Cover not available

In:The Evolution of Englishes: The Dynamic Model and beyond
Edited by Sarah Buschfeld, Thomas Hoffmann, Magnus Huber and Alexander Kautzsch
[Varieties of English Around the World G49] 2014
► pp. 401–419

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Yesterday’s founder population, today’s Englishes

The role of the Peranakans in the (continuing) evolution of Singapore English

Published online: 12 September 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g49.23lim
This paper highlights a less well known player in the contact dynamics involved in the evolution of Singapore English (SgE): the Peranakans – descendants of 18th / 19th-century southern Chinese traders in Malaya and local women, who became a prestigious minority group. As multilingual, early English adopters, and dominant in the ecology, the Peranakans demonstrate the significance of a founder population, in how their features – here, their original vernacular Baba Malay via Peranakan English – are persistent and influential in the evolution of contact varieties in a multilingual ecology. This paper also considers the current positioning of the Peranakans in their 21st-century revival in the changed sociolinguistic context of Singapore and what this means for the current and future evolution of SgE.
References (82)
Adelaar, K.A. & Prentice, D.J. 1996. Malay: Its history, role and spread. In Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, S.A. Wurm, P. Mühlhäusler & D.T. Tryon (eds), 673–693. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ansaldo, U. 2004. The evolution of Singapore English: Finding the matrix. In L. Lim (ed.), 127–149.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009a. Contact Languages. Ecology and Evolution in Asia [Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009b. The Asian typology of English: Theoretical and methodological considerations. In L. Lim & N. Gisborne (eds), 133–148.
. 2011. The Asian typology of English: Theoretical and methodological considerations. In L. Lim & N. Gisborne (eds), 11–26.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ansaldo, U., Lim, L. & Mufwene, S.S. 2007. The sociolinguistic history of the Peranakans: What it tells us about ‘creolization’. In Deconstructing Creole [Typological Studies in Language 73], U. Ansaldo, S.J. Matthews & L. Lim (eds), 203–226. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ansaldo, U. & Matthews, S.J. 1999. The Minnan substrate and creolization in Baba Malay. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 27(1): 38–68.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aye, K.K. 2005. Bazaar Malay: History, Grammar and Contact. Unpublished PhD dissertation, National University of Singapore.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bloom, D. 1986. The English language in Singapore: A critical survey. In Singapore Studies, B.K. Kapur (ed.), 337–458. Singapore: Singapore University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braga-Blake, M. 1992. Eurasians in Singapore: An overview. In Singapore Eurasians, M. Braga-Blake (ed.), 11–23. Singapore: Eurasian Association / Times Editions.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, C.C. Jr. & Au, C.-P. 2004. Tone assignment in second language prosodic learning. Paper presented at Speech Prosody 2004. Nara, Japan. [URL] (05 February 2009).
Chia, S.H. 1977. An investigation into language use among Secondary Four pupils in Singapore. In The English Language in Singapore, W. Crewe (ed.), 157–170. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Curnow, T.J. 2001. What language features can be ‘borrowed’? In Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative Linguistics, A.Y. Aikhenvald & R.M.W. Dixon (eds), 412–436. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Department of Statistics Singapore. 2013. Census of Population 2010 Statistical Release 1: Demographic Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion. [URL] (07 February 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Earl, G.W. 1837. The Eastern Seas or Voyages and Adventures in the Indian Archipelago in 1832–33–34. London: Allen & Co.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gensler, O. & Gil, D. (eds). To appear. Malay / Indonesian Linguistics. London: Curzon Press.
Goedemans, R. & van Zanten, E. To appear. Stress and accent in Indonesian. In Malay / Indonesian Linguistics,O. Gensler & D. Gil (eds), 35–62. London: Curzon Press.
Good, J. 2004a. Split prosody and creole simplicity: The case of Saramaccan. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics 3(1): 11–30.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004b. Tone and accent in Saramaccan: Charting a deep split in the phonology of a language. Lingua 114(4): 575–619. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. A twice-mixed creole? Tracing the history of a prosodic split in the Saramaccan lexicon. Ms, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology,Leipzig.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gupta, A.F. 1994. The Step-Tongue: Children’s English in Singapore. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gussenhoven, C. 2004. The Phonology of Tone and Intonation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gut, U. 2005. Nigerian English prosody. English World-Wide 26(2): 153–177. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gwee, T.H.W. 1993. Mas Sepuloh: Baba Conversational Gems. Singapore: Armour Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. A Baba Malay Dictionary. Singapore: The Peranakan Association; Tuttle Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ho, M.L. & Platt, J. 1993. Dynamics of a Contact Continuum: Singaporean English. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kouwenberg, S. 2004. The grammatical function of Papiamentu tone. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics 3(2): 55–69.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kwan-Terry, A. 2000. Language shift, mother tongue, and identity in Singapore. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 143(1): 85–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kwok, K.W. 2000. Singapore. In The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas, L. Pan (ed.), 200–217. Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre & Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Le Page, R. & Tabouret-Keller, A. 1986. Acts of Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, W., Saravanan, V. & Ng, L.H.J. 1997. Language shift in the Teochew community in Singapore: A family domain analysis. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 18(5): 364–384. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lien, C. 2001. The semantic extension of tioh8 in Taiwanese Southern Min. Language and Linguistics 2(2): 173–202.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, L. 2004. Sounding Singaporean. In L. Lim (ed.), 19–56.
