Singapore

Extensive List of Languages of Singapore: Spoken Languages

:: List of Languages ::

Bengali
[ben] 600 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 14,000 in Singapore (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001). Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese

Chinese, Hakka
[hak] 69,000 in Singapore (1980). Ethnic population: 151,000 in Singapore (1993). Alternate names: Hokka, Ke, Kechia, Kehia, Kek, Khek. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Mandarin
[cmn] 201,000 in Singapore (1985). Alternate names: Guoyu, Huayu. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Min Bei
[mnp] 4,000 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 11,000 in Singapore. Alternate names: Min Pei. Dialects: Hokchia (Hockchew). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Min Dong
[cdo] 34,200 in Singapore (2000). Ethnic population: 31,391. Mainly in China. Dialects: Fuzhou (Fuchow, Foochow, Guxhou). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Min Nan
[nan] 1,170,000 in Singapore (1985). 736,000 speakers of Hokkien, 28.8% of the population (1993), 360,000 of Teochew (1985), 14.2% of the population (1993); 74,000 of Hainanese (1985), 2.9% of the population (1993). Ethnic population: 1,482,000 (1993) 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

Chinese, Pu-Xian
[cpx] 14,100 in Singapore (2000). Dialects: Henghua (Hinghua, Xinghua). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Yue
[yue] 314,000 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 338,000 (1993). Alternate names: Cantonese, Guangfu, Yue, Yueh. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

English
[eng] 665,000 in Singapore (2000 census). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English

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

Javanese
[jav] 800 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 21,230. Alternate names: Djawa, Jawa. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Javanese

Madura
[mad] 900 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 14,292 (1985). Alternate names: Madhura, Madurese. Dialects: Bawean (Boyanese). Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Sumbawan, Madurese

Malay
[zlm] 396,000 in Singapore (1985). Alternate names: Colloquial Malay, Local Malay, Malayu. Dialects: Jugra-Muar-Melaka-Johor. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Sumbawan, North and East, Malayic, Malay

Malay, Baba
[mbf] 10,000 in Singapore (Pakir 1986). 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 in Malaysia (Peninsular). Alternate names: Baba, Chinese Malay, Straits Malay. Dialects: It developed since the 15th century from Low Malay with many Min Nan Chinese [nan] borrowings. Regional variants between Malacca and Singapore. Partially intelligible with Standard Malay [zsm]. 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 [pea]. Classification: Creole, Malay based

Malay, Standard
[zsm] Few L1 speakers. L2 speakers include ethnic Malays and some others, particularly the older generation. Alternate names: Formal Malay, Malay, Malayu, Melayu, Melayu Baku. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Sumbawan, North and East, Malayic, Malay

Malayalam
[mal] 10,000 in Singapore. Ethnic population: 14,000 (1993). Alternate names: Alealum, Malayal, Malayalani, Malean, Maliyad, Mallealle, Mopla. Classification: Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Malayalam

Orang Seletar
[ors] 880 in Singapore (2000). North coast of Singapore, and opposite coast of Malaysia. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Sumbawan, North and East, Malayic, Malay

Panjabi, Eastern
[pan] 9,500 in Singapore (1987). Ethnic population: 14,000 (1993). Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone,
Panjabi

Singapore Sign Language
[sls] 3,000 (2007 SIL). Very few monolinguals. Ethnic population: 4,000 (2007 SIL). Dialects: Natural Sign Language, Contact Signing (Signing Exact English, Pidgin Signed English). Classification: Deaf sign language

Sinhala
[sin] 850 in Singapore (1987). Ethnic population: 12,000 (1993). Alternate names: Chingalese, Singhalese, Sinhalese. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Sinhalese-Maldivian

Tamil
[tam] 90,000 in Singapore (1985). Ethnic population: 111,000 (1993). Classification: Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Tamil

:: Reference ::

Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/