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) – 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
(2006) Review (Catherine E. Travis, Discourse markers in Colombian Spanish)
Wong, Jock (2006). Book review of Catherine E. Travis, Discourse markers in Colombian Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics, 38, 469-472. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2005.08.003
(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.
(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.
(2013) Child raising values and practices
Wong, Jock (2013). Child-raising values and practices: Looking from the inside. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 42(4), 361-375. DOI: 10.1080/17475759.2013.848224
This introduction to a special forum on the linguistic aspects of child-raising practices discusses the ethnocentric bias inherent in every natural language and proposes a way to minimize this bias. English is not culturally neutral. Words like ‘ love’ and ‘happy’ are not suitable for cross cultural description because they reflect an English-specific perspective. However, while most words in any language are language-specific, research suggests that a small number of words and various combinations of these words to form clauses are universal. These words, called semantic primes, and their universal combinations constitute a meta-language that is minimally ethnocentric.
(2014) The culture of Singapore English [BOOK]
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
This book provides a fresh approach to Singapore English, by focusing on its cultural connotations. The author, a native Singaporean, explores a range of aspects of this rich variety of English – including address forms, cultural categories, particles, and interjections – and links particular words to particular cultural norms and values. By using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, which is free from technical terminology, he explains the relationship between meaning and culture with maximal clarity.
An added strength of this study lies in its use of authentic examples and pictures, which offer a fascinating glimpse of Singaporean life. Through comparisons with Anglo English, it also explores some difficulties associated with Standard English and cultural misunderstanding.
Table of contents
- English in Singapore
- The language of culture and the culture of language
- Singlish forms of address
- Cultural categories and stereotypes
- The discourse of can in Singlish
- Expressions of certainty and overstatements
- The tonal particles of Singlish
- The enigmatic particle lōr
- Interjections: aiya and aiyo
- Making sense of Singlish
Chapter 3 builds on: The reduplication of Chinese names in Singapore English (2003); Social hierarchy in the ‘speech culture’ of Singapore (2006)
Chapter 4 builds on: Contextualizing aunty in Singaporean English (2006)
Chapter 5 builds on: Cultural scripts, ways of speaking and perceptions of personal autonomy: Anglo English vs. Singapore English (2004)
Chapter 6 builds on: Why you so Singlish one? A semantic and cultural interpretation of the Singapore English particle one (2005); Reduplication of nominal modifiers in Singapore English: A semantic and cultural interpretation (2004); Anglo English and Singapore English tags: Their meanings and cultural significance (2008)
Chapter 7 builds on: The particles of Singapore English: A semantic and cultural interpretation (2004); To speak or not to speak? The ‘a’ particles of Singlish (2001)
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags listed below are in addition to those listed at the end of the entries for the earlier work on which this book builds.
(2016) Chinese (Mandarin, Singapore) – ‘Can’
Wong, Jock (2016). The pragmatics of kéyĭ (“can”) in Singapore Mandarin. In Alessandro Capone & Jacob L. Mey (Eds.), Interdisciplinary studies in pragmatics, culture and society (pp. 857-876). Cham: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-12616-6_33
This chapter deals with the pragmatics of kéyĭ, the non-Standard Singapore Mandarin equivalent of English can. It describes some of the speech acts it is associated with and represents some of the associated speech norms in the form of cultural scripts formulated in Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). It is hoped that the cultural scripts will facilitate a better understanding of the cultural values underlying the use of this word.
The chapter also contrasts some of the speech norms described in it with their English counterparts to highlight their culture-specificity. It further examines examples from standard Mandarin to explain their cultural significance. It is shown that speech acts are often culture-specific, and speech acts specific to one language (in this case, English) cannot adequately describe speech acts specific to another (in this case, Singapore Mandarin). The proposed solution is NSM, which can clearly explain Singapore Mandarin speech acts associated with the word kéyĭ and, in doing so, clarify the language-specific use of the Singapore Mandarin semantic equivalent of the English can.
A number of authentic examples are studied. They suggest that the relationship between Singapore Mandarin speakers is often marked by social obligations (among other things). These obligations have to do with priority given to what one is able to do over what one wants to do. Speakers tend to de-emphasize what one (either the speaker or someone else) wants to do and, in doing so, go against some of Grice’s maxims and Brown and Levinson’s politeness principles. Singapore Mandarin culture, which has a strong presence in Singaporean society, may thus be considered “collectivist”, which means that personal autonomy is not a high-ranking value and may not be something that people, at least among the older generations, are generally familiar with.
It is also noted that some of the Singapore Mandarin ways of speaking associated with kéyĭ have found their way into Singapore English, used also by non-Mandarin speakers, including native English speakers who have lived in Singapore for a substantial period of time. This observation seems to suggest that the speech norms in question are a Singaporean feature rather than merely a feature of Singapore Mandarin.
Explications are proposed for Singapore Mandarin phrases that can be loosely translated as ‘sorrowful’ (lit. ‘can sorrow’; kébēi), ‘lovely’ (lit. ‘can love’; kéài), ‘pitiful’ (lit. ‘can pity’; kélián), ‘suspicious’ (lit. ‘can suspect’; kéyí).
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2016) Citation as an academic practice
Wong, Jock (2016). The academic practice of citation. In Alessandro Capone, Ferenc Kiefer, & Franco Lo Piparo (Eds.), Indirect reports and pragmatics: Interdisciplinary studies (pp. 189-209). Cham: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-21395-8_10
It is proposed in this paper that citation is primarily about (i) the use of evidence and data to support one’s ideas, and (ii) the sharing of resources and building up of knowledge. It is further hypothesized that how a citation is worded can reflect its strength of claim. Learners of academic English, who need to learn how to use the citation style applicable to their discipline, should ideally also learn what the invariant meaning of citation is about and how to use it to express the strength of claim of what they want to say.
In the discussion of the meaning of citation, this paper showcases a methodology, NSM, which allows us to state meaning with maximal clarity and precision. The NSM methodology has been used extensively to explicate lexical, grammatical and pragmatic meanings. As this paper shows, it can in fact be used to describe anything that has meaning, even if the ‘expression’ cannot fall neatly into any of these linguistic categories.
