hoseh la! jesslyn oh | ng wanting | ong yu ann | tan xi ping tutorial 9, week 11 singlish &...
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Hoseh La!Jesslyn Oh | Ng Wanting | Ong Yu Ann | Tan Xi Ping
Tutorial 9, Week 11
Singlish & Contact Linguistics
Question 1 Part 1
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
Pidgin(Formal
Definition by Robert Hall)
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
‘Makeshift’ or ‘Minimal’ languagesContact vernaculars with short survival period
Question 1 Part 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
PidginExample 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
ALEXISHAFEN ENGLISH
‘Enaderfelo’ ‘Another one’
‘Dertifelo’ ‘Dirty’
‘Wanfelo’ ‘A man’
‘Hariap’ ‘Hurry’
‘Pulimaut’ ‘Pull out’
‘Aderkaind’ ‘Another sort’
Question 1 Part 1
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
PidginExample 2
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Question 1 Part 1
PidginExample 2
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
ChineseLiteral 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
EnglishLiteral
Chinese Translation
Intended meaning in
Chinese
Good morning 古的猫宁 早安zao an
Question 1 Part 1
• 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)
Creole Definition
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Question 1 Part 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
CreoleExample 1
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
Question 1 Part 1
Structural Difference between Pidgin and Creole
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
Hawaiian Creole English
Question 1 Part 1
Pidgin and Creole Versions of Identical Sentences in Hawaii
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].
Hawaiian Creole English
Question 1 Part 2A
Creoloid
Singapore English as a…
Similar structural
variables to post-creoles
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
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.
Creoloid VSCreole
Singapore English as a…
Question 1 Part 2B
• Study of interactions between any given language and its environment
• Includes social and natural environments
• No. of languages in contact with one another
Linguistic Ecology
Contact Linguistics and Singapore English
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
NP Ellipses refers to the omission of noun
phrases such as subjects, objects and
possessors.
NP Ellipsis and Substratist Explanation
Mandarin Hokkien
Malay
SinglishThe Substratist
approach proposes that NP ellipses in Singlish originates from the
indigenous languages spoken in Singapore.
Cantonese
Question 2a (Subject Omission)
生病了,没办法。 Sheng bing le, mei ban fa.
Puah pinn liao, boh bian lor.
M shi fok, mou ban fatt lor.
‘Ø Get sick already (la), nothing can be done (lor).’
MandarinHokkien
Cantonese
After Ø get some sickness, Ø can’t help it
Kalau dah sakit, dah tak boleh buat apa-apa.‘If Ø already sick, Ø already cannot do anything.’
Malay
After one gets sick, one cannot help it.YES LA BOTH LA!
Question 2b (Object Omission)
我没试过啦。 Wo mei shi guo la.
Wa boh qi ge.
Ngoh mei si gor.
‘I never try Ø before (la).’
MandarinHokkien
Cantonese
‘I never try Ø before la’
Aku tak pernah cuba.‘I n-ever tried Ø.’
Malay
I have never tried it before.
Betul!Kedua-dua!
Question 2c (Possessor Omission)
头好痛 。 Tou hao tong.
Tao jin tia.
Tao hou tong.
‘Ø Head very pain.’
MandarinHokkien
Cantonese
‘Ø Head very pain’
Kepala banyak sakit.‘Ø Head very pain.’
Malay
My head is painful.
对!都有!
Question 3
• “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)
Examples from
researchers
Discourse Particle
• “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)
HAH?
Question 3a
There’s something here for everyone lah.
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.”
Function 1:
Appeal for Accomodation
Function 2:
Convey Obviousness
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 car parks here, what.
Context: “I can park here right?” “No car parks here what!”
Example: “I am American.” “You are Singaporean what!”
Function 1:
Contradiction/ Rebuttal
Function 2:
Convey Annoyance
Context: “I can park here right?” (x10) “No car parks here what!!” Example: “I tell you already what!”
No car parks here, what.
Question 3c
No car parks here, what.
Context: “This shopping centre very nice hor. Do you agree?”
Example: “Today’s tutorial is too easy hor. Do you think so?”
Function 1:
Garner support for proposition
Function 2:
Expect hearer to accept your
views
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!”
This shopping centre very nice hor.
Question 3d
No car parks here, what.
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?”
Function 1:
Indicate surprise
Function 2:
Convey doubt
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?”
You don’t like that one meh?
Question 4
Ownself in CE = 自己’ ziji’ in Chinese
NOT THIS OWNSELF LAH!*Pragmatic Function of lah: signifies obviousness
Question 4
• Standard English as the superstrate Mandarin as a substrate
• Gave rise to the word ‘ownself’
SubstratistExplanation
Ownself in CSE = 自己’ ziji’ in Chinese
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.*
He ownself cut himself.
他割自己Ta ge zi ji
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)
Finding 3:‘Ownself’ can appear before the verb even when a ‘singular
self’ occurs after the verb.
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
Question 4
• Syntactical use of “Ownself” – precedes the verb• 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
Ownself = 自己
Ownself in CE = 自己’ ziji’ in Chinese
Therefore, OWNSELF = 自己 (originated from Mandarin) BUT there are syntactical rules guiding its use in
Singlish!