Discourse particles in Singaporean English: substratum influences and universals

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The use of Chinese discourse particles in informal speech or in the speech of those with lower levels of education is an interesting substratum influence on Singaporean English. However, it is shown in this paper that in addition to the functions of different particles to indicate obviousness, disapproval or intimacy, or to highlight a particular lexical item, there are other functions of a more universal nature. For British English, two main types of intonation are posited: proclaiming tone (falling) and referring tone (rising). In most ‘native’ varieties of English, the tonic syllable (or nucleus), the syllable on which pitch movement begins, is in an ordinary lexical item, However, in Singaporean English, the pitch movement often occurs on a following particle. The concept of proclaiming and referring tones appears to be valid for Singaporean English except for this use of the discourse particles as the main indicators of these tones.