Actually , i personally don't think most dialect will
be extinct in singapore soon.
With more and more foreigner coming in sg..
Singapore will be having more language :D
Like me ... Previous years cannot find people speak with me
cantonese but now can find more and more hongkonger/malaysian in sg
to speak cantonese.
Hokkien is not a worry dialect also as you can major of us can
speak hokkien mix with english or chinese which come out
singlish..
We should be worrying about losing the Real Of speaking of
"correct" Dialect and language instead as people tend to mix
language .. I admit i am 1 of them..
How you perceive most dialect won't be extinct soon?
When you say more and more foreigners coming in to Singapore,
they are not bringing in the
topolects of the south (namely the Cantonese
language family, the Min language family, the Hakka language
family)
But these foreigners are bringing in the
dialects of the Northern Mandarin language
into Singapore (namely Sichuan dialect, Hunan dialect, Hubei
dialect, Shandong dialect etc. etc. etc.)
So they are different. Thus the Southern topolects that
are spoken in Singapore is going into extinction. The
Cantonese example which you mentioned, have all along been
around, not just recently.
Hokkien is not a
worry dialect also as you can major of us can speak hokkien mix
with english or chinese which come out singlish..
We should be worrying about losing the Real Of speaking of
"correct" Dialect and language instead as people tend to mix
language .. I admit i am 1 of them..
This is exactly the reason why you don't think dialects will
extinct because you have a very "loose" definition of dialect.
For many persons now, even if I don't expect them to use Hokkien
or Hakka to discuss Microbiology or Law or Architecture, I do
not agree that not knowing such simple daily life words such as
"paws / claws", "ice", "chopsticks" to categories of words within
"utensils" , "name of veggies", "ways of cooking / boiling",
"insect names", "words of emotions" , "types of
occupation" are considered still proficient in dialect. It
is already a sign that the dialect is on its way one leg into the
coffin.
It is considered a Creole language, rather
than a dialect, as what you mentioned "mix with...".
