The Historical Evolution of Singapore and Hong Kong Englishes: Archival Evidence for Contact-Induced Grammaticalization

• Applicant: Dr. Lijun Li
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages ; Individual Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 569697458

The study aims to explore the question of what the model language is in contact grammaticalization research, and what factors determine its selection, with a focus on Singapore English. In much of the past research on contact grammaticalization, the model language was understood as equivalent to the ‘substratum’ or first language of the speakers adopting the new, replica language in contact, though this was never specifically indicated in Heine and Kuteva’s (2003, 2005, 2011) theory. In Singapore English, for example, the model language in many cases is a Sinitic language, such as Southern Min, or Cantonese, though a range of model languages may provide contact influence in the region, which is populated by speakers of Malay and South Asian languages as well. However, recent studies indicate that the model language may well be, in some cases, the language of replication (often known as the ‘lexifier’), in that the contact variety (or replica language) revealed stages of grammaticalization that resembled earlier stages of development in the lexifier itself, either recapitulating stages of grammaticalization prior to contact, or recapitulating stages attained at the time of contact (see retentionist theory in Pietsch 2009; and replication by recapitulation in Ziegeler 2014, 2016). The principal objectives of the study are therefore (i) to isolate the factors determining the selection of the model language in contact, either the speaker’s L1 or the language of replication, and to assess the relation of contact to the selection of the model language; (ii) to investigate what the factors are inducing speakers to search for a model language to create new patterns of language use in contact situations; (iii) to determine the role played by grammaticalization in this process (as either an accelerating or inhibiting/propelling factor), and (iv) to determine the contribution of recapitulation in this process.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France, Singapore
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Zhiming Bao; Professorin Dr. Debra Ziegeler