what only

Hindi क्या meaning "what", but in South Asian English it survives as an emphasis particle and rhetorical opener rather than a literal question word. Often paired with "yaar" or "bhai" to register exasperation ("Kya yaar!"), surprise ("Kya bolti tu?") or mock outrage ("Kya scene hai?"). Can also appear sentence-finally to convert a statement into a tag question, similar to English "right?" or "no?". Heavily code-switched into Indian English speech and chat; reading the tone matters more than translating the word literally.

In Indian English, "itself" is widely used as an emphasis particle rather than a reflexive pronoun — "good itself" means "very good", "today itself" means "this very day" and "here itself" means "right here". The construction is a syntactic carry-over from Hindi (and to a lesser extent Tamil), where emphasis is normally added via a post-particle ("hi" / "tane"). Speakers of standard British or American English typically read these phrases as ungrammatical or redundant, but in South Asian English they are completely natural and convey precise emphasis. The pattern is most visible in time-and-place expressions: "now itself", "yesterday itself", "this office itself".

The Singaporean and Malaysian English particle par excellence, derived from Hokkien and Malay. Tacked onto the end of a sentence to soften a statement, signal casual rapport, mark mild emphasis, or confirm what has just been said. Tone of voice changes its meaning: a falling "lah" is reassuring ("don't worry lah"), a flat "lah" is matter-of-fact ("cannot lah"), a rising "lah" can be impatient ("just do it lah"). Examples: "Eat already lah, don't wait for me." "Come lah, the show is starting." "I told you lah, it's in the kitchen." Considered the single most recognisable feature of Singlish.

Two distinct South Asian English uses share this spelling. First, a versatile suffix attached to occupations or specialities to mean "the person who does X" — chai-wallah (tea-seller), rickshaw-wallah (rickshaw driver), dabba-wallah (lunchbox courier in Mumbai). From Hindi/Urdu -वाला / والا. Second, a standalone emphasis exclamation borrowed via Urdu from Arabic والله (wallahi, "by God") used to swear to the truth of a statement ("I swear, wallah, it was him"). Context disambiguates instantly — speakers either chain it to a noun or use it as a bare oath at the start or end of a sentence.

Exclamation of surprise, amazement, admiration or general impressed reaction, common across Singaporean, Malaysian and Hong Kong English. Used standalone or as a lead-in: "Wah, so expensive!" "Wah, the view damn nice." Lengthened ("waaah") for stronger emphasis. Often paired with "lah", "leh" or "lao" to colour the reaction — "wah lah eh", "wah lao", "wah seh". Has roots in Hokkien and Cantonese spoken exclamations and is one of the first Singlish markers visiting English speakers pick up.