ABSTRACT
The fifth chapter looks at three Colloquial Singapore English words – already, got, and one, that function similarly to their equivalents in the ethnic languages. Not only will an account of the way in which these functions came to be transferred to Colloquial Singapore English be provided, the way in which the presence of parallel constructions between ethnic languages and Colloquial Singapore English influence the synchronic use of these words will also be revealed. Lastly, the chapter will also investigate how crosslinguistic influence motivated by parallel constructions may be strengthened or weakened by individual-level social factors that are determined partially or wholly by one’s social circumstances. Such interactions between crosslinguistic influence and social factors suggest that a bilingual’s languages provide a potential for crosslinguistic influence through the presence of parallel constructions. However, this potential may or may not be realized to its fullest extent depending on social factors like one’s language proficiency and attitude towards various languages.
