Tutorial 9, Week 11
Singlish & Contact Linguistics
Hoseh La!
Jesslyn Oh | Ng Wanting | Ong Yu Ann | Tan Xi Ping
Question 1
Question 1 Part 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Pidgin
(Formal
Definition by
Robert Hall)
Life Cycle of Pidgin Languages
• Minimally-functional contact languages
that originate from casual, short-term
contact between groups that do not
share a common language
• Borrow words and grammar from either
languages for minimal comprehension
between speakers
• May disappear once practicality wanes
‘Makeshift’ or ‘Minimal’ languages
Contact vernaculars with short survival period
Question 1 Part 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Pidgin
Example 1
Alexishafen (Papua New Guinea)
• A variant of Pacific pidgins
• Developed through illiterate offsprings
of convict settlements in Australia
• Uses ‘clumsy and ugly’ perversions of
English originals
ALEXISHAFEN
ENGLISH
‘Enaderfelo’
‘Another one’
‘Dertifelo’
‘Dirty’
‘Wanfelo’
‘A man’
‘Hariap’
‘Hurry’
‘Pulimaut’
‘Pull out’
‘Aderkaind’
‘Another sort’
Question 1 Part 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Pidgin
Example 2
Chinglish (China)
• Variety of English used by Chinese
speakers
• Incorporate Chinese vocabulary or
constructions and English terms specific
to a Chinese context
• Lingua franca for trade between the
British and mostly Cantonese-speaking
Chinese people
• Declined in the late 19th Century when
schools taught standard English
Question 1 Part 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Pidgin
Example 2
Chinese
Literal English
Translation
Intended
meaning in
English
小心滑倒
xiao xin hua dao
Carefully slip
and fall down
Be careful not to
slip and fall
丢脸
diu lian
Lose face
Embarrassing／
Shameful
English
Literal Chinese
Translation
Intended
meaning in
Chinese
Good morning
古的猫宁
早安
zao an
Question 1 Part 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Creole
Definition
• Originally a pidgin
• Claimed by a community of speakers as
their native language
• Usually arises from the children of pidgin
speakers, becomes their mother tongue
• Full-fledged language capable of serving
the intellectual, psychological and social
needs of its speakers
• Designated language(s) of people of
Caribbean and African descent in
colonial and ex-colonial countries
(Jamaica, Haiti, Mauritius, Hawaii, etc)
Question 1 Part 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Creole
Example 1
Haitian-Creole (West Africa)
• Developed by enslaved West Africans
who were brought to Haiti by
European settlers
• Creolized when children of enslaved
West Africans, born in Haiti, adopted it
as their mother tongue
• A result of contact between European
romance languages and various
Central and West African languages
• Distinctly unique grammar from other
French Creoles of the world
Question 1 Part 1
Structural Difference between Pidgin and Creole
Hawaiian Creole English
Pidgin
Creole
Variability from speaker to
speaker
Rules of grammar are uniform
from speaker to speaker
Articles, prepositions and auxiliary
verbs are either absent or appear
in random fashion
Richer in grammatical structure
and resemble the structural rules
of other creoles
Question 1 Part 1
Pidgin and Creole Versions of Identical Sentences in Hawaii
Hawaiian Creole English
Pidgin
Creole
Now days, ah, inside, washi clothes
machine get, no? Before time, ah, no
more, see? And then pipe no more,
water pipe no more.
Those days bin get [there were] no
more washing machine, no more
pipe water like get [there is] inside
house nowadays, ah?
Good, this one, Kaukau [food] any
kind this one. Pilipin island no good.
No more money.
Hawaii more better that Philippines,
over here get [there is] plenty kaukau
[food], over there no can, bra
[brother], you no more money for buy
kaukau [food], ‘a’swhy [that’s why].
Question 1 Part 2A
Singapore English as a…
Creoloid
Similar structural
variables to postcreoles
Did not develop
from pidgin
Develop from
transfer of
features from
ethnic groups
Superordinate
language is one
of official
languages
One of several
native languages
by speech
community
Lingua franca in
inter-ethnic
group
communication
Question 1 Part 2A
Singapore English as a…
Creoloid VS
Creole
Its use for inter-ethnic as well as
intra-ethnic communication,
coupled with its status as either first,
second or third language in the
speaker’s repertoire, means it is not
compatible with the usual concept
of a creole.
Question 1 Part 2B
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Linguistic
Ecology
•
Study of interactions between any given
language and its environment
•
Includes social and natural environments
•
No. of languages in contact with one
another
Question 1 Part 2B
Differences in linguistic environments
Standard/Colloquial Singapore
English
Caribbean/African
pidgins/creoles
Developed out of school
environments where English was
taught to children of locals
Started out as contact
languages between slaves and
slave-owners
Developed when these children
are also exposed to other dialects
and languages out of the school
context and fused them with
English language that they learn
in school (Endogenous)
Developed as the slave
populations that used them
were isolated from their home
countries and then created their
own lingua franca (Exogenous)
Question 2
Still Ho Seh Boh?
Question 2
NP Ellipsis and Substratist Explanation
Mandarin
Malay
NP Ellipses refers to the
omission of noun
phrases such as
subjects, objects and
possessors.
The Substratist
approach proposes that
NP ellipses in Singlish
originates from the
indigenous languages
spoken in Singapore.
Hokkien
Cantonese
Question 2a (Subject Omission)
After Ø get some sickness, Ø can’t help it
After one gets sick, one cannot help it.
Mandarin 生病了，没办法。Sheng bing le, mei ban fa.
Hokkien Puah pinn liao, boh bian lor.
