Glottolog None | ISO 639-3 None (mis) | |
Native speakers no statistics yet (date missing) Language family Sino-TibetanSiniticChineseMandarinSingdarin | ||
Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, also known as Singdarin (simplified Chinese: 新加坡式华语; traditional Chinese: 新加坡式華語; pinyin: Xīnjiāpōshì Huáyǔ; Wade–Giles: hsing1 chia1 p'o1 shih4 hua2 yü3) is an interlanguage native to Singapore. In Taiwan, this language variety is known as Singnese (Chinese: 星式中文; pinyin: Xīngshì Zhōngwén; Wade–Giles: hsing1 shih4 chung1 wen2). It is based on Mandarin but has a large amount of English in its vocabulary. For this reason, Singdarin is sometimes known as "Anglo-Chinese". There are also words from Malay and other Chinese dialects.
Contents
- Origins
- Examples of Singdarin Anglo Chinese dialogue
- English loanwords
- Loanwords from other languages
- Usage of English technical terms
- Other terms associated with Singdarin
- References
In general, well-educated Chinese Singaporeans are able to code-switch between Singdarin and Standard Mandarin.
Singdarin grammar is usually identical to Mandarin. In some circumstances, there is code-switching with English. Singdarin vocabulary consists of a large number of words from English, Hokkien, and Malay, among other languages, often when speakers do not know the Mandarin equivalent of what they wish to express, and instead use English words to convey the meaning.
It is almost identical to the Colloquial Malaysian Mandarin spoken in Malaysia, while native Chinese from China or native Taiwanese from Taiwan generally find it difficult to understand Singdarin due to large number of English or non-Mandarin words used. The Singaporean government currently discourages the use of Singdarin in favour of Standard Singaporean Mandarin as it believes in the need for Singaporeans to be able to communicate effectively with native Chinese from China or Taiwan.
Origins
Like its Singlish equivalent, Singdarin evolved because many Singaporean Chinese families come from mixed language environments. For instance, children may be raised in households in which one parent speaks English while the other speaks Chinese or coming for other Chinese dialects, such as Hokkien or Cantonese respectively.
Singdarin has also evolved largely because Singapore is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society. One of the most important policies of the Singaporean government is to ensure social and multi-ethnic harmony. Therefore, instead of letting certain ethnic groups to live in an isolated community like they did in the past, the Singapore government encourages the majority of Singaporeans to live in HDB flats that have now become a melting pot of Chinese, Malays, Indians and other different ethnicity who speak different languages. This is believed to reduce differences between the diverse linguistic and ethnic groups in Singapore.
As the majority of Singaporeans live in HDB flats, which have families coming from various linguistic, racial and ethnic background, there is a tendency for different languages to be mixed in order to facilitate more effective communication between the different races. In short, it leads to the creation of a hybrid culture (known colloquially as a "rojak" culture).
This and the tendency for the Singaporean Chinese people to use the mixed language that they use at home in daily colloquial conversation has since influenced the Mandarin spoken in schools, resulting in "Singdarin" being formed. It was in this environment that Singdarin developed.
Examples of Singdarin (Anglo-Chinese) dialogue
Below are some examples of Singdarin dialogue spoken amongst some Chinese Singaporeans.
1 Usually the word 'station' is omitted.
English loanwords
The following are the common English loan words used in Singdarin.
Loanwords from other languages
Just like Singlish, certain words used in Singlish are also interchangeably used in Singdarin.
Usage of English technical terms
Since English is the main working and educational language of Singapore, many Chinese Singaporeans are more familiar with the English professional terminology (technical terms) used at work, rather than that of Mandarin. This led to many Chinese Singaporeans tending to mix large number of English professional terms into Mandarin at work, instead of using Chinese technical terms. As such, a form of Singdarin spoken at work appears, resulting in some degree of communication barrier at work between the Chinese Singaporeans and the Chinese from China or Taiwan.
Comparison between Singdarin spoken at work in Singapore and Mandarin spoken at work in China is shown below:
Other terms associated with Singdarin
There are other terms associated with Singdarin such as "Broken Chinese", "Half-bucket" (半桶水） or "Half-past Six Chinese". These are the terms used by Singaporean Chinese-language professionals to refer to the mediocre (or low) proficiency level of [Standard Mandarin] amongst certain Chinese Singaporeans. The terms describe that when measured against Standard Mandarin, certain Chinese Singaporeans are only 50-65% proficient in Mandarin.
Part of the reason for this could be due to the widespread use of Singdarin in Singapore. Singdarin has led to the impression of "broken Chinese" or "bad Chinese", and is generally considered to be an adulterated form of Mandarin Chinese. Speaking Singdarin, for Singaporeans, is a natural linguistic habit derived from speaking a mixed language in daily life. However, the lower proficiency in formal Mandarin Chinese was mainly due to a lack of practice and exposure to more proper Chinese language, a lack of practice in speaking, hearing, reading and writing Chinese. This further led to a limited Chinese vocabulary or knowledge on Chinese cultural subjects, thus making it difficult for Singdarin speakers to speak Standard Mandarin fluently. Singdarin speakers will generally find it difficult to communicate (at a higher level) when attempting to interact with native Chinese speakers from China or Taiwan.