4 ms·
Most Singaporeans still have a concept of "proper" English, and can code switch across the creole continuum, but interestingly the acrolect ("variation most ass
by snaily 10y ago
Most Singaporeans still have a concept of "proper" English, and can code switch across the creole continuum, but interestingly the acrolect ("variation most associated with refinement") is basically standard UK or US English - though not everyone can get there. As a comparison, the closest similarity I can think of in terms of having a similar English creole continuum is Jamaican patois.
I doubt most native English speakers (despite my best wishes, I certainly can't) could decipher the Singlish basilect ("least refined") - the cadence is syllable-timed, the vocabulary is part Hokkien, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay, grammar is nonstandard and a substantial part of emotion is conveyed through particle suffixes (the stereotypical Singlish "lah" is emphasis).
- marcv81 10y agoYou are spot on with your description.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- bane 10y agoHere's an example of some of the continuum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmXRJiMkKpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmXRJiMkKpI and some more (from a film) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo4ufPKTq0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo4ufPKTq0E and an explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC8nM75AqUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC8nM75AqUk
- yomly 10y agoLove the posts - "Indian-net" is a classic, as an aside man that scene in money no enough really blew me away - it's crazy to believe that my laptop (not even a desktop, mind you!) has a thousand times more RAM... to say tech moves quickly is an understatement.
- schoen 10y ago> Here's an example of some of the continuum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmXRJiMkKpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmXRJiMkKpI Wow, that accent shift is really striking.