. 2007. Mergers and acquisitions: On the ages and origins of Singapore English particles. World Englishes 27(4): 446–473. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009a. Revisiting English prosody: (Some) New Englishes as tone languages? In L. Lim & N. Gisborne (eds), 219–240.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009b. Beyond fear and loathing in SG: The real mother tongues and language policies in multilingual Singapore. In Multilingual, Globalizing Asia: Implications for Policy and Education,L. Lim & E.-L. Low (eds), AILA Review 22: 52–71.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010a. Migrants and ‘mother tongues’: Extralinguistic forces in the ecology of English in Singapore. In English in Singapore: Modernity and Management [Asian Englishes Today], L. Lim, A. Pakir & L. Wee (eds), 19–54. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010b. Peranakan English in Singapore. In D. Schreier et al. (eds), 327–347.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Revisiting English prosody: (Some) New Englishes as tone languages? In L. Lim & N. Gisborne (eds), 97–118.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, L. & Ansaldo, U. 2013. Singlish structure dataset. In Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online, S.M. Michaelis, P. Maurer, M. Haspelmath & M. Huber (eds). Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] ( 07 February 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, L. & Foley, J.A. 2004. English in Singapore and Singapore English. In L. Lim (ed.), 1–18.
Lim, L. & Tan, Y.Y. 2001. How are we stressed?! Phonetic correlates and stress placement in Singaporean English. In Proceedings of PTLC2001: Phonetics Teaching and Learning Conference 2001, J.A. Maidment & E. Estebas i Vilaplana (eds), 27–30. London: University College London.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, L. (ed.). 2004. Singapore English: A Grammatical Description. [Varieties of English Around the World G33]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, L. & Gisborne, N. (eds). 2009. The Typology of Asian Englishes [Special Issue of English World-Wide 30(2)]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(eds). 2011. The Typology of Asian Englishes [Benjamins Current Topics 33]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lim, S. 1988. Baba Malay: The language of the “Straits-born” Chinese. In Papers in Western Austronesian Linguistics No. 3 [Pacific Linguistics Series A, No. 78], H. Steinhauer (ed.), 1–61. Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, G. 1999. Singapore: A Pictorial History 1819–2000. Singapore: National Heritage Board and Editions Didier Miller.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lock, G. 1982. The Chinese language in Singapore – Status and features. Language Learning and Communication 1(3): 233–344.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Low, E.-L. 2000. Is lexical stress placement different in Singapore English and British English? In The English Language in Singapore, A. Brown, D. Deterding & E.-L. Low (eds), 22–34. Singapore: Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luke, K.-K. 2000. Phonological re-interpretation: The assignment of Cantonese tones to English words. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Chinese Linguistics, National University of Singapore.
. 2008. Stress and intonation in Hong Kong English. Paper presented at the 14th Conference of the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE), Hong Kong.
Matthews, S.J. & Yip, V. 1994. Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McArthur, T. 2003. English as an Asian language. English Today 19(2): 19–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mesthrie, R. 1992. English in Language Shift. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mufwene, S.S. 2001. The Ecology of Language Evolution [Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Language Evolution: Contact, Competition and Change. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nathan, J. 1922. The Census of British Malaysia, 1921. London: Waterloo & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ng, E.-C. 2011. Reconciling stress and tone in Singaporean English. In Asian Englishes: Changing Perspectives in a Globalised World, L.J. Zhang, R. Rubdy & L. Alsagoff (eds), 48–59. Singapore: Pearson Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Chinese meets Malay meets English: Origins of Singaporean English word-final high tone. International Journal of Bilingualism 16(1): 83–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Platt, J. & Weber, H. 1980. English in Singapore and Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Platt, J., Weber, H. & Ho, M.L. 1983. Singapore and Malaysia [Varieties of English Around the World T4]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Remijsen, B. 2001. Word Prosodic Systems of Raja Ampat Languages. Utrecht: LOT.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Remijsen, B. & van Heuven, V.J. 2005. Stress, tone and discourse prominence in Curaçao Papiamentu. Ms, Leiden University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rivera-Castillo, Y. & Pickering, L. 2004. Phonetic correlates of stress and tone in a mixed system. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 19(2): 261–284. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rudolph, J. 1998. Reconstructing Identities. A Social History of the Babas in Singapore. Aldershot, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Co.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sasi Rekha, d/o M. 2007. A Description of Singapore Indian Malay: A Pidgin’s Pidgin. MA thesis, National University of Singapore.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schneider, E.W. 2003. The dynamics of New Englishes: From identity construction to dialect birth. Language 79(2): 233–281. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World [Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schreier, D., Trudgill, P., Schneider, E.W. & Williams, J.P. (eds). 2010. The Lesser Known Varieties of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simon, C. 2010. Baba Bling: Domestic signs of prosperity in Singapore– Review. Guardian Weekly. 19 October 2010. [URL] (03 March 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Song, O.S. 1923. One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore. London: John Murray. Reprinted 1967, Singapore: University of Malaya Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tan, C.B. 1988a. The Baba of Malacca. Culture and Identity of a Peranakan Community in Malaysia. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Pelanduk Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1988b. Structure and change: Cultural identity of the Baba of Melaka. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 144(2): 297–314. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tongue, R.K. 1974. The English of Singapore and Malaysia. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsao, F.-F. 2001. The semantics and syntax of verbal and adjectival reduplication in Mandarin and Taiwanese Southern Min. In Sinitic Grammar: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives, H. Chappell (ed.), 285–308. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, G. 1991. China and the Chinese Overseas. Singapore: Times Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wee, K.S.G. 2000. Intonation of the Babas: An Auditory and Instrumental Approach. BA Honours thesis, National University of Singapore.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wee, L.H. 2008. Phonological patterns in the Englishes of Singapore and Hong Kong. World Englishes 27(3–4): 480–501. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wee, L. 2003. Linguistic instrumentalism in Singapore. Journal of Multilingualism and Multicultural Development 24(3): 211–224. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Eurasian English. In D. Schreier et al. (eds), 313–326.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yahoo! News. 2012. SMRT ends trial on station announcements in Mandarin. Yahoo! News. 9 December2012. [URL] (03 March 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yap, K.H. 2008. Here’s re-looking at you, Bibik. The Straits Times. 02 February2008.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (8)

