Editing Singapore English (section)

=== Consonants ===

==== Fricatives and stop consonants ====

* Pronunciation of ⟨''th''⟩: [[Th-stopping|''Th''-stopping]] is common at the start of syllables, making ''tree'' and ''three'' homophones. This is generally more common in informal settings.<ref>{{cite book|first1=S.|last1=Moorthy|first2=D.|last2=Deterding|chapter=Three or tree? Dental fricatives in the speech of educated Singaporeans|title=The English language in Singapore: Research on pronunciation|year=2000|pages=76–83|editor-first1=A.|editor-last1=Brown|editor-first2=D.|editor-last2=Deterding|editor-first3=E.-L.|editor-last3=Low|publisher=Singapore Association for Applied Linguistics|location=Singapore}}</ref> Dental fricatives may undergo [[Th-fronting|''th''-fronting]] at the end of words, so ''teeth'' sounds like ''teef'',<ref name="deterdingbook" /><ref name="sea1" /> though many speakers will use a {{IPA|[t]}} sound in the word ''maths'' {{IPA|[mɛts]}}.<ref name="deterdingbook" /> For some Tamil bilinguals, word-final ''th'' sounds are alternatively realised as stops.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=K.|last1=Kalaivanan|first2=F.|last2=Sumartono|first3=Y.-Y.|last3=Tan|title=The Homogenization of Ethnic Differences in Singapore English? A Consonantal Production Study|journal=Language and Speech|year=2020|volume=64 |issue=1 |doi=10.1177/0023830920925510|pages=1–18|pmid=32484011 }}</ref>

* Intervocalic ''t'' and ''d'': Speakers with more innovative accents may realise intervocalic ''t'' and ''d''  (e.g., in ''little'' and ''medal'') as [[Flapping| alveolar taps or flaps]],<ref name=tanyy2016 /><ref name=lim2004 /> though this is generally uncommon. For the vast majority of speakers in Singapore, ''t'' and ''d'' are realised as {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[d]}} in these environments.<ref name=tanyy2016 />

* Stop consonants: [[Plosive|Stop consonants]] in Singapore English are usually not released at the end of words, and voiceless stops can be [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] or unaspirated in initial positions.<ref name=educatedsge /><ref name="Bao Zhiming 1998 pp. 152-174" /> Moreover, word-final ''k'' may be realised as a [[glottal stop]] {{IPA|[ʔ]}}, as in [[Malay language|Malay]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=T. T. N.|last=Hung|title=Towards a phonology of Singapore English|journal=Pan-Asiatic Linguistics: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Languages and Linguistics|year=1996|pages=1429–1440}}</ref>

==== Liquid consonants ====

* Pronunciation of final "l": There are three prevalent variants of final "l" in Singapore English: [[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants#Velarized alveolar lateral approximant|dark "l"s]],  [[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants|clear "l"s]] and [[L-vocalisation|vocalised "l"s]].<ref name=hong2023>{{cite journal|first=Jasper|last=Hong|title=Negotiating social meanings in a plural society: Social perceptions of variants of /l/ in Singapore English|journal=Language in Society|date=2023 |volume=52|issue=4 |pages=617–644|doi=10.1017/S0047404522000173|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/ECB56B0A6B63FAC27CF22598C276B285/S0047404522000173a.pdf/negotiating_social_meanings_in_a_plural_society_social_perceptions_of_variants_of_l_in_singapore_english.pdf}}</ref> For speakers who vocalise their "l"s, the "l" sound can be dropped entirely after [[back vowel]]s, diphthongs with back vowels, and sometimes [[schwa|mid central vowels]], so that ''mole'' sounds like ''mow''{{nbsp}}{{IPA|[moː]}}, and ''small'' like ''smaw''{{nbsp}}{{IPA|[smɔː]}}. The diphthong {{IPAc-en|aɪ}} is also [[Monophthongization|monophthongised]] into {{IPAblink|ä}} before a vocalised "l", so ''Nile'' and ''now'' are similar-sounding.<ref name="vocalisation">{{Cite book |last=Tan |first=Kah Keong |date=2005 |chapter=Vocalisation of {{IPA|/l/}} in Singapore English |title=English in Singapore: Phonetic Research on a Corpus |editor1=David Deterding |editor2=Adam Brown |editor3=Low Ee Ling |location=Singapore |publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (Asia) |pages=43–53 }}</ref><ref name=wee08>{{Cite journal |last=Wee |first=Lian-Hee |date=2008 |title=Phonological patterns in the Englishes of Singapore and Hong Kong |journal=World Englishes |volume=27 |issue=3–4 |pages=480–501|doi=10.1111/j.1467-971X.2008.00580.x }}</ref><ref name="heggarty2013">{{cite web|title=Accents of English from Around the World|editor=Heggarty, Paul |display-editors=etal |publisher=University of Edinburgh|year=2013|url=http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/research/gsound/}}</ref><ref name=lim2004>{{Cite book |last=Lim |first=Lisa |date=2004 |chapter=Sounding Singaporean |title=Singapore English: A grammatical description |editor=Lisa Lim |isbn=9789027248930 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company}}</ref> Vocalised "l"s are realised as high back vowels {{IPAblink|ʊ|ö}} with varying degrees of [[Roundedness|lip rounding]].<ref name=lim2004 /> Older Chinese Singaporeans are more likely to vocalise final "l"s, and Malay speakers are more likely to use clear "l"s in these environments.<ref name=hong2023 />

