SINGLISH, Sebuah Fenomena Bahasa Pemersatu Warga Singapura

SINGLISH, a phenomenon of Language, Uniting Singaporean Society

Name : M. Erlangga GM
NIM : 1205030138
Abstract
English is a second language for Singaporean so that the use of English is common at school,
formal meetings, and at public places. Yet the English language has developed and got
influences by the background of how Native people speak among one another. And since the
population of Chinese in Singapore is the biggest in Singapore (75 percent – Detik.com, Anatasia
Anjani) the native language of Chinese has influenced how Chinese Singaporeans speak English.
And considering the use of English is common so that people easily accept the influences and
consider the formation of its language assimilation into creole is widely spread in Singapore and
It becomes what is so called Singlish. Singlish becomes significant and marks the person as
Singaporean wherever they go. The mark can be heard through Vocabulary, Sounds comprising
consonants and vowel, and Grammar like morphology, articles, the verb to be, etc.
The formation of Singlish is characterized by the blend of accents and insertion of interjection,
affixes and how sounds are linked into sentences. Those linguistic aspects blend English and
Chinese into Singlish.
Keywords :
Singlish, Creole, Chinese, Singaporean, Accents, morphology, articles, Sound links
Abstrak
Bahasa Inggris merupakan bahasa kedua bagi warga Singapura sehingga penggunaan Bahasa
Inggris sudah umum di sekolah, pertemuan formal, maupun di tempat umum. Namun bahasa
Inggris telah berkembang dan dipengaruhi oleh latar belakang bagaimana penduduk asli
berbicara satu sama lain. Dan karena populasi Tionghoa di Singapura adalah yang terbesar di
Singapura (75 persen – Detik.com, Anatasia Anjani), bahasa asli Tionghoa telah memengaruhi
cara orang Tionghoa Singapura berbicara bahasa Inggris. Dan mengingat penggunaan bahasa
Inggris sudah umum sehingga masyarakat dengan mudah menerima pengaruh dan
menganggap pembentukan asimilasi bahasanya menjadi kreol tersebar luas di Singapura dan
menjadi apa yang disebut Singlish. Singlish menjadi signifikan dan menandai orang tersebut
sebagai orang Singapura ke mana pun mereka pergi. Tanda-tanda tersebut diantaranya adalah
Kosa Kata, bunyi yang terdiri dari bunyi hidup dan bunyi mati, dan tata Bahasa yang meliputi
morfologi, kata depan, kata kerja to be dan lainnya. Pembentukan Singlish ditandai dengan
paduan aksen dan penyisipan kata seru, imbuhan, dan bagaimana bunyi dihubungkan ke dalam
kalimat. Aspek linguistik tersebut memadukan bahasa Inggris dan Cina ke dalam bahasa
Singlish.
Kata kunci:
Singlish, Kreol, Cina, Singapura, Aksen, Morfologi, Kata depan , Tautan Suara

