Brown, Adam. 1992. Representing pronunciations in a dictionary of Singapore English. In Anne Pakir (ed) Words in a Cultural Context: Proceedings of the Lexicography Workshop . Singapore: Unipress, 37-46
Gupta, Anthea Fraser & Helen Chandler. 1993. Paediatric speech and language therapy referral in Singapore: implications for multilingual language disability. European Journal of Disorders of Communication 28, 311-317..
Gupta, Anthea Fraser. 1994. The Step-Tongue: Children's English in Singapore . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Hung, Tony H. 1992. Some problems and issues in the representation of pronunciation in a Singapore English Dictionary. In Anne Pakir (ed) Words in a Cultural Context: Proceedings of the Lexicography Workshop . Singapore: Unipress, 30-36.
Hung, Tony. 1995. Some aspects of the segmental phonology of Singapore English. In Teng Su Ching & Ho Mian Lian (eds) The English Language in Singapore: Implications for teaching. Singapore : Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics/ Singapore Teachers Union, 29-41.
Platt, John & Heidi Weber. 1980. English in Singapore and Malaysia . Kuala Lumpur: OUP.
Yeo, Helen Chandler, Susan Rickard Liow, & Anthea Fraser Gupta. 1994. Specific language disorders in Singaporean Children: four case studies. Singapore Journal of Education 14:2, 1-10.
[NB
: Since 1995 there have been a number of addition publications
on Speech Therapy in Singapore, including:
Anthea Fraser Gupta
In my contribution to this issue I will summarise the normal patterns
of pronunciation of vowels and consonants in SIngapore English.
Those who have worked on the phonology of SingE (principally Mary
Tay, Tony Hung, and Adam Brown) are in reasonable agreement on
the phonological structure. If you want more details, you can
look at the reading list I gave in the last issue (A Brown Pronunciation
Models
is especially useful
)
.
The largest difference between Singapore English and many other
varieties of English is that there is generally no difference
between long and short vowels. The following pairs or sets of
words would be homophones in most varieties of Singapore English:
I have given these approximately in order: many speakers will
make a distinction between long and short in the case of No. 4,
but almost none in the case of No. 1. If speakers do make a distinction
between pat
and pet
, it is usually by lengthening
the vowel (pat = [pE:t]] and pet = [pEt]), in imitation of American
English, and not by having a lower vowel for pat
, as in
most varieties of British English and Australian English.
Fairly pure vowels ([o] and [e]) are used in snow
and play
,
as in many varieties of English. [o] is seldom a diphthong, although
the diphthong [ei] is often heard.
The diphthongs are usually:
In initial position and between vowels, consonants are much as
they are in most other varieties of English. The initial sounds
of think
and this
, which are dental fricatives in
many varieties of English are often plosives (either alveolar
or dental [t] or [d]). Occasionally they may be labiodental fricatives
([f] and [v]), and very rarely (usually in those who have very
poor proficiency in English) they are alveolar fricatives ([s]
and [z]). I think the plosives are the appropriate target for
most speakers. In initial and medial position they should follow
the voicing pattern of the dental fricatives ([tiNk] and [dis]).
In final position plosives, especially voiceless plosives, usually
appear as glottal stops ([?]), although speakers should be able
to produce the appropriate plosive in careful speech. Unlike in
London English, the glottal stop should not appear in other positions.
Again in final position (but not elsewhere), consonant clusters
are simplified, often by the omission of a final stop (tact =
[tE?] or [tEk], lift = [lif]). Again, speakers should be able
to produce the appropriate cluster in careful speech. For details
see the readings.
The big differences from other varieties of English comes in the
treatment of final fricatives. In final position the contrast
between voiced and voiceless fricatives and affricates is neutralised,
with all final fricatives being voiceless and fortis, and with
no shortening of the vowel before voiceless fricatives. The following,
for example, become homophones:
Even in careful speech, most speakers do not make a distinction
here.
