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Singapore English (SgE, SE, en-SG) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Singapore. In Singapore, English is spoken in two main forms: Singaporean Standard English, which is indistinguishable grammatically from British English, and Singaporean Colloquial English, which is better known as Singlish. [2] [3]
The contest concluded with 'love' as Singapore's favourite English word. Other words include 'cool' and 'exhausted'. The winner was given a pair of tickets to the UK. [24] In a follow-up from the larger Singapore's 100 Favourite Words, a competition was held for participants to incorporate the top 10 words in a short story writing competition.
Singapore was established as a Crown Colony, and the term "grammar school" was used since 1819 among the English community. The English, and later, the Scottish, set up cathedrals, churches, and elite grammar schools for the upper class. Initially, this was a racially segregated colonial system.
Singapore is a racially and linguistically diverse city-state, with four official languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. [4] During British colonial rule (1819-1942), [5] a variety of school systems were in place and most schools taught exclusively in one of the above four languages.
Singlish (a portmanteau of Singapore and English), formally known as Colloquial Singaporean English, is an English-based creole language originating in Singapore. [1] [2] [3] Singlish arose out of a situation of prolonged language contact between speakers of many different Asian languages in Singapore, such as Malay, Cantonese, Hokkien, Mandarin, Teochew, and Tamil. [4]
All directional signs in Singapore are written in English. Although Malay is de jure national language, Singapore English is regarded de facto as the main language in Singapore, [13] and is officially the main language of instruction in all school subjects except for Mother Tongue lessons in Singapore's education system. [14]
The main language of instruction in Singapore is English, which was officially designated the first language within the local education system in 1987. [11] English is the first language learned by half the children by the time they reach preschool age and becomes
The English name of "Singapore" is an anglicisation of the native Malay name for the country, Singapura (pronounced), which was in turn derived from the Sanskrit word for 'lion city' (Sanskrit: सिंहपुर; romanised: Siṃhapura; Brahmi: 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀳𑀧𑀼𑀭; literally "lion city"; siṃha means 'lion', pura means 'city' or 'fortress'). [9]