Singaporean Mandarin

Not to be confused with Singdarin.

Singaporean Mandarin
新加坡华语 新加坡華語 Xīnjiāpō Huáyǔ
Native to	Singapore
Region	Singapore
Native speakers	2.0 million (2016 census) [1] L2 speakers: 880,000 (no date) [1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Mandarin Beijing Mandarin Beijingese Standard Mandarin Singaporean Mandarin
Writing system	Simplified Chinese characters (de jure) Traditional Chinese characters
Official status
Official language in	Singapore
Regulated by	Promote Mandarin Council Singapore Centre for Chinese Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
ISO 639-6	huyu (Huayu)
Glottolog	None
Linguasphere	or 79-AAA-bbd-(part)(=colloquial) 79-AAA-bbb(=standard) or 79-AAA-bbd-(part)(=colloquial)
IETF	cmn-SG

七(qī)点(diǎn)九(jiǔ)個(gè)字(zì) or 七(qī)点(diǎn)九(jiǔ)。 (Singaporean Mandarin)

七(qī)点(diǎn)四十(sìshí)五(wǔ)分(fēn)。 (Standard Mandarin)

Days of the week

As a result of Hokkien influence, colloquial Singaporean Mandarin typically uses the word "拜-" (bài) to refer to the days of the week, in lieu of Standard Mandarin "星期-" (xīngqí-). For instance:

Monday: 拜一 (bàiyī) instead of 星期一 (xīngqíyī)

Sunday: 礼拜天 (lǐbàitiān) or simply 礼拜 (lǐbài) instead of 星期日 (xīngqírì)

A week: 一個禮拜 (yī gè lǐbài) instead of the more formal 一個星期 (yī gè xīngqí)

Both 拜 (bài) and 禮拜 (lǐbài) originate from Hokkien pài and lé-pài respectively.

Large numbers

In colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, 萬 (wàn), referring to a "ten thousand" is often used, but 十千 (shí qiān), referring to "ten thousands" is occasionally used too. This usage was influenced by English numbering system and also Chinese Indonesian who frequently uses large Indonesian currency, Rp10000 (0.71 USD) and above.

Use of the word "先"

The word "先" (xiān) is often used at the end of a sentence in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin (instead of after a subject, as in Standard Mandarin), as a result of influence from Cantonese grammar. For example, take the sentence "You walk first":

你(nǐ)走(zǒu)先(xiān)。 (Singaporean Mandarin)

你(nǐ)先(xiān)走(zǒu)。 (Standard Mandarin)

你(nei)走(jau)先(sin)。 (Cantonese)

(Note that the reverse, "你先走," is ungrammatical in spoken Cantonese.)

The use of the word "而已"

而已 (éryǐ) is more common in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin than in Standard Mandarin, which uses 罢了 (bàle). While 而已 (éryǐ) is also used in colloquial Mandarin within Mainland China, but perhaps to a lesser extent as compared to Singapore or Taiwan. For example:

Translation: only like this / only this kind!

這(zhè)樣子(yàngzi)而已(éryǐ)啊(a)！ (Singaporean Mandarin)

這(zhè)樣子(yàngzi)罷了(bàle)！ (Standard Mandarin)

這(zhè)樣子(yàngzi)算了(suànle)吧(ba)！ (Taiwanese Mandarin)

The use of the word "大只" "小只"

When people describe the size of animals, for example, chicken, these are used to mean 'small' 'large'. Putonghua tends to use "肥""瘦" instead. These two words are used to refer to the body frame of a person. "大只" refers to people who appear to be tall, masculine or with a large body build. "小只" is used to describe people with a small built, tiny frame.

Use of the word "啊" as an affirmative

In colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, the word "啊" is often used in response to a sentence as an affirmative. It is often pronounced as /ã/ (with a nasal tone) instead of 'ah' or 'a' (in Putonghua). Putonghua tends to use "是(的)/對啊/對呀" (shì (de)/duì a/duì ya)， "哦" (ó), "噢" (ō), "嗯" (en/ng) to mean "yes, it is".

