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Languages of Singapore

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Languages of Singapore Ethnologue report for Singapore Page 1 of 4 Languages of Singapore Republic of Singapore. 4,353,893. National or official languages: Mandarin Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English. Literacy rate: 93% (2000 census). Also includes Hindi (5,000), Indonesian, Japanese (20,000), Korean (5,200), Sindhi (5,000), Sylheti, Telugu (603), Thai (30,000), Tukang Besi North, people from the Philippines (50,000). Blind population: 1,442. Deaf institutions: 3. The number of languages listed for Singapore is 21. Of those, all are living languages. Living languages Bengali [ben] 600 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 14,000 in Singapore (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Classification: Indo- European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese More information. Chinese, [hak] 69,000 in Singapore (1980). Ethnic Hakka population: 151,000 in Singapore (1993). Alternate names: Khek, Kek, Kehia, Kechia, Ke, Hokka. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese More information. Chinese, [cmn] 201,000 in Singapore (1985). Alternate Mandarin names: Huayu, Guoyu. Classification: Sino- Tibetan, Chinese More information. Chinese, Min [mnp] 4,000 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic Bei population: 11,000 in Singapore. Alternate names: Min Pei. Dialects: Hokchia (Hockchew). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese More information. Chinese, Min [cdo] 34,154 in Singapore (2000 WCD). Ethnic Dong population: 31,391. Mainly in China. Dialects: Fuzhou (Fuchow, Foochow, Guxhou). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese More information. Chinese, Min [nan] 1,170,000 in Singapore (1985). Nan Population includes 736,000 speakers of Hokkien, 28.8% of the population (1993), 360,000 speakers of Teochew (1985), 14.2% of the population (1993); 74,000 speakers of Hainanese (1985), 2.9% of the population (1993). Ethnic population: 1,482,000 (1993) http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SG 2/28/2008 Ethnologue report for Singapore Page 2 of 4 including 884,000 Hokkien (1993), 452,000 Teochew (1985), 146,000 Hainanese (1993). Alternate names: Min Nam, Southern Min. Dialects: Hokkien (Fukienese, Fujian, Amoy, Xiamen), Teochew (Chaochow, Chaozhou, Taechew), Hainanese. Classification: Sino- Tibetan, Chinese More information. Chinese, Pu- [cpx] 14,083 in Singapore (2000 WCD). Xian Dialects: Henghua (Hinghua, Xinghua). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese More information. Chinese, Yue [yue] 314,000 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 338,000 (1993). Alternate names: Cantonese, Yue, Yueh, Guangfu. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese More information. English [eng] 227,000 in Singapore (1985). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English More information. Gujarati [guj] 800 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 1,619 (1985). Alternate names: Gujerathi, Gujerati. Classification: Indo- European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Gujarati More information. Javanese [jav] 800 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 21,230. Alternate names: Jawa, Djawa. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo- Polynesian, Javanese More information. Madura [mad] 900 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 14,292 (1985). Alternate names: Madurese, Madhura. Dialects: Bawean (Boyanese). Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Madurese More information. Malaccan [mcm] Trankera and Hilir, Melaka, Straits of Creole Malacca. Related varieties in parts of Kuala Portuguese Lumpur and Singapore. Variety in Pulau Tikus spoken more in 1997 than in 1987. Alternate names: Malaysian Creole Portuguese, Malaccan, Papia Kristang. Classification: Creole, Portuguese based More information. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SG 2/28/2008 Ethnologue report for Singapore Page 3 of 4 Malay [mly] 396,000 in Singapore (1985). Alternate names: Bahasa Malay, Melayu. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayic, Malayan, Local Malay More information. Malay, Baba [mbf] 10,000 in Singapore (1986 Pakir). Population total all countries: 15,000. Ethnic population: 250,000 to 400,000 (1986). Mainly in the Katong District on the east coast and the surrounding districts of Geylang and Jao Chiat. Also spoken in Malaysia (Peninsular). Alternate names: Chinese Malay, Baba, Straits Malay. Dialects: It developed since the 15th century from Low Malay with many Hokkien Chinese borrowings. Regional variants between Malacca and Singapore. Partially intelligible with Standard Malay. It is generally believed that the Baba of Malaysia is more 'refined', and that of Singapore more 'rough'. Most have learned Standard Malay and English in school. Lim (1981) and Holm (1989) treat it as a Malay- based creole. It is different from Peranakan Indonesian. Classification: Creole, Malay based More information. Malayalam [mal] 10,000 in Singapore. Ethnic population: 14,000 (1993). Alternate names: Alealum, Malayalani, Malayal, Malean, Maliyad, Mallealle, Mopla. Classification: Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Malayalam More information. Orang Seletar [ors] 884 in Singapore (2000 WCD). North coast of Singapore, and opposite coast of Malaysia. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo- Polynesian, Malayic, Malayan, Aboriginal Malay More information. Panjabi, [pan] 9,500 in Singapore (1987). Ethnic Eastern population: 14,000 (1993). Classification: Indo- European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Panjabi More information. Singapore Sign [sls] Classification: Deaf sign language Language More information. Sinhala [sin] 852 in Singapore (1987). Ethnic population: 12,000 (1993). Alternate names: Sinhalese, Singhalese, Chingalese. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SG 2/28/2008 Ethnologue report for Singapore Page 4 of 4 Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Sinhalese-Maldivian More information. Tamil [tam] 90,000 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 111,000 (1993). Classification: Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil- Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Tamil More information. This web edition of the Ethnologue contains all the content of the print edition and may be cited as: Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SG 2/28/2008.
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