From dialect to Mandarin and English

Clivebenss SG

By Cai Haoxiang

THE use of Chinese dialects has dropped sharply in one generation.

The share of Chinese living here who speak mainly dialect at home has fallen to fewer than one in five.

Just 30 years ago, the figure was close to four in five.

Over the same period, the use of Mandarin and English has shot up.

Mandarin is today the language most frequently spoken at home for one in two Chinese residents. That places it in top spot, followed by English, which is the main language at home for one in three Chinese, according to just-released data from Census 2010.

But while growth in the share of English-speaking households has accelerated in the last decade, the growth of Mandarin-speaking households has slowed.

Clivebenss SG

dialects are dying out.

FireIce SG

languages are ever-evolving

the purpose of communication is tt the other party understands u and u understand him/her

no matter wat lang u use

dragg SG

please use the language of your 'own skin' at home.

use english only at work.

the french speak french at home. hongkongers speak cantonese at home. taiwanese speak chinese or hokkien at home. the japanese speaks japanese at home.

why do we singaporeans like to act ang moh?

it is time to come to your senses!

Pinknutri SG

please use the language of your 'own skin' at home.

use english only at work.

the french speak french at home. hongkongers speak cantonese at home. taiwanese speak chinese or hokkien at home. the japanese speaks japanese at home.

why do we singaporeans like to act ang moh?

it is time to come to your senses!

You are correct. My foreign friends told me that it is easy to tell who are the Singaporeans when we are abroad as only Singaporeans speak English to each other even though we are Chinese. Taiwanese, Hong Kongers and Chinese speak their own language to their own people even though they know how to speak English.

May be in their eyes, we are fake ang moh or try to be ang moh. Really no face. So remember, when we are abroad, speak mandarin or dialects to our own people so as not to lose face.

Ang moh also will think that we are trying to be them. Really no face.

Clivebenss SG

May be in their eyes, we are fake ang moh or try to be ang moh. Really no face. So remember, when we are abroad, speak mandarin or dialects to our own people so as not to lose face.

Ang moh also will think that we are trying to be them. Really no face.

Becos of the racial mix we speak English as a common medium. This sort of carry on even among our own race. Nothing to be ang moh or anything; it just happen.

The demise of local dialects worsen the situation, the younger generation have no roots to cling to and English is an easy way out. Mandarin may deem too difficult for some as it is of foreign origin (simplified northern dialect 白话).

tranquilice SG

Becos of the racial mix we speak English as a common medium. This sort of carry on even among our own race. Nothing to be ang moh or anything; it just happen.

It is because of government policy that we speak English as our common medium, nothing much to do with racial mix. Why you don't see Malaysians speaking English as the common medium, that is also due to their government policy.

If a Singaporean chinese think that Mandarin is too difficult for him to learn, then he is not fit to be chinese. It is his mother tongue afterall.

Vote PAP OUT to Save SG SG

I wonder why that anglo dog Harry Lee Kuan Yew is so determined to destroy chinese dialects in Singapore.

Such an evil bastard.

Pure Emptiness SG

I wonder why that anglo dog Harry Lee Kuan Yew is so determined to destroy chinese dialects in Singapore.

Such an evil bastard.

haha I agree.

Should promote an exercise save dialects from dying out movement.

Vote PAP OUT to Save SG SG

haha I agree.

Should promote an exercise save dialects from dying out movement.

have to wait until that bastard die first wah, otherwise he won't allow.

all the local cultures all declined because of that anglo dog mother fucker.

Pure Emptiness SG

His days are numbered.

Dun worry. We are moving on to a post Lee Kuan Yew Era soon.

PAP strongest Man days r numbered.

mancha SG

If a Singaporean chinese think that Mandarin is too difficult for him to learn, then he is not fit to be chinese. It is his mother tongue afterall.

Mandarin is whose mother tongue?

If a Chinese mother speaks Hokkien, or Cantonese, or TeowChew, what is the mother tongue of the children.

What if the government decrees that Cantonese should be the language of the Chinese. The Hokkien, Hainanese, Teowchew, who then can't speak Cantonese are not fit to be Chinese?

Lee Kuan Yew was asked why not Cantonese, when the government embarked on the Speak Mandarin campaign. His reply was: Yes if it will be, if Cantonese, or Hokkien is the main stream language.

So Mandarin is actually a chosen language, it is the language of the elite of ancient China, imposed on the minority, whose freedom to practice their own culture is "guaranteed" by the politicians.

Vote PAP OUT to Save SG SG

insecure little anglo bastard, that fucking Harry Lee Kuan Yew.

Fucking Japanese collaborator. Still want to pose as some fake chinese to con chinese people to support him.

cultureless bastard.

He himself is cultureless, now want to destroy other people's culture.

I despise people with no culture like Harry Lee Kuan Yew.

