants of /l/ in Singapore English" 7867: 1158: 1073: 432: 325: 257: 197: 8378:

Platt, John T. (1975) "The Singapore English Speech Continuum and Its Basilect 'Singlish' as a 'Creoloid'",

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is also used to describe an action that will be performed later. It is used to replace the Chinese particle

4367:

a little bit, maybe den you get answer. ('Go and think over it for a while, and then you might understand.')

3257:

compared to most varieties of English, which are usually stress-timed. This in turn gives Singlish a rather

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in the following might not be appropriate, as they seem impolite, as if the speaker is mocking the victim.

2051: 2026: 1137: 1114: 662:

and basilectal Singlish. At this level, a number of features not found in standard English begin to emerge.

638: 612: 242: 182: 9363:

Alsagoff, Lubna and Ho, Chee Lick (1998) 'The grammar of Singapore English'. In J. A. Foley et al. (eds.)

9092: 9031: 9027: 8780: 8489:, "To have or not to have a dictionary, big question leh", published 24 April 1995, available online at: 6764: 6566: 6454: 6327: 6231: 6212: 6185: 6149:, another person came out of the house. – 'And then, another person came out of the house.' 6124: 6048: 5983: 5932: 5857: 5644: 5640: 5097: 4543: 4195: 4188: 3862: 3858: 3835: 3204: 3194: 3172: 3168: 3156: 3152: 3137: 3126: 3115: 3105: 3095: 3080: 3073: 3032: 3028: 3017: 3013: 3003: 2999: 2995: 2991: 2985: 2977: 2969: 2922: 2918: 2872: 2844: 2830: 2811: 2783: 2755: 2727: 2698: 2683: 2664: 2636: 2560: 2507: 2479: 2402: 2310: 2234: 2204: 2176: 2123: 2089: 2085: 2081: 2077: 2073: 1872: 1864: 1853: 1816: 1812: 1808: 1804: 1792: 1788: 1779: 1744: 1733: 1682: 1671: 1576: 1528: 1524: 1480: 1476: 1435: 583:. As with many other creole languages, it is sometimes incorrectly perceived to be a "broken" form of the 10797: 7947: 7857: 5819:

can appear nearly anywhere, it does not appear with a yes–no question. Other particles are used instead:

5735:

would be redundant and improper: one would not say "yep lah", "nope lah", or "ta lah" (as in the British

4634:

can be used in apparently positive circumstances, though with an ironic modicum of success, for example:

3916:

There seems also to be a tendency to avoid use of the past tense to refer to someone who is still alive:

3831: 2060: 1974: 1559:, i.e. run onto the next word. For example, "ran out of eggs" is realised as for some speakers (compare 1202: 1169: 616: 588: 10224:

The natural semantic metalanguage approach to the universal syntax of the Singlish existential primitive

8504:

Foley, Joseph (2001) "Is English a first or second language in Singapore?", in Vincent B. Y. Ooi (ed.),

7887: 7547:

cannot do. ('I tried so hard, and still I can't do it.' or 'I can't do it even though I tried so hard.')

3857:

Due to consonant cluster simplification, the past tense is most often unmarked when it is pronounced as

10802: 10725: 9079: 9034:

vowels of young English speakers in Singapore'. In Adam Brown, David Deterding and Low Ee Ling (eds.),

7832: 7539:(meaning 'also', though usage depends on dialect or context) would be used to express these sentences. 3936:

Instead of the past tense, the completion of an action or a change of state can be expressed by adding

1211: 1122: 1052: 1036: 392: 8662: 3498:, and so called PRO-drop utterances may be regarded as a diagnostic feature of Singlish. For example: 10303: 8517:

Deterding, David (1998) 'Approaches to Diglossia in the Classroom: The Middle Way. REACT, 2, 18-23.'

7162: 6836: 6725: 6527: 6411: 6284: 5539: 5050: 4726: 4304:? – "What? Haven't you guys ever read a newspaper?" (No wonder you aren't up to date!) 4096: 1604: 1552: 1144: 877: 596: 402: 366: 280: 252: 10262: 9153:

Deterding, David (2001) 'The Measurement of Rhythm: A Comparison of Singapore and British English',

8491:

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jacklee/Files/19950424-ST-BadNewsforAllEngPurists.pdf

8081: 10875: 9831: 7509:. In this case, "A also B" corresponds to "B although A". This stems from Chinese, where the words 7151: 6825: 6714: 6516: 6400: 6273: 5528: 5039: 4715: 4085: 3912:

so much, so sian already. – 'Last night I studied so much that I became very tired.'

