Eps 2: Why does Singapore have Chinese as its language?
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Theresa Barnes
Podcast Content
Singlish is a hybrid language created from the interaction of various ethnic groups in Singapore with a small number of other official languages and Chinese dialects such as Hokkien. Of course, the presence of other languages influenced Singaporean English.
The official Chinese in Singapore is called Mandarin or Mandarin, which is similar to the official Mandarin and based on the Beijing dialect. According to the Beijing dialect, Mandarin or Mandarin is Singapore’s official Chinese. The official Chinese standard of the Republic of Singapore, called Hua Yu in Singapore, is based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect and the grammar of local Chinese. It is almost the same as the Chinese standard used in Singapore. The People's Republic of China and the Republic of China .
Mandarin is one of the main languages of Singapore and also the official language of the country. With the rise in the use of English, the use of the Mandarin language in Singapore has declined in recent years, but the Singapore government is promoting it as a major link with Chinese culture and traditions.
There was also a time when other Chinese dialects were banned from various media channels, and Mandarin was the only popular medium of instruction in schools. Chinese dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainan, and Teochi were banned at some point and Mandarin became the only Chinese language taught in schools. However, through the Speak Mandarin campaign, Singaporean Chinese were encouraged to change their native language from these other varieties to Mandarin and then from Mandarin to English.
Mandarin was designated as the “native language” of all Singaporean Chinese in Singapore, and all other indigenous Chinese varieties were downgraded to “dialect” status without being officially recognized as their native language. In an effort to standardize Chinese in Singapore and align it with the official choice of Putonghua Chinese, regional dialects were banned from popular media such as television and radio, and Mandarin was the only Chinese language taught in schools. Nowadays, when the rules have been loosened, the dialect began to be used mainly at home and by older generations who grew up speaking the language.
Then as now, about 7% of Singaporeans were from South India, and most of them spoke Tamil. The people who spoke English and sent their children to English high schools were mostly Europeans, Eurasians , some small minorities such as Jews, some Indians and Ceylonians, and a group of Chinese people commonly referred to as The Strait Chinese, who had centenarians in the region and who spoke various Malay languages, usually called Baba Malay, which was influenced by the Hokkien and Malay bazaar Chinese. Singaporean English probably evolved from English when children of different linguistic backgrounds learned English in school.
As more and more people experiment with learning English at school, English has become widespread, along with many other Singaporean languages. As a result of these cultural, political and socio-economic efforts, as well as the support of the May 4, 1919 movement for modern Standard Chinese and Mandarin , local schools were created based on dialects and local associations of indigenous peoples. began to use the mandarin as a teaching medium. Mandarin was ranked second as a cultural identifier, while the original Chinese ethnic languages were excluded from mainstream education, and their socio-political, cultural and commercial opportunities were downplayed .
The level of formal education and the language of instruction, Chinese or English, divide the Chinese into broad categories. Chinese society in Singapore was characterized by a high degree of social mobility, and status in which was increasingly determined by the level of education and knowledge of the English and Chinese languages. From Singapore's independence to the present day, government ideology and language policies have encouraged these migrant students to subjugate the Chinese language to their hometown.
These languages are the result of language exchanges between immigrants from different nationalities and the aborigines of these places. The country seems to have four official languages, including English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese. Almost everyone in Singapore speaks multiple languages, and many people speak three or four languages. Since the 1970s, English has been the main language of instruction for most Singaporeans in schools, so in most cases, English-speaking tourists will be good.
Although the number of Indians living in Singapore is relatively small, there are several other Indian languages spoken in Singapore. Although the country recognizes the only Indian language Tamil as the official language, some schools also offer other languages such as Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
Besides English, Mandarin can be considered the second language of Singapore. Mandarin, besides English, can probably be considered the second language of Singapore. While there are some differences, mainland Chinese can move and feel at home in Singapore, and Singaporeans do not have much of a problem with their Chinese in China. However, since the majority of the population are descendants of Chinese, it will be very helpful for you to know how to speak Mandarin.
English is also one of the languages used to facilitate communication between people from different regions inside and outside the country. According to statistics, the citizens speak multiple languages such as Mandarin, Tamil, English and Malay. Since there are also other nationalities mixed with Chinese, the most important language among these ethnic groups is English. It is spoken by the majority of the population, is the language of instruction in schools and the official language of business and government.
It is one of the four official languages of Singapore, along with English, Malay and Tamil. Singapore's four official languages are Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English. Most of the population of Singapore has its roots in China and therefore Mandarin is the officially recognized Chinese language. The Chinese diaspora makes up about three-quarters of Singapore's population, many of which come from southern China, where the most common dialects are Hokkien, Teochyu, Cantonese, and Hainan.
From 1949 to 1979, there was a lack of connection between Singapore and China, which meant that Singaporean Mandarin had to invent new words to adapt to local conditions, and borrowed Taiwanese Mandarin or other Chinese variants spoken in Singapore. The Speak Chinese Campaign aims to eradicate the true Chinese native language in Singapore, mainly to humiliate them as the provincial "dialects" of Chinese dialects, but in fact they are mutually incomprehensible languages as different as English. German and Danish. In 1979, an official campaign was launched to promote Mandarin by eliminating other Chinese dialects, partly to unite the Chinese community in Singapore and increase its competitiveness in global business.