Use of the word "才" instead of "再"

In Singaporean Mandarin, there is a greater tendency to use the word cái "才" (then) in lieu of Standard Mandarin zài "再" (then), which indicates a future action after the completion of a prior action. For instance:

"關稅申報單剛巧用完了，打算在飛機上領了才填寫。"

The tax declaration forms have all been used up, will have to get a form on the plane then and fill it out.

"現在不要說，等他吃飽了才說。"

Don't say anything now; say it only after he has finished his meal.

The use of the word "有"

In Standard Mandarin, one typical way of turning certain nouns into adjectives, such as 興趣 (xìngqù, 'interest'), 營養 (yíngyǎng, 'nutrition'), 禮貌 (lǐmào, 'politeness'), is to prefix the word "有" (yǒu) at the front of these nouns.

For example:

"很有興趣" (hěn yǒu xìngqù – very interested)

"很有營養" (hěn yǒu yíngyǎng – very nutritious)

"很有禮貌" (hěn yǒu lǐmào – very polite).

The word 有 (yǒu) is sometimes omitted in writing.

Reduplication of verbs preceding "一下"

In Singaporean Mandarin, verbs preceding "一下" may be reduplicated, unlike in Putonghua. This practice is borrowed from the Malay and Indonesian method of pluralizing words. In Putonghua grammar, the use of the word "一下(儿)" (yīxià(r)) is often put at the back of a verb to indicate that the action (as indicated by the verb) is momentary.

For example:

想(xiǎng)想(xiǎng)一下(yīxià) 。(Singaporean Mandarin)

想(xiǎng)一下(yīxià) 。(Standard Mandarin)

Think for a while.

研究(yánjiū)研究(yánjiū)一下(yīxià) 。 (Singaporean Mandarin)

研究(yánjiū)一下(yīxià) 。(Standard Mandarin)

Research for a little while.

Colloquial use of the word "被"

Singaporean Colloquial Mandarin tends to use 被 (bèi) more often than Putonghua, due to influence from English and/or Malay. It is used to express a passive verb.

Compare the following:

"The road has been repaired"

馬路(mǎlù)被(bei)修好(xiūhǎo)了(le) (Singaporean Mandarin)

马路(mǎlù)已(yǐ)修好(xiūhǎo)了(le) (Putonghua)

Using adjective as verb

Sometimes, colloquial Singaporean Mandarin might use intransitive verbs as transitive.

For instance

"進步" (improve) is an intransitive verb. But as influenced by the use of English, "I want to improve my Chinese" is sometimes said in Singaporean Mandarin as "我要進步我的華語". The standard Mandarin should be "我要讓我的華語進步".

Phonology and tones

The phonology and tones of Singaporean Mandarin are generally similar to that of Standard Mandarin. There are 4 tones similar to those in Standard Mandarin, but Erhua (兒化, -er finals) and the neutral tone (輕聲, lit. 'light tone') are generally absent in Singaporean Mandarin.

The earliest development of Singaporean Mandarin includes the old Beijing phonology (老國音), followed by new Beijing phonology (新國音) and then finally Hanyu Pinyin of mainland China. In its initial development, Singaporean Mandarin was highly influenced by the Ru sheng (入聲, checked tones or "5th tones") from other Chinese varieties. As such, the 5th tone did appear in earlier Singaporean Mandarin. ^[12] The characteristics of the 5th tone are as follows:

• It is a falling tone. The common tone letter is 51, but sometimes it is 53.
• The tone does not last long. It feels more like an 'interrupted stop'.
• The syllable which carries the tone had a glottal stop; sometimes the final sounds to be clear, but sometimes, it does not sound very clear. This glottal stop not only interrupts the lasting period of the tone, but also makes the start of consonant stronger, thus nearing itself more to a voiced consonant.

However, due to years of putonghua influence, prevalence of the 5th tone in Singaporean Mandarin is declining. ^[13] This means that the Singaporean Mandarin had inclined itself towards Standard Chinese.

