PDA

View Full Version : Singlish for Dummies


Cirde
12-17-2009, 04:32 AM
Singlish is the mother tongue of 71% of the population in Singapore. Singlish is the best language to use in Singapore, JB, and some say Batam.
95% of Chinese Malaysians use it too.

Singlish is a mixture of English, Malay , Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil, Bengali and Punjabi.

Seeing as some people in TPPC use Singlish, I think it's good for other people to learn, and understand what the Singlish users are saying.


Singlish lesson #1:

Widely used Words:
1) Kena / Tiok

Kena and Tiok have the same meaning. they both mean get.

eg. He kena hit by durian. ( He got hit by a durian. )
You better give me, or u kena. ( You better give me, or you get it. )
I tiok saman. ( I got a penalty.)

Netherless, you can always replace kena with tiok, tiok with kena.

2) One

One can be compared with the British, 'eh?' . It emphasizes the predicate of the sentence by implying that it is unique and characteristic.

eg. He never lose one. ( He never lost, eh? )
I can do one. ( I can do it. )


Singlish lesson #2:

People:

There are 3 types of interesting people in Singaporean and Malaysian society.

a) Ah Beng. ( People who are 50% Beng is called Ah Seng. )
Ah Bengs are normally Chinese men in their early teens to late 20s. They are seen hanging out in groups and typically speaking in local slang, especially Hokkien and Cantonese. Ah Bengs trying to follow Japanese fashion, with spiked and dyed hair, metallic ornaments, leather jackets, belts and pants.
Some Ah Bengs also bring combs everywhere.

b) Ah Lian. ( People who are 50% Lian is called Ah Hua. )
Ah Lians are a female version of Ah Beng, following the Japanese fashion. Ah Lians also super-duper like to take pictures. They like to make high pitched voices and think that the voices are cute.

c) Ah Gua. ( AKA Pondan. )
Ah Guas are a Malaysian, Singaporean Version of sissys.


Singlish lesson #3:

Discourse particles:
Their presence changes the meaning or the tone of the sentence, but not its grammaticality. Particles are NEEDED for keeping their tones regardless of the remainder of the sentence.

Oi
Oi is a rude way of calling people, so do that only to your well known friends, never do that to elders. Oi=Hey

eg. Oi, gimme la! ( Hey, give me ok? )
Oi, you! ( Hey, you! )

Lah
Lah is always used at the end of a sentence. Sometimes, it means ok.

eg. I dun have it lah! ( I don't have any of it. )
Dun worry, he sure can one lah. ( Don't worry, he can surely do it. )

Wat ( Wat is NOT What as in Who, Where, What...)
The particle wat is used to remind or contradict the listener, especially when strengthening another assertion that follows from the current one.

eg. But he very good at sports wat. ( But he is very good at sports. )

PS. Wat is rarely used, so you can skip this :smile: .

Har
Har is equal to the British, 'huh?'.

eg. Har? What did u say? ( Huh? What did you just say? )

Ar
Ar , also spelled arh or ah, is inserted between topic and comment. It often gives a negative tone.

eg. That Luarss arh, always so naughty. ( That Luarss is always naughty. )

Hor
Hor ,from Hokkien and Cantonese, also spelled horh, is used to ask for the listener's attention and consent/support/agreement.

eg. That boy so guai hor? ( That boy is not naughty, isn't it? )
Then horh, another person came out of the house. ( And then, another person came out of the house.)


End of today's class, any questions plz post here. Will post later, too lazy now.

Ichigo Uzumaki
12-17-2009, 05:02 AM
Good to have but unless rules changed with these new forums (which they could have and I may have overlooked it) english is still the only language we are allowed to type in.

los_shadow
12-17-2009, 07:39 AM
i thought singlish is a mixture of other language as well? not only hokien mah :P

Cirde
12-17-2009, 09:57 AM
edited :) suggestions like urs is greatly welcomed :big_smile: