Singaporean Hokkien^[c] is a local variety of theHokkien language spoken natively inSingapore. Within Chinese linguistic academic circles, this dialect is known asSin-ka-pho Ban-lam Gu.^[d][6][7] It bears similarities with theAmoy dialect inXiamen andTaiwanese Hokkien inTaiwan.^[8]

Hokkien is theSouthern Min pronunciation for the province ofFujian, and is generally the term used by theChinese in Southeast Asia to refer to the Quanzhang dialects.^[e] Singaporean Hokkien heavily views the Amoy dialect as itsprestige, and its accent is predominantly based on a mixture ofQuanzhou andZhangzhou speech, with a greater inclination towards the former instead of the latter.

Nevertheless, the grammar and tones of Singaporean Hokkien are still largely based on standard Hokkien. When compared to the prestigeTaiwanese accent^[f] spoken inTainan andKaohsiung, the accent and pronunciation of Singaporean Hokkien inclines towardsQuanzhou, which is also close to the pronunciation ofTaipei andXiamen, and is less close to that ofTainan, which has a greater inclination towardsZhangzhou.^[g]

Like many spoken languages in Singapore, Singaporean Hokkien is influenced by other languages or dialects spoken in Singapore. For instance, Singaporean Hokkien is influenced to a certain degree byTeochew, and is sometimes regarded by non-Singaporean speakers as a combined Hokkien–Teochew speech. In addition, it incorporates manyloanwords from Singapore's four official languages:English,Malay,Mandarin andTamil. Because of its historical prevalence in Singapore, Singaporean Hokkien has also exertedsignificant influence on the Singaporean variant of Mandarin.

From the 19th until the early half of the 20th century, there was a large influx of Chinese migrants from southern China into Singapore. This led toChinese constituting almost 75% of Singapore's population. Of these Chinese, many originated from the regions ofAmoy/Xiamen,Quanzhou andZhangzhou inFujian province. They broughtSouthern Min to Singapore, which was then propagated throughout the Malayan region. As there was no formal Chinese name for Southern Min in the early 20th century, these migrants began to use their place of origin as the name of their speech, and thus called the dialect "Hokkien", referring to Fujian province.

During the 19th century, many traditional private Chinese schools in Singapore (referred to as私塾仔;su-sio̍k-á) generally used Hokkien to teachChinese classics andClassical Chinese. However, by the early 20th century, Mandarin began to replace Hokkien as the medium of instructions in Chinese schools after the founding of many Mandarin-medium schools.

During the 1950s and 1960s, many political speeches in Singapore were in Hokkien, in order to reach out to theChinese community in Singapore. There was also a thriving Hokkien cultural scene that included Hokkien story-telling, opera, and media in Singapore.

After 1979, the Singapore government began to push for the use of Mandarin in Singapore, spearheaded by theSpeak Mandarin Campaign. Following this, the Singapore government also began to employ a more stringent censorship, or ban, of Hokkien media in the Singaporean Chinese media. Consequently, all Hokkien-language media in Singapore had to be dubbed in Mandarin before being allowed to stream on national TV.

In addition, the 1980s saw Chinese-medium education replaced by that in English, causing English to emerge as the most widely used language in Singapore. The emergence of the English language, coupled with heavy promotion of Mandarin, generally led Hokkien to decline in Singapore after 1979.

Today, thelingua franca of theChinese community in Singapore isMandarin. Although Hokkien is still widely spoken in Singapore today, it is not as widespread as before and is mostly restricted to the older generations. The most common places to hear Hokkien spoken in Singapore are at the country'shawker centres orkopi tiams.

Speaking ability varies amongst the different age groups of the Hokkien Singaporeans. The elderly are generally able to communicate effectively in Hokkien. On the other hand, the middle and younger generations, while generally proficient, have generally lost the ability to communicate as fluently. However, when it comes to using profanities, majority of the younger generation, even among non-Chinese Singaporeans, listed Hokkien as the first out of all languages and dialects. With the Speak Mandarin Campaign from the government, the Hokkien speaking population has been on a gradual decline.

There is, however, groups of Hokkien Singaporeans working to help preserve, spread and revive the use of Singaporean Hokkien in the country.^[9]

The ease of access to online Hokkien entertainment media and pop music from the internet has helped to connect to the language and culture. Many Singaporeans are increasingly using online and social media platforms to learn, discuss, meet, and interact with each other in Hokkien.^[9]

Note: In this article, theTâi-lô romanization system is used.