Minor differences occur between the phonology (tones) of Standard Singaporean Mandarin and other forms of Standard Mandarin.

Singaporean Mandarin
Traditional Chinese	新加坡華語
Simplified Chinese	新加坡华语
Literal meaning	Singapore Chinese Language
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīnjiāpō Huáyǔ Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Sānjìabọh Hûoiyāat Yue: Cantonese Jyutping san1 gaa3 bo1 waa4 jyu5

Chinese character	Definition	Singapore	Mainland China	Taiwan	Notes
休息	Take a rest	xiūxí	xiūxi	xiūxí	The character 息 is pronounced with the 2nd tone in Standard Singaporean Mandarin, same as that in Taiwan. In mainland China, 息 is pronounced with a neutral tone instead.
垃圾	Rubbish	lèsè/lājī	lājī	lèsè	The pronunciation for 垃圾, which was influenced by Wu Chinese, is the same in Singapore and Taiwan where the pronunciation from before 1949 is maintained. However, due to influence from mainland China, the pronunciation is inclining itself towards Standard Chinese.
角色	Role	jiǎosè	juésè	jiǎosè/juésè	The pronunciation for 角色 is the same in Singapore and Taiwan where the pronunciation jiǎosè from before 1949 has been maintained. However, both juésè and jiǎosè can be used interchangeably in the Chinese-speaking world.
包括	Include	bāokuò	bāokuò	bāoguā/bāokuò	The pronunciation for 包括 is the same in Singapore and mainland China.
血液	Blood	xuěyì	xuèyè/xuěyè	xiěyì/xiěyè	Singapore and Taiwan uses the literary pronunciation of both characters xuěyì from before 1949.

Influences from other languages in Singapore

Main article: Hokkien influence on Singaporean Mandarin

Just like any languages in Singapore, Singaporean Mandarin is subjected to influences from other languages spoken in Singapore.

Singaporean Hokkien is the largest non-Mandarin Chinese variety spoken in Singapore. The natural tendency of Hokkien-speakers to use the Hokkien way to speak Mandarin has influenced to a large degree the colloquial Mandarin spoken in Singapore. The colloquial Hokkien-style Singaporean Mandarin is commonly heard in Singapore, and can differ from Putonghua in terms of vocabulary, phonology and grammar.

Besides Singaporean Hokkien, Mandarin is also subjected to influence coming from other Chinese dialects such as Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hainanese, as well as English and Malay.

Writing system

Main article: Singapore Chinese Characters

In Singapore, simplified Chinese characters are the official standard used in all official publications as well as the government-controlled press. While simplified Chinese characters are taught exclusively in schools, the government does not officially discourage the use of Traditional characters. Therefore, many shop signs continue to use Traditional characters.

As there is no restriction on the use of traditional characters in the mass media, television programmes, books, magazines and music CDs that have been imported from Hong Kong or Taiwan are widely available, and these almost always use Traditional characters. Most karaoke discs, being imported from Hong Kong or Taiwan, have song lyrics in Traditional characters as well. While all official publications are in simplified characters, the government still allows parents to choose whether to have their child's Chinese name registered in Simplified or Traditional characters though most choose the former.

Singapore had undergone three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually arriving at the same set of Simplified characters as the People's Republic of China. Before 1969, Singapore generally used Traditional characters. From 1969 to 1976, the Ministry of education launched its own version of Simplified characters, which differed from that of mainland China. But after 1976, Singapore fully adopted the Simplified characters of mainland China.

Chinese writing style and literature

Chinese writing style

Lat Pau 28 August 1890, used Classical Chinese

Lat Pau 8 March 1917, used Classical Chinese

Lat Pau 6 January 1925, changed to vernacular Chinese

Before the May Fourth Movement in 1919, Singapore Chinese writings were based on Classical Chinese. After the May Fourth Movement, under the influence from the New Culture Movement in China, the Chinese schools in Singapore began to follow the new education reform as advocated by China's reformist and changed the writing style to Vernacular Chinese.

Singapore's Chinese newspaper had witnessed this change from Vernacular Chinese. Lat Pau , one of the earliest Chinese newspaper, was still using Classical Chinese in 1890. By 1917, it continued to use Classical Chinese. But by 1925, it had changed to Vernacular Chinese. After this, all Chinese newspaper in Singapore used Vernacular Chinese.

Singaporean Chinese Literature

The development of the Singaporean Chinese literature reflected the history of immigrants in Singapore. When many Chinese writers from Southern China arrived in Singapore, they established Chinese schools, newspaper press etc. They contributed a lot to the development of Chinese literature in Singapore. In 1919, the New National Magazine (新國民雜誌) marked the birth of Singaporean Chinese literature. In those days, the migrant's mindset was still deeply entrenched. Many of the literary works were influenced by New Culture Movement. Most of the literary works that were published originated from the works of writers in China.

In 1925, the presence of literary supplements such as Southern Wind (南風), Light of Singapore (星光) brought a new dimension to Singaporean Chinese literature. They differed from past magazine that relied on writers from China. It was at this time, that the thoughts of Nanyang began to surface the corner. In January 1927, the Deserted Island (荒島) published in the New National Press (新國民日報) clearly reflected the features of Nanyang in its literary work. The "localization" literary works mostly described the lifestyle in Nanyang, the people and their feelings in Nayang. The quality of Singaporean Chinese literature had greatly improved.

In 1937, the outbreak of Second Sino-Japanese War raised the anti-Japanese sentiment. The literature during these times reflected the missions of national salvation against the Japanese. This brought a halt to the localization movement and in turn re-enacted a sense of Chinese nationalism amongst the migrants in Singapore. From 1941 till 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, the activities for Chinese literature was halted.

After the war, people in Singapore began to have a sense of belonging to this piece of land, and they also had a desire for freedom and democracy. During this times, Singaporean Chinese literature was inclined towards Anti-colonialism. With new arts and thoughts, between 1947 – 1948, there was a debate between "Unique Singaporean Literary Art" and "literary thoughts of migrants". The results from these debated led to a conclusion that the Singaporean Chinese literature was going to develop on its own independently. The "localization" clearly marked the mature development of Singaporean Chinese literature.

During the 1950s, writers from Singapore drew their literary works mostly from the local lifestyle and events that reflected the lifestyle from all areas of the society. They also included many Chinese-dialect proverbs in their works. They created unique works of literature. Writers including Miao Xiu (苗秀), Yao Zhi (姚紫), Zhao Rong (趙戎), Shu Shu (絮絮) etc. represented the writers of "localization" works.

From 1960 to 1970, the number of literary works published began to increase. Locally-born and locally bred Singaporean writers became the new writers in the stage of Singaporean Chinese literature. Their works were mainly based on the views of Singaporeans towards issues or context happening in Singapore. They continued the "localization" movement and brought the Singaporean Chinese literature to a new dimension.

Arts and entertainment

Music

A Mandopop scene began to emerge in Singapore in the 1960s, ^[14] while the Speak Mandarin Campaign intensified the presence of Mandopop on local radio and television. ^[15] The 1980s saw the development of xinyao —a genre of contemporary Mandarin ballads with themes such as romance and life in Singapore, and popularized by singer-songwriters such as Liang Wern Fook. ^{[16] [17]}

Opera

Main article: Peking opera

Films

Main article: List of films set in Singapore

Sociolinguistics

Politics

Language plays an important role in Singapore politics. Up to today, it is still important for politicians in Singapore to be able to speak their mother tongue (and even other dialects) fluently in order to reach out to the multilingual community in Singapore.

According to observation, an election candidate who is able to speak fluent Mandarin has a higher chance of winning an election. As such, most election candidates will try to use Mandarin in campaign speeches in order to attract Mandarin-speaking voters. ^[18]

Singaporean Mandarin Standard

Some Chinese elites in Singapore had criticized that the Mandarin standard of Chinese Singaporean has dropped greatly due to the closure or subsequent conversion of Chinese-medium schools to English-medium schools in the 1980s. Others attributed the drop in standard to the lack of learning Chinese literature in schools.

Ever since 1965 when Singapore became independent, bilingual policy has become the pillar of Singapore's education. The first language of Singapore was English, while Mandarin was chosen as the "mother tongue" of Chinese Singaporean. Generally, most Chinese Singaporean can speak Mandarin fluently, but are usually weaker in writing Chinese. ^[19]

Influence of Mainland China's economic rise on Singapore

In recent years, with the subsequent economic rise of mainland China and a transition from a world factory to a world market, Mandarin has become the 2nd most influential language after English. Besides transmitting Chinese culture values, many people began to realize the economic values of Mandarin, which has raised the interests of local and working professionals in learning Mandarin. ^[20]

Changes in mother tongue and dialect preservation

The native mother tongue of Chinese Singaporeans are of various non-mandarin Chinese varieties, such as Hokkien, Teochew or Cantonese. This was certainly true when southern Chinese migrants came to Singapore. However, with the Speak Mandarin campaign, Chinese Singaporeans were encouraged to change their home language from these other varieties to Mandarin, and then later from Mandarin to English. Mandarin was designated as the "mother tongue" of all Chinese Singaporeans in Singapore and all other native Chinese varieties were reduced to the "dialect" status, with no official recognition as a proper language.

In recent years, however, there has been an increasing awareness of topolect preservation, due to the great decline in the use of other Chinese varieties in Singapore. Most young Chinese Singaporeans were unable to speak these languages effectively and were thus unable to communicate with their grandparents, who are more fluent in them. This has caused a language barrier between generations. As such, there is a minority of Singaporeans working to help preserve or spread these forgotten languages in Singapore.

Language policy and culture

Under the bilingual policy of Singapore, Chinese Singaporeans had a greater chance to speak and use English especially in school and at work. But this can cause a relative limitation in the use of mother tongue. Generally speaking, most Chinese Singaporeans are able to speak Mandarin, and also read newspapers in it, but only a minority is able to use it at a professional level such as academic research, literary writing etc. In the endeavor to use English, some Chinese Singaporeans even distanced themselves from the mother tongue culture, resulting in the erosion of Chinese culture in Singapore. ^[21]

Media

Since the establishment of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, all Chinese-language programming broadcast by Singapore state media outlets, particularly the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and its successors, have been in Mandarin. ^[22] Its current incarnation Mediacorp runs two Mandarin-language television channels, Channel 8 and Channel U, as well as the radio stations Yes 933 (contemporary pop), Capital 958 (classic hits), and Love 972 (adult contemporary). SPH Media and So Drama! Entertainment also run Mandarin radio stations, while SPH owns the country's only Mandarin-language daily newspaper, the Lianhe Zaobao .

See also

• Standard Singaporean Mandarin
• Singdarin
• Singapore Chinese Characters
• Speak Mandarin Campaign
• Chinese Singaporean
• Languages of Singapore
• Comparison of national standards of Chinese
• Standard Mandarin

