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What "Singlish" has crept into your vocabulary?

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aster
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Post by aster » Thu, 07 Aug 2014 8:54 pm

kookaburrah wrote:Can! Also can! Uncle, NETS can?
Yeah, this "can" thing has crept into my vocabulary and I somehow cannot temporary suspend this word when travelling abroad even. :)

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Post by Brah » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 1:32 am

"What "Singlish" has crept into your vocabulary?"?

Easy - not one effing thing. And I aim to keep it that way.

But I'm always open to pick up useful things from our friends across the pond.

I've been trying to find a way to explain the unfortunate US lilt things, one is when people, more often women than men, and usually under 45, end sentences as a question, or, when enumerating points, do that annoying up-tone thing.

There has got to be Urban Dictionary entries for these things.

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Post by JR8 » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 8:37 am

Brah wrote:I've been trying to find a way to explain the unfortunate US lilt things, one is when people, more often women than men, and usually under 45, end sentences as a question, or, when enumerating points, do that annoying up-tone thing.
There has got to be Urban Dictionary entries for these things.
That'll be the ... 'High rising terminal

The high rising terminal (HRT), also known as Uptalk, upspeak, rising inflection, or high rising intonation (HRI), is a feature of some accents of English where ostensibly declarative statements are uttered on a rising note of apology or inquiry.

Empirically, one report proposes that HRT in American English and Australian English is marked by a high tone (high pitch or high fundamental frequency) beginning on the final accented syllable near the end of the statement (the terminal), and continuing to increase in frequency (up to 40%) to the end of the intonational phrase.[1] New research suggests that the actual rise can occur one or more syllables after the last accented syllable of the phrase, and its range is much more variable than previously thought ...

...It has been noted in speech heard in areas of Canada, in Cape Town, the Falkland Islands, and in the United States where it is often associated with a particular sociolect that originated among affluent teenage girls in Southern California (see Valleyspeak and Valley girl).

... it is used more than twice as often by young generations as by older ones, and particularly by women.... [continues]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

-------
also
-------

'Want a promotion? Don't speak like an AUSSIE: Rising in pitch at the end of sentences make you sound 'insecure'
Inflections added to the end of sentences are called high-rising terminals
The language trait is common in Australian and American accents
As a result, the trait is also known as Australian Question Intonation (AQI)
UK publisher Pearson surveyed 700 men and women in managerial roles
More than half said if a Briton used AQI it would hinder their prospects
While 85% said the trait was a ‘clear indicator of insecurity’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z3BvSWT43W

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Post by Wd40 » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 11:11 am

Brah wrote:"What "Singlish" has crept into your vocabulary?"?

Easy - not one effing thing. And I aim to keep it that way.
+1.

I was about to write exactly this.
I hope it works the other way around, i.e. locals interacting with me, learn some better English speaking skills after talking to me for a while :P

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Post by Brah » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 12:25 pm

Wd40 wrote:
Brah wrote:"What "Singlish" has crept into your vocabulary?"?

Easy - not one effing thing. And I aim to keep it that way.
+1.

I was about to write exactly this.
I hope it works the other way around, i.e. locals interacting with me, learn some better English speaking skills after talking to me for a while :P
I doubt it, the pidgin proudly rules.

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Post by Brah » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 12:28 pm

JR8 wrote:
Brah wrote:I've been trying to find a way to explain the unfortunate US lilt things, one is when people, more often women than men, and usually under 45, end sentences as a question, or, when enumerating points, do that annoying up-tone thing.
There has got to be Urban Dictionary entries for these things.
That'll be the ... 'High rising terminal

The high rising terminal (HRT), also known as Uptalk, upspeak, rising inflection, or high rising intonation (HRI), is a feature of some accents of English where ostensibly declarative statements are uttered on a rising note of apology or inquiry.

Empirically, one report proposes that HRT in American English and Australian English is marked by a high tone (high pitch or high fundamental frequency) beginning on the final accented syllable near the end of the statement (the terminal), and continuing to increase in frequency (up to 40%) to the end of the intonational phrase.[1] New research suggests that the actual rise can occur one or more syllables after the last accented syllable of the phrase, and its range is much more variable than previously thought ...

...It has been noted in speech heard in areas of Canada, in Cape Town, the Falkland Islands, and in the United States where it is often associated with a particular sociolect that originated among affluent teenage girls in Southern California (see Valleyspeak and Valley girl).

... it is used more than twice as often by young generations as by older ones, and particularly by women.... [continues]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

-------
also
-------

'Want a promotion? Don't speak like an AUSSIE: Rising in pitch at the end of sentences make you sound 'insecure'
Inflections added to the end of sentences are called high-rising terminals
The language trait is common in Australian and American accents
As a result, the trait is also known as Australian Question Intonation (AQI)
UK publisher Pearson surveyed 700 men and women in managerial roles
More than half said if a Briton used AQI it would hinder their prospects
While 85% said the trait was a ‘clear indicator of insecurity’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z3BvSWT43W
"AQI"?!!!
Very interesting, and unfortunate, the further dumbing-down of a generation. I knew there must be a name for this, but had no idea the Aussies were also infected with it.