When Singaporeans speak Hokkien, they do so with various accents and tones largely fromTong'an,Anxi,Nan'an,Kinmen as well asYongchun,Jinjiang,Longhai City and SouthernZhangzhou accents. In practice, it is common for Singaporeans to mix English conjunctions such as "and" into a Hokkien sentence. Some would includehonn (乎) (an exclamatory remark inJinjiang /Nan'an), in addition to the widely used Hokkien exclamatory particlesla (啦) orloo (囉).

In saying years or numbers, Singaporean Hokkien normally does not differentiate between literary (文讀音) or vernacular (白讀音) readings of Chinese characters. In Taiwan or Amoy, a distinction is usually made. For instance, the year1980 would be said with a literary pronunciation (一九八空年;it kiú pat khòng nî); but in Singapore, no differentiation is made and is pronounced as otherwise vernacularit káu pueh khòng nî.

As another instance, Taiwanese would speak telephone numbers using literary readings, whereas Singaporeans would use vernacular ones instead. For example, the telephone number98444678 will be pronounced in Taiwan askiú pat sù sù sù lio̍k tshit pat, where in Singaporean Hokkien it would be pronounced askáu pueh sì-sì sì la̍k tshit pueh.

In Singaporean Hokkien, as compared to Quanzhou (whose accent Hokkien usually inclines toward), Zhangzhou,Amoy orTaiwanese, which pronounce the voweling—there is a vowel change froming (/iŋ/ or/iəŋ/) toeng (/eŋ/ or/ɛŋ/). This change is similar to pronunciation in regions south of Zhangzhou—Dongshan,Yunxiao,Zhangpu,Pinghe,Zhao'an counties (southern Zhangzhou accent)—and inTeochew and Cantonese.

Below is a table illustrating the difference:

In Amoy Hokkien pronunciation,我 (lit. 'I/me') is pronounced as/ɡua˥˨/; but in Singapore, it is pronounced as/wa˥˨/, which is alleged by some to have been influenced by the Teochew pronunciation/ua˥˨/ although other dialects likePutianese and some regional Hokkien dialects including most Taiwanese Hokkien dialects also pronounce it as/ua˥˨/.

There are some differences between the sentence structure used by Singaporean Hokkien and by Amoy/Taiwanese Hokkien.

For instance, when asking a question "do you want to...?", Singaporean Hokkien typically uses the sentence structure愛……莫？ (ai…mài?), whereas Taiwan uses欲……無？ (beh…bô?). The word愛 (ai) is commonly used in Singaporean Hokkien to mean "want to", but in Amoy Hokkien and Taiwan Hokkien, the word欲/卜 (beh) (which means "want" in Hokkien) is used instead.愛 (ai) in Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien it typically means "love to" or "need to".

Also, unlike Taiwanese Hokkien—which typically uses the word敢 (kám) (meaning "whether or not") when asking a question, which is more formal or polite—Singaporean Hokkien does not use the word敢 (kám). Instead, it simply adds the word無 (bô) at the end of the sentence to indicate that it is a question (similar to Mandarin's嗎 (ma) or adds a Cantonese intonation咩 (me1) at the end. Adding the word無 (bô) at the end of a sentence is also used in Taiwanese Hokkien, when one is asking a question in an informal way.

The following list shows the colloquial readings of the numerals used to count objects.

Most ordinal numbers are formed by adding第 (tē) in front of a cardinal number. In some cases, the literary reading of the number must then be used. For example,第一 =tē-it,第二 =tē-jī.

There are minor differences between Singaporean Hokkien andAmoy orTaiwanese in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.Amoy andTaiwanese bear close resemblance, and are usually considered the prestige dialect of Hokkien, differing only in terms ofvocabulary.

Although Singaporean Hokkien is similar toAmoy orTaiwanese, there exist certain unique Singaporean Hokkien words, which are different from those two aforementioned dialects.

There are some words used in Singaporean Hokkien that are the same in Taiwanese Hokkien, but are pronounced differently.

Because Singapore is a multilingual country, Singaporean Hokkien has been influenced by many other languages spoken in Singapore. As a result, there are many non-Hokkien words that have been imported into Singaporean Hokkien, such as those from Malay, Teochew, Cantonese, and English.

There are words in Singaporean Hokkien that originated from other Chinese variants spoken in Singapore.

The following are the common Malay loanwords used in Singaporean Hokkien. Most of them are also used in Amoy.

There are also many English loanwords used in Singaporean Hokkien. They are usually used when the speaker does not know the Hokkien equivalent. Some of these English terms are related to working and living in Singapore

Certaincolloquial pronunciations of Singaporean Hokkien words are directly inherited from theconsonant system ofOld Chinese. Hokkien did not experience a great phonological change throughout the transition period fromOld Chinese toMiddle Chinese.

