Singlish grammar is the set of structural rules Colloquial Singaporean English follows, including the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Some features of Singlish grammar include topic-prominence, where sentences begin with a known referent of the conversation, omission of the word be, reduplication of words, and discourse particles such as lah, leh and ah. Discourse particles are a distinguishing feature of Singlish, which impart pragmatic but not semantic information. According to Smakman and Wagenaar, lah and ah are used the most. The earliest particles, lah, ah, and what, were acquired from Hokkien and Bazaar Malay, while a later set of particles, lor, hor, leh, meh and mah, were acquired mostly from Cantonese.
Background
According to Gupta, Singlish likely arose from varieties of standard English, such as Eurasian, Indian, British and American English, varieties of Chinese, such as Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese, and a variety of Malay, such as Bazaar or Baba Malay, and possibly Kristang, the Portuguese creole. The grammar of Singlish is influenced by Malay and the Chinese languages. For example, the lack of verbal inflections, the lack of articles and topic-prominence are grammatical features that Singlish, Malay and the Chinese languages share. Singlish is highly mutually intelligible with Manglish. In 1992, Catherine Lim, an author, said that Singlish should be differentiated from English with bad grammar and pronunciation as a result of imperfect learning. In 2000, VJ Times published Singlish to English: Basic Grammar Guide, a Singlish textbook. As of 2017, Singlish is considered by linguists to be an independent language with its own systematic grammar, being studied by at least seven universities internationally. Initially, Singlish was deemed as grammatically incorrect by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). In 2000, the Speak Good English Movement was launched, an annual campaign to encourage standard English and discourage Singlish, characterising it as "bad English". From the 2010s, it received greater global interest and became more celebrated and accepted in Singapore. By 2016, the SGEM had adjusted their stance to encourage those who only speak Singlish to also speak standard English and sought to differentiate Singlish and standard English.
Topic prominence Singlish is topic-prominent, like Chinese and Malay. It is described as a "basic structure" by Ludwig Tan, a linguist at the University of Cambridge. Sentences may begin with a discourse topic, followed by a comment with new information. All major phrase categories may serve as the topic, such as noun phrases, verb phrases, preposition phrases, and tense phrases (sentences). The topic can be omitted when the subject is understood from the context. Multiple topics may precede the comment, and multiple comments may follow a topic. Utterances without a topic are a diagnostic feature of Singlish. Verb groups with null subjects are also referred to as pro-drop.
Topics can be categorised into three different kinds: "theme-proper" (TP), "diatheme" (DT) and "middle-theme" (MT). "Theme-proper" topics carry information of a topic from an earlier clause. Omission of topics of this kind make up 90.76% of all omitted topics in Leong Ping's research. This is because they contribute the least to the development of the conversation. The omission of these topics is also known as a topic chain, which is also present in Chinese and Malay.
What did youTP do in your English classesTP? ∅TP Write compositions. – 'In my English classes, I wrote compositions.' "Diatheme" topics carry information of a non-topic from an earlier clause. These are omitted infrequently as they are more important to communication.
I mean um, it's not every day that ITP can play with little children. Uh huh, but ∅DT very tiring right? – 'Uh huh, but playing with little children is very tiring, right?' "Middle-theme" topics carry information that may be recoverable from the context, but otherwise do not have relation to the established conversation. These are omissible only if there is a shared understanding, or if the situational context permits it, such as if the referents are present in the conversation.
∅MT Got a meeting. ∅TP Can't come. – 'He has a meeting. He cannot come.' (If he is a shared understanding)
Bare conditionals Bare conditionals are conditional sentences, constructed in a way that is indistinguishable from a topic-prominent sentence. According to Bao Zhiming, it is likely influenced by Chinese rather than English. If-words, such as if, unless, and as long as, which create conditional clauses, may be omitted in Singlish, and is similar to Chinese grammar. Contextual clues are required to determine if the condition and consequent are two independent events, temporally related, or causally related. All major phrase categories can serve as a conditional, just like a topic. Unlike in English, where bare conditionals such as say that again and you're fired are used for imperatives conveying a threat with negative connotations, Singlish carries no such nuance or requirements.
You want, you better book early. – 'If you want it, you'd better book early.'
Nouns
Countability Nouns are optionally marked for plurality. Articles are also optional.
He can play piano. – 'He can play the piano.' I like to read storybook. – 'I like to read storybooks.' Your computer got virus or not? – 'Does your computer have a virus?' This one ten cent only. – 'This one only costs ten cents.' Many uncountable nouns, such as furniture and clothing, can be made countable.
By feeling the cardboards, it can fold up to 600 cartons a day. – 'By feeling the cardboard, it can fold up to 600 cartons a day.' Why a salesman is now a client relations personnel. – 'Why a salesman is now a client relations person.' Nouns after premodifiers that represent a quantitatively definite set, such as all, are more likely to be marked for plurality. Alsagoff and Ho wrote that nouns are always pluralised when accompanied by a quantifier, such as many or four. Wee and Ansaldo instead wrote that it might be optional, citing sentences from the Grammar of Spoken Singapore English Corpus (GSSEC). Inclusion of an unnecessary quantifier with countable nouns can also be found, such as on invoices.
Twenty pieces of chairs. – 'Twenty chairs.' About 270 units of "lifestyle cars" were sold. – 'About 270 "lifestyle cars" were sold.'
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