Wong, Jock (1994). A Wierzbickan approach to Singlish particles. MA thesis, National University of Singapore.
(2000) English (Singapore)
Wong, Jock (2000). The semantics of Singapore English. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 27.
(2000) English (Singapore) – ME, MEH
Wong, Jock Onn (2000). The ‘mE’ particle of Singlish. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 18, 25 pp.
The non-standard variety of Singapore English commonly known as Singlish has a set of particles the meanings of which have intrigued and also evaded many researchers. These researchers have described the meanings of the particles mostly with a functional approach, in which the functions of a particle under study are listed, and the meaning of the particle characterized in terms of these functions. Results have proved futile. In this paper, the meaning of the Singlish particle ‘mE’ (commonly spelt ‘meh’ elsewhere) is described using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, which involves corpus study, native speaker introspection, and a reductive paraphrase using semantic primitives to represent the invariant meaning. With this semantic model, the meaning of ‘mE’ can be clearly, precisely, and unambiguously stated in simple English. The semantic formula is shown to be applicable to all instances of use, thus achieving empirical adequacy.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) English (Singapore) – NSM syntax (existential primitive)
Wong, Jock (2001). The Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to the universal syntax of the Singlish existential primitive. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 30.
(2001) English (Singapore) – Particles (A)
Wong, Jock Onn (2001). To speak or not to speak? The ‘a’ particles of Singlish. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 37, 33 pp.
A more recent publication building on parts of this one is chapter 7 (pp. 230-259) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
(2003) English (Singapore)
Wierzbicka, Anna (2003). Singapore English: A semantic and cultural perspective. Multilingua, 22, 327-366.
Abstract:
This paper examines some aspects of Singapore English, raising questions about Singaporean culture and national identity, and, more generally, about the nature of links between language and culture in a multilingual, hetero- geneous, and rapidly changing society. It argues that Singapore English is grounded in Singapore experience; in doing so, it takes up the notion of ‘interculturality’, proposed by the Singapore linguist Ho Chee Lick. Using the ‘Natural Semantic Metalanguage’, developed by the author and col- leagues, and based on empirically established universal human concepts, the paper offers a detailed semantic analysis of a number of Singaporean ‘key words’, and shows how their meaning reflects the unique Singaporean experience. The detailed semantic analysis of these ‘key words’, and of some other aspects of Singapore English, leads the author to posit some Singaporean ‘cultural scripts’, also formulated in universal human concepts.
Ratings:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2003) English (Singapore) – Discourse particles: LAH
Besemeres, Mary & Wierzbicka, Anna (2003). Pragmatics and cognition: The meaning of the particle lah in Singapore English. Pragmatics & Cognition, 11(1), 3-38. DOI: 10.1075/pc.11.1.03bes
This paper tries to crack one of the hardest and most intriguing chestnuts in the field of cross-cultural pragmatics and to identify the meaning of the celebrated Singaporean particle lah, the hallmark of Singapore English. In pursuing this goal, the authors investigate the use of lah and seek to identify its meaning by trying to find a paraphrase in ordinary language that would be substitutable for lah in any context. In doing so, they try to enter the speakers’ minds, and as John Locke urged in his pioneering work on particles, published in 1691, “observe nicely” the speakers’ “postures of the mind in discoursing”. At the same time, they offer a general model for the investigation of discourse markers and show how the methodology based on the NSM semantic theory allows the analyst to link pragmatics, via semantics, with the study of cognition.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2003) English (Singapore) – Reduplication of Chinese names
Wong, Jock (2003). The reduplication of Chinese names in Singapore English. RASK, 19, 47-85. PDF (open access)
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 3 (pp. 57-93) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The Culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
In Singapore English, a range of culture-specific address forms are found that do not exist in any other culturally Anglo variety of English. These forms of address are loaded with meanings and can tell us a lot about the evolving Singapore culture and the cultural grounding of Singapore English. Such knowledge benefits a cultural outsider because it facilitates a better understanding of and integration in the Singapore English speech community.
This study looks into one such form of address used in Singapore English: the reduplication of Chinese names. It shows that this grammatical construction is meaningful and captures its meaning in the form of a reductive paraphrase using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. The use of this address form can be shown to be motivated by a Chinese cultural attitude, which speakers are now able to express in Singapore English.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2004) English (Singapore) – Particles
Wong, Jock (2004). The particles of Singapore English: A semantic and cultural interpretation. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(9), 739-793. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-2166(03)00070-5
A more recent publication building on parts of this one is chapter 7 (pp. 230-259) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
Particles constitute one of the most distinctive features of the cultural dialect known as Singapore English. They are highly interactive and play a major role in the integrity and cohesiveness of the Singapore English speech community, offering invaluable insights into Singapore culture. Their semantic study could therefore pave the way for a better understanding of this culture.