Min dialects, including Hokkien, preserved a unique feature ofOld Chinese: it does not havelabiodental consonants. For instance, the word "分" is pronounced asfen in Mandarin, but aspun in Hokkien. This marks a major difference betweenOld Chinese andMiddle Chinese.^[11]

HokkloTaoist priests are the largest group amongTaoist clergy community in Singapore, they had always conduct their religious services in Hokkien and still continue to do so. MostTangki or Chinese mediums from Hokkien temples also communicate in Hokkien during spiritual consultation. Some of the Chinese Buddhist temples in Singapore continue to recite theBuddhist scriptures in Hokkien during their daily worship services. The scriptures contain Singapore-style Hokkien romanization are available to assist during the scriptural recitation. There are also Hokkien Buddhist sermons CDs made available and distribute among Hokkien communities in Singapore and overseas. Some of the Chinese Christian churches in Singapore also have services conducted in Singaporean Hokkien.

There exist Singaporean Hokkien writings, folk adages, and ballads written by early Chinese immigrants to Singapore.

Amongst the folk ballads, a few outstanding writings tell of the history and hardship of early Chinese immigrants to Singapore.

There are 18 sections in the poetry ballad "行船歌" (Hâng-tsûn-kua) ("Songs of traveling on a boat"), which talks about how early immigrants migrated to Singapore.

There is another ballad called "砰嘭水中流" (Pin-pong-tsúi-tiong-lâu) ("Flow in the midst of water"):

乞

kih

涸

kok

木

bo̍k

爲

ūi

舟，

tsiu

乞 涸 木 爲 舟，

kih kok bo̍k ūi tsiu

砰

pin

嘭

pong

水

tsúi

中

tiong

流，

lâu

砰 嘭 水 中 流，

pin pong tsúi tiong lâu

門雙

mn̂g-siang

劃槳，

u̍ih-hiúnn

門雙 劃槳，

mn̂g-siang u̍ih-hiúnn

噝

si

刷

suit

到

kàu

泉州。

tsuân-tsiu

噝 刷 到 泉州。

si suit kàu tsuân-tsiu

An example of a folk love ballad is "雪梅思君" (Suat-m̂-su-kun) ("Snow and plum thinking of a gentlemen"), on the loyalty and chastity of love.^[12]

An example of love poetry is "針線情" (tsiam-suànn-tsiânn） ("The emotions of needle and thread"):

你

lí

是

sī

針，

tsiam,

我

guá

是

sī

線，

suànn,

針線

tsiam-suànn

永遠

éng-uán

黏

liâm

相

siòng

倚。

uá

你 是 針， 我 是 線， 針線 永遠 黏 相 倚。

lí sī tsiam, guá sī suànn, tsiam-suànn éng-uán liâm siòng uá

人

lâng

講

kóng

針

tsiam

補

póo

針

tsiam

也

hiam

著

tio̍h

線，

suànn,

爲何

ūi-hô

放

pàng

阮

gún

咧

leh

孤單。

koo-tuann

人 講 針 補 針 也 著 線， 爲何 放 阮 咧 孤單。

lâng kóng tsiam póo tsiam hiam tio̍h suànn, ūi-hô pàng gún leh koo-tuann

啊！

Ah,

你

lí

我

guá

本

pún

是

sī

同

tâng

被單，

phuē-tuann,

怎樣

tsuánn-iūnn

來

lâi

拆散？

thiah-suànn

啊！ 你 我 本 是 同 被單， 怎樣 來 拆散？

Ah, lí guá pún sī tâng phuē-tuann, tsuánn-iūnn lâi thiah-suànn

有

ū

針

tsiam

無

bô

爲

suànn

叫

kiò

阮

gún

要

ài

按怎，

an-tsuánn,

思念

su-liām

心情

sim-tsiânn

無帶

bô-tè

看。

khuànn

有 針 無 爲 叫 阮 要 按怎， 思念 心情 無帶 看。

ū tsiam bô suànn kiò gún ài an-tsuánn, su-liām sim-tsiânn bô-tè khuànn

Singapore also heldGetai during traditional Chinese festivals, for instance theZhong Yuan Festival. During theGetai event, it is common to speak a number of Chinese dialects, includingHokkien,Teochew, andCantonese. During the 1960s, Hokkien song was particularly popular. The Singapore Hokkien star Chen Jin Lang (陳金浪) was once thecompere and main singer during the Hungry Ghost Festival. His famous song "10 levels of Hades" ("十殿閻君") was especially popular.

