Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, commonly known as Singdarin[lower-alpha 1] or Singnese,[lower-alpha 2] is a Mandarin dialect native and unique to Singapore similar to its English-based counterpart Singlish. It is based on Mandarin but has a large amount of English and Malay in its vocabulary. There are also words from other Chinese languages such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew as well as Tamil.[3] While Singdarin grammar is largely identical to Standard Mandarin, there are significant divergences and differences especially in its pronunciation and vocabulary.
Today, Singdarin remains often used and is commonly spoken in colloquial speech in Singapore and occasionally even on local television, and most Chinese-speaking Singaporeans are able to code-switch between Singdarin and Standard Mandarin, likewise with most Singaporeans in general with Singlish and standard Singapore English. Furthermore, most non-Chinese Singaporeans are also generally able to understand or speak Singdarin due to many of its phrases and words being widely used in common parlance throughout Singapore, including words which were initially not of Mandarin origin but subsequently adopted into Singdarin.
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 or Malay while the other speaks Chinese or coming for other Chinese dialects, such as Hokkien or Cantonese. Indian languages such as Tamil were also commonly heard in such environments.[5]
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 foster social cohesion and multi-ethnic harmony, and prevent neglected areas or districts and ethnic enclaves from developing.
Therefore, instead of letting certain ethnic groups to live in isolated communities like they did in the past, the Singapore government encourages the majority of Singaporeans that live in state HDB housing to be a melting pot of Chinese, Malays, Indians and other different ethnicities who speak different languages. This is believed to reduce differences between the diverse linguistic and ethnic groups in Singapore, and to ensure racial harmony.[6]
As the majority of Singaporeans live in such housing environments, which have families coming from various linguistic, racial and ethnic backgrounds, 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 the Singaporean "rojak" culture).[5]
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 dialogue
Below are some examples of Singdarin dialogue spoken amongst some Chinese Singaporeans.
More information English translation, Standard Mandarin ...
originate from Teochew (死父, literally meaning dead father and hence in such a context, "on my dead father") and has the general meaning of 'damn'.
sibeh sian![Very boring!]
walao eh
我的天啊!
my gosh/oh my god
originate from Singaporean Hokkien vulgar word "wa lan eh 我𡳞呃/我膦呃" (literally 'my dick'). "Wa lau eh 我老呃" (literally 'my father') is a more polite variant of it.
Walao eh, 你怎麼可以這樣? [My god, how can you be like that?]
guai lan
令人討厭的傢伙
annoying/irritating person
originate from Singaporean Hokkien vulgar word "guai lan 怪𡳞/怪膦" (literally 'strange dick').
他sibeh guai lan的! [He is an annoying person!]
sua ku
井底之蛙
someone who has not been exposed to the society and is not well-informed about many things
from Hokkien word "suaku 山龜" (literally "tortoise on the mountain")
這個人很sua ku! [This guy is a tortoise on the mountain]
salah
錯/壞掉了
incorrect/something went wrong
from Malay
計算機salah了! [Something went wrong with the computer]
ulu
偏僻
remote
from Malay
這個地方這麼 ulu ,連一隻鬼影都沒有! [That place is very remote, not a single ghost (person) around!]
terok
難搞/困難
troublesome
from Malay
那位顧客sibeh terok! [That customer is very troublesome!]
sibei jialat
非常(真假)麻煩
really difficult
from Hokkien
那個東西不懂被誰弄到亂七八糟,sibei jialat! [Somebody has made a huge mess of that thing, which makes things really difficult for us!]
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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 numbers 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:
More information Mandarin spoken at work in China, English translation ...
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Singdarin, and is written by contributors.
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