A relevance-theoretic analysis of Colloquial Singapore English hor
JunwenLee
Nanyang Technological University
Abstract
The Colloquial Singapore English or Singlish particle hor has been observed to convey different
pragmatic effects when pronounced with either a rising or falling intonation contour. In this paper, I propose, using a
relevance-theoretic framework, that hor encodes the procedural content that the proposition it marks is
accessible to the addressee, i.e. it can be readily recalled by the addressee. Pronouncing hor with a rising or
falling intonational contour then indicates that this procedural content should be interpreted as a question or directive
respectively – a rising contour indicates a check on whether the hor-marked proposition is accessible to the
addressee, while a falling contour indicates an instruction to the addressee to make the hor-marked proposition
accessible. This analysis also accounts for hor’s unacceptability with directives that seek to impose a new
obligation on the addressee that requires immediate action, which has not been previously observed in the literature.
Discourse particles in Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) or Singlish have been the subject of many previous studies (e.g.
Richards and Tay 1977; Kwan-Terry 1978;
Marie 1987; Platt and Ho 1989; Gupta 1992; Pakir 1992; Gan 2000; Wee 2004; Wong
2004; Ler 2005; Kim and Wee 2009;
Siraj 2009, among others). They are mostly loans from Cantonese and Hokkien and, though
syntactically optional, perform key pragmatic functions such as indicating the speaker’s stance or emotional tone (Wee 2004). In addition, some of them, such as lah and ah,
can be pronounced with different pitch contours in order to convey different pragmatic effects.
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