'Jock O. Wong's study of English in Singapore is a major contribution to our understanding of not only the semantic structuring of 'Singlish' but moreover to studies of pragmatics and culture. The latter is demonstrated broadly by considerations of data from everyday conversations, e-mail and chat rooms, and analyses of the meanings activated in such usage. The consideration of various linguistic devices such as forms of address, various cultural categories, including tonal qualities, all demonstrate how the use of a rigorous Semantic Metalanguage clarifies specific cultural meanings that are associated with Singlish and everyday language.' Donal Carbaugh, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
1. English in Singapore; 2. The language of culture and the culture of language; 3. Singlish forms of address; 4. Cultural categories and stereotypes; 5. The discourse of 'can' in Singlish; 6. Expressions of certainty and overstatements; 7. The tonal particles of Singlish; 8. The enigmatic particle lōr; 9. Interjections: aiya and aiyo; 10. Making sense of Singlish.