3374: 1994: 1572: 568: 555:. Through this process of creolization, Singlish became a fully-formed, stabilized and independent 237: 5432:

Context: A is supposed to meet B before meeting a larger group but A is late for the first meeting

4411:

referring to people can be repeated for intimacy. Most commonly, monosyllabic nouns are repeated:

1567:. This contributes to what linguists have described as the 'staccato effect' of Singapore English. 11024: 10925: 10807: 7506: 7155: 6829: 6718: 6520: 6404: 6277: 5532: 5297:

If shortened, the meaning will be changed or incorrectly conveyed. For example, "I go home liao,

5043: 4719: 4477:

relates to the participants' common knowledge or change the emotional character of the sentence.

4089: 3058:

In general, Singlish vowels are tenser – there are no lax vowels (which RP has in

1863:

are distinguished to some extent. These speakers may make a distinction between the tense vowels

1129: 1082: 1059: 1043: 627: 350: 285: 8935:

Deterding, David (2003) 'An instrumental study of the monophthong vowels of Singapore English',

8241:"NYT op-ed on Singlish makes light of efforts to promote standard English: PM's press secretary" 7635: 7551:

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

10980: 10594: 10414: 10339: 7822: 7316:

air-con or not? 'Is there air-conditioning on this bus? / Does this bus have air-conditioning?'

3643:

Many nouns which seem logically to refer to a countable item are used in the plural, including

1833: 1453: 956: 818: 310: 247: 9828:

English in Southeast Asia 99: Proceedings of the Fourth 'English in Southeast Asia' Conference

4374:, until I get answer lor. ('So I sat down, thought, thought and thought, until I understood.') 3357:

The grammar of Singlish has been heavily influenced by other languages in the region, such as

522:

refers to a blend of Singaporean slang and English and was first recorded in the early 1970s.

10990: 10954: 10440: 8068: 6026:. – 'If you're done working, you should go home.' (What are you waiting for?) 5886: – (I did not punch him) 'I did not punch him!' (Or else I am the one, right?) 5812:

can also be used to emphasise items in a spoken list, appearing after each item in the list.

4843:

also sounds more sympathetic when talking about an unfortunate incident about someone close.

1556: 1180: 1001: 990: 946: 810: 678:

features of Singlish. Many of these features can be attributed to the influence of different

335: 330: 9255:

English in Singapore: Phonetic Research on a Corpus, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia)

9168:

English in Singapore: Phonetic Research on a Corpus, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia)

8518: 8194:

Rubdy, Rani (2001) "Creative destruction: Singapore English's Speak Good English movement",

6061:), is used to soften a command, request, claim, or complaint that may be brusque otherwise: 4850:

Sad sia, so young tio cancer. ('How sad, he was diagnosed with cancer at such a young age.')

615:, ranging from standard English with local pronunciation on one end, to the most colloquial 11107: 11004: 10886: 10649: 10552: 10006: 9651:

and Tay, Mary W. J. (1977) 'The la particle in Singapore English', in William Crewe (ed.),

9499:

Alsagoff, Lubna (2001) 'Tense and aspect in Singapore English'. In Vincent B. Y. Ooi (ed.)

8797:

Wee, Lian-Hee (2008). "Phonological patterns in the Englishes of Singapore and Hong Kong".

7842: 7371:

Boss: "Can you send me the report by this afternoon?" Employee: "Can, can!" ('No problem!')

6489:? – 'Is that really so? (I honestly thought otherwise/I don't believe you.)' 4378:

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

4180: 3830:

Past tense marking is optional in Singlish. Marking of the past tense occurs most often in

3675: 3629: 3272:

is normally the rightmost one, regardless of underlying stress. Words with no stress (e.g.

3254: 3222: 1089: 837: 679: 540: 271: 223: 205: 6196:, is inserted between topic and comment. It often, but not always, gives a negative tone: 8: 10919: 10705: 10627: 10622: 10535: 10510: 8650:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation, (pp. 1-9). Singapore: SAAL.

