Singaporean vs. Nigerian Accent

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Singaporean vs. Nigerian Accent
• Singaporean vs. Nigeri...
#YEOLO
/ yeolo

[@YEOLO]

this ees me befoh mai sheeeef

[@Geethepancake]

Imao

[@etherealhopes]

this ees me afte mai sheeeef

[@susannyoro705]

you should look up afro asiatic languages, eg. is the shanga people in africa from whom mandarin originated, first dynasty in china is the shang dynasty if am not wrong

[@Yadobler]

Singaporean English lacks the tense/lax vowels and a lot of diphthongs are also merged into monothongs So like "this is me before my shift" becomes "tees ees mee beefoo maaii sheef" 1)The sharp tense "i" sounds become a lax but long "eee" 2) dental th sound becomes t 3) "my" becomes "ma-i" 4) consonant clusters (ft) breaks into just the fricative (f) 5) non-rhotic (r not pronounced in "before") 6) constant stress, also due to the lack of tense/lax vowel differentiation (tEEs EEs mEE bEEfOO mAAi shEEf) ------------ It's interesting because it's very clearly influenced by hokkien. Hokkien does not have rhoiticity (r sound) unlike mandarin, lacks retroflex sounds (cha zha ra) which tamil and mandarin have, vowels are not tense/lax differentiated so no stress either, but instead it's all tones - which is why we have a slight singsong sound, especially with the lah leh particles Another thing if you note, all the ch8 veterans, if they come over to Ch5 to act, listen out for the "forced rhoiticity" - growing up without saying the "r" trill/tap, what happens is that these performers tend to overcompensate, so you hear something like "is it this color" being said like "ees eet tees kóloRw" It's something you can notice in Singaporean Chinese, but not mainland Chinese or Singaporean malay/tamil speakers So ye.

[@Appassionata311]

@@Yadobler...

[@mirrow9735]

I AM NIGERIAN. THE SINGAPOREAN ACCENT DOES SOUND LIKE THE NIGERIAN ACCENT A BIT . HOWEVER , IT DOES NOT AS WELL. THIS IS BECAUSE YOU SPEAK FASTER THAN US, ANOUNCIATE A BIT LESS AND PITCH IS HIGHER. NOT TO MENTION AT FIRST IT DOES, BUT GRADUALLY IF YOU LISTEN MORE THEN YOU NOICE THSE DIFFERERNCES

[@audeamus7388]

ok chill bro

[@BigPurp9]

People aren’t saying that they’re 100% carbon copies. We’re just amazed that 2 countries thousands of miles apart sound slightly SIMILAR. It’s a bit like how people say Jamaican and Irish accents sound alike aswell. There’s only so many accents to go round you’re bound to find some that sound alike

[@AlexSilva-gp3ti]

Bro chill

[@cvpiguy]

Bro why so angry chill leh

[@bellaelleira]

@@cvpiguy I’ve seen people who struggle with vision or not have English as a first language type like this. Their tone/wording doesn’t sound angry though

[@mahmoodhaliru9369]

Bro even you sound Nigerian!😂😂😂

[@juditherese]

Exactly. He himself sounds Nigerian 😅

[@zangichingole5156]

😂 but even you sound Nigerian to me 😭 especially when you say the word “Nigeria”

[@smooveayy]

The jollof was definitely a joke, it flew right over your head 🤣

[@svel8395]

8:02 the joke flying over yeolo's head is the funniest thing ever, he looks genuine concerned lmao

[@AngryKittens]

As a non-Singaporean and non-Nigerian: the singsong cadence is similar when Nigerian English is spoken fast. The way Nigerian and Singaporean English also remove copulas and speak in "shortcut" sentences is similar. Other than that, they don't sound the same.

[@etherealhopes]

when i heard "lee kuan yew" and "1907" i burst out laughing help ☠️☠️

[@rnathanielryaan2034]

its meant to make u laugh cos its a joke HAHA

[@JeraldPham]

LKY was born in 1923 😂

[@janetsfurr9551]

I love seeing my Singaporean and Nigerian friends talk to each other. they have no problem understanding each other.