While I agree with the insecurity bit, I see it more as a bad habit that puts the onus on the listener to respond not to an actual question, but a mere statement, and probably a banal one at that.

It also puts an onus on the listener to refrain from, as we say where I'm from, smacking the speaker upside the head.

Good research on that, any ideas on the second thing I mentioned? Probably easier to find a YT clip with it, should not be hard for me to find

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Post by JR8 » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 3:41 pm

when enumerating points, do that annoying up-tone thing.

I can't picture from your description how this would sound...

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Post by Max Headroom » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 10:20 pm

They do that because they're worried they sound monotonous if they don't pitch up every few sentences or so. You won't hear it from news readers, politicians or commentators. But a lot of the Youtube dime-a-dozen presenter wannabes resort to it. Yeah, slap-worthy.












Edit schmedit.

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Post by GSM8 » Sun, 31 Aug 2014 11:02 pm

What makes the end of sentence uptick even more annoying is the liberal dose of "like" "I'm like" "omg" etc thrown in. And yes, in addition to newsreaders, commentators and politicians, one rarely hears it from self made entrepreneurs, corporate executives and people in academia

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Post by nakatago » Mon, 01 Sep 2014 7:32 am

Max Headroom wrote:They do that because they're worried they sound monotonous if they don't pitch up every few sentences or so. You won't hear it from news readers, politicians or commentators. But a lot of the Youtube dime-a-dozen presenter wannabes resort to it. Yeah, slap-worthy.
.
Not this guy though: http://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee

He started out very young but he's still in school. His videos are of professional quality and once even scored an exclusive video interview with then Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside.

About the AQI, comedian Adam Hills has it in his routine. After I saw that, I keep noticing it from then on on Aussies, even on TV.

It's like, omg, Aussies are, like, not sure of what they're saying*.

:wink:

*and I'm a guy who's not very good with small talk/casual conversation.
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

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Post by JR8 » Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:05 am

AQI: A summary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPIeOezvLgo

Uptalk (aka Valley-girl), some academic study: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJo7T8ietaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKMNyZ2oTc
'Uptalk, Like and Creaky Voice (Vocal Fry)'
7.5minutes, BUT I finally get to find a label for that strange thing ... 'Vocal Fry!'. I once had a young American intern who did that the whole time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEDc466XvI
'Ep. 46 "What's The Vocal Fry" - Vocal Fry Trilogy Part 1- Voice Lessons To The World'
... [9.5mins] wow, learn something new every day...

p.s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoj4HZlLQBY
'Questions and Intonation: Up or Down? -- American English
Pronunciation'


I find this whole subject something of a hidden world, and absolutely fascinating :) 8-)

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Post by Brah » Mon, 01 Sep 2014 7:27 pm

JR8 wrote:AQI: A summary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPIeOezvLgo

Uptalk (aka Valley-girl), some academic study: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJo7T8ietaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKMNyZ2oTc
'Uptalk, Like and Creaky Voice (Vocal Fry)'
7.5minutes, BUT I finally get to find a label for that strange thing ... 'Vocal Fry!'. I once had a young American intern who did that the whole time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEDc466XvI
'Ep. 46 "What's The Vocal Fry" - Vocal Fry Trilogy Part 1- Voice Lessons To The World'
... [9.5mins] wow, learn something new every day...

p.s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoj4HZlLQBY
'Questions and Intonation: Up or Down? -- American English
Pronunciation'


I find this whole subject something of a hidden world, and absolutely fascinating :) 8-)
I find this whole not a hidden-enough world absolutely annoying .

I knew about fry, am keeping an eye out for examples of that enumeration thing, which came later.

The best way to explain that is, when someone, always or almost always American, is explaining something that happened that had multiple outcomes, enumerates those outcomes with rising their voice a 6th above the root tone of the conversation, then returning to the root tone before the next enumeration.

Had to pull out my gittar to figure that out.

For example:

"We went there, but it was too crowded,
and
everywhere else was full,
and the kids were getting cranky,
and we had to go to an ATM,
and blah blah blah

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Post by JR8 » Mon, 01 Sep 2014 7:37 pm

Hating linguistic evolution is like hating genetic evolution; futile. Or hating air travel, due solely to it's very existence ... lol...

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Post by Brah » Mon, 01 Sep 2014 7:40 pm

JR8 wrote:Hating linguistic evolution is like hating genetic evolution; futile. Or hating air travel, due solely to it's very existence ... lol...
You are right - it is futile.

Hate is a strong word. These particular elements of the evolution would be less cringe-worthy if they were improvements.

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Post by JR8 » Mon, 01 Sep 2014 7:45 pm

Brah wrote:Hate is a strong word. These particular elements of the evolution would be less cringe-worthy if they were improvements.
/ Now you're sounding like my father: ALERT /

:wink: :lol: :cool:

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