7852: 7812: 7660: 6652:

with the same nasal quality only when ending the word. It is similarly used in emphasis.

4881: 4231: 1373: 1100: 1029: 340: 295: 290: 10298: 7342:

is used extensively as both a question particle and an answer particle. The negative is

10944: 10863: 10540: 9577:

Wee, Lionel. "Lor in colloquial Singapore English". Journal of Pragmatics, 2002, p. 711

9210: 8690: 7888:"STANDARD ENGLISH AND SINGLISH: THE CLASH OF LANGUAGE VALUES IN CONTEMPORARY SINGAPORE" 4546:) can be used as an auxiliary to mark the passive voice in some varieties of Singlish. 4481: 3738: 3337: 1787:

Distinction between /l/ and /r/: While it may be believed that the distinction between

1532: 1520: 1014: 951: 320: 315: 262: 6019:, you go and do what you want. – 'Fine, go ahead and do what you want.' 5670: 3966: 133: 11128: 10949: 10939: 10858: 10853: 10685: 10680: 10670: 10644: 10639: 10634: 10602: 10562: 10480: 10445: 10376: 10227: 10202: 10181: 10166: 10148: 10133: 10119: 10097: 10082: 10067: 10038: 10016: 9991: 9976: 9961: 9939: 9905: 9899: 9864: 9648: 9214: 8924:

The Sounds of English: Phonetics and Phonology for English Teachers in Southeast Asia

8810: 8768:

The Sounds of English: Phonetics and Phonology for English Teachers in Southeast Asia

8694: 8682: 8427:

Pakir, Anne (1991) "The range and depth of English-knowing bilinguals in Singapore",

8177: 7827: 7711:, which are functionally equivalent in Singlish and mapped to the same Hokkien word, 7670: 5579: 4419:

is going to Primary One oreddy. ('My son is about to enter Year/Grade/Standard One.')

3988: 3984: 3866: 3586: 3308: 3304: 3269: 3238: 2017: 1690: 1423: 973: 963: 507: 491: 387: 382: 141: 17: 10130:

Aspects of the syntax of educated Singaporean English: attitudes, beliefs, and usage

10013:

The Grammar of English: Morphology and Syntax for English Teachers in Southeast Asia

9367:, Singapore: Singapore Institute of Management/Oxford University Press, pp. 201-217. 9347:

Wee, Lionel and Ansaldo, Umberto (2004) 'Nouns and noun phrases'. In Lisa Lim (ed.)

8731:, Singapore: Singapore Institute of Management/Oxford University Press, pp. 152-174. 4282:

implies that the speaker is simply confirming something they have already inferred:

161: 11087: 11044: 10675: 10617: 10582: 10572: 10557: 10472: 9722:

Platt, John and Ho, Mian Lian (1989) 'Discourse particles in Singaporean English',

9202: 9107: 8840: 8806: 8727:

Bao Zhiming (1998) 'The sounds of Singapore English'. In J. A. Foley et al. (eds.)

8674: 8167: 8159: 8038: 7790: 7682: 7644: 7640: 6577:, is used to express envy or emphasis. It is a derivative of the Malay vulgar word 4994: 4957: 4351:, verbs are often repeated (e.g. TV personality Phua Chu Kang's "don't pray-pray!" 4344: 4238: 3949: 3767:

is also found, although less frequently, as an equative between two nouns, or as a

3698: 3495: 3488: 3378: 3362: 3219: 2879: 2851: 2818: 2790: 2762: 2734: 2705: 2671: 2643: 2615: 2592: 2568: 2538: 2514: 2486: 2457: 2433: 2409: 2380: 2357: 2333: 2288: 2265: 2241: 2211: 2183: 2154: 2130: 2098: 1880: 1764: 1750: 1714: 1700: 1652: 1638: 1624: 1610: 1560: 1457: 1407: 1393: 1379: 1341: 1327: 1285: 1271: 1257: 1243: 1237: 941: 832:

In informal settings, such as during conversation with friends, or transactions in

715: 670:: This is the most colloquial form of speech. Here, one can find all of the unique 659: 572: 487: 474: 420: 9074:

Deterding, David (2006) 'Reduced vowels in SE Asia: should we be teaching them?',

4528:! I can't believe the teacher gave us so much work to do in such a tight deadline! 4312:

also occurs when the speaker thinks the hearer might disagree with the assertion.

