COLLOQUIAL LINGUISTICS & CONTACT LINGUISTICSGroup 9

1. CONTACT LINGUISTICS AND SINGAPORE ENGLISHPART 1

Pidgin• a simplified language that develops between two or more groups that do not have a language in common

• not all simplified or "broken" forms of a language are pidgins each pidgin has its own norms of usage

Pidgin• may be built from words, sounds, or body language from multiple other languages and cultures

• not the native language of any speech community, but is instead learned as a second language.

Examples of Pidgin

Nigerian Pidgin Chinese Pidgin English in China Hawaiian Pidgin

Hawaiian PidginCreole language based in part on English used by many residents of Hawaii

Example: "Inside dirt and cover and blanket, finish""They put the body in the ground and covered it with a blanket and that's all."

Creole• Stable natural language developed from a pidgin

• Navitised by children as their primary language• Vocabulary is largely supplied by the parent languages (lexifier) though there are often clear phonetic and semantic shifts

• Has own unique grammatical rules that may differ from those of the parent language

Pidgin to Creole – Hawaiian Pidgin

PIDGIN

Form of communication between natives

and immigrants/plantati

on workers

Acquired words from other languages such

as Portugese, Hawaiian and

Cantonese

CREOLE

19th century, Hawaiian school children learned

Hawaiian pidgin from some of their classmates

Became first language of

Hawaii

Hawaiian Creole

Source Word Meaning

Hawaiian

paulanaipuka

akamaiokolepilau

'finished''verandah'

'hole''clever'

'buttocks''filthy'

Japanese obakeshi-shi

'ghost''urinate'

Portuguese malasada 'doughnut without a hole

• Does not just include words from English (parent language)

DifferencesPidgin Creole

Have no native speakers Have native speakers

Results of extended contact between groups with no language in common, they are used mostly for trade

Develop from pidgins, learnt as a first language by a large number of speakers

Simple grammatical structures More complex in structure, wider range of vocabulary to express a wide range of meanings

Not used for group identification May take on national and official functions

1. CONTACT LINGUISTICS AND SINGAPORE ENGLISHPART 2

SE a Creoloid?• Shares many similarities with creoles but is not one• New concept established to accommodate its peculiarities

Peculiarities

• Did not develop from a pidgin• Existence traced to transference of certain features from

languages of local ethnic groups to English acquired in schools

SE a Creoloid?Peculiarities

• One of the several ‘native’ languages • Used as lingua franca in inter-ethnic group

communication

SE a Creoloid?Peculiarities

• Resembles post-creole• Converges towards English- the language it is derived

from

Linguistic Ecology• Social factors in the linguistic environment of speakers

CSE Carribean/African pidgins/creoles-Did not originate from pidgin English, but standard English

-Result of standard English taught before WWII and bilingual education after WWII

-Impact of multilingualism: Borrowing of lexical items/intonation from other languages

-Common history of slavery

-African slaves who spoke different African languages had to communicate with one another and with the Europeans

Linguistic EcologyExample: Haitian Creole

• Pidgin first developed for communication between African slaves and their French colonial masters

• Acquired vocabulary from French & grammar from various African languages

• From pidgin to creole: offsprings of the Africans expanded on the pidgin and became native speakers

2. NP ELLIPSIS AND SUBSTRATIST EXPLANATION

Subtratist Explanation• Differences between Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) and Standard English in terms at all levels of grammar and usage

• Differences due to linguistic influences from the indigenous languages spoken in Singapore, such as Chinese and Malay

Noun Phrase Ellipsis• The deletion of Noun Phrases in sentences• CSE makes extensive use of noun phrase ellipsis in all syntactic positions, such as subjects, objects and possessors

Noun Phrase EllipsisIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the subject at all.

Subject Omission(a) After Ø get some sickness, Ø can’t help it‘After one gets sick, one cannot help it.’

Noun Phrase EllipsisIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the object at all.

Object Omission(b) I never try Ø before lah.‘I have never tried it before.’

Noun Phrase EllipsisIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the possessor at all.