INTRODUCTION
Since 1819, the date of Sir Stamford Raffles' declaration of Singapore for the East India
Company, modern Singapore has been established. The purpose of this was to create a British
trading post in a strategic location. Although this was the start of modern Singapore, trade
between different ethnicities has been taking place for centuries prior, as the Malay peninsula
was a critical pathway for trade from East Asia to India and other areas to the west, due to the
beneficial wind patterns and geographical features.
The area was made up of a variety of Malay sultanates that had been heavily influenced by
Indian and Thai cultures and had adopted Islam as their religion. It was further shaped by the
presence of Chinese settlers who had come to promote their trading activities, resulting in an
amalgamation of different cultures and connections to other parts of Asia. This cosmopolitan
atmosphere was a product of centuries of contact with various nations, particularly India, and
was intensified when Europeans arrived in the sixteenth century.
Singapore has long been a multicultural hub at the southern end of the Malay peninsula. The
Portuguese were the first Europeans to try and gain wealth from the region, though their
efforts were thwarted after their loss in Malacca in 1641, which allowed the Dutch to take
control. This power struggle between the British and Dutch persisted until the mid-twentieth
century, with negotiations occurring between the two colonial powers and the local rulers of
the Malay sultanates.
Throughout the 1800s, the East India Company gained more power and eventually the British
government began to take over the regions which the East India Company had been in charge
of, including Singapore. Singapore, along with Penang and Malacca, were known as the Straits
Settlements and were administered from Calcutta, the capital of British India, before they were
directly controlled by the British in London.
During the period of British rule, Singapore experienced a large increase in population. Though
Malays were initially the largest ethnic group present, the British encouraged immigration into
the city. People from other British colonies, such as India and Ceylon, as well as those from
neighbouring areas, moved to Singapore in large numbers. Southern Chinese immigrants,
however, made up the largest group. According to the Singapore Census 2000, the majority of
the population is now Chinese (77%), followed by Malays (14%) and Indian (8%). There is also a
small minority of other ethnic backgrounds, such as Europeans, Japanese, Arabs and Jews.
Though the British population in Singapore was significantly smaller than the three main
ethnicities during the colonial period, Singapore has always been home to a myriad of diverse
cultures and languages. It is uncommon for someone to be monolingual, and most people are
able to speak at least two languages from a young age. Furthermore, it is not unusual for
individuals to be able to use up to five languages in their everyday life. These languages have
had a great impact on one another, creating a unique language landscape in Singapore.

Singapore's constitution recognizes four languages as official: Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, and
English. Malay specifically holds the distinction of being the nation's national language, as it
reflects the culture of Singapore prior to the British arrival in 1819. The national anthem of
Singapore, ‘Majulah Singapura’, is sung in Malay entirely. (Seah, 2022)

The Malay used in Singapore is known as Bahasa Melayu, mostly spoken by the Malay
community who make up about 13% of the national population. Malay in Singapore is written
in roman alphabets known as Rumi, and the script form is rarely used. Variants of the Malay
language and other dialects are spoken in surrounding countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and
Brunei.

The official Singaporean Chinese language is known as Mandarin or Huayu, similar to China’s
official Putonghua based on the Beijing dialect. Singapore also uses the simplified form for
writing Chinese words. The Chinese diaspora comprises about three quarters of Singapore’s
population, many coming from the southern part of China where the most widely spoken
dialects include Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, and Hainanese. (Deason, 2017)

Tamil was chosen as the official Indian language in Singapore, as settlers from the Tamil Nadu
region in southern India make up more than half of the local Indian diaspora. (Adhikari, 2016)

While Indians form the smallest of Singapore’s ethnic groups (at just under 10% of the resident
population), the range of dialects used in Singapore is probably the most diverse. Tamil is the
main Indian language taught in schools, but other Indian languages like Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi,
Punjabi and Urdu are also officially available for study. (Berns et al., 2007)

This research focuses on the informal type of Singapore English (vernacular & colloquial) which
is commonly used in everyday conversations (SCE). This variety, based on Gupta's Diglossia
framework, would be classified as the L-variety of Singapore English and is used in informal
situations. It is the variety of Singapore English which is most different from British English,
especially in grammar (Zhiming, 2003) and which reflects the influence of the local languages
the most. Singapore Standard English (henceforth SSE), on the other hand, is closely similar to
other standard Englishes around the world, the 'Native' varieties such as British, American and
Australian Englishes (Gupta, 2003) . Despite the fact that speaking Standard Chinese English
(SCE) is widely seen as socially unacceptable due to its discouragement by the government,
media, and school system (Zhiming, 2003), SCE is increasingly used even by those who are
highly proficient in SSE as a mark of Showing solidarity with and a sense of belonging to a
group. (Leimgruber, 2011) It is also commonly used in informal contexts by both the acrolectal
and mesolectal speakers and can be heard over the media in local shows like Phua Chu Kang,
Police and Thief and Army Daze. The type of Singapore English which Singaporeans are exposed
to in their daily lives before being taught the formal version of the language in school. Its
increasing significance in the Singaporean speaker's language repertoire and its increasing
acceptance as a characteristic of the Singaporean identity are factors which make it an
interesting and relevant source of study It is with this in mind that we have decided to take a
microscopic view of the language and examine the lexicon of Singapore English, particularly
those borrowed from Malay In the next section, we discuss the process of lexical borrowing and
the motivations that give rise to it. (Norazrin et al., 2003)

