Exporting: Local English

English is now the most creolized tongue of all time, spoken in some form by people on every continent. Well-known English dialects include Patwa (in Jamaica), Scots and Spanglish. But newer hybrid languages continue to evolve. In Singapore English, or Singlish, a tired worker might say, “I was blur at work.” Blur means “to not know what is going on.” The government is promoting “standard English” over the more popular Singlish, but it’s an uphill fight.

Indonesian upper-crusters have joined the masses in their fondness of Indlish. “Gue tadi lunch meeting sama boss,” says a Jakarta businesswoman–who had a lunch meeting with her boss. In the Philippines, Tagalog and English form Taglish, which is widely used by politicians and lawyers.

Konglish words, spoken in Korea, are recognizable to native English speakers, though the meanings can be confusing: “Apart” is apartment; “interior” refers to interior design. Sheng, a youth-culture language spoken in Kenya, is a hybrid with Swahili. It is cool and cosmopolitan, so it is popular in the city. A typical exchange:

“SasaNow?” (How are you?)

“Fit sanaVery fit.” (Fine.)

“Story?” (What’s new?)

“BestiMany.” (I have good news.)

Some local outlets of U.S. franchise companies advertise on the radio in hybrid languages, but they haven’t caught on with many major exporters–yet.

–By Desa Philadelphia