I happened to search the word "Singlish" and it returns a website where its writing is hybrid between a professional and an Ah Beng.
If the picture is not nice:
Acrolect (standard) "this person's Singlish is very good."
Mesolect "Dis guy Singlish damn powerful one leh"
Basilect "Dis guy Singlish si beh powerful sia. Hoh seh liao lah! Damn steady wan la."
Immediately I class myself in the last category. From the way I blog and talk you can see I am always using the "Basilect" way of professional Singlish. Let me recall and give you a list of friend that I classify them in this category.
Acrolect: Benjamin (evoy P), Jocelyn, Edwind (ppl here often had accent)
Mesolect: Geena, Babe, Simon, Felicia, Hanz, Orange ...
Basilect: Geraldina, Guo An, Shi Hao(more of the man fall in here)
It is stated that we had the ability to code switch between them during interviews, presentation and formal setting. Tend to revere back during informal setting. Cool right.
- Nia is originated from Hokkien which means 'only', mostly used to play down something that has been overestimated
- "Then you know" is a phrase often used at the end of a sentence or after a warning of the possible negative consequences of an action. Can be directly translate as "and you will regret not heeding my advice".
- sia, is used to express envy and for emphasis. The term "siah" is derived from Hokkien which consists of two words 'si' (literrally die) and 'ah' (a form of exclamation)
Still got a lot, can read in wiki. But leh, I believe that English is not how well you sound or speak. It is how well you make people understand you. Haha
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