Languages of Singapore

Uncommon card · No. 79170

The official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Spoken natively by the majority of Singaporeans, English is the de facto main language in daily, governmental, legal, trade and commercial affairs. Among themselves, Singaporeans often speak Singlish, a contact language arising from centuries of contact between Singapore's multi-ethnic and multilingual society and its legacy as a British colony. The Constitution of Singapore designates Malay as the national language of Singapore. This plays a symbolic role as Malays are constitutionally recognised as the indigenous peoples of Singapore, and is also largely due to Singapore's geographical location in the Malay Archipelago. In the early years, the lingua franca of the island was Bazaar Malay (Melayu Pasar), a creole of Malay and Chinese, the language of trade in the Malay Archipelago. English gained prominence during the British rule of Singapore as the language of government, law and business. Upon independence...

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