Standard English is the primary language of public discourse in many parts of the world,
including Scotland, Jamaica, Singapore, Newcastle, and Australia. In each of these places,
Standard English is used in government websites, newspapers, and online discussion rooms.
Standard English is also the primary language of education and literacy globally. In addition to
Standard English, each of these places has another related language that functions socially in
some similar ways (DENISON, 1997)
Scotland: Scots

Jamaica: Patwa (various spellings)

Singapore: Singlish

Newcastle: Geordie

The question of whether Scots and Patwa are dialects of English or separate languages is highly
contentious, with some claiming that they should be considered separate languages and used in
formal contexts. Scots is the only one of these four varieties to receive official recognition from
the government. On the other hand, Singlish and Geordie are not typically seen as separate
languages and few believe they should be used in educational or official settings. Only Scots has
been given official recognition by the government at a national level out of the four varieties.
(Peter Trudgill & Hannah, 2013)
All four types of language are commonly used in casual conversations within families and
among friends. They are used in informal settings and for informal speech. All four varieties of
language can be found in a variety of sources on the web, such as literature, humour,
glossaries, and other information about the variety. They can also be seen, though less often, in
discussion groups. In all cases, everyone has some degree of access. the L-variety 1
(substandard) in its emblematic use, (Douglas, 2000) whether they speak it or not in their daily
life, and that is what we are looking at here. These L-varieties are highly visible. Because all of
us making the choice to write in something other than Standard English is a conscious decision,
since everyone learns to read and write using Standard English. People do not randomly end up
in these different varieties: People choose to utilize them for their own manner of symbolism.
As we will see, People from outside the community can also use the variety of characteristics to
identify and describe those who are from the place.
SOCIOLINGUISTICS POINT OF VIEW OF SINGLISH
From a sociolinguistic perspective, this type of language is referred to as a pidgin or creole.
Pidgin is a form of communication that combines words and phrases from two or more
1
Low variety: Singlish is viewed as sub-standard to English (Douglas, 2000)
languages in order to facilitate communication between people. It is also referred to as. It is not
a native language. Creole is a type of language that was originally a simplified version of two or
more languages, but has since developed and become a native language. (Differences between
Pidgins and Creoles, 2018)
Pidgin and creole languages have structural differences; creole languages typically follow a
"Subject Verb Object" word order, while pidgins can have any order of words. (Patrick, 2009)
Reduplication is a commonly used process in Creole languages but it is rarely used in Pidgins.
The primary distinction between pidgins and creoles is that pidgins do not have native speakers,
while creoles do. However, this is not easy to make out because there are more and more
extended pidgins beginning to acquire native speakers. Extended pidgins refer to when a pidgin
becomes a creole. The cultural “side” of a pidgin usually defines this. This means that more
pidgins are becoming first languages. (Differences between Pidgins and Creoles, 2018)
Another difference between pidgins and creoles is that while pidgins can originate from
abnormal transmissions, creoles must meet certain language standards when they are acquired
by children. This standard is referred to as the blueprint of the language, which dictates how it
is structured and formed. A blueprint is similar to having a plan for a house, as it outlines the
design and structure of the building. For pidgins, although they must be easy for adults to learn,
they do not necessarily need to be seen as appropriate for children to use. Pidgins do not need
to follow a specific set of rules when being created, as they are often a combination of two
languages used in a community by people who learned it as a second language when they were
older teenagers. (Al-Jasser, 2012)
The roots of Singapore English can be traced back to the schools established in Singapore
during the 19th century. At the time, only a few children were taught in English and the main
language spoken in the area was a pidginised form of Malay called Pasar Melayu, or Bazaar
Malay, which is still spoken by some older people today. (Tan, 2017) Individuals who had a
formal education in English were generally Europeans, Eurasians, some ethnic minorities, such
as Jews, Indians, and Ceylonese, as well as a group of Chinese people known as the Straits
Chinese, who had been living in the region for a long time and spoke a variant of Malay called
Baba Malay, which was influenced by Hokkien Chinese and Bazaar Malay. This is why many of
the words used in Singapore Colloquial English derived from Malay.(Bao, 2015) The majority of
teachers at these institutions were Eurasian, with some coming from Ceylon and India.
Europeans accounted for less than a quarter of the teaching staff, and typically taught the
senior level classes. The English spoken by these Europeans could have included various
dialects such as British, American, Belgian and French.(Ng, 2012)

