A Study Of The 50 Years Development Of Singapore Chinese Lexicon

This study was carried out based on the social function and dependency of language on society. Through research on the usage of Singapore Chinese lexicon, this study explored fifty years of development of Singapore Chinese. The study was carried out through an extensive collection of the recent 50 years of Singapore Chinese written texts to construct a Singapore Chinese written corpus. This research applied the quantitative analysis methodology to investigate the development of Singapore Chinese lexicon. The research was divided according to three historical stages. The first stage was the pre-independency of Singapore, referred to as the 'Early Stage'. The second stage was the pre-establishment of diplomatic relations with China after the independency of Singapore, referred to as the 'Interim Stage'. The third stage was after the establishment of diplomatic relationship with China after the independency of Singapore, referred to as the 'Late Stage'. Based on these three historical stages, this paper focuses on analyzing the development of Singapore Chinese and discussing the various developments of Singapore Chinese lexicon, which include origin, structure and meanings. In addition, from the angle of the lexicon's origin, this study analyzed the relationship between Singapore lexicon development and social culture.Findings reveal that some ancient Chinese characters were found in Singapore Chinese in the Early Stage, while during the Interim Stage, apart from ancient Chinese, there were also contemporary Chinese found in Singapore Chinese. In the Late Stage, Singapore adopted contemporary Chinese where ancient Chinese gradually faded out. In terms of origin, Singapore Chinese derives from heritage words from ancient Chinese, coinage of new terms, as well as loanwords from Chinese dialects, English, Malay and Tamil. Findings reveal that the majority of the new terms and loanwords are compound words. In terms of phonetic structure, both the new terms and loanwords are two-syllable, three-syllable or multi-syllable. At the Late Stage, there is a tendency towards multi-syllable words. Findings show that there were some word orders variations found in Singapore Chinese during the Interim and Late Stage. In terms of meaning, findings reveal that there is an extension or expansion of meanings found in some words. In addition, there is also a disappearance of the hidden concepts and hidden emotional meanings in some words. On the whole, new terms symbolized Singapore's new culture development while English loanwords reflect the cultural exchange between the East and the West. Loanwords from other domestic ethnic groups symbolized national amalgamation while loanwords from Chinese dialects reflect integration among the different Chinese dialects groups.