Possessor Omission(c) Ø Head very pain. ‘My head is painful.’

Noun Phrase EllipsisOnce the subject is established, e.g. through the use of a personal pronoun, it is unnecessary to repeat it later in discourse

Example:I like to draw, but Ø cannot do well lah.I like to draw, but I cannot do it well.

Noun Phrase EllipsisDoes it come from Chinese Varieties: Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin?

Does it come from Malay Varieties: Baba Malay and Bazaar Malay?

Or does it come from both Chinese and Malay?

Chinese VarietiesCommon in Chinese VarietiesIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the subject at all.

Subject Omission(a) (wo) sheng bing le, (wo) jiu mei you ban faAfter (I) get sick, (I) can’t help it

Chinese VarietiesCommon in Chinese VarietiesIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the object at all.

Object Omission(b) Wo mei you shi guo (zhe ge) lah‘I have never tried (it) before.’

Chinese VarietiesCommon in Chinese VarietiesIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the possessor at all.

Possessor Omission(c) (wo de) Tou hen tong.‘(My) head is painful.’

Chinese VarietiesOnce the subject is established, e.g. through the use of a personal pronoun, it is unnecessary to repeat it later in discourse

ChineseNi xi huan zuo shen me?You like do what?What do you like to do?

Xi huan kan dian ying.Like watch movie.(I) like to watch movie.

Chinese VarietiesOnce the subject is established, e.g. through the use of a personal pronoun, it is unnecessary to repeat it later in discourse

HokkienDai bak cia tau an zua ki?Tai pei train station how go?How do I get to Taipei train station?

Ze gong cia e sai.Sit public bus can(You) can take the public bus.

Chinese VarietiesTopic ProminenceSentence structure is determined by the topic, may be independent of the syntactic ordering of subject, verb and object.

Xia yu le(It is) Rainingalready.

Hen chao ah!(It is) Very noisy!

Malay VarietiesCommon in Malay VarietiesIf the context is unambiguous, there is no need to mention the subject at all.

Ingat-ingat, waktu masih kecil, sering pergi memancingRemember when still small, often go fishingI remember when I was still small, I often went fishing.

Evaluation• By-product of both Chinese and Malay varieties• Substrates of Singapore English: share the same grammatical features• Topic Prominence• Optional Syntactic Agreement• Copula Deletion• Noun-phrase Ellipsis

All related and play a part in contributing to the feasibility of noun-phrase ellipsis in Singapore English.

3. PRAGMATICS OF SENTENCE-FINAL PARTICLES

Discourse Particles• No direct semantic meaning but serves a pragmatic function• Changes tone of the sentence but not its grammatical &

propositional meaning • Indicate speaker’s attitude

• Feature of spoken language• Informal if included in written language

Some Examples of Discourse ParticlesEnglish

Particle Particle When Used in a SentenceWell “Well, I agree with you that the Earth is round.”

You Know “This question is not as easy as it seems, you know.”

Like “This is, like, the most delicious cupcake I have ever eaten!”

So. Well. You know. Like. Now. You see. Oh. I mean. Ok. Actually.

Some Discourse Particles in SinglishSinglish

Particle Particle When Used in a SentenceLah “There’s something for everyone, lah.”

What “No one parks here, what”

Hor “This shopping center very nice hor.”

Meh “You don’t like that one, meh?”

2a. Lah“There’s something here for everyone, lah.”Without “Lah” With “Lah”There is enough things here to go around, everyone will receive something.

Don’t worry, there is enough things here to go around, everyone will receive something.

Sounds Reassuring Can you stop questioning me, there is definitely enough things here to go around, everyone will receive something.

Shows ImpatiencePragmatic Function: Conveys the mood and attitude of the speaker

2a. LahDifferent mood & attitude conveyed with different ways of saying “Lah”:

Stressed (Dragged) “Lah” Unstressed (Short) “Lah”• Friendly• Reassuring• Used with pleas and

suggestions – appeal for accomodation

• Hostile• Impatient• Used with request or command

“Go to Chinatown lah.”“Give me more time lah.”“Please lah”

“Finish your food lah!”“Stop it lah!”“Please lah!”

