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Singdarin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Sindarin or Singaporean Mandarin.

Singdarin
Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin
Singnese
新しん加か坡式华语
新しん加か坡式華はな語ご
星ほし式しき中ちゅう文ぶん
RegionSingapore
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone

Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, commonly known as Singdarin[a] or Singnese,[b] 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.

The Singaporean government had previously discouraged the use of Singdarin in favour of Standard Singaporean Mandarin under the Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC), as it believed in the need for Singaporeans to be able to communicate effectively with other Chinese speakers from mainland China, Taiwan or other Sinophone regions. However, such campaigns have been toned down in recent years in response to push-back by Singaporeans, expressing the uniqueness of Singdarin in Singaporean culture.[4]

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.

Origins

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It is believed that Singadrin, like Singlish, further developed due to the government's policy of high density public housing of Singaporeans of different ethnic groups living together.
See also: Demographics of Singapore and Public housing in Singapore

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

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Below are some examples of Singdarin dialogue spoken amongst some Chinese Singaporeans.

Singdarin dialogue English translation Standard Mandarin
你的(nǐde) office 在ざい(zài) 哪里(nǎlǐ) ？ Where is your office? 您的辦公室しつ在ざい哪裡？
Raffles Place, 很(hěn) 靠もたれ近ちか(kàojìn) MRT.1 Raffles Place, located near the MRT station. 萊佛士し坊ぼう，在地ざいち鐵てつ附近ふきん/離はなれ地ち鐵てつ不ふ遠とお
你(nǐ) 在ざい(zài) 那な邊べ(nàbiān) 做(zuò) 多久たく(duōjiǔ) 了りょう(le)？ How long have you been working there? 你在那な里さと工作こうさく多久たく了りょう？
不ふ(bù) 太ふとし(tài) 久ひさ(jiǔ) six months. 我わが(wǒ) 想そう(xiǎng) find another job. Not long, 6 months. I'm thinking of finding another job. 沒ぼつ多久たく，六ろく個月かげつ。我わが想そう找一份新（的まと）工作こうさく
Maybe 明年みょうねん(míngnián) when 我わが(wǒ) complete 我が的てき(wǒde) accounting course Maybe next year when I complete my accounting course 可能かのう明年みょうねん我わが修おさむ完かん會計かいけい課程かてい之の後のち
But 我わが(wǒ) 要よう(yào) 去さ(qù) 吃ども飯めし(chīfàn) But I'm going for my dinner 不ふ過か我わが要よう去さ吃ども飯めし

1 Usually the word 'station' is omitted.

English loanwords

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The following are the common English loan words used in Singdarin.

English loanwords Standard Mandarin words Examples of usage
but 不ふ過か / 但ただし（是ぜ） / 可か（是ぜ） But 他た很聰明そうめいleh！ (But he's very clever!)
then 然しか後のち Then, 他た就來了りょう！ (Then he comes!)
actually 其實 Actually, 我わが本來ほんらい要よう去さ的てき！ (Actually, I wanted to go there!)
share 共きょう享とおる / 分ぶん / 分ぶん享とおる Eh！蛋糕可か以跟我わがshare嗎？ (Can you share your cake with me?)
blur (Singlish) 搞不清楚せいそ狀況じょうきょう / 模糊もこ不ふ清きよし 你知道どう嗎？他た弄ろう到いた我わが很blur！ (Do you know he makes all at sea?)
anyway/anyhow 反はん正ただし / 不ふ管かん怎（麼）樣さま Anyway, 我わが一定いってい要よう/該去! (Anyway, I must go!)
That's why 所以ゆえん / 於是 That's why 我わが很討厭いや他た! (That's why I hate him!)

Loanwords from other languages

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Just like Singlish, certain words used in Singlish are also interchangeably used in Singdarin.

