Colloquial Singapore English, or Singlish, exists in an environment
characterised by strong language planning aimed at demoting it in favour of
Standard English, as well as in a linguistic ecology featuring a number of languages
that have had an impact on its current form. An actual definition of
Singlish, beyond scholarly linguistic analyses, is less than straightforward, and
this article sets out to address this. Chinese Singaporeans were asked to define
Singlish, and elements of Hokkien (one of the major substrate languages involved
in the emergence of the contact variety) in conjunction with Singlish were subjected
to attitudinal ratings. The results call for a redefinition of Singlish not in
terms of a clear set of features that set it apart from other varieties, but rather as a
combination of linguistic resources that combine to create a stylistic repertoire
appropriate for the expression of, among other stances, local identity.
Keywords: Singapore English, Singlish, Hokkien, language attitudes,