3218:, the nasalisation is often kept – one prominent example being the 698:: This represents the first stage of development of the Singlish language, before 11097: 11054: 11010: 10996: 10985: 10975: 10970: 10905: 10899: 10894: 10880: 10817: 10812: 10792: 10736: 10695: 10690: 10612: 10607: 10577: 10545: 10515: 7804: 7666: 6101:

Especially when on a low tone, it can be used to show the speaker's disapproval:

5210:– 'It is only due to the fact that I did not do my homework that I was scolded.' 4554: 2316: 1510:. This is not the case for some speakers with Tamil or Malay accents who may use 981: 968: 922: 699: 556: 527: 511: 70: 62: 9525:

Ansaldo, Umberto (2004) 'The evolution of Singapore English', in Lisa Lim (ed.)

9000:

Deterding, David (2005) 'Emergent patterns in the vowels of Singapore English',

8896:

Deterding, David (2005) 'Emergent patterns in the vowels of Singapore English',

4898: 4886: 1693:: Final consonant clusters may simplify, especially in fast speech. In general, 876:

surges in interest in Singlish usage, sparking national conversations. In 2016,

11073: 10505: 10391: 10381: 10360: 10257: 10048:

Gopinathan, S., Pakir, Anne, Ho Wah Kam and Saravanan, Vanithamani (eds. 1998)

8553:"Singlish Is Being Studied In Universities Around The World, Leh! - The Finder" 8486: 8105: 7862: 7678: 7674: 7652: 7648: 6355:

He really ponned class yesterday ar! – 'What? Is it true that he played truant

6090:. – 'The thing is, I believe it's better to be safe than sorry.' 5761:! – 'I just don't have any of that (which you were requesting)!' 5294:

is pronounced in one beat, instead of being lengthened to two beats as in (i).

4922: 4348: 3991:, and can refer to real or hypothetical events in the past, present or future. 3484: 3382: 3265: 1431: 1025: 822: 723: 719: 687: 683: 548: 544: 515: 495: 94: 53: 9622:

Wee, Lionel (2004) 'Reduplication and discourse particles', in Lisa Lim (ed.)

9538:

Wee, Lionel (2004) 'Reduplication and discourse particles', in Lisa Lim (ed.)

8844: 8146:

CAVALLARO, FRANCESCO; NG, BEE CHIN; SEILHAMER, MARK FIFER (1 September 2014).

7999:

Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity.

5259:

langgar the car lor. – 'I was really tired, which is why I knocked into car.'

4934: 726:, code-switching between English and other languages also occurs dynamically. 11122: 11049: 10781: 10700: 10495: 9898:

O'Grady, William; Archibald, John; Aronoff, Mark; Rees-Miller, Janie (2001).

9206: 8783:

in Singapore English'. In David Deterding, Adam Brown and Low Ee Ling (eds.)

8686: 8455:"Content Code for Nationwide Managed Transmission Linear Television Services" 8346: 8181: 7461:? – 'If that's the case, how am I going to answer to the board of directors?' 5498: 4910: 3819: 3358: 1915: 1796: 918: 600: 531: 305: 10290:, and compare side by side with other English accents from around the World. 9936:

Singapore English in a Nutshell: An Alphabetical Description of its Features

6109:. ('If you ask her to go there on foot, it will be a rather long distance.') 5482:

can also indicate a conditional (an if-then condition), implying an omitted

599:(OED) announced that it has added 19 new "Singapore English" items such as " 10933: 10870: 7969:"Chinese-based lexicon in Singapore English, and Singapore-Chinese culture" 7916:"Chinese-based lexicon in Singapore English, and Singapore-Chinese culture" 7730: 7302:

question? 'Any questions? / Is there a question? / Do you have a question?'

3682:

in most varieties of English, is treated somewhat differently in Singlish:

3312: 1548: 1544: 1461: 880:(OED) announced that it has added 19 new "Singapore English" items such as 840:

was the first to put a spelling and a punctuation to Singlish in her books

552: 232: 101: 8678: 8029:

Ong, Kenneth Keng Wee (2017). "Textese and Singlish in multiparty chats".

7590:

go party yesterday for what? 'Why did he go to the party alone yesterday?'

4557:. It is similar in meaning to passive markers in Chinese, such as Hokkien 3938: 3171:

in their first syllable. It seems that the letter 'a' is often pronounced

1836:

vowel phonemes, with a few exceptions (as discussed below, with regard to

1725:, are lost if they come after another consonant that is non-lateral, e.g. 1607:: Word-finally, the distinction between voiced and voiceless sounds, i.e. 1591:

is realised as , and there may be a glottal stop at the end of words like

559:, acquiring a more robust vocabulary and more complex grammar, with fixed 10500: 10308: 9111: 5663:, is used at the end of a sentence. It originates from the Chinese word ( 5180:(two beats with shifts in tone sandhi, tone 2) indicating replacement of 5164:(two beats with shifts in tone sandhi, tone 2) indicating replacement of 4430:

However, occasionally reduplication is also found with disyllabic nouns:

3799: 3764: 3293: 3287: 3215: 3175:, but the letter 'o' usually has a full vowel quality, especially in the 3088: 1959: 1910: 1465: 1419: 1321: 1233: 869: 829:

humorous effect, especially when the audience consists mainly of locals.

702:

took place and solidified Singlish as a fully-formed creole. As with all

499: 486:

originating in Singapore. Singlish arose out of a situation of prolonged

463: 10288:'Hover & Hear' pronunciations in a Standard Singapore English accent 10037:. Singapore: Singapore Institute of Management/Oxford University Press. 9789:"Singlish Guide: 125 Phrases/Words That Define SG (Singaporean English)" 9692:

Asian-Pacific Papers: Applied Linguistics of Australia Occasional Papers

9052:, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp. 100-111. 8987:

Tay Wan Joo, Mary (1982) 'The phonology of educated Singapore English',

8965:, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp. 112–120. 6348:), is used to express disbelief, shock or used in a questioning manner. 1313: 10822: 10430: 9596:

Bao Zhiming and Wee, Lionel (1999) 'The passive in Singapore English',

8172: 8163: 8042: 7699: 7689: 4148: 3685:

The copula is generally not used with adjectives or adjective phrases:

2034: 1920: 1564: 1551:

may be inserted at the beginning of words starting with a vowel, as in

1468: 761: 744: 536: 187: 10911: 9897: 9613:, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp. 77–87. 9038:, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp. 93-99. 8952:, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp. 84-92. 8757:, Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics, pp. 76-83. 8275: 5172:– 'I did not do my homework, that's why (therefore) I got a scolding' 4019:, then how? (Ah Song has gotten into trouble, what will you do (now)?) 3954: 11079: 10490: 10485: 10455: 10277: 8406: 7847: 4449: 3788: 3084: 2981: 2068: 2002: 1507: 853: 833: 671: 560: 468: 126: 114: 43: 8060: 7140: 6814: 6703: 6505: 6389: 6262: 5517: 5028: 4704: 4074: 3944: 1422:, especially among Malays. Aspiration is retained in loanwords from 11059: 9708:

A Handbook of Varieties of English. Volume 2: Morphology and Syntax

9553:

Evolving Identities: The English Language in Singapore and Malaysia

9501:

Evolving Identities: The English Language in Singapore and Malaysia

8506:

Evolving Identities: The English Language in Singapore and Malaysia

8354: 7798: 5228:, which will sound grammatically illogical to a Singlish speaker: 3768: 3386: 3258: 1828:

Broadly speaking, there is a one-to-many mapping of Singlish vowel

1317: 666: 654: 646: 584: 173: 8481:

See, for example, an entire opinion column written in Singlish by

6223:? – 'Why is it like that? / Why are you like that?' 5949: 4452:

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

11093: 11067: 8580:"Shiok! 19 Singlish items added to the Oxford English Dictionary" 8302:"Shiok! 19 Singlish items added to the Oxford English Dictionary" 6797: 6373:

How come he tio caning? – 'What? How did he end up being caned?'

