Do Singaporeans hyperarticulate in formal speech

Abstract

Speakers are able to consciously and subconsciously modify their speech according to several different factors. This is seen in how speakers may change the way they speak depending on whether the situation calls for formal or informal speech. Singaporeans, in particular, are able to shift between Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) and Standard Singapore English (SSE). However, there is not much research on the acoustics of Singapore English in general and even less comparing the acoustics of formal and informal Singapore English. One particular area of interest is that of hyperarticulation, indicated by the expansion of the vowel space. This paper investigates whether Singaporeans hyperarticulate in formal speech, comparing the vowel space to when Singaporeans use informal speech. 16 Singaporean Chinese women participated in this study where informal and formal speech was elicited through a picture description task and a passage reading task. The results showed no evidence of vowel space expansion from informal to formal speech. However, a secondary analysis showed that vowel duration, pitch and F1 had smaller values in formal speech compared to informal speech. The lowered pitch is in line with several other studies that have found lowered pitch in polite or formal speech, indicating that it may index a certain aspect of formality in certain languages and varieties.