SUBJECT AND TOPIC IN COLLOQUIAL SINGAPORE ENGLISH

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is to investigate topicalised structures with emphasis on those not found in standard English (StdE). The inability of island constraints to account for certain topicalised constructions in Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) will be demonstrated. Semantics, in the form of a framework of possible relations for topic and subject, will be postulated to help account for the occurrences of constructions ruled out by Ross' Constraints. Chapter One lays down the scope of this research and looks at previous research on SCE. It also offers some description of SCE and provides a brief outline of subsequent chapters. The validity of a study on a variety that lacks adequate documentation can only be obtained with respect to some data collected. Chapter Two discusses the nature and source of data as well as some procedural problems faced. This chapter also discusses some observations made about the informants and the limitations of the data. Chapter Three looks at how topic and subject have been defined by other writers, and how a topicalised construction will be viewed in this thesis -- as a topic-comment sequence or a modifier-modified sequence. Definitions of topic and subject as these terms will be used in this thesis are given m Chapter Four, which also looks at the possibility of topicalisation of various constituents in SCE. It also offers a look into how Ross' Constraints fail to operate in certain SCE constructions. Chaffin and Herrmann's framework, which consists mainly of lexical relations is explicated in Chapter Five together with some referential relations. The referential relations serve to illustrate the need for the inclusion of referentially-related categories when dealing with topic and subject relations. The concept of frames and the semantic constraints governing the acceptability of topicalised constructions are motivated in Chapter Six. It discusses the application of these constraints to account for the acceptable topicalised SCE constructions. It also presents the salient differences between topic and focus using the notion of frames. Chapter Seven summarises the findings and proposes some areas for further research which would lead to a greater understanding of this variety of English.