Traditionally Singapore English, like the English of most parts
of England and like Australian English, does not pronounce post-vocalic
r (in words like car
, park
, water
). However,
some younger Singaporeans are now beginning to use post-vocalic
r, in imitation of American English. This is most likely in careful
speech. For these speakers pairs like duck/dark
, pot/port
are then distinguishable. American therapists need not feel that
they are out of line with local norms if they want to teach post-vocalic
r. The use of post-vocalic r could improve intelligibility considerably
for many clients.
Anthea Fraser Gupta
All languages have words or expressions which serve to give information
about the attitude of speakers to what they are saying, or to
indicate how speakers think those they are speaking to should
respond. These can be referred to as "discourse elements".
Standard English uses various expressions (e.g. well
, OK
,
right
, you know
, didn't he) as discourse
elements.
However, the discourse elements of English all have another life
in Standard English. For example, right
can be a discourse
particle, as in:
but it can also be an adjective, as in:
There are many languages, however, which have a special word class
for discourse elements. In these languages there are some discourse
elements which have no role other than their role as discourse
elements. They are usually referred to as pragmatic particles
or discourse particles
. All varieties of Chinese have pragmatic
particles, some (like Mandarin) having about 6, and others (like
Cantonese) having as many as 30.
Singapore Colloquial English has about twelve pragmatic particles,
although not all speakers use all of them. The actual repertoire
is linked to ethnic group. Pragmatic particles always follow a
constituent and are often, but not always, sentence final Their
main function in SCE seems to be to indicate the attitude of the
speakers to what they are saying, especially in terms of degree
of commitment.
I have found it useful to group SCE's particles into three broad
categories, although this does obscure the difference between
them. Speakers generally use particles from these (given here
in their most usual spelling):
Contradictory
: mah, what.
The tentative
particles (of which the most common is ah
)
are used to put forward an idea tentatively, or to mark a request.
The assertive
particles (of which the most common is lah
)
are used to show the speaker's commitment to what is said, or
to mark a directive. The contradictory
particles mah
and what
show that the speaker is forcefully contradicting
something that has been said.
The pragmatic particles are learnt very early and very easily
by normally developing children, and the addition of ah
to a noun often marks the first 2-word sentence in a child learning
SCE. You should expect to see ah
and lah
before
the second birthday, and they should be used correctly from the
beginning.
The use of particles enables SCE speaking children to participate
forcefully and successfully in argument from the earliest age.
In the following extract, a child of 2;1 (YG) is in a group of
5 people doing origami. Her elder sister (EG) is holding an origami
shirt, which YG wants. Here she uses pragmatic particles with
aplomb as she argues with her mother (M) that her sister should
share it with her. YG also uses the particle one
, which has a grammatical function. I have put the pragmatic particles in bold and indicate
roughly their uses.
The mother gives in after the contradictory particle in line 10.
While this is a particularly advanced two year old, the text does
give some indication of what could be expected in a small child.
To use the pragmatic particles correctly, speakers need to be
aware of the attitudes of their interlocutors, and need to project
their own attitudes clearly. At present we have no real data,
but SLTs have told me informally that autistic patients do not
appear to use the pragmatic particles. Any social or pragmatic
problem of language use (in children and in adults) could be expected
to show itself very clearly in the wrong use of pragmatic particles.
The particles are definitely something to look out for.
Anthea Fraser Gupta
There are many ways of asking questions in all languages. In all
kinds of English a rising intonation on a declarative may be used
to ask a question, e.g.
This is common too in SCE. SCE can also use the tentative particles
(last issue's column), especially ah
, hah
, and hor
,
to show questions.
An interrogative is a structure which is grammatically different
from a declarative. Interrogatives are used for questions, but
may also be used for giving commands, or for rebuking someone,
etc.. Compare the likely uses of the following interrogatives:
Making an interrogative in StdE is extremely complex, as it generally
involves inversion of the subject and the verb (are you-,
have you-,
can you
). Even worse, except for a handful
of verbs (BE, HAVE, DO and the modal auxiliaries), you must insert
an appropriate part of the verb DO in order to invert. Hence:
In SCE DO insertion is not used at all. Children learning English
in Singapore cannot be expected to insert DO in interrogatives
until around the age of 5 years, when it may start appearing in
formulaic phrases (D'you know...,
How do you...
).
