The particle ya in Colloquial Singapore English

Abstract

ABSTRACT: It has been recently argued that the particles in Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) constitute a grammatical category that actively draws new members to it. Drawing on distributional and collocational evidence, this paper establishes that CSE has a new particle, ya. The paper then proceeds to analyse the discourse pragmatic function of the particle. It shows that a speaker uses the particle ya to (weakly) boost the illocutionary force of a statement, and to also signal that this is a statement that the speaker considers to be uncontroversial in nature. The paper then closes by discussing some observations – from the perspective of grammaticalization and sociolinguistic studies – that are consistent with the relative newness of this particle. Regarding grammaticalization, the paper shows that the particle ya is actually more grammaticalized than affirmative yes/ya. It is by comparison more expressive of the speaker's belief‐state or attitude. Regarding sociolinguistics, the paper observes that users of the particle ya seem to be mainly females who are in their late thirties or younger.