Editing Singapore English (section)

==== 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>