Indian English
Indian English is a catchall phrase for the dialects or varieties of English spoken widely in India.
The language that Indians are taught in schools is essentially British English and in particular, spellings follow British conventions. However, the British left India in 1947, and therefore many phrases that the British may consider antique are still popular in India. Official letters continue to include phrases like "please do the needful", "you will be intimated shortly", and "your obedient servant". This difference in style though is not as marked a difference as between British and American English (and unlike Canadian or Australian English there is no difference in spelling whatsoever.)
In addition, Indian English mixes in various words from Indian languages: "bandh" or "hartal" for strikes, "challan" for a monetary receipt or a traffic ticket, and so on. Such words have been regularly entering the Oxford English Dictionary; indeed, some ("jungle", "bungalow", "pyjama") became mainstream generations ago.
The book Hobson-Jobson by Henry Yule and A.C. Burnell, first published in 1886, gives a glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words.
While Indian English is often the butt of jokes by the "educated" British (e.g. various works of literature from the colonial era, or Peter Sellers's brilliant portrayal of a socially-challenged Indian in The Party), more recently Indian English writers and English writers of Indian origin – notably Booker Prize winners Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy – have been making more creative use of it in their works.
The distinct evolution of regional variations in contemporary usage has led to terms such as Hinglish (Hindi + English) and Tanglish (Tamil + English). These terminologies are often referred to in a humorous, self-deprecating way, but at times they also have a derogatory connotation, with each region or stratum of society having fun at the expense of others. Hinglish, Tanglish and other unnamed variations are particularly capitalised and made popular in the field of advertising. Here the aim of reaching a large cross-section of society is fulfilled by such double-coding.
John M. Lawler of University of Michigan observes the following anomalies in the grammar of Indian English:
- The progressive tense in static verbs: I am understanding it. She is knowing the answer.
- Variations in noun number and determiners: He performed many charities. She loves to pull your legs.
- Prepositions: pay attention on, discuss about, convey him my greetings
- Tag questions: You're going, isn't it? He's here, no?
- Word order: Who you have come for? They're late always. My all friends are waiting.
- Yes and no agreeing to the form of a question, not just its content -- A: You didn't come on the bus? B: Yes, I didn't."
Descriptions of the "grammar of Indian English" must be taken with a large pinch of salt because Indian schools teach grammar from British textbooks like Wren & Martin and the grammar of British English is considered the only correct one. Examples such as provided by Mr. Lawler are not considered "correct usage" in english classes or even Government. Efforts by the Oxford University Press to publish a dictionary of Indian English were a failure since many customers in India preferred to use the British version of the dictionary. "British English" is an Official Language of Government in India and as such there is no recognition of or directive to use "Indian English." Grammar aside, there are many borrowed words from Indian languages that find their way into fiction, newspapers. In any case, spoken and written English in India has not explicitly "forked" away from British English because the labelling of English as a "foreign language" is part of many people's political attitudes and its explicit indigenisation would devalue efforts to discontinue the widespread use of English in India.
A few words unique to "Indian English":
- cousin-brother (male cousin)
- cousin-sister (femal cousin)
- batchmate or batch-mate (Not classmate, but of same age schoolmate)
- crore (ten million)
- lakh (hundred thousand)
- Eve-teasing (harassment of women)
- godown (warehouse)
- specs (eyeglasses)
- scheduled caste (lowest Hindu caste)
- prepone (the opposite of 'postpone')
- foot overbridge (bridge)
See also: List of English words of Indian origin