The single most important Singlish word you have to master if you're visiting Singapore
- The word "can" has two different meanings in Singapore's local creole, Singlish.
- "Singlish doesn't really differentiate between 'can' and 'may,'" said a Singlish guidebook author.
In 2015, Mie Hiramoto, a linguistics professor at the National University of Singapore, was helping an American colleague settle into campus accommodation. The hostel staff was telling the colleague that he would have to wait as they prepared his room.
"So he asked them if he could leave his bags at the office and they were saying, 'Can, can,'" Hiramoto told Insider.
"So then he asked me, 'What are they saying?' I said, 'They're saying that they can hold your baggage here,'" Hiramoto said.
"Then he said, 'Wow, you can use 'can' repeatedly like that,'" she continued.
The unorthodox use of the word "can" is one of the many quirks found in Singlish, a local creole that mixes English with Chinese, Malay, Tamil, and their dialects.
Mixing languages together
In Singapore, the word "can" has two different meanings. The first is the obvious one: It can be used as a question, like, "Can I borrow this pen from you?" But, perhaps more confusingly to tourists, it can also be used as an affirmative "yes" to someone's request, just like the hostel staff's reply to Hiramoto's colleague.
"Singlish doesn't really differentiate between 'can' and 'may.' In English, 'can' denotes ability while 'may' denotes permission. Singlish uses 'can' to do both," Gwee Li Sui, the author of the Singlish guidebook "Spiaking Singlish," told Insider.
Hiramoto, who has spent 15 years living in Singapore, said that creoles like Singlish tend to develop when a group of bilingual or multilingual speakers interact together frequently.
"So for example, in Japanese international schools, the bunch of Japanese-English bilinguals. They would say things like, 'It's so hot neh.' Or they would say, 'Would you like to go eat now ee?' They add these Japanese terms," Hiramoto said.
Hiramato said the same thing is happening with Singlish: A community of people who can speak the same assortment of languages starts mixing them together.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to speaking Singlish
Becoming proficient in Singlish, according to Leslie Lee, a senior linguistics lecturer at the National University of Singapore, is no different from trying to master any other language — you get better through exposure and practice.
Knowing other regional languages that have been assimilated into Singlish can also make understanding it a lot easier.
"Singlish draws a lot from the language families used in South, East, and Southeast Asia," Gwee said. "Some familiarity with one or more of these languages can help speed up its appreciation."
That said, it's not easy for everyone to pick it up. "Just because there's a fair amount of English words in it doesn't make it easier for English speakers," Gwee said.
Mastering the Singlish 'can'
So, if you're a tourist heading to Singapore, there are two main things to know about the use of the word "can."
- Sometimes you'll hear it as a part of a question.
- Sometimes, "can" is the whole answer, and you should feel free to use it.
But really, understanding the word mostly just comes down to intonation.
Gwee, who was previously an academic with the National University of Singapore's English language and literature department, said the clearest way to discern which meaning is being used is by seeing whether the speaker is expressing it as a question.
"If someone is seeking a response, it'll be 'Can?' Otherwise, it'll just be a variation of 'Can' or 'Can!'" Gwee said.