Cited by eight other publications

Koad, Phitsinee & Thanapas Dejpawuttikul
2025. The pursuit of history of Thai Peranakan Chinese and their translocal identity in the Malay-Thai peninsula. Cogent Arts & Humanities 12:1 DOI logo
Peters, Pam
2025. Dictionaries of Outer Circle Englishes. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Leo, Angela Rumina & Maya Khemlani David
2023. Malaysian creole: an attitudinal analysis of private university undergraduates. Asian Englishes 25:3 ► pp. 296 ff. DOI logo
Stell, Gerald
2022. Contact and Innovation in New Englishes: Ethnic Neutrality in Namibianfaceandgoat. Journal of English Linguistics 50:2 ► pp. 169 ff. DOI logo
Stell, Gerald
2025. The ‘Coloured’ connection of Namibian English. World Englishes 44:1-2 ► pp. 127 ff. DOI logo
Lim, Lisa & Umberto Ansaldo
2021. Foundings and futures. In Variation Rolls the Dice [Contact Language Library, 59], ► pp. 243 ff. DOI logo
WEE, Lian-Hee
2017. The Hong Kong English Syllable Structure. In Researching Chinese English: the State of the Art [Multilingual Education, 22], ► pp. 33 ff. DOI logo
Lim, Lisa
2016. The art of losing. In Endangered Languages and Languages in Danger [IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society, 42], ► pp. 283 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue