Standard Singaporean Mandarin (simplified Chinese: 新加坡标准华语; traditional Chinese: 新加坡標準華語; pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Biāozhǔn Huáyǔ) is the standard form of Singaporean Mandarin.[1] It is used in all official Chinese media, including all television programs on Channel 8 and Channel U, various radio stations, as well as in Chinese lessons in all Singapore government schools. The written form of Chinese used in Singapore is also based on this standard. Standard Singaporean Mandarin is also the register of Mandarin used by the Chinese elites of Singapore and is easily distinguishable from the Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin spoken by the general populace.
In terms of phonology, vocabulary and grammar, Standard Singaporean Mandarin is similar to Putonghua (Standard Chinese in the People's Republic of China). Minor discrepancies appear in different vocabulary usage.
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Mandarin (a northern Chinese language) has been used as a lingua franca in Singapore alongside Hokkien (a southeastern Chinese language) for many decades after the Second World War. Before the standardisation of Singaporean Mandarin in the year 1979, Mandarin was largely used in its colloquial form which is based on the Beijing speech, with infusions from various southern Non-Mandarin Chinese languages such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese as well as Hakka. This colloquial form of Mandarin served as a bridge between speakers of various mutually unintelligible southern Chinese languages. Mandarin was also the language of instruction in the now defunct Chinese-medium schools and education system. The use of Mandarin language in the Chinese-medium schools led to the language being spoken mainly by the Chinese-educated or Chinese elites in Singapore.
After Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew announced and kickstart the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, the Promote Mandarin Council started research on Mandarin standardisation based on case studies in Mainland China and Taiwan.
Major differences between Standard Singaporean Mandarin and Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin lie in their linguistic features. Standard Singaporean Mandarin uses standard Mandarin vocabulary and grammar which are very similar to that of the Beijing standard (Putonghua), both spoken and written. Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, though based on Standard Mandarin, is often mixed with loan words and syntax from other Chinese dialects (especially southern Chinese dialects), and to a lesser extent, Malay and English. This is due to the multilingual nature of Singaporean families and society. There are also often cases when Singaporeans (due to their poorer command of Mandarin) find it hard to find the Mandarin vocabulary for a certain idea, and thus have to use loan words from other languages to describe those ideas.
The term "rojak" (a Malay food used for describing "mixture") is most appropriate in describing colloquial Singaporean Mandarin. Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin is the equivalent of Singlish in the Mandarin speaking world of Singapore. The word "Singdarin" has been used to name the Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin.
Standard Singaporean Mandarin also differs from colloquial Singaporean Mandarin in terms of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. This is because not all Singaporean Chinese speak Mandarin at home. Some could be speaking other Non-Mandarin Chinese languages or English most of the time and have less exposure to Standard Mandarin. All these factors have influenced the way in which colloquial Singaporean Mandarin is formed.
Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin uses a variety of Southern Chinese exclamatory particles, in lieu of standard Mandarin equivalents. An example is the loan exclamatory final particle 囉 (lor) from Cantonese (analogous to Singlish usage), instead of the Mandarin exclamatory final particle 嘛 (ma):
Another example is the use of the Cantonese expression "做咩" (zou me):
The exclamatory final particle 咧 (leh) from Hokkien is used in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin:
Another phrase found in colloquial Mandarin is derived from the Hokkien expression siáⁿ-mih lâi ê (啥物來的):
Standard Singaporean Mandarin uses pure Mandarin words. Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin on the hand uses loan words from other languages. The English loan word "then" is commonly used in place of Mandarin word 才 in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin. Again, a loan exclamatory final particle 囉 (lor) from Cantonese is used instead of Mandarin exclamatory final particle 啊 (a). The English loanword then is also often used to replace the Mandarin word 然后 (ránhòu) in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin:
Minor differences occur between the phonology (tones) of Standard Singaporean Mandarin and other forms of Standard Mandarin.
| Chinese character | Definition | Singapore | Mainland China | Taiwan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 休息 | Take a rest | xiūxí | xiūxi | xiūxí | The character 息 is pronounced with the 2nd tone in Standard Singaporean Mandarin, similar to that in Taiwan. In Mainland China, 息 is pronounced as a light (neutral) tone (simplified Chinese: 轻声; traditional Chinese: 輕聲; pinyin: qīng shēng) instead. |
| 垃圾 | Rubbish | lājī | lājī | lèsè | The pronunciation for 垃圾 is the same in Singapore and Mainland China. But in Taiwan, it has maintained the older pronunciation before 1949, which was influenced by the Wu dialect. |
| 角色 | Role | juésè | juésè | jiǎosè/juésè | The pronunciation for 角色 is the same in Singapore and Mainland China. But in Taiwan, it has maintained the older pronunciation jiǎosè before 1949. However, both juésè and jiǎosè can be interchangeably used in the Chinese-speaking world. |
| 包括 | Include | bāokuò | bāokuò | bāokuā/bāokuò | The pronunciation for 包括 is the same in Singapore and Mainland China. But in Taiwan, the older pronunciation of "kuā" for 括 before 1949 continued to be used, alongside the modern pronunciation of "kuò". |
There are differences in the use of different lexicon (vocabulary) in Standard Singaporean Mandarin as compared to other forms of Standard Mandarin. Standard Singaporean Mandarin has its own unique proprietary vocabulary, which differs from Standard Mandarin used in Mainland China and Taiwan. This is due to a different political, cultural and linguistic environment in Singapore. The Dictionary of Contemporary Singaporean Mandarin Vocabulary 《时代新加坡特有词语词典》 edited by Wang Huidi (汪惠迪) listed 1560 uniquely local Singaporean Mandarin words, which are not used in Mainland China or Taiwan.[2]
Ever since the 1980s, Standard Singaporean Mandarin has been inclining itself more towards Standard Mainland Mandarin. As such, lexicon similarity between Standard Singaporean Mandarin and Standard Mainland Mandarin has reached almost 90%.[3]
While the majority of vocabulary are shared by Standard Mandarin throughout East Asia, there are a few significant differences in choice of words. For instance, "pineapple" is 黄梨 (huánglí) in Singapore (from Hokkien 王梨 ông-lâi), but 菠蘿/菠萝 (bōluó) in Mainland China and 鳳梨 (fènglí) in Taiwan.
The examples below illustrate some differences in the lexicon used in Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan:
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