6215:) with a rising tone is used to reiterate a rhetorical question: 6156:? – 'This shopping centre is very nice, isn't it?' 5783:. – 'Don't worry, he will be capable of doing it.' 3211: 2108: 1860: 1829: 1694: 675: 631: 503: 397: 169: 21: 9844:

Easy Learning Bilingual Dictionary, English~Malay, Malay~English

8976:

English in Southeast Asia: Literacies, Literatures and Varieties

8599:"Some find new Singlish terms in Oxford dictionary 'ridiculous'" 8321:"Some find new Singlish terms in Oxford dictionary 'ridiculous'" 6467:), is used to form questions expressing surprise or scepticism: 6012:! – 'If you don't do the work, then you're dead!' 4175:, its positive and negative forms are distinguished only by the 4012:. (Oh dear, I cannot wait any longer. I must leave immediately.) 3295:, tone assignment occurs individually in each constituent word ( 3155:, and so on. However, this does not mean that the reduced vowel 10665: 9127:

Deterding, David (1994) 'The intonation of Singapore English',

8723: 8721: 8719: 8500: 8498: 8148:"Singapore Colloquial English: Issues of prestige and identity" 8047:

Historically, Singlish has evolved from an English-based pidgin

7483:, see phonology section above) can be used in either position. 7397:

Employee: "Boss, tomorrow can get my pay check or not?" Boss: "

7367:

can be repeated for greater emphasis or to express enthusiasm:

6616:– 'No way, man.' or 'I don't have it, man.' (positive, neutral) 5746:

with a low tone might indicate impatience. "Eh, hurry up lah."

5455:

A: Wah seh! You actually make this computer all by yourself ah?

4779: 4553:

may appear in the infinitive form (i.e. without tense) or as a

3815: 3582: 3569:

He's not feeling well, so he decided to rest at home and sleep!

2882: 2854: 800: 707: 703: 694: 564: 186:

Exaggerated Singlish on an advertising board outside a cafe in

10081:. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press. 9462:

English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, Features, Functions

9449:

English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, Features, Functions

9433:

English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, Features, Functions

9418:

Fong, Vivienne (2004) 'The verbal cluster'. In Lisa Lim (ed.)

9407:

English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, Features, Functions

7080:"Alright then, don't come asking for help if problems arise." 6482:? – 'You don't like that? (I thought you did.)' 4939: 4814:

has a lighter negative tone when used negatively, compared to

4245:

is appended to the end of sentences to form yes/no questions.

2821: 2793: 2765: 2737: 2618: 2268: 2133: 866:

Spiaking Singlish: A companion to how Singaporeans Communicate

10567: 10015:. Singapore: Prentice Hall. (Chapter 19: Singapore English). 9093:"Tone in Singlish: Substrate Features from Sinitic and Malay" 8624:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation,

7762: 7734: 7718: 7639:

Many signs in Singapore include all four official languages:

6942:"Clearly it works, I'm not sure why are you questioning it?" 6475:? – 'Didn't they study? (I thought they did.)' 6204:, always so rude one! – 'This boy is so rude!' 5594: 4915: 4833:

makes the speaker sound more unhappy with the situation than

4807:

Tio fined lor, what to do? ('I got fined, couldn't help it.')

4176: 3999: 3970: 3834:, as well as verbs where the past tense suffix is pronounced 2708: 2517: 2436: 2336: 736: 10035:

English in New Cultural Contexts: Reflections from Singapore

9611:

The English Language in Singapore: Implications for Teaching

9365:

English in New Cultural Contexts: Reflections from Singapore

9359: 9357: 9050:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation

9036:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation

8963:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation

8950:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation

8755:

The English Language in Singapore: Research on Pronunciation

8729:

English in New Cultural Contexts: Reflections from Singapore

8716: 8495: 8131:

Labov, William (1969). "The logic of non-standard English".

6083:. – 'Argh, the tickets are really expensive.' 4392:) or not? ('Let's go shopping/sightseeing at Orchard Road.') 4278:, appended to the end of sentences, forms yes–no questions. 2571: 2460: 2360: 1575:: A glottal stop may replace final stop consonants (except 1246: 10922:(Franch Guiana and Suriname; English and Portuguese based) 9830:, Singapore, National Institute of Education, pp. 201-209. 9240:

Lim, Lisa (2004) 'Sounding Singaporean'. In Lisa Lim (ed.)

7768: 7695: 7598:

pronouns should be taken literally, but as the omission of

7388: 7377: 7328: 6783:

is a common word in Singlish. Literally, it means 'crazy'.

6647: 6618: 6607: 6597: 6586: 6578: 5699: 5693: 5687: 5501:

den go lah! – 'If you want to see Justin Bieber, then go !'

