Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Singlish" in Indonesian language version.
Singlish vocabulary formally takes after British English (in terms of spelling and abbreviations), although naming conventions are in a mix of American and British ones (with American ones on the rise). For instance, local media have "sports pages" (sport in British English) and "soccer coverage" (the use of the word "soccer" is not common in British media). Singlish also uses many words borrowed from Hokkien, the Chinese variety native to more than 75% of the Chinese in Singapore, and from Malay. In many cases, English words take on the meaning of their Chinese counterparts, resulting in a shift in meaning. This is most obvious in such cases as "borrow"/"lend", which are functionally equivalent in Singlish and mapped to the same Mandarin word, "借" (jiè), which can mean to lend or to borrow. For example: "Oi, can I lend your calculator?" / "Can lend me your calculator?" This is technically incorrect in standard English but is widely used in Singlish.
Singaporean English or Singlish, as it is better known to the local populace, is an English creole that has long been a contesting issue between pro–Singlish and anti–Singlish proponents.
Singaporean English or Singlish, as it is better known to the local populace, is an English creole that has long been a contesting issue between pro–Singlish and anti–Singlish proponents.