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, English language education became
popular for all groups of people. Girls began going to school in larger numbers as well. By the
1950s, nearly all children attended school and the majority of them were educated in English. In
the 1980s, English was the only language of instruction (with students learning a second
language in addition to English). Singapore English likely developed from the English spoken in
the playgrounds of these students from diverse linguistic backgrounds who were learning
English in school. As more and more Singaporeans had the opportunity to learn English in
school, it became widely spoken, in addition to the many other languages used in the country.
Since Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, the usage of English has grown even
more. For a large number of Singaporeans, English is their primary language. Many families
communicate in English in their homes and it is one of the first languages taught to
approximately half of the current pre-schoolers. More than half of the population born after
1965 are native speakers of English and this proportion is still increasing.
Almost all citizens in Singapore are multilingual, with many speaking three or four languages.
Kids are usually exposed to multiple languages from a young age and learn more as they get
older. The other languages spoken in Singapore, such as Malay and Chinese, have had an effect
on the English used in the country, particularly in informal settings. This is referred to as
Singlish, or Singapore Colloquial English or Colloquial Singapore English in a scholarly context.
Singlish is a symbol of identity for many Singaporeans, as evidenced by the humorous website,
Talkingcock, which is written in it. Singaporeans often use both Singapore Colloquial English and
Standard English interchangeably. Additionally, due to the prevalence of Singapore Colloquial
English in the home, many children learn to speak it before Standard English. Generally, the
younger and wealthier a person is, the more likely they are to have English (usually Singapore
Colloquial English) as their native language. However, Standard English is still used in more
formal settings, as is the case with most English-speaking countries. This is evidenced by
Singapore's main English newspaper, The Straits Times. (NewspaperSG - Digitised Search, n.d.)
There is an abundance of creative writing in English by Singaporeans, and the Contemporary
and Postcolonial and Post imperial Literature in English site, (Postcolonial and Postimperial
Literature: An Overview, n.d.) can provide you with plenty of information about Singapore
literature.

