i defend the use of singlish, and use it myself, to the extent that the user is able to handle it as a totally separate language from proper english and is able to switch back and forth at will between the two. if one can master only one of the two, then imo singlish should go.sundaymorningstaple wrote:I'd actually like to hear from those on the board who are local and constantly defended their usage of Singlish as well at those who are more adept with the language due to their approximation with foreigners where they are forced to use a better form of English.
except when travelling or living overseas... when we know a fellow singaporean the moment he opens his mouth!earthfriendly wrote:I have always thought that Singlish is a liability, and not asset, for SG.
Not meant to offend. I think Singers sometimes get their priorties all wrong. The way to have an identity and be rooted is to know one's own language and culture. Not take someone else's language, thrash it and invent a mutant version of it and calling it our own. Not all but I found a proportion of the population lacking in knowledge about their own culture and mother language. And worse, their command of the English language just as bad.Wind In My Hair wrote: seriously, agree with you EF. there are better ways to have a unique singapore culture than one based on singlish.
Not digressing here, but EF, you bring up something else relevant to this that was broached earlier this year by none other than the architect of the bilingual system here, MM Lee himself. He has admitted that the bilingual policy was an error in as much as he now realizes that one cannot be effectively bilingual as ultimately both languages suffer.earthfriendly wrote:Not meant to offend. I think Singers sometimes get their priorties all wrong. The way to have an identity and be rooted is to know one's own language and culture. Not take someone else's language, thrash it and invent a mutant version of it and calling it our own. Not all but I found a proportion of the population lacking in knowledge about their own culture and mother language. And worse, their command of the English language just as bad.
Jack of all trade ..............
I think you mean "pidgin".sundaymorningstaple wrote:Singlish is NOT a local version of English but more a Pidgeon English spoken here.
That should be spelled "grammar".My question is How did this happen? Before the locals started teaching English and Grammer here
And the sentence above is what you call proper English?Is it the fact that they were just too lazy to keep using proper English after finishing school so that when they started "Teaching" they had already forgotten all the basic rules?
I don't think "approximation" means what you think it does...I'd actually like to hear from those on the board who are local and constantly defended their usage of Singlish as well at those who are more adept with the language due to their approximation with foreigners where they are forced to use a better form of English.
Then I would have to say your assumption that creolization has taken place is incorrect and Singlish is not taught at home as the first language. Dialect is usually taught at home. English and mother tongue taught in school. Singlish is usually learned on the street. Just like Jive or Homeboy in the US. I guess you will now say they are proper languages as well?Pidgins become creole languages when a generation whose parents speak pidgin to each other teach it to their children as their first language. Often creoles can then replace the existing mix of languages to become the native language of the current community (such as Krio in Sierra Leone and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea). However, pidgins do not always become creoles—they can die out or become obsolete.
I would suggest is would have been nicer to ask me what I meant instead of "Ass U Me"ing that I meant "Pidgeon" as an insult. No one who has been posting on the thread so far is insulting anybody or carrying any chips on their shoulders, why should you start assuming they are?Pidgins have simple grammars and few synonyms, serving as auxiliary contact languages. They are learnt as second languages rather than natively.
Also, Keith Whinnom (in Hymes 1971) suggests that pidgins need three languages to form, with one (the superstrate) being clearly dominant over the others.
EF, bagus lah!earthfriendly wrote:I should have explained to him that "lah" is a musical note, just like "do, ray, mi". It has no meaning in itself, just for the sound (melodious) effect.
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