hoseh la! jesslyn oh | ng wanting | ong yu ann | tan xi ping

Hoseh La!Jesslyn Oh | Ng Wanting | Ong Yu Ann | Tan Xi Ping

Tutorial 9, Week 11

Singlish & Contact Linguistics

Question 1

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


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


Question 1 Part 1

PidginExample 2


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


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


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


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 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

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 3

Examples from

Singlish

Discourse Particle

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!”


Question 3c


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


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)


(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)


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.


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!

The End

Hoseh Lah!Jesslyn Oh | Ng Wanting | Ong Yu Ann | Tan Xi Ping

hoseh la! jesslyn oh | ng wanting | ong yu ann | tan xi ping

Documents

chinese pidgin english

singapore english question

shortterm contact

singapore englishquestion

standard english pidginexample

chinese peopledeclined

chinese traders

singapore englishmakeshift