VOCABULARY
You will observe from the samples in the sections below that the language of Singlish is largely
identical to other forms of English. Like all varieties of English, the official English of Singapore
requires distinct words to address local organizations, for example:
 Singapore's light rail system, partly above ground and partly below, is called the MRT;
 Singapore's major system of government managed housing, in which over 80% of the
population live, is called the HDB;
 The HDB run flats. Wealthy people may live in condominiums (made up of apartments),
or even in luxurious bungalows (detached properties of one or two storeys);
 Children start nursery school at age 3, kindergarten at 4, primary school at 6. They
attend secondary schools from age 12 up to 16 (when they take O-Levels) then go to
 junior college (where they take A-levels), or perhaps a VITB before moving on to
university or polytechnic;
 in Singapore people normally go barefoot in the house. They wear slippers at the beach;
the same footwear which in other places is called "thongs" or "flip flops".
Singlish speakers often include words from English, Malay, and Hokkien, as well as other
languages spoken in Singapore, without being aware of the origin of the words.
Examples of such words include "blur," meaning confused or ignorant, and the pragmatic
particles lah, ah, and hor which are commonly used. There are many dictionaries and glossaries
available in book form and online which compile words particularly associated with Singlish.
 habis 'finished'
 makan 'to eat, meal'
 chope 'to lay a claim to, as when putting bags at a table to indicate reservation'
 cheem 'difficult, obscure'
 ang mo 'a white person'
 rojak 'mixed, something mixed'
Even these words may (after a struggle) start being used as part of Singapore Standard English.
The word kiasu, from Hokkien, started being used in the Singapore press in the 1990s, with
italics: in October 2000 We first saw it in Singapore's leading newspaper without the italics. It's
a vital word. It means 'always wanting the best for oneself and willing to try hard to get it.
Kiasuism is a keenness that might be (mildly) exploitative. This has been taken on board in
Singapore, in a spirit of self-mockery, as a national characteristic, and the word can be said to
have now passed into the local standard! If we go to Singapore and we are Indonesian, we may
be amazed with this hustling and bustling personality of many Singaporeans in social or
professional interaction. They are committed to be the best in many ways.
SOUNDS
Most speakers of English can recognize different accents among one another and the accent
can mark where the speaker comes from and Singaporean has quite easily identified English
accent. Some features which are recognizable comprise its consonants and its vowels.

Language Accents
Accent (Oxford Dictionary) means a distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language especially one
associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class. It also means a distinct emphasis given to a
syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch. In Singapore, there were attitudes towards different
accents of English spoken in Singapore, including a British English accents and English spoken by English-
educated and Chinese-educated Singaporeans. It is found that All subjects considered the local accents
“less native” and friendlier, while finding British accent “more native” and more “standard”. Both
English-educated and middle-class participants preferred The British or English-educated and middle-
class participants preferred the British or English-educated accented English.
Here the speaker, in expressing what is within his control, i.e. his willingness to take help uses will, in
contrast to his use of would which expresses the event he is unsure of: whether or not his brother will
offer the same help. This use of would to indicate the irrealis aspect is documented in earlier research
on SE such as Tongue 1974, and Crewe 1977. The origins of this use of would Tongue writes (1974:35),
may have arisen from the understanding that SE speakers have that would is “more polite than will””,
which then logically extends to the use of would as a marker of tentativeness. This tentativeness is
clearly related to the irrealis aspect, which basically marks what might but may not be so.

Consonants
English accents differentiate RICE and RISE sound but in Singapore English they usually sound
the same. Singapore English does not distinguish between voiced and voiceless fricatives in final
position. This also affects the (f) and (v) sounds and the (th) and (dh) sounds. Many times,
especially in informal speech, people do not make difference between voiced and voiceless
plosives in final position, so that sometimes in Singapore HOP=HOB, BIT=BID, BACK=BAG. In
final position (t) is often a glottal stop, and (d) is sometimes too. In words like THINK and BATH a
/t/ sound is often used. In words like THEN and LEATHER a /d/ is often used. Some
Singaporeans careful speech and a dental fricative is used for (th) but most speakers end words
like BREATH with a /f/ sound, but this is more unusual.

Traditionally in Singapore English (as in most kinds of English from England, Australian English,
etc) /r/ is pronounced only when it is followed by a vowel. lately, however, since Singaporeans
have been under the influence of American media, younger Singaporeans began to use an /r/ in
words like HEART and PORT but this occurs for some speakers who speak very carefully. We can
sometimes hear an /r/ in other places ('farther and mother', 'Veronicer')! In words like ACT,
CAST, STOPPED etc which end with a consonant cluster, the cluster is often reduced (e.g. 'ac',
'cas', 'stop'). Hence, it makes us have difficulty to understand if they use past tense when they
speak.

