Languages
Main article: Languages in SingaporeThere are four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.
Malay is the national language of the country, although English is mainly used. English serves as the link between the different ethnic groups and is the language of the educational system and the administration. The colloquial English used in everyday life is often referred to as Singlish.
The government of Singapore has been promoting the use of Mandarin, the official form of Chinese in Singapore as well as mainland China and Taiwan, with its Speak Mandarin Campaign among the Chinese population. The use of other Chinese dialects, like Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese and Hakka, has been declining over the last two decades, although they are still being used especially by the older generations of the Chinese population.
About 60% of Singapore's Indian population speaks Tamil as their native language. Other widely spoken Indian languages are Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu.
Around 5,000 Peranakans, the early Chinese population of the region, still use the Hokkien-influenced Malay dialect called Baba Malay.
| Language | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 18.8 | 23.0 | 32.3 |
| Mandarin | 23.7 | 35.0 | 35.6 |
| (non-Mandarin) Chinese Dialects | 39.6 | 23.8 | 14.3 |
| Malay | 14.3 | 14.1 | 12.2 |
| Tamil | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
Read more about this topic: Demographics Of Singapore
Famous quotes containing the word languages:
“The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.”
—Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)
“No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Wealth is so much the greatest good that Fortune has to bestow that in the Latin and English languages it has usurped her name.”
—William Lamb Melbourne, 2nd Viscount (1779–1848)