IS THERE A SYSTEMATIC TAMIL SUB-VARIETY OF SINGAPORE ENGLISH?

Abstract

The present study covers three major areas. It examines if there is of Singapore English covers three major a rule governed sub-variety of Singapore English (SE), Singapore Tamil English (STE), discusses some of the characteristics of its nativization and thirdly, examines the issue of STE's sustainability. STE"s sustainability is discussed in relation to the socio-economic and political environment in which its speakers function. The systematicity of STE is examined in terms of two grammatical characteristics: the use of 'all' in STE and what may be termed the enumerative tendency. The results show that there is indeed a sub-variety of SE, STE, that is systematic. 'All' has acquired functions unique to STE. Moreover, its use is rule governed. For example, there are placement of 'all' in a sentence. rules governing the placement of ‘all’ in a sentence. The enumerative tendency in STE too, shows that SE has been further nativized by its Tamil speakers. The nativization process of STE shows that STE must be considered as an independent system, one which has evolved characteristics which can be explained fully not in terms of its feeder systems but only in terms of itself. Also it shows an aspect of the linguistico - cultural personality of the STE speaker. It is a personality that express itself in specific terms and yet simultaneously engages in the opposite-tendency of generalizing. In terms of STE"s sustainability, the results that emerge raise doubts about the existence of an STE speech community that can sustain its own sub-variety. This is because STE speakers display ambivalent attitudes: they are attracted to their own sub-variety and at the same time devalue it. The major significance of this study is that it shows a sub-variety of a new variety of English as being rule governed. In addition, the way in which ideological aspects of the environment shape the attitudes of the Tamil speakers of English and the consequences that follow are looked at. This provides crucial insights into the workings between language and society.