Loanwords Standard Mandarin words Definition Notes Example of usage
buay tahan 受不了りょう cannot tolerate formed by combination of Hokkien word "beh 𣍐/袂たもと" (cannot) and Malay word "tahan" (tolerate) 哇！袂たもと tahan 咧! (wa, beh tahan leh!) [Wow, I cannot tolerate it!]
sibeh 非常ひじょう very/damn originate from Teochew (死し父ちち, 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 我が的てき天てん啊！ my gosh/oh my god originate from Singaporean Hokkien vulgar word "wa lan eh 我わが𡳞呃/我わが膦呃" (literally 'my dick'). "Wa lau eh 我わが老ろう呃" (literally 'my father') is a more polite variant of it. Walao eh, 你怎麼可以這樣さま？ [My god, how can you be like that?]
guai lan 令れい人じん討厭的てき傢伙 annoying/irritating person originate from Singaporean Hokkien vulgar word "guai lan 怪かい𡳞/怪かい膦" (literally 'strange dick'). 他たsibeh guai lan的てき！ [He is an annoying person!]
sua ku 井い底そこ之の蛙かえる someone who has not been exposed to the society and is not well-informed about many things from Hokkien word "suaku 山やま龜かめ" (literally "tortoise on the mountain") 這個人こじん很sua ku! [This guy is a tortoise on the mountain]
salah 錯/壞掉了りょう incorrect/something went wrong from Malay 計算けいさん機きsalah了りょう ! [Something went wrong with the computer]
ulu 偏へん僻へき remote from Malay 這個地方ちほう這麼 ulu ，連れん一隻鬼影都沒有! [That place is very remote, not a single ghost (person) around!]
terok 難なん搞/困難こんなん troublesome from Malay 那な位い顧客こきゃくsibeh terok！ [That customer is very troublesome!]
sibei jialat 非常ひじょう(真ま假かり)麻あさ煩はん really difficult from Hokkien 那な個こ東西とうざい不ふ懂被誰だれ弄ろう到いた亂らん七なな八はち糟かす，sibei jialat! [Somebody has made a huge mess of that thing, which makes things really difficult for us!]

Usage of English technical terms

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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:

Singdarin spoken at work in Singapore[7] Mandarin spoken at work in China[7] English translation
你的 cable tray 要よう從したがえ ceiling 上じょう走はし。 你的電線でんせん橋架きょうか要よう在天ざいてん花はな板ばん天花てんげ板ばん上じょう鋪しき設しつらえ。 Your cable tray needs to be lined up along the ceiling
Server room 里さと面めん的てき fire sprinkler 拆了，你們的てき fire department 會かい allow 嗎？ 機き房ぼう裡うら面めん的てき消防しょうぼう灑水拆了，你們的てき消防局しょうぼうきょく會かい批准ひじゅん嗎？ If you dismantle the fire sprinkler inside the server room, will the fire department approve it?
今こん天てん sibeh 热咧！Buay Tahan 啦！ 今こん天てん的てき天氣てんき太たい熱ねつ了りょう！我わが忍受にんじゅ不ふ了りょう了りょう！ The weather today is too hot! It's unbearable!

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ simplified Chinese: 新しん加か坡式华语; traditional Chinese: 新しん加か坡式しき華はな語ご; pinyin: Xīnjiāpōshì Huáyǔ; Wade–Giles: hsin1 chia1 p'o1 shih4 hua2 yü3[1]
  2. ^ Chinese: 星ほし式しき中ちゅう文ぶん; pinyin: Xīngshì Zhōngwén; Wade–Giles: hsing1 shih4 chung1 wen2; lit. 'Sing[apore] colloquial Chinese language'[2]

References

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  1. ^ "中ちゅう文ぶん·外来がいらい语来聚"掺"". 《三联生活周刊》. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  2. ^ 顧長永ひさし (Gu Changyong) (25 July 2006). 《新しん加か坡: 蛻もぬけ變へん的てき四よん十じゅう年ねん》 (Singapore: The Changing Forty Years). Taiwan: 五南圖書出版股份有限公司. p. 54. ISBN 978-957-11-4398-9.
  3. ^ "重じゅう视新加か坡本土ど华语的てき文化ぶんか意い义 (Attending to the cultural significance of Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin)". 華はな語ご橋きょう (Huayuqiao). Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  4. ^ Cavallaro, Francesco; Seilhamer, Mark Fifer; Yen Yee, Ho; Bee Chin, Ng (10 August 2018). "Attitudes to Mandarin Chinese varieties in Singapore". Journal of Asian Pacific Communication. 28 (2): 195–225. doi:10.1075/japc.00010.cav. hdl:10356/137340. S2CID 149993315. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b Kaur, Tarra (23 March 2018). "11 Things You Should Know About Singaporean Culture". theculturetrip.com. Culture Trip. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Ethnic Integration Policy and SPR Quota – Housing & Development Board (HDB)". Housing and Development Board (HDB). Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b "新しん加か坡式华语". 联合早さ报网. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
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