Contact and constructionalization: the emergence of a clause-final adverb construction in Singaporean varieties

Clause-final adverbs such as already , also , and only have been widely recognized as characteristic features of Singapore English. By comparison, parallel clause-final adverbial patterns in Singapore Mandarin remain underexplored, despite being similarly prominent in everyday speech. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the first construction-based analysis of clause-final adverbs in Singapore Mandarin and by examining them alongside the use of clause-final adverbs in Singapore English. Based on the Diasystematic Construction Grammar framework, we propose that sustained bilingualism in Singapore has given rise to a stance-oriented clause-final constructional slot, which supports three distinct developmental trajectories in Singapore Mandarin. Through a detailed analysis of three adverbs, 才 cái ‘only’, 先 xiān ‘first’, and 也是 yěshì ‘also’, we illustrate trajectories of decline, functional strengthening, and innovation. The findings demonstrate that clause-final adverbs in Singapore Mandarin are systematically organized within a constructional network shaped by both bilingual usage patterns and ongoing changes in Singapore’s multilingual linguistic environment.