Standard Singapore English

Standard Singapore English is the high variety dialect of English spoken in Singapore. Generally based on British English, there are some features of the language that are distinctly American, due to America being the global hegemon of the 21st century.

History of SSE

The roots of SSE are derived, of course, from the country's 141 years under British rule (discounting the Japanese occupation).

During the colonial era, the received standard of English was British English (colloquially known as Queen's English) and Received Pronunciation. The English dialect of the streets was a sort of pidgin. After independence, British English in Singapore evolved into SSE, and the Pidgin English into Singlish.

Description

Because of colonial influence, Standard Singapore English generally retains British features such as spelling and pronunciation. 'Tyre', 'colour', and 'aluminium', for example, are generally preferred over their American spellings, for example. There are increasing exceptions to this due to American hegemony, though, as discussed in the section on American influence.

Usage

SSE is spoken in formal contexts, like workplaces and schools.

American influence on a Commonwealth English dialect

Because of America's status as the global hegemon after the 2nd World War (displacing the British Empire and the succeeding Commonwealth), and its corresponding influence in media and culture, traits of American English are increasingly found in SSE. Examples of this influence can be found in grammar rules and pronunciation. Unlike British English, which allows for collective nouns taking plural verbs, collective nouns always take singular verbs in SSE. The phrase 'The Ministry are taking steps to eradicate non-standard English usage', as an example, is never heard. Collective nouns like 'police', which take plural verbs in both major dialects of English, continue to follow received grammar rules. Exclusively British pronunciations like ˈprɪv.ə.si/ and /ˈɡær.ɑːʒ/ (or /ˈɡær.ɪdʒ/) for 'privacy' and 'garage' respectively are rare amongst speakers of SSE. A 2012 NTU study also revealed increasing rhoticity in native SSE speakers (contrary to most English accents in the South of England and elsewhere), and a poor view of the intrusive-r as found in the Received Pronunciation accent. American media are also accelerating the accepted usage of exclusively American vocabulary and slang, where British slang is relatively unknown. Cockney, for example, has little foothold where American linguistic hegemony happens. This is within the sphere of slang - in more formal registers, the incidence of American words also appear to be on the rise, particularly in the young-in this video for example, the exclusively American term 'elevator' is used.

Grammar

Grammar rules may deviate amongst some speakers, due to linguistic interference from other languages. A list of these unique traits follows.

Plurals

Nouns that appear to refer to countable items tend to be used in the plural form in the appropriate contexts.

• Example: I am selling all my unwanted stuffs to the karang-guni man later.

In British English, 'stuffs' is a singular verb, and not a noun.

Redundant morphemes

Inflectional morphemes like '-ed' are unnecessarily tacked on the words by some.

• Example: It came to 'passed' that America's hegemony was showing in SSE.

Vocabulary

Standard Singapore English has unique vocabulary, some shared with its more colloquial form.

• Handphone is the local term for a mobile phone (BrE). It sees varying levels of usage in formal contexts, being replaced by mobile in some contexts, while it is used in others.

Pronunciation

Pronunciations unique to SSE

Unique pronunciations not heard of in British or American Englishes are found in SSE. A non-exhaustive list of these words is found below. As with grammar, these pronunciations may very amongst speakers; these are based on common observations.

Pronunciations unique to SSE

Word	SSE pronunciation	BrE pronunciation	Notes
Also	/ˈɔːsəʊ/	/ˈɔːlsəʊ/
Children	/'tʃurən/	tʃɪldrən/	Often heard in SCE, may occur in SSE. Rendered as chewren occasionally.
Cigarette	/'sɪɡ.ərət/	/ˌsɪɡ.əˈret/	Rare example of a schwa in SSE, although 'misplaced'.
Divorce	/dʌɪˈvɔːs/	/dɪˈvɔːs/
Era	/ɛːrə/	/ˈɪərə/	The SSE pronunciation is often erroneously taken to be the American pronunciation.
Love	/ləv/	/lʌv/
Primary	prɛm(ə)ri/	/ˈprʌɪm(ə)ri/	Sometimes corrupted to /prɛmbri/, especially amongst the working-class.
Renaissance	/'rɪnʌɪs(ə)ns/ or /'rɪnʌɪsɑns/	/rɪˈneɪs(ə)ns/ or /rɪˈneɪsɒ̃s/	/rɪˈneɪsɒ̃s/ appears to be the most popular pronunciation in the UK, while /rɪˈneɪs(ə)ns/ is the preferred variant of the OED. The SSE pronunciation occurs possibly due to influence from the Mandarin.
Tuition	/'tjuːʃən/	/tjuːˈɪʃ(ə)n/

American pronunciations

Because of American linguistic hegemony, the British pronunciations of certain words are effectively unheard of in Singapore.

American pronunciations found in SSE

Word	SSE/American pronunciation	BrE pronunciation	Notes
Adult	/əˈdʌlt/	/ˈadʌlt
Garage	/gəˈrɑːʒ/	/ˈgarɑː(d)ʒ/' or /ˈgarːɪdʒ/'	/ˈgarːɪdʒ/' is more obscure in Singapore, as /ˈgarɑː(d)ʒ/' is the pronunciation prescribed in British dictionaries; /ˈgarɑː(d)ʒ/' is closer to the original French, while /ˈgarːɪdʒ/' is an Anglicisation.
Privacy	/'prʌɪvəsi/	/ˈprɪvəsi/	/'prʌɪvəsi/ is also heard to a lesser extent in Britain.