[@NazKam]

Lmao singaporean chinest r racist

[@NigerDeltaCommunist]

​@@NazKam😂

[@lekomoakeem8355]

Oga you even sound Nigerian , Y'all sound Nigerian 😅

[@jolomendez6338]

As a Londoner from Congo. You sound Nigerian too 😅 wow

[@ley5230]

Not at all

[@juditherese]

Yes he does

[@zy5992]

The jollof rice is an iconic dish and that was probably a joke… it’s not that serious

[@brownekat]

It's most definitely a joke. Y'all are too serious on here 😅 try laughing sometimes

[@avateraangshoe5025]

It is a joke! The guy doesn't even sound Nigerian 😂

[@Shawoleritiny]

I'm Malaysian and our accents (Malaysian and Singaporean) are pretty much the same. I was just telling my husband that the Nigerian accent reminds me of ours. I wouldn't say they're the same but I can definitely hear the sing-songness.

[@Ipsofactumest]

So apparently Nigeria has a lot of accents - since they’re pretty diverse with many different tribes and languages. The one that Nigerians are probably referring to is the Calabar accent. You can KZbin it. I didn’t hear it at first, but if you were to speed up a video (1.5x) of a female person from Calabar speaking - you will definitely hear it. It’s bizarre. Don’t compare males with males - no Singaporean male speak like these SG girls.

[@soso694]

Nigeria has a lot of accents in the same way America has a lot of accents. Existence of regional variances doesn't change the fact that they all still fall under a distinct “Nigerian accent”. Cameroon and Benin are the only countries I'd say have an identical accent to Nigerian.

[@avateraangshoe5025]

​@soso694 OP didn't say otherwise. I think they were trying to be more specific so he wouldn't go around listening to igbo people speak and expecting it to sound exactly like Singaporeans

[@jl6320]

No wonder Nigerian Princes like contacting us

[@tojifushiguros]

💀NAHH

[@Miraclesylva]

Lol 😂

[@Aisha-ex8zy]

Werey 😂

[@ianngoh842]

I recently met someone from Zambia who said that our accents are similar, may be due to being former British colonies. Non-english forced to learn English, this is kinda what you get

[@user-lk4jd5yc8d]

It’s not just the British colonies. Many other African countries also have that similar accent/manner of speaking. It’s really a combination of the use of bastardised English (pidgin in Africa, singlish in Singpaore), and the pre-existing speaking characteristics

[@bellaelleira]

@@user-lk4jd5yc8ddk if I’m misunderstanding your comment but it sounds like pretty much what OP said but just in more detail/added context…? I’m still gathering that British influence played a part. English came from them so pidgin and singlish is a variation of mixing their home language with English, yeah? It seems like you’re just saying what they said lol

[@soso694]

There's a lot of former British colonies in the world, so that's not the reason. As a Nigerian, I can tell you the sing songy rhythm is due to our indigenous languages being tonal. Sub-Saharan African languages are notoriously tonal, and the same is true for most Asian languages as well. I believe that's why the accents sound similar. The influence of tonal languages.

[@entrydenied]

There's a Nigerian youtuber that I watch (he does movie reactions) and there have been many times where I thought I heard a Singaporean accent. I think when they're alike, they're very close but at the same time different enough.

[@purplepotato8849]

Dude: We have to take our accents back from Singapore. Me: Uh... ok? *_uninstalls Accent_Nigerian.exe_*

[@Panda-0183]

Bro can you give me a tutorial on how to uninstall Accent_Nigerian.exe it seems I installed it a while ago and can’t remove it

[@malakhangelle]

The jollof thing is a joke and that guy is not Nigerian.. also, you can't learn the Nigerian accent from Hollywood. They don't speak Nigerian, they speak wakandan.

[@soso694]

African and Asian languages differ from most languages in the world in that they are tonal. We “sing” when we speak, or else it could change the meaning of our words. As a result, the way we speak English is influenced by the tonal features of our indigenous languages. Singaporeans and Nigerians just happen to have similar tonal cadences, hence the similarities. Language is funny, isnt it?

[@Ifeomaa]

Dude you also have the accent, its not completely alike but there are similarities. I noticed it in 2018, my aunt was watching the video of a preacher on TV, he sounded SO Nigerian, I thought he was a Nigerian preacher just hearing the audio, then I saw he was an Asian man - his name is Joseph Prince.

[@wilsongao6789]

pause

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I don’t want to get too excited too quickly but I’m happy to hear you’re on your way to 100K Subscribers.