2b. What“No one parks here, what.”Without “What” With “What”Nobody parks their vehicles at this spot/ this spot is empty.

Haven’t I told you before already, nobody parks their vehicles at this spot/ Didn’t I tell you this spot will be empty? And it is!

Mark ObviousnessYou told me that this parking spot will be filled but apparently this spot is empty.

Mark ContradictionPragmatic Function: Marks contradiction or mark obviousness

2b. WhatOther Pragmatic Functions:Pragmatic Functions Use in Sentences• Indicating an objection• Providing an explanation

-Why didn’t you come inside?-You told me to stay outside, what!

• Offering a suggestion -How ah, I have no money for lunch!-You can go withdraw, what.

2c. Hor“This shopping centre very nice hor.”

Without “Hor” With “Hor”This shopping centre is very nice to shop in/ looks very nice.

Doesn’t this shopping centre look very nice?/ Isn’t it nice to shop in this shopping centre?

Pragmatic Function: Attempt to garner support for a proposition

In this case, proposition: the shopping centre has an attractive physical appearance or offers a pleasurable shopping experience

2c. Hor

Pragmatic Functions Use in Sentences• Warning You better be careful, hor!

• Reminder Our english report is due on Wednesday, hor!

Other Pragmatic Functions:

2d. Meh“You don’t like that one, meh?”

Without “Meh” With “Meh”Are you saying that you do not like that one?

Are you sure you do not like that one? I thought you did!

Indicate SurpriseAre you sure you do not like that one? Do not lie to me/ Don’t act

Indicate Skepticism

Pragmatic Function: Indicate surprise or skepticism

4. OWNSELF IN CE = 自己’ ZIJI’ IN CHINESE?

Data Given(1) a. Ownself open the door! b. You ownself open the door! (CSE: Wee 2007: 366) (2) (Ni) ziji chi fan! 2singular self eat rice ‘(You) eat rice by yourself!’ (Mandarin: Wee 2007: 371) (3) a. * He cut ownself. b. * He give ownself a lot of problems. (CSE: Wee 2007: 365) (4) Lisi zai zebei (ta) ziji. Lisi duration blame 3singular self ‘Lisi is blaming himself.’ (Mandarin: Wee 2007: 371)

Analysis of Data (1)Language Sentence

Given: Singlish a. Ownself open the door! AdV V Oa. You ownself open the door! S AdV V O

Chinese (Ni) ziji kai men! N AdV V N

Analysis of Data (2)Language Sentence

Given: Chinese S AdV V NNi ziji chi fan2singular self eat rice

Singlish S AdV V NYou ownself eat rice

Observations:• ‘Ownself’ is used as an adverb • When ‘ziji’ is used as an adverb, we can replace it

with ‘ownself’

Comparing Data (3) and (4)Data No. Sentence

*(3a) S V OHe cut ownself.Ta Ge Shang Ziji

*(3b) S V O NHe give ownself a lot of problemsTa Gei Ziji hen duo wen ti

(4) N Aux V O Lisi zai zebei (ta) zijiLisi duration blame 3singular self‘Lisi is blaming himself.’

Observations:• ‘Ownself’ is used as an object• When ‘ziji’ is used as an object, we cannot replace it with ‘ownself’

Did ‘Ownself’ develop from ‘Ziji’ in Chinese?Evidence in Favour Evidence Against

• ‘ziji’, when substituted with ‘ownself’, fits better into the meaning of the sentence than when ‘X-self’ is substituted with ‘ownself’

‘X-self’ used as an adverb

I opened the door by myself.I opened the door by ownself.

‘Ziji’ used as an adverbWo ziji kai men.I ownself opened the door.

• In English, ‘X-self’ also has an adverb and noun form

• ‘Ownself’ can also possibly develop from ‘X-self’ in English

a. I opened the door ‘myself’. (adverb)b. I cut ‘myself’. (noun)

X

THANK YOU!