Cantonese M shi fok, mou ban fatt lor.
‘Ø Get sick already (la), nothing can be done (lor).’
Malay Kalau dah sakit, dah tak boleh buat apa-apa.
‘If Ø already sick, Ø already cannot do anything.’
Question 2b (Object Omission)
‘I never try Ø before la’
I have never tried it before.
Mandarin 我没试过啦。Wo mei shi guo la.
Hokkien Wa boh qi ge.
Cantonese Ngoh mei si gor.
‘I never try Ø before (la).’
Malay Aku tak pernah cuba.
‘I n-ever tried Ø.’
Question 2c (Possessor Omission)
‘Ø Head very pain’
My head is painful.
Mandarin 头好痛。Tou hao tong.
Hokkien Tao jin tia.
Cantonese Tao hou tong.
‘Ø Head very pain.’
Malay Kepala banyak sakit.
‘Ø Head very pain.’
Question 3
Question 3
Discourse Particle
Examples
from
researchers
• “but, therefore, in conclusion, to the contrary,
still, however, anyway, well, besides, actually,
all in all, so, after all” (Levinson 1983:87-88)
• “well, hey, okay, oh, like, y’know, now, say,
why, look, listen, please, uh, ouch, gosh, holy
cow” (Zwicky 1985)
• “oh, well, but, and, or, so, because, now,
then, I mean, y’know, see, look, listen, here,
there, why, gosh, boy, this is the point, what I
mean is, anyway, whatever” (Schiffrin 1987)
Question 3
Discourse Particle
Examples
from
Singlish
Question 3a
There’s something here for everyone lah.
Function 1:
Appeal for
Accomodation
Function 2:
Convey
Obviousness
Context: “I really like this shopping centre ‘cause
there’s something here for everyone lah.”
Example: “No use trying to hide our roots lah.
We are Singaporeans.”
Context: “Why do you like this place?” “There’s
something here for everyone lah!”
Example: “What language do they speak in
Singapore?” “Singaporeans speak Singlish
lah!”
Question 3b
No
Nocar
carparks
parkshere,
here,what.
what.
Function 1:
Contradiction/
Rebuttal
Context: “I can park here right?” “No car parks
here what!”
Example: “I am American.” “You are
Singaporean what!”
Function 2:
Context: “I can park here right?” (x10) “No car
parks here what!!”
Convey
Annoyance
Example: “I tell you already what!”
Question 3c
This shopping
No car parks
centre
here,
verywhat.
nice hor.
Function 1:
Garner support
for proposition
Function 2:
Expect hearer
to accept your
views
Context: “This shopping centre very nice hor.
Do you agree?”
Example: “Today’s tutorial is too easy hor. Do
you think so?”
Context: “Why did you bring me to this ulu
place?” “This shopping centre very nice hor!”
Example: “Don’t expect me to treat. I am
broke hor!”
Question 3d
YouNo
don’t
car like
parks
that
here,
onewhat.
meh?
Function 1:
Indicate
surprise
Function 2:
Convey doubt
Context: “I thought you like that one? You
don’t like that one meh?”
Example: “The EL1101E final exam is held
tomorrow, you don’t know meh?”
Context: “That shirt is ugly, I hate it.” “I think
that is nice, not nice meh?”
Example: “Sleeping at 4 am is so early.” “Early
meh?”
Question 4
Ownself in CE = 自己’ziji’ in Chinese
NOT THIS OWNSELF LAH!
*Pragmatic Function of lah: signifies obviousness
Question 4
Ownself in CSE = 自己’ziji’ in Chinese
Substratist
Explanation
• Standard English as the superstrate
Mandarin as a substrate
• Gave rise to the word ‘ownself’
Question 4
Data Analysis (1)
Standard English
Singlish
Mandarin
Open the door
yourself!
Ownself open the
door!
自己开门!
Zi ji kai men!
You can open the
door yourself!
You ownself open
the door!
你自己开门!
Ni zi ji kai men!
Question 4
Data Analysis (2)
Standard English
Singlish
Mandarin
(You) eat the rice
yourself!
(You) ownself eat
rice!
(你)自己吃饭!
(Ni) zi ji chi fan!
Finding 1:
Pronoun + ownself
Question 4
Data Analysis (3)
Standard English
Singlish
Mandarin
He cut himself.
He cut ownself.*
他割自己
Ta ge zi ji
He ownself cut himself.
He gives himself a lot
of problems.
He give ownself a lot
of problems.*
He ownself give
himself a lot of
problems.
他给自己很多问题
Ta gei zi ji hen duo
wen ti
Finding 2:
‘Ownself’ can only appear before the verb
Question 4
Data Analysis (4)
Standard English
Singlish
Mandarin
Lisi is blaming
himself.
Lisi ownself blame
himself.
Lisi 在责备(他)自己
Lisi zai zebei (ta) zi ji
Finding 3:
‘Ownself’ can appear before the verb even when a ‘singular self’
occurs after the verb.
Question 4
Ownself in CE = 自己’ziji’ in Chinese
• Syntactical use of “Ownself” – precedes
the verb
Ownself =
自己
•
Ownself open door!
• Pronoun + ownself
•
•
•
We ownself 我们自己
They ownself 他们自己
I ownself 我自己
• No other form of the word (eg. Ownselves)
•
No plural form
Therefore, OWNSELF = 自己 (originated from Mandarin) BUT
there are syntactical rules guiding its use in Singlish!
The End
Hoseh Lah!
Jesslyn Oh | Ng Wanting | Ong Yu Ann | Tan Xi Ping