It becomes productive in the school years and never becomes required.
In SCE, interrogatives are much less complex than they are in
StdE. The patterns of making interrogatives in SCE have been influenced
by Chinese and by Malay, but are, incidentally also less complex
than interrogatives are in these two languages.
Many things are the similar to StdE, such as the use of wh-words
in interrogatives (what, where, why, who, how, which, when
)
and of words which are restricted to negatives and interrogatives
(e.g. anything, anyone
). There are some small differences
(e.g. How to
is very common in SCE). But there are a number
of more important ones too. I will give a summary below. There
are more details (all too many...) in my 1994 book, The Step-tongue
,
where there is also a lot of specific information about the ages
at which certain structures should be being used.
Inversion is used in interrogatives, especially with CAN and BE.
The question tag is it / isn't it
is also an example of
inversion. Don't expect the question tag to change depending on
the auxiliary. It's always the same (You like him, is it?
).
Is it
can also be used before a declarative to make an
interrogative (Is it you like him?
). Otherwise, expect
S-V order.
In StdE a wh-word usually has to be at the front of an interrogative.
This is true in SCE only of why
and how
(Why
you take so many? How to play this game? How you on the computer?
How you take out the battery?
). But only why
and how
can be followed by S-V order. Other wh-words can either be at
the front if the verb is BE or CAN (the verbs that can be inverted
without DO insertion), (Where's Minah?
) or can be in their
normal declarative position if the verb is one which in StdE would
require DO-insertion (Go where?
She eat what?
).
Or
Interrogatives with or
are a lot more common in SCE than
they are in StdE (You want tea or coffee? Want or not? You
want tea or what? Can or not? Pain or not?
)
Not
Although it is very rare, it is possible to make an interrogative
in SCE by juxtaposing a positive and a negative verb, without
or
. This is one way of making an interrogative in Chinese.
In SCE it is found most with the verb CAN (Can cannot go out?
)
It is very common in SCE to form an interrogative by putting you
know
or you see before a clause with a wh- word (You
know how to swim? You know where she is?
).
Although in SCE an answer to a polar question can be a yes
or a no
, or something similar, it can also be (as in Chinese
and Malay) one of the opposites of the answer, as in this conversation
between a married couple:
If asked Can you swim?
an SCE speaker can answer either
Can
or Cannot
, as well as Yes
or No
.
Anthea Fraser Gupta
The two verbs I'd like to look at in this issue have a number
important roles in Standard English:
As lexical verbs:
As auxiliary verbs:
BE has the largest number of forms of any English verb, namely:
be, am, is, are, was, were. been, being
.
Although the treatment of these two verbs in Singapore Colloquial
English is different from in Standard English, the way in which
they are used can give valuable information to the therapist.
HAVE
The usual form for HAVE in SCE is have
. Don't expect to
see concord or tense except in someone who has some control of
StdE.
There are three main uses of HAVE in StdE:
As in many varieties of English, BE can often be omitted in SCE:
Treat BE as optional -- its absence is never a sign of anything
pathological.
Although BE does occur before -ing
forms of a verb, it
is rarely found as an auxiliary of the passive in Singapore English.
SCE-speaking children may not do well on tests of the active/passive
distinction. The more usual form of the passive is with got, although
you cannot expect to see this in children until age 6-7.
There is another interesting thing about BE. BE is unique in SingE
because it is the only verb which regularly shows inflexions for
subject-verb concord. This makes it useful for the therapist.
With few exceptions, wherever BE is used, it is used with concord.
(I am
,
(s)he/it is
, we/you/they are
). This
seems to happen from the beginning of acquisition -- if BE is
there, it has the same concord as in StdE. Is
appears first
(in native speakers of SCE between the second and third birthdays),
usually in formulae such as What is this? This is a-
.
Am
and are
soon follow. They are all usually in
the full form.
The only exceptions to the StdE concord involve complex sentences
where the verb is far from the subject, and sentences with the
dummy subject there
. Even in SingStdE, there
often
takes singular concord, whatever the complement:
Anthea Fraser Gupta
This page was created by Anthea Fraser GUPTA. You can contact
me at:
Gupta, Anthea Fraser, Chris Brebner & Helen Chandler Yeo.