[@lemonadeslices]

ok this is wildly interesting: as a sgrean visiting NYC, i was told my accent sounds like it's south african. so perhaps there might be similarities to other ears/listeners? (and i enunciate when i speak and don't conflate my long and short vowels!!!)

[@tbdhk]

someone told me this when my family went to europe too

[@spartawelly5863]

My family still has the greek accent even after generations here lok

[@brownekat]

Don't take everything so seriously 😅 the jollof rice comment was a joke

[@ca-ke9493]

Can we get Sgs reacting to Nigeria accents? I think they are reacting to the additions of lah and aiya (which sounds more musical in Nigeria) which is similar from what I can tell they might not pick up on how much we slur and monotone our accent is?

[@s._3560]

''Aiyah'' is a Chinese expression. "Lah" is mostly Hokkien. So is ''leh", which is in Cantonese. The colloquial Chinese language attaches a lot of these codas at the end of their sentences.

[@kaycee3303]

They sound pretty identical. If you close your eyes and listen to both.. you won't be able to distinguish between both

[@dumkeleonwuegbuzie4904]

Yes, both accents do similar. Even watching this video in it self is a testimony to that. About them sounding the same though, I disagree. Lastly, the guy who said the 1907, jollof thing is just a troll😭😭

[@historicdude7996]

Everybody talks about why the Nigerian accent sounds like the sgporean accent but no one talks about why the malaysian accent sounds like the sgporean accent

[@happynappyable]

I’m South African who has many Nigerian and Singaporean friends and yo me they sound similar 😂

[@earnestjonahdaniel3802]

The Jollof Rice joke was just classic 😂🥲

[@alienated1847]

Hey I'm a half malay and half Nigerian born and raised in Singapore here! At first I could not understand how people hear the accent to be similar as I grew up hearing both and can kinda differentiate, but now that this has been brought to my attention I can actually hear it! Of course there will be differences but I always wondered if my accent sounds weird to my Nigerian family and friends but they never actually commented on it much unless I use malay terms

[@etherealhopes]

i remember replaying the video trying to hear similarities but cannot find leh

[@BlackGoldberg]

Ahh humanity in 2023. They are all so focused on their differences rather than their similarities. Don’t let the shade thrown in this video go over your head.

[@isabellaazebeokhai1507]

Noticed this

[@MYBWADA]

If you don’t hear it, it is simply because you do not want to. Often, one’s desire to espouse cultural and ethnic uniqueness distorts what is objectively there! Students of linguistics understand stress timed languages, sibilants and consonant clusters. These components and others combine to create English speakers who inarguably sound quite similar. The same audio echoing (from an English perspective) can be heard in Russian & Portuguese, Irish brogues & Jamaican patois! In conclusion, Yeolo, you sound Nigerian

[@hironyx]

1907 LKY not even born yet 🤣🤣

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Your face journeys are (chef’s kiss) 😂

[@xecck]

1907 Mr Lee Kuan Yew wasn't even born yet lmao wtf

[@EL-xg4yq]

I was thinking about similarities for many years even before this. Your first line "the singaporean accent," and it's upwards inflection then going down, is typical. Of course, it's not going to be exactly the same and yes, Nigerian to me also sounds more "lyrical" and more articulated, but there are a lot of similarities you cannot deny.

[@sarahlim75]

In the 1800s, there was a set of British twins who became missionaries. They each left for different parts of the world to teach English. Mystery solved. 😂

[@servingcant]

This is giving laurel or yanny vibes 💀

[@SeraphDunsinane]

Idk why but by just using the Nigerian Tiktoker as reference, he honestly sound more like how my french friends would speak than Singaporean

[@ayubamuazu7488]

You sound Nigerian yourself too my guy. Hope to visit Singapore soon

[@PokhrajRoy.]

This is like that dress meme all over again. Is it gold or blue and black?

[@melan.cholia]

or laurel and yanny (i'm team "i cant hear the similarities")

[@jeffanugwom1737]

The accents in the movies are refined lol.. infact I call the accents in the movies wakanda accent 😂

[@jianxiongRaven]

Its similar but not totally the same . Espeically when u hear it more .

[@kelvinsixtus3646]

You sound do like a Nigerian that left the country at a very young age and jsyk you didn't use the right movie for your research. Loved your video btw even if you came off defensive

[@oreoluwaadenrele107]

Well, I am Nigerian and what I hear is a similarity to English speaking west African accent. The way they introduce themselves is same as Nigerians. Nigeria being the most populous of those countries makes it seem like the accents are similar, and they are. I think Singaporeans don’t get it because they aren’t familiar because they don’t know how typical Nigerians speak.