Vowels

Singapore English does not have a distinction between short and long vowels. In this way it is
rather like Hawai'i Creole English. Below we use the IPA symbols. We have also underlined the
word which is pronounced similarly to the sound in the British accent, RP, and in reference
varieties of US English, but in Singapore English they are all short. Below are listed the words
which are pronounced with the same vowel (using the list in Wells's book Accents of English).
KIT, FLEECE (/i/)
FACE (/e/)
TRAP DRESS SQUARE
FOOT, GOOSE(/u/)
GOAT (/o/) (pronounced as in most varieties of US English)
LOT, CLOTH, THOUGHT, NORTH, FORCE

NURSE, commA, lettER

STRUT BATH PALM START

There are diphthongs similar to those used in many varieties of English in England in the
following:

PRICE
CHOICE
MOUTH
NEAR
CURE, POOR
Stress and intonation

We can identify that Singapore English has a significant rhythm, and it is described as 'machine
gun' style. We can hear less distinction between stressed and unstressed syllables than in
reference varieties of English. It also has its own tunes of speech -- as in many varieties of
English, this is often very recognizable in identifying the variety.

GRAMMAR
Can we discuss the grammar of Singapore English (SE)? Is SE grammatical English ? What is the difference
of opinion between regular English speakers and English instructors?, on the one hand, and the linguists
who do research on SE, on the other. The former often dismiss and even condemn SE as being
ungrammatical, haphazard, while the latter seem to assume that SE is grammatical, Investigating this
topic in greater detail would be a worthwhile endeavor. (for examples of such opinions from laypersons ,
see e.g. (Newspaper Full Page - The Straits Times, 3 December 1950, Page 1, n.d.), p22, from teachers
and pedagogists.

People often think of grammar as a type of code of etiquette that speakers should adhere to without
knowing who sets these standards and rules. There is the assumption that some unknown force is
responsible for dictating how language should be used. (Amillya, 2020)

The disparities in social status experienced by people are also reflected in the language(s) they use.
Thus, in Singapore, many of the upper class still regard British English as the superior form of language.
In Singapore, the use of language is evaluated based on the variety of English that is considered to be
the standard which is Singlish. Thus, standard SE is a variety of English that is very similar to standard
British English (StdBrE) (Alsagoff, 1998) , Non-standard SE is a variety of English that is significantly
different from Standard British English. The latter type of English is commonly referred to as Singlish.
When we hear of complaints about SE, they are generally complaints about Singlish, such complaints
centre on how divergent the structure of Singlish is from StdBrE. The way the average person views
grammar as a way to measure correctness often points to the unequal status among varieties of a
language. (Azhar, 2014) From a linguistic perspective, grammar is seen as a system that unifies the
different languages by assigning them a set of rules. This highlights how languages can be structured in
the same way, regardless of their differences. No language has a superior structure or complexity
compared to another; all languages are equal in this respect. By definition, A language must have a set
of rules and structures in order to effectively communicate. This view of language is primarily a
descriptive one, while the other view that looks at grammar as a gauge of correctness is much more
prescriptive. Thus, in addressing the question of whether or not we can speak of a grammar of SE, or
whether or not SE is grammatical English. If we adopt the linguist’s idea of grammar as systematic way
to unified the use of language, then SE is grammatical, whether or not we are speaking of Standard
Singapore English (SSE) or Singlish, i.e. Colloquial Singapore English (CSE). However, if we look at
grammar from the layperson’s perspective, where grammar is a code of correct conduct, then we have
to be careful which variety we are looking at. SSE would be correct, and thus grammatical because it is
not being different to the standard variety of StdBrE, and it is used by the well-educated, which in
Singapore’s meritocratic society would naturally constitute the social elite. (Alsagoff, 1998)

Morphology
Many studies (e.g., Platt and Weber 1980, Tay 1979) have noted that CSE verbs in certain contexts, such
as in conversational situations, often do not have any morphological indication of past or present tense,
and are uninflected:

1. She eat here yesterday.

2. He always go market with his sister.

If we compare these CSE utterances with those of StdE, We can immediately observe the difference.:
1. She ate here yesterday.