FireIce SG

Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｒａｃｅ．

ｔｈｅ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　（Ｌａｎｇ）　ｗｅ　ｓｐｅａｋ　ｎｏｗ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈｏｕｔ　ｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｉｓ　Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ　Ｄｉａｌｅｃｔ，ｗｉｔｈ　ｍｉｎｏｒ　ｖａｒｉａｔｉｏｎｓ　ａｃｃｏｒｄｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｌｏｃａｌｅ．

ｎｏ　ｄｏｕｂｔ　Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ　Ｄｉａｌｅｃｔ　ｉｓ　ｃｈｏｓｅｎ　ａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｆｆｉｃｉａｌ　＂Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　Ｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ＂ｂｃｏｓ　ｏｆ　ｉｔｓ　ｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃ，　ｓｏｃｉａｌ　ａｎｄ　ｐｏｌｉｔｉｃａｌ　ｓｔａｔｕｓ　ｓｉｎｃｅ　ｐｒｅ－ｍｏｄｅｒｎ　Ｃｈｉｎａ．

ｓｏ　ｉｔ　ｍｅａｎｓ，　ｔｈｅ　ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｗｅ　ａｒｅ　ｓｐｅａｋｉｎｇ　ｎｏｗ　ｉｓ　ａｌｓｏ　ａ　ｄｉａｌｅｃｔ．

BanguIzai SG

I never agreed that Mandarin is the mother tongue of Chinese from South China descent with Southern Chinese dialects as our original languages.

I don't even agree that South China people's mother tongues are those Standardized varieties of the regional language, such as a vague term like "Cantonese" which only denotes the Cantonese spoken by the people of the Kwongchau region around the Chyuekong tributary.

For Cantonese people, the mother tongue would be different types of Cantonese, for there are Sze-yap Cantonese people whose mother tongue will be Sze-yap Cantonese, Kwong-Si Cantonese people whose mother tongue will be Kwong-Si Cantonese, Shiu-kwan Cantonese people whose mother tongue will be Shiu-kwan Cantonese, Tung-kwun Cantonese people whose mother tongue will be Tung-kwun Cantonese, Hongkong Cantonese people whose mother tongue will be Hongkong Cantonese, and Kwongchau Cantonese people whose mother tongue will be Kwongchau Cantonese.

All these Cantonese regional varieties are not mutually intelligible to one another, therefore when people of different Cantonese regional varieties get together, they chose the "Cantonese" of Kwongchau region as the lingua franca to communicate with each other, but that doesn't mean the "Cantonese" of the Kwongchau region is their "Mother Tongue" and they do not use it as a means of daily communication at home nor in their region, unless with outsiders

Similarly, when different groups of Chinese in Singapore chose "Mandarin" of the Beijing region as the lingua franca to communicate with each other, it doesn't mean that "Mandarin" is / should be the "Mother Tongue" of the Chinese. It is just a tool to facilitate communication, and our "Mother Tongue" is still the different regional varieties of the different South China dialects.

mancha SG

So it is ok if the government tells you not to speak your dialect but to speak another dialect.

Clivebenss SG

So it is ok if the government tells you not to speak your dialect but to speak another dialect.

not ok, at least to me.

Anyway mandarin is not even a dialect, it is a degraded form of higher chinese, hence we cannot find roots in this simplified language.

BanguIzai SG

not ok, at least to me.

Anyway mandarin is not even a dialect, it is a degraded form of higher chinese, hence we cannot find roots in this simplified language.

She is referring to FireIce comments, not u la.

Recently Channel 8 show that youngsters signed up for and attend Teochew classes at Teochew Clan Association.

Within the Teochew community, there are already 4 main regional variety of Teochew already, namely the Teochew Old City variety, Swatow-Tenghai-Kekyeo Teochew variety, Teoyeo-Huilai-Pouleng Teochew variety and Haihong Teochew variety. Recently within the past 5 years in China, the regional authority at Swatow gradually imposed the Swatow Teochew variety to be used in news broadcast in the Teoyeo-Huilai-Pouleng local TV and caused an uproar in the area. This shows how passionate the people are towards their own dialects even when genetically similar dialects are imposed on one another.

How sad that the Chinese in Singapore are receiving the foreign, bastardized and degraded form of Northern Chinese as our "Mother Tongue". Pui.

Clivebenss SG

She is referring to FireIce comments, not u la.

Recently Channel 8 show that youngsters signed up for and attend Teochew classes at Teochew Clan Association.

How sad that the Chinese in Singapore are receiving the foreign, bastardized and degraded form of Northern Chinese as our "Mother Tongue". Pui.

oic.

yes, very sad isn't it?

BanguIzai SG

oic.

yes, very sad isn't it?

I always pity our fellow Singaporeans who can acknowledge Mandarin as the mother tongue of the Chinese, Malay as the mother tongue of the Malays, or Tamil as the mother tongue of the Indians. What rubbish. It's simply a propaganda which is brainwashed into the minds of our goonless people who simply don't have any idea of their own.