1998. Developmental assessments in speech-language therapy in
Singapore. Asia Pacific Journal of Speech Language and Hearing
3:1, 17-28.
Susan Rickard Liow (Psychology, National University of Singapore)
and co-researchers are engaged in major research on developmental
norms in the major languages of Singapore.]
2. SINGAPORE ENGLISH : PRONUNCIATION
[Some problems with phonetics here. [E} represents CV3 (Greek
e), [c] represents CV6 (backwards c); [^] represents a low central
vowel (upside down a or upside down v); [&] represents schwa
(upside down e); [N] represents a velar nasal (n with tail)]
Vowels
1. marry merry Mary [E]
2. pull pool [u]
3. cot caught [c]
3. come calm [^]
4. sit seat [i]
my [ai]
boy [ci]
now [au]
near [i&]
poor [u&]
Consonants
edge etch
rice rise
leaf leave live
this these
Post-vocalic r
3. SINGAPORE ENGLISH : PRAGMATIC PARTICLES
A: You've eaten there, right?
B Yeah.
She was right!
Most assertive
Assertive
: meh; ger; (the following assertive particles
are also used in directives) leh; dah; nah; lah; lor.
Tentative: hor; hah; ah.
Least assertive
1 YG: Mummy I want the shirt ah
one.
[tentative - request]
2 Share-share one, share-share jie-jie [`elder-sister'] leh
.
[assertive -- directive
]
3 M: Yes.
4 Share-share with jie-jie.
5 YG: Share share with jie-jie.
6 M: M.
7 Can draw here. Can draw on the envelope.
8 YG: Mummy, I want share share with jie-jie.
9 M: No you can use your pen.
10 YG: See, I want share with jie-jie what
.
[very assertive,
contradicts line 9]
11 M: OK go and take, go and take.
12 [EG gives YG the shirt]
13 Ah. Say thank you to jie-jie.
[1 sec pause]
14 Say thank you to jie-jie.
[1 sec pause ]
[No 'thank-you' is ever forthcoming
]
4. SINGAPORE ENGLISH : INTERROGATIVES
You knew him?
Have you ever been to Bali?
Can you turn down the aircon?
Why did you leave the gas on all night?
You left the gas on.
> Add DO > transfer tense to
DO > Move DO to front >
Did you leave the gas on?
Inversion
Word order
Experiential verbs
Answers
W Anything wrong with Ah Teck's car?
H Nothing wrong.
W Nothing wrong ah. Okay.
5. SINGAPORE ENGLISH : HAVE and BE
She has a cat.
They are teachers.
I'm angry.
He is eating.
I have eaten.
He was attacked
.
She have a big car,
He have two hearts
Why sugar has protein hah?
In SCE this does sometimes occur, though got
also often
occurs (She got a cat
). The negative of both have
and of got
is don't have
, however (She don't
have a cat
).
don't got
don't have
Before the third birthday children should be using these positives
and negatives.
She has seen him.
She had seen him before
.
The perfective is not used in SCE but it is used in Standard Singapore
English. Incidentally, the choice between simple past tense, present
perfective, and past perfective, varies a lot from one variety
of English to another. Don't think it is wrong if a client uses
a perfective where you would have a past tense (or vice versa).
Developmentally, the perfective is late. Children acquire it when
they begin to learn something about StdE, usually aged around
6 or 7. When children begin to acquire StdE they usually go through
a stage of using BE as a multi-purpose auxiliary. They might produce
sentences like these:
The bus was not stop.
Then the police is take the whistle.
The appearance of BE as an auxiliary verb, even if it is where
StdE would have HAVE or DO is a good sign in a child -- it shows
that the child is aware of the existence of StdE and is beginning
to cope with its grammar. Some adults who are of low proficiency
in English do the same thing -- it is not to be seen as pathological.
Has got to
, with the same meaning, is also rare. What is
more usual in Singapore English is got to
:
I got to do my homework
.
BE
He so stupid.
My son watching TV.
He got hit by the car.
There is some problems.
There is cases where the opposite happens.