2. He always goes to the market with his sister.

In CSE, the verbs are written in their simplest form without any changes for tense, person, or number
but still inflected. The time or aspectual information that the verbal inflection in StdE carries, is instead
often borne by a time adverbial, e.g. yesterday in (CSE 1). Platt and Weber have studied the class of
strong verbs, and their findings suggest that the lack of morphological marking found in these verbs
cannot be the result of phonological reduction of consonant clusters: verbs belonging to the subclass of
strong verbs whose past tense forms have altered vowels , e.g. go-went, see-saw, , there is no difference
between the present tense and the past tense forms: My mum she come from China many years ago!
Oh, I see him last week. (Alsagoff, 1998) For the third person singular present tense marking, Platt and
Weber (1980) imply that the non-differentiation in terms of morphology of agreement forms is primarily
a result of substratal influence, because they observe that neither the Chinese dialects nor Malay have
morphologically marked tense and agreement features. (Alsagoff, 1998)

It is important to note, however, that while the grammars of Chinese and Malay have similar structures,
we should not assume that this constitutes sufficient evidence to conclude that similar CSE features are
due to substratal influence. Thomas (1996), for example says: It may be, as John Platt (1991) has
suggested that this is due to the influence of the local languages, Chinese and Malay, which do not mark
verbs according to the subject. But this process occurs elsewhere when speakers of other languages
learn English irrespective of whether these other languages themselves mark verbs according to subject.
(Thomas 1996:227) Thomas’ point is clear if we look at what she documents about English dialects.
Thomas (1996:227) notes that there are dialects of BrE, such as East Anglian English, which do not mark,
in a regular fashion, the third person present tense, often omitting it in colloquial speech. This makes
East Anglian English the same as SE in respect to the non-morphological marking of agreement.
However, it is clear that such similarities cannot be attributed to substratal influence because SE and
East Anglian English cannot possibly have the same substrate influence.

A lot of grammatical endings that are required in Standard English are optional in Singapore
Colloquial English. Singaporeans mark plurals and past tenses is a matter of choice, so may be
omitted, e.g.
 What happen yesterday?
 You go where?
 Got so many car!
 Then bicycle go first ah. (='So the bicycle went first')
 I just sit and everything do for me. (='it does everything')
 You know what happen lah. Fine. (='you know what happened? I got fined.')
There are very few complex verb groups in Singapore Colloquial English. Grammatical
relationships are shown mostly by position, e.g.
 The house sell already. (='I have sold the house' OR 'the house has been sold')
 Big bicycle taken away.
 I got big one for you.
The verb TO BE
The verb TO BE is used in Singapore Colloquial English, and when it is used, it changes (AM, ARE
etc) as in standard English. But it is often optional, e.g.
 She so pretty.
 That one like us.
 The first one downstairs.
 This new revision ah, REALLY new!
Particles
We can find about 11 particles in Singaporean English and most particles are borrowed from
Hokkien or Cantonese, to indicate attitude to what is being said. They work rather like you
know and you see. The three most common are ah (usually expects agreement), lah (strong
assertion) and what (usually corrects something). Here are some examples:
 There's something here for everyone lah.
 Otherwise, how can be considered Singaporean ah?
 No parking lots here, what.
 OK lah, bye bye.
 And then how many rooms ah?
 You see my husband's not at home lah. That's the problem, ah.
 Her price is too high for me lah.

Questions
Questions with a part of the verb TO BE are the same as in Standard English, e.g:
 Is it?
 Are you sick?
But questions with other verbs do not usually change the order of the subject and the verb.
Here are some examples:
 Go where?
 Why you so stupid?
 Why she never come here?
 How to fix?

Other grammatical features

Aspect Aspect deals with the way in which an action or state is regarded, whether something has been
completed, or is still ongoing. In CSE, the use of time adverbials is preferred over the morphological
marking of aspect, e.g.
a. My father pass away already. CSE

b. My father has passed away. SSE

a. She eat her lunch already. CSE

b. She has eaten her lunch.