[@TimJilimin22]

Yeolo is a man of culture because he watched Ted Lasso. Nuff said.

[@gothicpinkk]

I kinda get it. IMO Nigerian accent sounds like Hokkien lmao.

[@izziebella3847]

Actually there are many Nigerian accents. If you take a person from the north of Nigeria and a person from yorubaland or igboland the accents vary!!! So first of which Nigerian accent are you comparing? I think you sound somewhat like a Nigerian from the Eastern part of Nigeria but there are still some chinesseish intonations that give you away!

[@soso694]

It's actually really not that different. We have regional variances just like any other country, but I can always pick out a Nigerian accent no matter which part of Nigeria the person is from. They have the same overall features. It's like saying there are many American accents. Yes, but there is a “general American accent ” that all regional variances fall under.

[@bangtanluver]

Singaporean accent is very distinct and Nigerian is clear and they enunciate more but the speech pattern is similar but that’s it

[@MyFitgirlLifestyle]

7:20 He's being sarcastic😅 can't be serious

[@JoshuaNnorom-pz2hj]

The jollof rice thing was a joke 😂

[@avateraangshoe5025]

Honestly! And the guy doesn't even sound Nigerian 😂

[@animashaunsegunnurudeen7334]

Even you sound like an Igbo brother making a product review

[@zangichingole5156]

Ooh what show is that? 👀 I’m trying to watch that

[@boluwharsheyi3313]

Nah that guy was only doing sarcasm that is never true😂

[@exiblack9370]

You sound like Nigeria man 😂😂😂 for real no joke bro

[@galaxy_carmen]

Ain't no wayyy.... I don't hear it at all😭 like- where you get that sia?

[@Cece594]

I’m Nigeran I can confirm I sound nothing like them

[@rain1676]

I love you

[@kepalakotak99999]

Hiii! Please do a video on Jocelyn Chia, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Viewers from Malaysia here!

[@s._3560]

Our Singapore-accented English I believe is influenced by dialects spoken by the majority of Southern Chinese who migrated to Singapore. It is probably originated from Hokkien/Teochew inflexions and tones rather than Cantonese-accented English (those characterised by Uncle Roger/Hong Konger accent). Many Malaysians of Chinese descent also have the same accent as Singaporeans. Listen to LKY's English in films before independence, he has a British accent. I noticed many years ago that our accent seem to sound similar to that of Nigerians (large population) in London. I believe it is just a coincidence since there was very little interaction between Singaporean/Malaysian and West Africans. Are there any in-depth explanations of where the West African English accent originated from? Dig deeper, and it is probably just a superficial comparison. I have doubts their pronunciation of words such as memorable, maintenance, three, colleague, technological, market, change, scarcity, situation etc. are the same nor are there any overlapping colloquialisms. There are also a lot of mean, negative comments on the social media/internet disparaging the Singapore-accented English especially prominent in videos posted by Westerners who have lived in Singapore. Incidentally, our Mandarin accent is also more flat and very similar to that of working-class Taiwanese-accent Mandarin because most originated from Fujian hence the same inflexions.

[@midbehavior4737]

Lmao l actually hear the similarities in the accents

[@jamman7344]

😂😂😂😂 ok so I'm not going crazy 🤣🤣🤣

[@KingAlexFX]

Bro you’re not making any point at all. Their accent obviously sounds very similar to Nigerian accent

[@charlesmao7743]

This is the pure example of how a simple and nonsensical video can turn into probably controversy, stealing culture and whatsoever. The way they made things out of nowhere.

[@Miraclesylva]

Stealing what culture please explain sir

[@avateraangshoe5025]

What are you even talking about

[@Jackdemno]

Bro you yourself sounds Nigerians 😂

[@cocaineminor4420]

Our accents sounds like mix Chinese and malay accent not Nigerian

[@Miraclesylva]

Definitely

[@arsyerwin3828]

Fax

[@kazami5699]

I am surprised to the fact Singaporean got Nigerian accent

[@natalipoland4482]

watch Chuuzus and tell me you dont sound similar. Of course it is different, to make a similarity think central australian and south england accent, and I think in this case is even more similar

[@light6532]

Thess iss mee befoee my sheet

[@JohnJohnson-du7vc]

Different people hear things differently, sometimes they can't hear differences. I agree with YEOLO's opinion stated in the video. From the examples here, Nigerian English is easier for me, an American, to understand.