The present study investigates the meanings of several particles in Singapore English: three particles la which come in different lexical tones (but are otherwise homophones), the particle wut (commonly spelt as what), and the particle meh. The meaning of each of these particles is stated in the form of a reductive paraphrase couched in simple and universal human concepts so that it can be readily understood by both insiders and cultural outsiders.
The study shows that Singapore English particles are loaded with interactional or pragmatic meanings. It also suggests that the high frequency of use of some particles, including wut and the particles la, is motivated by a cultural norm of interaction.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2004) English (Singapore) – Reduplication
Wong, Jock (2004). Reduplication of nominal modifiers in Singapore English: A semantic and cultural interpretation. World Englishes, 23(3), 339-354. DOI: 10.1111/j.0883-2919.2004.00362.x
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 6 (pp. 180-229) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
While the formal properties of reduplication in many languages have aroused the interest of many linguists and much appears to have been done in this area, the same cannot be said about its semantics. It seems that our understanding of the kinds of meaning associated with reduplication processes remains rather limited. This is regrettable, given that language meaning can shed a lot of light on a speech community’s ways of thinking and norms of interaction. In this paper, the object of study is a widely used reduplication process in Singapore English – the reduplication of nominal modifiers. I will endeavour to identify its meaning and articulate it in the form of a reductive paraphrase. I will also try to show that its use may be linked, via meaning, with a culture-specific norm of interaction that seems to be characteristic of Singapore English speakers.
(2004) English, English (Singapore) – Personal autonomy
Wong, Jock Onn (2004). Cultural scripts, ways of speaking and perceptions of personal autonomy: Anglo English vs. Singapore English. Intercultural Pragmatics, 1(2), 231-248. DOI: 10.1515/iprg.2004.1.2.231
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 5 (pp. 139-179) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
Every language variety embodies a set of culture-specific ways of thinking that can be articulated with maximal clarity and minimal ethnocentrism in the form of ‘cultural scripts’ using Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). In this study, perceptions of ‘personal autonomy’ in Anglo culture and in Singapore culture are explored on the basis of linguistic evidence using NSM. These Anglo and Singaporean attitudes to personal autonomy are articulated in the form of cultural scripts, and are thus compared and contrasted. The proposed cultural scripts show that even though Anglo English speakers and Singapore English speakers can both be said to speak the same ‘language’, the cultural values reflected by the two varieties can be radically different from and even at odds with each other.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2005) English (Singapore)
Wong, Jock (2005). Singapore English: A semantic and cultural interpretation. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
(2005) English (Singapore) – Particles (ONE)
Wong, Jock (2005). “Why you so Singlish one?” A semantic and cultural interpretation of the Singapore English particle one. Language in Society, 34, 239-275. DOI: 10.1017/S0047404505050104
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 6 (pp. 180-229) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
The particle one of Singapore English is widely used in Singapore culture, but it is little mentioned and its invariant meaning has not been described, so that not much is known about its meaning and the cultural norms it reflects. This article provides a detailed semantic analysis of this particle, articulates its meaning in the form of a reductive paraphrase using Natural Semantic Metalanguage, and argues that its use reflects Singapore English speakers’ tendency to speak definitively and exaggeratedly. The discussion of Singaporean speech norms reflected by this particle includes reference to relevant Anglo English speech norms for comparison and contrast.
(2006) – English (Singapore) – Social hierarchy
Wong, Jock Onn (2006). Social hierarchy in the “speech culture” of Singapore. In: Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 99-125). Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.99
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 3 (pp. 57-93) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The Culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
The linguistic evidence of forms of address in Anglo English suggests that one of the prominent values of Anglo culture is that of egalitarianism. People from Anglo culture are inclined to view fellow interlocutors as social equals, rather than placing them at various levels on a social hierarchy. Many parents who consider themselves progressive encourage and accept being addressed by their children by means of their first names. This may be part of the general trend towards the suppression of asymmetric (non-reciprocal) relations which can be observed throughout the Western world.
The linguistic evidence in Singapore English, on the other hand, points to something quite different. The use of certain cultural key words suggests that in Singapore culture a person’s generational status in relation to oneself is culturally significant and determines the kind of interaction that would take place between two speakers. This means that when two Singapore English speakers of different generations interact, subject to other sociolinguistic factors such as social status, the younger interlocutor would be expected to exhibit deference for age through the use of appropriate forms of address and other linguistic devices. These two interlocutors would normally not interact on an equal footing.