SSE The use of adverbials as aspectual markers is one reason why certain adverbials, e.g. always, still,
already are more frequently used in SE than BrE. Morphological endings, however, are not completely
absent, and do surface. However, even where they do, they are not accompanied by the auxiliaries. For
example, instead of (a), CSE also allows the main verb to appear in the perfective form, but does not
have the perfective auxiliary HAVE preceding it ((c). Similarly, in (c), we see that the verb EAT can appear
as eaten, without the auxiliary.

Progressive Aspects

Progressive Aspect Even though the present and past tense, and even perfective aspect tend often not
to be marked, the progressive aspect is fairly commonly marked. Thus, it is not uncommon to see the -
ing morpheme being attached to verbs to indicate the progression of an ongoing event, e.g.

There are many other features of Singapore Colloquial English which have been discussed in
analyses. For example, we can miss out the subject much more freely in Singapore Colloquial
English than we can in standard English, e.g.
a. She told you she going to the cinema with us or not? CSE

b. Did she tell you whether she was going to the cinema with us?

SSE The difference between CSE and StdE is that the former does not use the progressive auxiliary be.
The main verb, however, is marked with the -ing suffix. In addition, CSE often marks the progressive
aspect with the adverb

Irrealis Aspect

Platt and Weber (1980:69) mention that CSE sees “the use of would in structures where will normally
occurs in StdBrE”. Such structures are those in which the irrealis aspect marks “what is not actually so,
buy may be so”. What this means is made clearer by looking at the following examples:

17a. If I can induce anger in at least one reader, this article would have more than served its purpose. b.
It is strongly hoped that the reserved lanes would give priority to public buses.

(Crewe 1977:50-51)

In these two examples from Crewe, the use of would is used to point to events that have yet to happen,
and that may or may not happen. The contrast between the use of will and would is very interestingly
highlighted in the following sentence:

18. I will help you, but I am not sure if my brother would.

Here the speaker, in expressing what is within his control, i.e. his willingness to take help uses will, in
contrast to his use of would which expresses the event he is unsure of: whether or not his brother will
offer the same help. This use of would to indicate the irrealis aspect is documented in earlier research
on SE such as Tongue 1974, and Crewe 1977. The origins of this use of would Tongue writes (1974:35),
may have arisen from the understanding that SE speakers have that would is “more polite than will””,
which then logically extends to the use of would as a marker of tentativeness. This tentativeness is
clearly related to the irrealis aspect, which basically marks what might but may not be so.

Some more examples in a simplified forms are as follows:

 Finish already. (someone has finished -- could be 'I', 'he' etc. -- the context will tell you)
 Don't want.

You can also find many conditional sentences without subordinating conjunctions, e.g.
 You do that, I hit you.
 You want to swim, then swim here.

Examples
Finally, here is a short conversation I recorded between CK, a boy of nearly 6, and his next door
neighbour, who he calls 'Uncle'.

[N is at the door of the CK's' house]

CK: Uncle! Uncle get me my ball, I got big one for you.
N: Why?
CK: Inside the house.
N: Where's that big bicycle?
SK: Gone. [SK is CK's mother]
CK: Big bicycle taken away.
N: Taken away already.
CK: No. Because going Toa Payoh.
N: Going Toa Payoh. Oh oh. Then bicycle go first ah. OK you go with them.
CK: Don't mind hah. Know where also.
N: Ah.
CK: There my gra- my grandmoth- my my- My uncle also went.
N: Next time you grow up you take over the big one.
CK: Yeah. [N laughs]
CK: Then my mo- brother take over my one. [CK & N laugh] Yeah ah.
N: As soon as he take yours ah,you take your father's one. [N laughs]
There are more explanation of Singlish Grammar aspects but those explained may highlight
some which are significant and rarely discussed.

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