4408: 3656: 3483:

The above constructions can be translated analogously into

2674: 2646: 2595: 2489: 2244: 2214: 2186: 1260: 9986:

Deterding, David, Low Ee Ling and Brown, Adam (eds. 2003)

9971:

Deterding, David, Brown, Adam and Low Ee Ling (eds. 2005)

7948:"Events - Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics" 7626:

siah!" 'When I played a game just now, my character died!'

5790:. – 'It's all right. Don't worry about it.' 5192:– 'I did not do my homework; I got a scolding after that' 4847:

Her mum tio cancer. ('Her mum was diagnosed with cancer.')

3802:

is found more frequently after nouns and pronouns (except

3628:

It is more common to mark the plural in the presence of a

3009:

Examples of words that have idiosyncratic pronunciations:

2541: 2412: 172:

characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see

10176:

Shelley, R., Beng, K.-S., & Takut bin Salah. (2000).

9354: 6996:

Can wat/ Can lor (in some situations, when used firmly).

5121:. It is used to replace the Chinese grammatical particle 4903: 4891: 2383: 2291: 2157: 1795:

is not stable at the basilectal level, as TV personality

9123: 9121: 5902:

This usage is noticeably characterised by a low tone on

3931: 1819:

is found less often when they are not part of a cluster.

10294:

An Annotated Bibliography of Works on Singapore English

10213:

A Handbook of Varieties of English. Volume 1: Phonology

9923:(fourth ed.), Blackwell Publishing, pp. 57–86 8395:(2nd edn.), Singapore: Times Academic Press, pp. 19–44. 7435:

He's really acting like a one-year-old baby, you know.'

5753:

is often used with brusque, short, negative responses:

4658:. ('You will be punished unless you do your homework.') 4650:

may be used without a verb to mean 'will be punished.'

4249:

cannot be used with sentences already in the negative:

4167:

I do/don't () want. – 'I don't want to.'

2984:

in Singlish. This split only applies to the diaphoneme

10145:

Evolving Identities: the English Language in Singapore

8407:"The Roles of Singapore Standard English and Singlish" 7243:"Ah boy, don't run here run there, wait you fall down 6993:

Assertion (implies that listener should already know)

6595:– 'Do you have a problem or what?' (negative, enraged) 5407:"Den?" can be used as a single-worded phrase. Even if 4927: 4794:

can be used in both positive and negative situations.

1879:) respectively. Some speakers introduce elements from 10304:

The Lim Siew Lwee Corpus of Informal Singapore Speech

10194:(2nd edition). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press. 9880:"The Way We Live Now: 9-12-99: On Language; Dialects" 9778:, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), pp. 58-66. 9655:, Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, pp. 141–156. 9183:, Singapore: Singapore University Press, pp. 115–128. 9118: 9065:, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), pp. 54–63. 9017:, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), pp. 64–73. 8913:, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), pp. 14–25. 8787:, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), pp. 43-53. 7756: 7712: 6977:"Well, seems that it can be done, since you say so." 6605:– 'Whoa, Joe brought an iPad today.' (positive, envy) 5942: 5674: 5588: 5428:

Speakers tend to emphasise the pronunciation of 'n'.

5151: 5004: 4506: 3960: 3720: 3708: 3651:. Examples of this usage from corpus recordings are: 1767: 1753: 1627: 1613: 1410: 1330: 9702: 9700: 9486:

Bao Zhiming, (1995) 'Already in Singapore English',

8978:. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, pp. 2–29. 8887:, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), pp. 7-13. 8210:"Singlish? Don't make it part of Spore identity: PM" 8145: 7780: 7755:", possibly under the influence of the Hokkien word 6646:

is added at the end when it will then be pronounced

6076:? – 'Why aren't you giving it to me?' 5961:! – 'Can't you see that this choice will also work?' 4982:. – 'He doesn't go to school (unlike other people).' 4026:. (Your ice cream is starting to melt / has melted.) 3555:

I like badminton, dat's why I every weekend go play.

3094:

Where other varieties of English have an unstressed

1717: 1703: 1655: 1641: 1396: 1382: 1344: 1288: 1274: 10011:Deterding, David and Poedjosoedarmo, Gloria (2001) 9973: