Did you know that alongside their other languages, Singaporeans speak a special kind of language called Singlish? Singlish is a ‘contact language’ that arose over hundreds of years of East/West trading through the free port of Singapore. Singlish combines words and phrases from English, Malay, Chinese Dialects and lots of languages, woven together in a unique grammar that has influences from Chinese. Although it is considered informal speech in Singapore, Singlish has its own unique structure, and can be very difficult for outsiders to learn! These days Singlish dictionaries can be found in local bookstores, and lots of Singaporeans feel a kind of Singlish pride – lah!

Preeti says: Speaking in English is common in my daily life in Singapore – I speak in English with my family, friends and even colleagues. But when I lived in Sydney for six years, I avoided the usage of ‘Singlish’ when I spoke to my professors and fellow classmates. It felt strange to speak in Singlish because it was not the norm in Australia, and I felt the need to blend in as well. 

Have you ever switched between different versions of English because of where you were or who you were speaking to? Linguists call this kind of switching ‘diglossia’ since a person speaks in two (di-) different codes (-glosses). It’s similar to bilingualism don’t you think?

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Today, for the International Day of Multilingualism we’ll be sharing lots of stories about multilingualism in Singapore – what it’s like to grow up in such a multilingual place, how different people feel about their different languages, and some of the core research questions we are working on as a team.