I. Singlish is the combination of many languages put together. Such languages include, the Queen’s English, Malay, Cantonese, Tamil, Mandarin, and Hokkien. Singlish has a very unique twist that can only be recognized if a person visited to Singapore before. Unlike the English that is spoken in America or Britain, Singlish contains a vocabulary from a wide variety of languages. Although it is the most common form of communication, it is not spoken in formal situations or when any speaker adresses an elder. Singlish is very unique due to its diverse history, its distinct grammar and vocabulary, and its essential role in culture and traditions.
1. In 1810, Sir Stamford Raffles founded the island of Singapore and later claimed it in an attempt to create a trading post for the British. This trading post was located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, which was important for trade from East Asia and India. In the early 19th century, Malays, Chinese, and Indians came to Singapore to begin trade. The language spoken by these ethnicities affected one another and resulted in a choppy, sing-song version of the Queen’s English with heavy accents from the Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, Tamil, and more.
2. While Singlish may be based off British English, most of its influence comes from Chinese and Malay. Words from Hokkien, Mandarin, Malay, Cantonese, and Tamil are often added to everyday conversation. Singlish has many distinct and unique features. One of the first things you notice when speaking to a native Singaporean is the way they drop grammatical endings, linking verbs, tenses, and plurals. For instance, if you wanted to say, “You walk so slowly,” in Singlish, you would say, “You walk so slow.” Or if you wanted to say, “She sho...
... middle of paper ...
...nister for Information and the Arts, to improve and maintain Standard Singapore English. He finally decided to keep Singlish as a part of their culture but prohibited in schools and formal gatherings. Even today, SGEM strives to expand the efficiency of English in school, reminding students that while Singlish may be an important part of our culture, it is even more important that the rest of the world can understand us and we can understand them.
4. Singlish is a melting pot of many different languages that can sound fun and upbeat to some people, but can make others cringe at the sound of misused grammar. You know you’re speaking with a Singaporean when you hear the reduplication and discourse particles, and the elimination of linking verbs. Singlish is a crucial part of their identity and their culture as it brings everyone together despite their social class.
“Standard English was imposed on children of immigrant parents, then the children were separated from native English speakers, then the children were labeled “inferior” and “ignorant” (Hughes 70) because they could not speak Standard English. In addition to feeling inferior about their second language skills, these students also felt inadequate in regard to speaking their own mother tongues” (qtd in Kanae)
The video Mother Tongues: Languages Around the World discusses the various languages found in Africa, Oceana, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The film starts with a brief description of Africa’s nearly 2000 languages. It explains that because of Africa’s relative isolation and long history of occupants it has the most languages of any land mass. The African languages include anything from Arabic, Swahili, or the ‘click’ language. Click languages are located only in Africa; in these languages the clicks function as normal consonants.The many languages of Africa all evolved differently due to separation between groups. For example the Nigeria area has over 400 languages and almost every language group is represented. Africa has unique sounds such as kp or gb which can be written has ibgo. These sounds are not common in places other than Africa. Swahili is probably the best-known African language. Developed along the Indian Ocean near areas such as Kenya. Swahili was adopted from many languages especially Arabic. Swahili has taken on an international image as one of the main languages of Africa.
The word “literacy” alone has a huge impact to my unperfect or as you can say informal English. Many would criticize and laughed at native speakers but did anyone every thought of the struggles of balancing two different languages with various different style within the language. As Amy Tan. the author of Mother Tongue, had mentioned, “that Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English. And this makes me think that there are other Asian- American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described a ‘broken’...” Tan is describing the struggles that Asian- American students faced in America (4). In addition to Tan’s statement, I can relate back to my daily life; learning the formal English in school, speaking Vietnamese at home, and listening to the limited English
Lee, Jamie Shinhee. "Linguistic Hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse and Resistance." World Englishers 23.3 (2004): 429-450. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.
“Mother Tongue” is an essay that show the power of language and how Amy Tan uses the many forms of English and the different ways in which the language she knew impacted her life. I feel connected to Tan’s essay because I also come from a multilingual home. I have smart emigrant parents who are educated, but even though they are educated they still need my help with communicating with people occasionally. I believe the most important idea in Tan’s “Mother Tongue” is the limitation that an imperfect English can cause in a society and the richness that such English can bring to
In the story "Mother Tongue" the author Amy Tan talks about the "languages" that she uses to communicate with her mother and also to the people. Tan is adore by the language and she said that she loves language and she enjoys it. "I am someone who always loved language, I am fascinated by language in daily life" (Tan, 358). In the story Tan talks about her mother 's English which she calls "broken". Her mother is Chinese immigrant who doesn 't speak English very well. That was one reason when Tan was young she used to make a phone calls for her mother to avoid misunderstanding and solve some problems. Although Tan speaks perfect English, with her mother she speaks only "simple" English. But the language she uses with her husband and her audience is different.
