魔性“坡式英語”走紅

As an Asian country， Singapore has a reputation for being highly Westernized， with English among the countrys four official languages. But a couple of signs found on local buses that have recently gone viral online may say otherwise.

Quite different from the English we are familiar with， the signs read， for example， “Here cannot go in！” instead of “You cannot go in from here”， and “Here can charge phone！” instead of “You can charge your phone here”.

This language that resembles English is called Singaporean English， or “Singlish”.

The New York Times calls Singlish a “patchwork” because Singapore consists of migrants from a variety of countries， including China， India and Malaysia， and they all speak their own versions of “English”.

“Everyone who speaks it shapes it，” wrote the newspaper.

For example， in Singlish you can easily recognize influences from Chinese. It includes vocabulary such as “mee siam （rice noodle）” and “da bao （pack food to go）”. Sentence structures like “Toilet where？” instead of “Where is the toilet？” are also adapted from Chinese.

Interesting and diverse as it may seem， the trend for Singlish is worrying Singapores government. It is concerned that the dialect is lowering the countrys English standard and may affect its relationship with foreigners. It even launched the Speak Good English Movement.

But the movement didnt wipe out the problems as it aimed to. Instead， Singlish has thrived， especially among young people who think of it as a sign of being cool and a way to identify themselves as Singaporean.

But this doesnt mean that standard English is being abandoned by young people. In fact， they are much more capable than the government gives them credit for—many can speak both.

“We are a nation good at code-switching—we know that the way we speak to our friends or bus drivers （yes， often in Singlish） has to be different from how we present ourselves in the boardroom or at school，” wrote Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan， a Singaporean author， in Time magazine. “To actively urge us to give up a language that speaks to the very heart of who we are， that so beautifully represents the melting pot of Chinese， Indians， Malays and Eurasians that we are， is short-sighted， surely.”

新加坡作為一個亞洲國家，一直以來都以高度的西方化著稱，并將英語作為該國的四種官方語言之一。但是最近網絡爆紅的當地公交車上的標識，或許表明事實并非如此。

這些標識讀起來與我們所熟悉的英語有很大的不同，舉個例子，（牌子上寫著）“不可由此入內”的英文是“Here cannot go in！”而不是“You cannot go in from here”，以及“您可在此為手機充電”的英文寫作“Here can charge phone！”而不是“You can charge your phone here”。

這種與英語相類似的語言被稱為新加坡英語或者“坡式英語”。

《紐約時報》將“坡式英語”稱為“拼湊品”，因為新加坡有很多來自中國、印度和馬來西亞等多個國家的移民，他們都說著自己版本的英語。

“這一語言是由每一個講它的人塑造的。”該報寫道。

比如，你很容易發現中文對坡式英語的影響，包括“米線”和“打包”等詞匯。句式結構如“Toilet where？”（廁所在哪）也來源于中文。

盡管“坡式英語”看起來有趣且多元，但新加坡政府正為這一趨勢感到擔憂。他們擔心這種方言正在逐步降低國家的英語水平，而且或許會影響到和外國人的關系。新加坡政府甚至還發起了“講純正英語運動”。

但這一運動并沒有奏效。相反，“坡式英語”繁榮發展，尤其是在年輕人當中。他們認為此舉很酷，還能證明自己是新加坡人。

但這并不意味著標準英語正在被年輕人所拋棄。事實上，他們比政府認為的更有能力，很多人都會說兩種英語。

“我們是一個擅長語碼轉換的國家——我們知道和朋友以及公交車司機說話的方式（沒錯，通常是‘坡式英語）有別于在會議室或學校表現自己的方式。”新加坡作者Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan在《時代周刊》雜志上這樣寫道，“急切地促使我們去放棄一門能表達內心，且美妙地代表著中國人、印度人、馬來人以及歐亞人這個大熔爐的語言，肯定是鼠目寸光。”