* Pronunciation of "r": The most common and predominant realisation of the ''r'' sound in Singapore English is the [[postalveolar approximant]] {{IPAblink|ɹ̠}}. The [[Voiced dental and alveolar taps and flaps#Voiced alveolar tap and flap|alveolar tap]] {{IPAblink|ɾ}} or [[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills#Voiced alveolar trill|trill]] {{IPAblink|r}} is an alternative realisation of ''r'' among Malay and Indian Singaporeans and older speakers in general.<ref name="rvariation" /> Among Tamil Singaporeans, the trilled variant appears to be extremely rare in comparison to the approximant and tapped ''r''.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Rebecca Lurie|last1=Starr|first2=Brinda|last2=Balasubramaniam|title=Variation and change in English /r/ among Tamil Indian Singaporeans|journal=World Englishes|volume=38|issue=4|year=2019|pages=630–643|doi=10.1111/weng.12357}}</ref> A rare and emergent variant of ''r'', described as a [[Voiced labiodental approximant|labiodental approximant]]{{nbsp}}{{IPAblink|ʋ}}, has also been reported. Across English dialects, this phenomenon is known as [[Pronunciation of English /r/#R-labialization|''R''-labialisation]].<ref name="rvariation" /><ref>{{cite journal|first1=G. S. C.|last1=Kwek|first2=E.-L.|last2=Low|title=Emergent features of young Singaporean speech: an investigatory study of the labiodental /r/ in Singapore English|journal=Asian Englishes|year=2020|volume=23|issue=2|pages=116–136|doi=10.1080/13488678.2020.1759249}}</ref>

==== Final consonant cluster reduction ====

Final [[consonant clusters]], like {{IPA|/-st, -sk/}}, are often [[Consonant cluster reduction|simplified]] in conversational Singapore English, in which case ''list'' {{IPA|[lɪs]}} drops its final ''t'', ''flask'' {{IPA|[flɑs]}} its final ''k'', and ''world'' {{IPA|[wəɫ]}} its final ''d'', though speakers are seldom consistent in doing so.<ref name="deterdingbook" /> Other examples include:

: {{IPA|/-nt, -nd/}} → {{IPA|[-n]}}: ''environme<u>nt</u>'' {{IPA|[ɛnˈvaɪɹənmən]}}, ''end'' {{IPA|[ɛn]}}
: {{IPA|/-kt/}} → {{IPA|[-k]}}: ''act'' {{IPA|[ɛʔ]}}, {{IPA|/-kst/}} → {{IPA|[-ks]}}: ''next'' {{IPA|[neʔs]}}
: {{IPA|/-ft/}} → {{IPA|[-f]}}: ''lift'' {{IPA|[lɪf]}}, {{IPA|/-fts/}} → {{IPA|[-fs]}}: ''lifts'' {{IPA|[lɪfs]}}

Combinations of two consonants with an ''s'' as the second component, like the {{IPA|/-ts/}} in ''rats'' and {{IPA|/-ɡz/}} in ''tags'', and many other final consonant clusters do not usually undergo simplification.<ref>{{cite journal|date=2008|first1=Arto|last1=Anttila|first2=Vivienne|last2=Fong|first3=Štefan|last3=Beňuš|first4=Jennifer|last4=Nycz|title=Variation and Opacity in Singapore English Consonant Clusters.|journal=Phonology|volume=25|issue=2|pp=181–216|doi=10.1017/S0952675708001462}}</ref>