Early Singaporean Hokkien opera had its origins inGaojia opera, which was brought fromQuanzhou to Singapore during the late 19th century. In 1927, the TaiwaneseGezai opera spread to Singapore. Because its lyrics and singing style were easier to understand, it made a great impact on Singapore. Consequently, by the mid 20th century, it had replacedGaojia opera to become the mainstream Hokkien opera in Singapore.

Currently, Singapore Hokkien opera is performed by two older troupes—Sin Sai Hong Hokkien Opera Troupe (新賽風閩劇團) and Xiao Kee Lin Hokkien Opera Troupe (筱麒麟閩劇團)—and three newer troupes—Sio Gek Leng Hokkien Opera Troupe (筱玉隆閩劇團), Ai Xin Hokkien Opera Troupe (愛心歌仔戲團), and Do Opera [Hokkien] (延戲[福建歌仔戲]), which is the newest.

A Singapore Chinese opera school nurtures talents in opera, including Hokkien opera.

Singaporean movies that heavily use Hokkien began to appear in the late 1990s, notably by dubbing in Hokkien mainstream Chinese movies made in Singapore. Amongst these, local movies such asI Not Stupid,I Not Stupid Too,Singapore Dreaming andMoney No Enough were popular. These movies often reflected the social environment of local Singaporeans.

Although Singapore radios started to ban Hokkien in the 1980s,Rediffusion Singapore continued to broadcast in Hokkien and greatly contributed to the culture of Singapore. For instance, the Hokkien story-telling programAmoy folks story (廈語民間故事), byKoh Sock May (許淑梅), was very popular.

Nanyin (Southern Music) first spread to Singapore in 1901.^[13] Many immigrants from Quanzhou began to establish various Nanyin organizations.

Those which survive include theSiong Leng Musical Association, which was established in 1941. It was responsible for promoting Nanyin, as well asLiyuan opera. In 1977, the then chairman of the association, Ting Ma Cheng (丁馬成), advocated for the ASEAN Nanyin Performance (亞細安南樂大會奏), which helped to revive Nanyin. In addition, in order to educate young people about this performance art, he also published two books on Nanyin andLiyuan opera.^[14]

Currently, theSiong Leng Musical Association is led by Ding Honghai (丁宏海), and it continues to promote Nanyin in Singapore.

There are some letters written inPe̍h-ōe-jī from early Hokkien migrants in Singapore.

An example was provided by the descendant of Tan Book Hak, a cousin ofTan Kah Kee.^[15]

Singapore's Chinese name "新加坡" (Sin-ka-pho) comes from the Hokkien transliteration of "Singapore". Many other place names in Singapore also have origins in Hokkien, often mixed with Malay. For example,Ang Mo Kio "宏茂橋" (Âng-mô͘-kiô) means "red-haired man's bridge",Toa Payoh "大巴窯" (Tōa Pa-iô) combines Hokkien "toa" meaning big with Malay "paya" meaning swamp, andTiong Bahru "中峇魯" (Tiong-bā-ló͘) comes from Hokkien "tiong" meaning cemetery and Malay "bahru" meaning new.^[16]

• Chua, B. H. (2000).Taiwan's present/Singapore's past mediated by Hokkien language. Singapore: Dept. of Sociology, National University of Singapore.ISBN 981-3033-43-6.
• Douglas, Carstairs (2020).Chinese English dictionary of the vernacular or spoken language of Amoy: with the principal variations of the Chang-Chew and Chin-Chew dialects = Xia Ying ci dian. Taipei: SMC.ISBN 978-957-9482-32-5.
• 周长楫、周清海 (2002).新加坡闽南话词典 [Singaporean Hokkien Dictionary] (in Chinese). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.ISBN 7-5004-3530-4.
• 周长楫、周清海 (2000).新加坡闽南话概说 [Survey of Singaporean Hokkien] (in Chinese). Xiamen: Xiamen University Press.ISBN 7-5615-1692-4.
• 周长楫、周清海 (2003).新加坡闽南话俗语歌谣选 [Hokkien Folks Songs of Singapore] (in Chinese). Xiamen: Xiamen University Press.ISBN 7-5615-2158-8.

• Holopedia - Wikipedia in Peh-oe-ji (Wikipedia in Hokkien)
• Online Hokkien Forum (in English)
• 閩南人 The Hokkiens——新加坡國家圖書館館藏選介

• Chinese languages in Singapore
• Hokkien-language dialects
• Languages of Singapore

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