Standard Singaporean Mandarin


Standard Singaporean Mandarin is the standard form of Singaporean Mandarin. 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. Minor discrepancies appear in different vocabulary usage.

History

has been used as a lingua franca in Singapore alongside Hokkien since the end of the Second World War. Before the standardisation of Singaporean Mandarin in the year 1979, Mandarin was largely used in a colloquial form based on the speech of Beijing, with infusions from various southern non-Mandarin Chinese varieties such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese and Hakka. This colloquial form of Mandarin served as a bridge between speakers of various mutually unintelligible southern varieties. Mandarin was also the language of instruction in the now defunct Chinese-medium schools and education system. The use of Mandarin in the Chinese-medium schools led its use mainly by the Chinese-educated or Chinese elites in Singapore.
After Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew announced and kickstarted the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, the Promote Mandarin Council started research on Mandarin standardisation based on case studies in Mainland China and Taiwan.

Differences between standard and colloquial forms

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, both spoken and written. Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, though based on Standard Mandarin, is often mixed with loan words and syntax from other Chinese varieties, 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 find it hard to find or recall a Mandarin term and thus use loan words from other languages instead.
The term "rojak" 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 speak other Non-Mandarin Chinese varieties 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 from Cantonese, instead of the Mandarin exclamatory final particle 嘛/呀/啊 :
Another example is the use of the Cantonese expression "做咩" :
The exclamatory final particle 咧 from Hokkien is used in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin:
Another phrase found in colloquial Mandarin is derived from the Hokkien expression siáⁿ-mih lâi ê :
Standard Singaporean Mandarin uses pure Mandarin words. Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, on the other 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 from Cantonese is used instead of Mandarin exclamatory final particle 啊/呀. The English loanword then is also often used to replace the Mandarin word 然后 in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin:

Differences from other forms of Standard Mandarin

Phonology differences

Minor differences occur between the phonology of Standard Singaporean Mandarin and other forms of Standard Mandarin.
Chinese characterDefinitionSingaporeMainland ChinaTaiwanNotes
休息Take a restxiūxíxiūxixiūxíThe 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 tone instead.
垃圾Rubbishlèsè/lājīlājīlèsèThe pronunciation for 垃圾, which was influenced by Wu Chinese, is the same in Singapore and Taiwan where the older pronunciation from before 1949 is maintained. However, due to influence from Mainland China, the pronunciation is inclining itself towards putonghua.
角色Rolejiǎosèjuésèjiǎosè/juésèThe pronunciation for 角色 is the same in Singapore and Taiwan where the older pronunciation jiǎosè from before 1949 has been maintained. However, both juésè and jiǎosè can be used interchangeably in the Chinese-speaking world.
包括Includebāokuòbāokuòbāoguā/bāokuòThe pronunciation for 包括 is the same in Singapore and Mainland China. But in Taiwan, the older pronunciation of "guā" for 括 before 1949 continued to be used, alongside the modern pronunciation of "kuò".
血液Bloodxuěyìxuèyè/xuěyèxiěyì/xiěyèThe colloquial pronunciation for 血液 is xuěyè and xiěyè for Mainland China and Taiwan respectively. Singapore preserves the literary pronunciation of both characters xuěyì from before 1949.

Lexicon differences

There are differences in the use of different lexicon 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 listed 1560 uniquely local Singaporean Mandarin words, which are not used in Mainland China or Taiwan.
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%.
While the majority of vocabulary is shared by Standard Mandarin throughout East Asia, there are a few significant differences in choice of words. For instance, "pineapple" is 黄梨 in Singapore, but 菠蘿/菠萝 in Mainland China and 鳳梨 in Taiwan.
The examples below illustrate some differences in the lexicon used in Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan: