Analysing the Singapore ICE Corpus for Lexicographic Evidence

Abstract

The Singapore component of the International Corpus of English is analyzed for lexicographic data that can be incorporated into learners' dictionaries. At present, the Singapore component is a raw corpus of about one million words. In Singapore, English is a de facto lingua franca & increasingly a first language. Singapore English features local usages that are nonstandard elsewhere but are stable & standard in the community. It is argued that these usages should not simply be dismissed as errors. A framework is proposed for their incorporation, with suitable contextual information, into the learners' dictionary. The framework groups words into concentric circles based on origin & formality. Group A is Core English. Group B embraces English words usable in all contexts with special local sense, eg, airflown 'airfreighted'. Group C includes non-English words usable in formal settings. Group D consists of informal, spoken-register English words, eg, half-past-six idea 'half-baked idea'. Group E contains non-English words used in informal registers. A dictionary with this framework can incorporate the words descriptively while satisfying prescriptivist concerns. L. Lagerquist.