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue." 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. 4th Edition. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 417-23. Print.
The article Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan is a personal look into how language, and the dialects of that language, can affect a person 's life. It 's a look into how the people inside the cultural circles who use dialect derivatives of a major language are treated by people who exist outside of those cultural circles. It shows us how society treats a person using a "broken" or "limited" dialect, and how society 's treatment of these people can also affect the children who grow up using these "broken" dialects. Tan wrote this article try and convey to the reader that English is a colorful, and ever-changing language that has many dialects. Tan makes the point, several times throughout the article, that society judges you based on the type of English that you use. Throughout the article, Tan uses both her mother, herself and society 's treatment of them as evidence to support her idea. The purpose of pointing this out is to show the reader that the language a person uses, whether it be taught to them in school or by a parent at home, isn 't indicative of a person 's intelligence or value, and they shouldn 't be judged as less for using it.
Language has a personality and a mood, created by the behavior of the speakers and their cultural identity. Moreover, this includes the tools speaker use to communicate through i.e. sign language. Languages can be described by human emotions and feelings; therefore, language is personified and dynamic. Historical events have lead to changes in languages in caused flexibility and dynamicity of language. Globalization and colonization also had an effect in word borrowing, and many languages have been altered due to this. Languages are also interpre...
‘Mother Tongue’ a story by Amy Tan tries to take us through the different events one should change the manner in which he or she uses language with the listeners. As the speaker, one should use the appropriate language for the right audience so as to avoid circumstances in which language barrier can occur. The language which Tan uses with her mother is quite different from the one she uses with her listeners when engaging in public or official talks. It is quite evident that when Tan was confronting the stock broker who wanted to con her mother she changes her diction which matched a sophisticated language from the one her mother used. Language becomes hectic when one is trying to fit in a language he or she can hardly talk (Diyanni 633-639).
In various societies, people use several different languages in conversations between their friends, family and peers. Especially in Singapore, it is not an unfamiliar phenomenon to hear two or more bilingual speakers speaking and code switching between the language English and Chinese, English and Malay, English and Tamil or even Standard English and Singaporean English to each other in a natural and effortless manner. In this line, I have mechanistically relate speech varieties with “codes” and despite having a vast variety of definitions for code switching to choose from; I have decided to use Heller’s definition. Heller (1988) defines code switching as the alternating between two or more languages in a single sentence or conversation. During this phenomenon, it is common for individuals to fluently use more than one language in a course of a single communication episode. When this happens, bilinguals are not coached in how to code switch, but instead, they rely on unconscious linguistic understanding in differentiating between what are tolerable and intolerable code switching usages. According to Auer (1989), factors such as cultural interaction, intercultural marriage, education, and colonization are some influences for code switching. Moreover, speakers may choose to alternate from one code to another, either to distinguish oneself, to show commonality with a social group, to discuss a certain topic, join in social happenstances, to impress and influence the audience or to express feelings and affections (Crystal, 1987). However, there has been a misconception in many people’s perception, that “code switching is bad”, “code switching creates confusion” and that “code switching will result in a language deficit where individ...
Finally, there are many different varieties of English, or as it is called Englishes, such as Singaporean English, Indian English and Nigerian English. Each variety of English expresses the identity and culture of its speakers. It has been predicted that in the distant future these forms of English will fragment into mutually unintelligible varieties. Therefore, this fragmentation may slow the spread of English as a global language.
Platt, J. & Weber, H. (1980). English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, Features, Functions. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press
Cantonese use widely in the south of China and is the language that most people use in the United State Chinatown. In China, there are about more than 80 dialects and more than 30 kinds of word. Mandarin is the official language, and Cantonese just one of the most usage dialects in Chinese. According to a news report in 2011, there are around 120 billion people speak Cantonese in all over the world, which included Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macao, and the people who in the other countries like the United State, Canada, Singapore, and Malaysia etc. As an international student from Guangzhou, Cantonese is my first language and all my family members speak Cantonese as well. In this paper, I interviewed my father to answered
Language is one of the most basic necessities for human interactions in a society. Ng and Bradac (1993) stated that, “some of the most remarkable human tools are the specific languages that particular groups of human have developed and adapted for use in their daily lives” (p.1). Without language, socialization between individuals in society would be highly difficult; which would possibly result in a lack of social solidarity that ties people together. From social and academic institutions (family and school), we were taught to use the most favorable language to survive in society. Brunei Darussalam centers on the Malay and English language. Depending on the surrounding and how Bruneians were raised, the use of language may differ for different individuals. In this essay, I’ll be talking about the language that my family and I have acquired. I will also talk about the existence of bilingualism in my family and the use of different languages during travelling.