References

Notes

1. Mandarin Chinese (Singapore) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. "Republic of Singapore Independence Act 1965 - Singapore Statutes Online". sso.agc.gov.sg. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
3. Leong Koon Chan. "Envisioning Chinese Identity and Multiracialism in Singapore" . Retrieved 14 February 2011.
4. "RPT-FEATURE-Eyeing China, Singapore sees Mandarin as its future". Reuters. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
5. SINGAPORE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS. "CENSUS OF POPULATION 2010 STATISTICAL RELEASE 1 ON DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, EDUCATION, LANGUAGE AND RELIGION" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
6. 中国新闻网 (China News Site). "探讨新加坡人与中国新移民：接纳与融入间的对视(An insight into Singaporean and New Chinese immigrants: receiving and assimilation)" (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 August 2013.
7. 中国新闻网(China News Site). "新加坡内阁资政：新加坡华语尽量向普通话靠拢(Lee Kuan Yew: Singaporean Mandarin should incline itself towards Putonghua)" (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 August 2013.
8. Bukit Brown: Our Roots, Our Heritage
9. 洪鎌德◎台大國發所教授 (Hon Liande). "新加坡的語言政策(Singapore's language policy)" (in Chinese). National Taiwan University. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
10. Henning Klöter, Mårten Söderblom Saarela (2020). Language Diversity in the Sinophone World Historical Trajectories, Language Planning, and Multilingual Practices. Routledge. p. 211. ISBN   9781003049890.
11. 时代新加坡特有词语词典 (Dictionary of Contemporary Singaporean Mandarin Vocabulary) (in Chinese). 新加坡联邦出版社出版. 1999.
12. Chen, Chung-Yu (January 1983). "A Fifth Tone in the Mandarin spoken in Singapore". Journal of Chinese Linguistics. 11 (1). Chinese University Press: 92–119. JSTOR   23757822.
13. Lee, Leslie (2010). "The Tonal System of Singapore Mandarin" (PDF). In Lauren Eby Clemens and Chi-Ming Louis Liu (ed.). Proceedings of the 22nd North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics and the 18th International Conference on Chinese Linguistics. Vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. pp. 345–362.
14. Craig A. Lockard (1998). Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia . University of Hawai'i Press. pp.  224–225. ISBN   978-0824819187.
15. Welch, Anthony R. Freebody, Peter. Knowledge, Culture and Power. Routledge Publishing. ISBN   1-85000-833-7
16. Lee Tong Soon (2008). "Singapore". In Terry Miller; Sean Williams (eds.). The Garland Handbook of Southeast Asian Music. Routledge. ISBN   978-0415960755.
17. "新谣人张家强 半天谱出经典代表作". Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
18. 吴元华 Wu Yuanhua. "论新加坡华语文的"政治价值"(About the political values of Mandarin)" (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 August 2013.
19. 吳英成 (Wu Yincheng). "新加坡雙語教育政策的沿革與新機遇 (Singapore's bilingual education and new opportunity)" (PDF) (in Chinese). Nanyang Technological University Institute of Education. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
20. 吳英成 (Wu Yingchen). "新加坡雙語教育政策的沿革與新機遇 (Singapore's Bilingual Policy and Opportunities)" (PDF) (in Chinese). Nanyang Technology University Institute of Education. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
21. 陳學怡(Chen Xue Yi). "語言政策與幼兒教育 (Language Policy and Children's Education)" (PDF) (in Chinese). National Taichung Institute of Education Research center for kids education. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
22. Welch, Anthony R. Freebody, Peter. (1993). Knowledge, Culture and Power. Routledge Publishing. ISBN   1-85000-833-7.

Chinese books

• 周清海编著， 《新加坡华语词汇与语法》，新加坡玲子传媒私人有限公司出版，, September 2002, ISBN   981412723X， ISBN   978-981-4127-23-3 (Zhou, Qinghai (2002), Vocabulary and Grammar of Singaporean Mandarin, Lingzi Media)
• 周清海（著），《变动中的语言》，新加坡玲子传媒私人有限公司出版, 2009, ISBN   9814243922、 ISBN   9789814243926 (Zhou, Qinghai (2009), The changing languages, Lingzi Media)

Bibliography in Chinese

• Differences between Huayu and Putonghua (新加坡华语和普通话的差异)
• Teacher from China feels that Singaporean Mandarin is very lively (中国老师觉得新加坡华语有活力)
• Comparison of Vocabulary used in Huayu and Putonghua (华语、普通话词汇比较)
• Influence of Singaporean Mandarin on PRC Mandarin (论新加坡华语对大陆汉语的影响----评"一直以来"的谬误)
• An Overview over the Changes of Singaporean Mandarin (新加坡华语变异概说).