THE GRAMMAR OF AH" IN SINGLISH"

Abstract

Ah, one of the many salient discourse particles in Singlish, could be spoken with either a rising or falling intonation. The ah with the falling tone alone serves several different functions in different contexts. Chapter One briefly outlines the various functions of this ah. The ah bearing the function of a question marker is then singled out to be analysed in terms of its grammar. The- essence of this study thus does not lie in the discussion of the uses of ah but rather in the findings pertaining to the grammar of a particular variant of ah carrying the function of a question-marker. Chapter Two presents the analysis of the question-marker ah. Generalizations are captured from the data collected and the grammar of ah is described in terms of representations and principles. Notably, two relatively broad issues have been touched on in this study: the distribution of old-new information in ah-particled utterances and the topic of ah-particled utterances. The Chinese languages in Singapore have been identified as the possible source of ah. Chapter Three closes the discussion with a note on the significance and implications of this study and some suggestions with regard to the areas deserving further investigation.