De-nounce Singlish at your own risk

Hmmm... I wonder in which part of my post was there an indication that I look down on Singlish. :rolleyes:

Singlish is fine. We all know that we have to use it when conversing with certain people, or in certain circumstances. With Ah Peks and Aunties, with Pakciks and Makciks, etc. Or when we find ourselves chatting casually with people.

It's just that I don't use it ALL the time but hey, that's me. We all live in different environments, and live with different kinds of people.

It's just that it's a pity people don't bother to find out the difference between having an accent, which in my opinion is speaking a certain way according to the styles and cultures from which it came, and having proper enunciation, which is just making the effort to articulate your words properly, while maintaining a neutral accent.

Lots of people still think that those who make the effort to enunciate, are actually trying to be be smart and 'speak with an accent', when these people may just be brought up to enunciate their words properly, and it's their own personal choices to speak like that.

It works either way, and most of the time you find that you have to adapt to certain situations and use language in various ways.

You don't have to look down and think people are hilly billies or country bumpkins if they speak Singlish, and you don't have to sneer at people and label them as pretentious if you think they 'speak with an accent'.

Just cool it lah.

No big deal.
 
even the english, americans, aussies have their own slangs, colloquialisms which may be difficult to understand by someone else.

the only reasons why those are more accepted than singlish (by the language purists here) is cos' they're white, and the founders of the language, so they somehow have more creative freedom with their english.

or perhaps language purists are simply ashamed of their own heritage.
 
i'm nt even Singaporean, but I can converse easily in singlish as well! its more enjoyable and free-flowing than formal english, which I am also comfortable with, though only in "official" situations or when speaking to foreigners.

and with reference to that article, it is SO INTERESTING that Singlish and Singapore is mentioned in the same paragraph as China, with the connecting words, I read to you, "in various parts of the region". I never knew Singapore was REALLY in China.

With regards to language, it is but one of the tools to human communication, so we will continue to use 'international standard' English in the marketplace, and whatever form of language we are comfortable with at home, there is really no need to 'despise' any form of communication because at the end of the day there is no point pretending to be a people we are not and making ourselves unhappy by trying to conform to how OTHER people in OTHER circumstances do things
 
i think singlish is awesome..
cuz it belongs to us singaporeans.

i think we local english evolved to singlish when our forefathers / ancestors try to speak them..
like malay speak english got abit of slang,
indian speak english also got their kind of slang,
so do chinese..
and ang mohs speak their normal ang moh slang..

so when these people speaking english in different slangs mix together,
everyone kinda get influenced to speak like the other race ya know what i mean??
then slowly slowly fuse until become singlishh.

i think its cool la, just dont speak like those typical aunties.
with a bit of la, lei, lor i think its awesome =DD
 
This is linguistics - perfect example. Amalgamation of a variety of sounds and physical actions are the fundamental building blocks of natural language and human modes of communication. I converse with you, and a hundred others like you for a decade, we'll have our own speech system. It is only natural, no less.

If you're able to adapt, it really depends on the environment and situation. On a personal level, say with friends or relatives, it's better to speak whatever the majority is capable of understanding. I will speak Singlish with most of my friends, but I'd also converse in British (and various other sub-dialects), American, Indian, Spanish, German, x, y, z English with those who understand them. The thing about an international language is that it provides a group of people speaking different tongues with a "default option", decided hundreds of years ago by a certain monarchy which is still in good health to this day. So a mixed family is more likely to set up English as the norm rather than train everyone to speak everyone's way.

On a formal level, though, I believe it is appropriate to speak and write standard British since it is the original form of the language and the least distorted. Basically, I believe in speaking and writing a language in as pure a form as possible. I give talks in British, but when I'm not the speaker I'll converse in Singlish if that's what the other party feels comfortable with. Until the day American English really becomes the one and only accepted form of English, I will never use it - because it sucks. On why it's English, well, the British bonked the world sometime back..so it is only natural. I think it's time to take on Mandarin, because they're next in line to hump us all.

You should also know that "Singapore English" is an accepted form of English, though I've never understood its difference. Download a Live Linux distribution and at the language selection step you can actually choose the alias to "en_SG".
 
Singlish is cool and really makes one feels like home but with all the FTs coming in, I have a feeling that this unique culture will be wiped out in 20-30 years time. By then, you will start hearing everyone speaking with China accent liao :???:
 
there is a difference between accent and slang

accent:
a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality

slang:
very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language

the problem with singlish is that it is often not standardised, and it is not mutually intelligible by singaporeans. for the simple reason that indians, malays and chinese will use words from their own language.

as a result it is impossible to standardise singlish where it can be understood by the whole society. neither will it ever be possible, because the government has been historically anti-dialect (speak mandrin campaign), probably with the purpose of uniting the chinese.

the sole purpose of language is for communication. it doesnt matter how fluent you are as long as you can be understood, or avoid being misunderstood. but obviously, without sufficient linguistic skills you will not be able to express complex thoughts or ideas. can you imagine university lecturers, members of parliament, or lawyers using hardcore singlish?
 
Very nice lah, gutturalpiss.

Singlish is fine by me. It's the Singaporeans' disability to enunciate their words distinctly that I've got issues with.
 
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