Singlish

Colloquial Singaporean English, better known as Singlish, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore. The term Singlish is a blend of Singapore and English and is first recorded in 1973. As English is one of Singapore's official languages, Singlish is regarded as having low prestige. The Singaporean government and some Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English. The government has created an annual Speak Good English Movement to emphasise the point. Singlish is also heavily discouraged in the mass media and in schools. However, such official discouragement and routine censorship is actually countered by other presentations in mainstream media, including routine usage by ordinary people in street interviews broadcast on TV and radio on a daily basis, as well as occasional usage in newspapers. However, there have been recent surges in interest in Singlish usage, sparking several national conversations. In 2016, Oxford English Dictionary (OED) announced that it has added 19 new 'Singapore English' items such as 'ang moh', 'shiok' and 'sabo' in both its online and printed versions. Several Singlish words had previously made it into the OED's online version, which launched in March 2000. Words such as 'Lah' and 'sinseh' were already included in OED's debut, while 'kiasu' made it into the online list in March 2007. Local celebrities were generally pleased for this Singaporean identity to be recognized on a global level. The vocabulary of Singlish consists of words originating from English, Malay, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil. Also, elements of American and Australian slang have come through from imported television series and films. Singapore English derives its roots from 146 years (1819–1965) of British colonial rule over Singapore. Prior to 1967 the standard form of English in Singapore had always been British English and Received Pronunciation. After Singapore declared independence in 1965, English in Singapore began to take a life of its own, leading to the development of modern-day Standard Singapore English. At the same time, Singlish evolved among the working classes who learned English without formal schooling. Singlish originated with the arrival of the British and the establishment of English language schools in Singapore. Soon, English filtered out of schools and onto the streets, to be picked up by non-English-speakers in a pidgin-like form for communication purposes. After some time, this new form of English, now loaded with substantial influences from Indian English, Baba, native Malay, and the southern varieties of Chinese, became the language of the streets and began to be learned as a first language in its own right. Creolization occurred, and Singlish is now a fully formed, stabilised, and independent English-based creole language. Singlish shares many linguistic similarities with Manglish or Bazaar Malay of Malaysia, although a few distinctions can be made, particularly in vocabulary. Manglish generally now receives more Malay influence and Singlish more Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, etc.) influence.Initially, Singlish and Manglish were essentially the same dialect evolving from the British Malaya economy, born in the trading ports of Singapore, Malacca and Penang when Singapore and peninsular Malaysia were for many purposes a de facto single entity. In Singapore, English was the language of administration, which the British used, with the assistance of English-educated Straits-born Chinese, to control the administration in Malaya and governance of trading routes such as the British East Indies spice routes with China, Japan, Europe and America in those ports and colonies of Singapore, Malacca and Penang through the colonial governing seat in Singapore.