The use of ever in Singaporean English

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of ever in affirmative responses to Yes/No type questions as well as in declarative sentences in discourse in colloquial Singaporean English (SgE). Besides providing exemplifications of ever in the oral mode, it also gives instances of a similar declarative use of ever in the written mode as found in students' writing. The paper goes on to examine parallels in the SgE use of ever with its equivalents in the local languages. While parallels can be seen in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese and Malay, the authors contend that Hokkien and Malay have stronger entrenching influences. In addition, they also show that the SgE use of ever reflects similarities found in structures with ever/never in standard English. They posit that it is this interplay of both substrate and superstrate syntax and semantics which has given rise to the unique use of ever in SgE.

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