by Katherine Born

Created on: July 21, 2009   Last Updated: July 24, 2009

"Say what?"

It's a common saying that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Well, when in Singapore, speak as the Singaporeans do. You might read your guidebook and feel reassured that despite there being FOUR official languages in Singapore (Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil), everyone is taught English in school. "Whew! At least I can get around!" you think to yourself....and then you arrive at the tropical paradise that is uniquely Singapore and you realize "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!"

What language are they speaking? Singlish. It is a unique dialect of English. It has roots in English (bet you knew that already!), various forms of Chinese, Tamil and Malay. It has its own linguistic rhythm, due to its various parental influences. Chinese (all forms) is tonal, whereby each sound can be pronounced with 4 or more "tones" - rising, falling, high or sharp. Meaning depends on the tone; this is something non-Chinese (or other Asian language) speakers have the hardest time learning to do and understand. English, on the other hand, is not tonal - it's rather boring, actually. In Singlish the sound of the sentences mix the Chinese and the English. Thus sentences that, if spoken by an American would sound one way in Singlish sound another. There are rising/dropping inflections placed on words that wouldn't "normally" have them. Some words get drawn out (sound-wise) and others shortened. The result is as if someone took a "normal" English sentence sound and tickled it!

Another Singlish change is in its sentence structure. Sentences can be shortened to their bare essentials (it's amazing how many words are superfluous for the actual meaning to be understood!) and word repetition inserted. This shows the Chinese influence. An example would be: "A:Tomorrow can come? B:Can, can." You can translate this sentence word for word into Chinese (Mandarin) and it would be correct, something that's almost never true of English-Mandarin sentences. Repetition is good in a place where you never know if the other person will understand you.

You'd think that having developed their very own version of English, Singaporeans would be proudly promoting it everywhere. In reality, the government and many citizens feel ashamed of their "second-rate" English and strive to educate themselves out of it. As a foreigner visiting Singapore you might not have anyone actually speak Singlish to you, although you'd probably hear it in the markets and food courts. But if you do have

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