This study examines three Singapore English cultural key words that reflect this emphasis on generational status with respect to self. They are the social honorific Aunty, the Singapore English-specific speech act verb call, and the child-oriented adjective guāi, roughly ‘well behaved’. The meaning of each of these words is stated in the form of a reductive paraphrase using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. On the basis of meaning, the cultural values reflected by the use of these words are discussed.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2006) English (Singapore) – AUNTY
Wong, Jock (2006). Contextualizing aunty in Singaporean English. World Englishes, 25(3/4), 451-466. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2006.00481.x
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 4 (pp. 94-138) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
Presumably, in any culture, people who are perceived to be different from some ‘mainstream’ majority are categorized in some way and assigned a label. Such ‘cultural’ categories can be complimentary or, usually, pejorative and are therefore good indicators of cultural attitudes and values. We can learn a lot about a culture through the semantic study of its cultural categories. In Singapore English, the social honorifics aunty and uncle are used by extension as cultural categories to refer, somewhat unflatteringly, to a distinct kind of people. Yet, ironically, the use of these terms also reflects deference for age and thus indicates the speakers’ mixed feelings towards the objects of their reference. In this paper, the meaning of the word aunty is described in the form of a reductive paraphrase using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. On the basis of meaning, the contrastive cultural attitudes reflected by the use of the word are explored.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2007) Ethnopragmatics
Goddard, Cliff (2007). A response to N. J. Enfield’s review of Ethnopragmatics (Goddard, ed. 2006). Intercultural Pragmatics, 4(4), 531-538. DOI: 10.1515/IP.2007.027
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2008) English (Anglo, Singapore) – Tags
Wong, Jock (2008). Anglo English and Singapore English tags: Their meanings and cultural significance. Pragmatics & Cognition, 16(1), 88-117. DOI: 10.1075/p&c.16.1.06won
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 6 (pp. 180-229) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
This study investigates a few Anglo English and Singapore English tags. The focus is on their meaning and the ways of thinking they reflect, rather than their forms and functions. The study contrasts the so-called Anglo English tag questions and the Singapore English tag is it? and tries to show that their semantic and pragmatic differences relate to differences in ways of thinking in the two cultures. For the purposes of this research, meaning is articulated in a paraphrase couched in Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), which comprises a set of empirically established semantic primes and a universal grammar.
(2009) Singapore English, Singapore Chinese – Shared Chinese-based lexicon
Tien, Adrian (2009). Singaporean culture as reflected by the shared Chinese-based lexicon of Singapore English and Singapore Chinese. In T. Shabanova (Ed.), Humanistic inheritance of great educators in culture and education (pp. 71-74). Ufa: BSPU.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2010) Chinese – Human interaction in e-communication
Tien, Adrian (2010). The semantics of human interaction in Chinese E-communication. In Rotimi Taiwo (Ed.), Handbook of research on discourse behavior and digital communication: Language structures and social interaction (pp. 437-467). Hershey: IGI Global. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-773-2.ch028
The current study investigates typical, everyday Chinese interaction online and examined what linguistic meanings arise from this form of communication – not only semantic but also, importantly, pragmatic, discursive, contextual and lexical meanings etc. In particular, it sets out to ascertain whether at least some of the cultural values and norms etc. known to exist in Chinese culture, as selected in the Chinese language, are maintained or preserved in modern Chinese e-communication. To achieve his aims, the author collected a sample set of data from Chinese online resources found in Singapore, including a range of blog sites and MSN chat rooms where interactants have kept their identities anonymous. A radically semantic approach was adopted – namely, the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) model – to analyse meanings that arose from the data. The analyses were presented and compiled in the way of “cultural cyberscripts” – based on an NSM analytical method called “cultural scripts”. Through these cyberscripts, findings indicate that, while this form of e-communication does exhibit some departure from conventional socio-cultural values and norms, something remains linguistically and culturally Chinese that is unique to Chinese interaction online.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2010) Triple articulation of language
Wong, Jock (2010). The “triple articulation” of language. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(11), 2932-2944. DOI:10.1016/j.pragma.2010.06.013.
In this paper, I argue that a language has three ‘‘faces’’ – form, meaning, and culture – and hence pragmemes are best analysed with respect to a cultural context. Using examples of culturally embedded pragmemes from Singapore English, I demonstrate how their use is intimately associated with culture-specific ways of thinking, which in many instances go against widely accepted paradigms like Grice’s maxims and Brown & Levinson’s politeness principles. My data suggest that Singapore English routinely blurs the distinction between opinion and fact and that opinions are often presented as if they are facts, which goes against the maxim of quality, which requires people not to say that for which they lack evidence. I additionally show how some of these culture-specific ways of thinking may be articulated in ways that reflect an insider perspective. Finally, I propose that we go one step further to talk about the ‘‘triple articulation’’ of language, which views language as a three-tiered entity, comprising form, meaning, and culture. This idea of what language is about goes beyond lexicon and grammar to include non-formal features like conversational routines, frequency of use of certain expressions, the avoidance of certain ways of speaking, pragmemes, etc., which can only be satisfactorily explained with reference to culture. A person who is supposed to have learned a language without understanding its culture has at best mastered its lexicon and grammar. They have not mastered the ‘‘essence’’ of the language.