[@melan.cholia]

i cant really hear the similarities too

[@naughtykini]

Finally someone points it out! I don't think it is Nigerian specific but I told ppl I hear the similarities between the African and our accent. Some words Africans pronounce that sound like our 'broken English'/word-by-word kind of tone I noticed.

[@avateraangshoe5025]

Which one is "the African" accent

[@juditherese]

You actually sound Nigerian yourself 😅 I'm Nigerian.

[@maggiemoses7580]

No he said that like a joke, he’s joking about the jollof rice being the cause of the accent

[@ovo5459]

Maybe its the way we use our words are similar to the way they speak instead of the accent

[@ladybetsy6199]

I am Nigerian, the first time I heard those girls, I remember my friend who sounds like the last girl. We have the same accent

[@JuzNicky]

In b4 some one says : So there will be a Nigerian version for the Cai Fan song ? iykyk... 🤐

[@pavementpounder7502]

I always thought there was a definite resemblance. I think its because some Nigerian languages are tonal like Chinese languages so similar substrate.

[@SpoilerK]

Even Singlish has its differences: ah beng/ah lian English, auntie uncle English and genz/millennials. Who is to say some don't sound 'Singlish' enough when everyone in Singapore has varying levels of English exposure depending on their background. Though I must say, I really can't hear the similarities between the Nigerian and Singaporean accent.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

That Reddit comment is also what I was thinking.

[@FGitty]

@yeolo yeah bro your accent definitely sounds very similar to the Nigerian accent

[@chibuzor5614]

Lol, dude sounda like a calabar man and says he cant hear it.

[@gaddielogunniyi1748]

Lol. You even sound like us already as you speak. I'm a Nigerian

[@ssc.s]

Our accent is just simply a mix of Chinese and Malay accents tgt when we speak eng that's why it turned that way-

[@Zamzathefirst]

CAN YOU TALK ABT THE JOCYLEN CHIA

[@sk6424]

I watched a documentary about maids in Singapore like 5 years ago and I Yup, had to send it to several Friends. Those girls sound like Nigerian girls but you can tell that they aren't Nigerians. BTW you don't sound like a typical Sjngaporean, you're trying to hide your accent lol

[@christopherudeh2735]

I hear it in your voice too in the way you pronounce some words.

[@midbehavior4737]

The rice thing was a joke☠️

[@sissyfart]

i can't hear it either LOL

[@SauceChef]

Bro even the way you pronounced “prime minister” as “prime mee-nis-de”. With a downward inflection at “de”.

[@embershen364]

Jollof rice is tomato ketchup+curry powder fried rice. My nigerian friend i met while working in the US canteen for my masters taught me how to cook that.

[@fortuneasuoma7073]

We almost never use the word Ketchup...I had to pause for a while to understand your brief recipe

[@ley5230]

The recepy is completely wrong

[@ca-ke9493]

I hear similarities but they are definitely not the same lol

[@eseosaabaku3685]

when working for a call center as an agent responding to customer calls in canada, a Singaporean confused me for another Singaporean. I am Nigerian 😂. the accents are very similar

[@bRiAn88250]

Why is 🇸🇬 accents sound similar to 🇳🇬 accents? And not 🇳🇬 accents sound similar to 🇸🇬 accents? 😅

[@Miraclesylva]

Thank you for bringing this up

[@neykiks6396]

Slight difference.. 😂. I’m amazed anyways

[@HamNCheeseSandwich]

God damnit 😂😂😂. 1907? Ah boi do the math Singapore 57 years old 😂😂😂😂

[@Rioichi1989]

Lol, the jollof rice comment was a joke sir

[@thomism1016]

Nigerian who’s been in the UK for years. I agree. It’s the lack of Enunciation thing. HINT: the Jollof rice guy is DEFINITELY NOT a Nigerian 😱😱😱

[@Ruiimai]

the whole video he was sounding nigerian lol..

[@pavementpounder7502]

I assume Nigerian brother was joking lol

[@PokhrajRoy.]

The British Museum exists and that Nigerian gentleman thinks accents should be reclaimed? Hell to the no (Jk)