Wesley Leong

Sociolinguistic Factors Affecting Tense Variation in Singapore English

Introduction

Sociolinguistic factors affecting tense variation in singapore english. Sociolinguistic factors affect tense variation in Singapore English. This study finds non-standard past-tense marker omission is largely phonological, not linked to age, sex, or mother tongue.

Abstract

Despite English being the primary official language of Singapore, many of its citizens show deviations from Standard Singapore English (SSE) in speech or writing. In particular, it has been noted that Singapore English speakers may produce non-standard tense morphology, often omitting verbal past-tense markers in past-tense contexts. However, a couple of open questions remain: are there any social or external factors driving this variation, and is this variation morphological or phonological? To address these questions, I asked participants to complete a verbal interview and written questionnaire designed to probe how they inflect verbs, and examined if conformity to SSE is predicted by age, sex, or mother tongue. The results suggest that non-standard tense use does not differ along these lines. They also support earlier claims that tense marker omission in SSE is phonological, rather than morphological, for a majority of speakers, but that there is a small group for whom the variation may be morphological.

Review

This paper proposes an intriguing investigation into the dynamics of tense variation within Singapore English (SSE), a crucial area given English's official status in a linguistically diverse nation. The study effectively addresses two significant open questions concerning non-standard tense morphology: first, whether specific sociolinguistic factors such as age, sex, or mother tongue predict deviations from SSE; and second, the underlying nature of this variation, specifically whether it is primarily phonological or morphological. The abstract clearly articulates the problem space, acknowledging observed past-tense marker omissions and setting the stage for an empirical examination into their drivers and mechanisms. Methodologically, the study employs a mixed approach utilizing verbal interviews and written questionnaires to gather data on verb inflection, which is a sensible strategy for probing both spontaneous and more conscious language use. The direct examination of age, sex, and mother tongue as predictors for conformity to SSE is a commendable attempt to uncover potential external influences. The findings are particularly noteworthy, as they suggest a surprising lack of correlation between non-standard tense use and these common sociolinguistic variables. Furthermore, the research corroborates existing hypotheses by largely identifying tense marker omission as a phonological phenomenon for the majority of speakers, while also introducing an interesting nuance by identifying a smaller contingent for whom the variation might indeed be morphological. Overall, this research offers valuable contributions to the understanding of Singapore English and sociolinguistic variation more broadly. The findings regarding the non-influence of age, sex, and mother tongue are counter-intuitive in some sociolinguistic contexts and warrant deeper discussion regarding the unique language ecology of Singapore. While the abstract effectively outlines the main conclusions, a full paper would benefit from elaborating on the criteria for identifying the "small group" exhibiting morphological variation, and perhaps exploring other potential social or contextual factors that might play a role if the prominent ones do not. This study provides a solid empirical basis for further inquiry into the intricate mechanisms of language variation in a vibrant multilingual setting.

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