Regional differences and dialects in Indian English

Last updated

Indian English has developed a number of dialects, distinct from the General/Standard Indian English that educators have attempted to establish and institutionalise, and it is possible to distinguish a person's sociolinguistic background from the dialect that they employ. These dialects are influenced by the different languages that different sections of the country also speak, side by side with English. The dialects can differ markedly in their phonology, to the point that two speakers using two different dialects can find each other's accents mutually unintelligible. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Indian English is a "network of varieties", resulting from an extraordinarily complex linguistic situation in the country. (See Official languages of India.) This network comprises both regional and occupational dialects of English. The widely recognised dialects include Malayali English, Telugu English, Maharashtrian English, Punjabi English, Bengali English, Hindi English, alongside several more obscure dialects such as Butler English (a.k.a. Bearer English), Babu English, and Bazaar English and several code-mixed varieties of English. [3] [4] [5] [6]

The formation of these regional/socio-economic dialects is the same form of language contact that has given rise to Scottish English. [7]

General Indian English

General Indian English here refers to a variety originating outside of the eastern regions and southern regions, crossing regional boundaries throughout the Republic of India. As mentioned, Cultivated Indian English is almost entirely this General Indian dialect but with a few additional features derived from Received Pronunciation.

This accent is closest to the educated people, used by news anchors, actors and upper-class people throughout the nation not just particular to any region.

Babu English

Babu English (a.k.a. Baboo English), the name originally coming from the Bengali word for a gentleman, is a dialect of English that first developed as an occupational dialect, amongst clerks in the Bengali-speaking areas of pre-Partition India. Originally characterised as a markedly ornate form of administrative English, it is now no longer confined solely to clerks, and can be found in Nepal, north India, and in some social circles in south India. [8] [9]

The distinguishing characteristics of Babu English are the florid, excessively polite, and indirect manner of expression, which have been reported for amusement value, in works such as Cecil Hunt's Honoured Sir collections (see Further reading), and lampooned, in works such as F. Antesey's Baboo Jabberjee, B.A., for over a century. [8] [10]

Butler English

Butler English, also known as Bearer English or Kitchen English, is a dialect of English that first developed as an occupational dialect in the years of the Madras Presidency, [11] but that has developed over time and is now associated mainly with social class rather than occupation. It is still spoken in major metropolitan cities.

The dialect of Butler English is singular. Therefore, the present participle is used for the future indicative, and the preterite. For example, for the preterite indicative "done", "I telling" translates to "I will tell", "I done tell" to "I have told", and "done come" to "actually arrived". This form of Indian English was used both by masters for speaking to their servants as well as by servants to speak to their masters. [12]

Hindi English

Hinglish (the name is a combination of the words "Hindi" and "English") is a macaronic language, a hybrid of British English and South Asian languages – it is a code-switching variety of these languages whereby they are freely interchanged within a sentence or between sentences. While the name is based on the Hindi language, it does not refer exclusively to Hindi, but "is used in India, with English words blending with Punjabi, and Hindi, and also within British Asian families to enliven standard English." It is predominantly spoken in Northern India and some parts of Mumbai and Bangalore.[ citation needed ]

Modern phonologists often divide Indian English into five major varieties.

Assamese English

Assamese English refers to the English spoken by Assamese speakers. Some major difference between Assamese English and British English are mostly seen in some consonants. In Assamese English all vowels are usually short.

WordsPronunciation in Assamese English
appleɛpʊl
coldkol(d)
ballbɔl
coolkul
mangomɛŋɡɔ
fatherɸadaɹ
catkɛt
shesi
Chinasaɪna
verificationbʱɛɹiɸikɛsɔn
intelligentintɛlizɛn
telephonetelɪɸʊn
jewelleryzʊɛlaɹi
thinktʰiŋ
deskdɛks
roadɹʊd, ɹod
guardianɡaɹzɛn
fishɸis, pʰis
butbat
numbernambaɹ
universityiʊnibʱaɹsiti
ghostɡʱos(t)
collegekɔlɛz
pressurep(ɹ)saɹ
torchtɔ(ɹ)s
checkpointsɛkpɔɪn
halfpantɦappɛn

Bengali English

Bengali English (or eastern Indian English) here refers collectively to the varieties of the West Bengal state and neighbouring country of Bangladesh, which has been greatly influenced by Bengali. Its main subdivisions are Calcutta English as well as Dhaka English. It is similar or even identical to Bangladeshi English, also known as Banglish or Benglish.

West Indian English

West Indian English here refers to a traditional variety spoken in the western part of India.

Cultivated Indian English

Cultivated Indian English here refers collectively to non-localised, non-working class, and more recent varieties of India and the surrounding region of India. It includes mainstream Indian English, a widely common, upper-class variety that preserves a few local Indian features while setting the basis for an otherwise General Indian English accent as well as new Cultivated Indian English, a youthful variety beginning in the 2000s. However, both are found rarely in India.

Southern Indian English

Southern Indian English here refers to broad varieties of Southern India.

In addition to these, the alveolar stops [t] and [d] in words like water and door are often pronounced as their retroflex equivalents [ʈ] and [ɖ] respectively.


See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punjabi language</span> Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab

Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world with approximately 113 million native speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urdu</span> Language spoken in India and Pakistan

Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside English. In India, Urdu is an Eighth Schedule language, the status and cultural heritage of which are recognised by the Constitution of India; and it also has an official status in several Indian states. In Nepal, Urdu is a registered regional dialect and in South Africa it is a protected language in the constitution. It is also spoken as a minority language in Afghanistan and Bangladesh, with no official status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindustani language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in India and Pakistan

Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India, Pakistan and the Deccan and used as the official language of India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, it is also called Hindi–Urdu. Colloquial registers of the language fall on a spectrum between these standards. In modern times, a third variety of Hindustani with significant English influences has also appeared which is sometimes called Hinglish or Urdish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Aryan languages</span> Branch of the Indo-Iranian languages

The Indo-Aryan languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated east of the Indus river in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal. Moreover, apart from the Indian subcontinent, large immigrant and expatriate Indo-Aryan–speaking communities live in Northwestern Europe, Western Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Southeast Africa, Polynesia and Australia, along with several million speakers of Romani languages primarily concentrated in Southeastern Europe. There are over 200 known Indo-Aryan languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gujarati language</span> Indo-Aryan language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gujarati. In India, it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Union. It is also the official language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. As of 2011, Gujarati is the 6th most widely spoken language in India by number of native speakers, spoken by 55.5 million speakers which amounts to about 4.5% of the total Indian population. It is the 26th most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers as of 2007.

Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the Republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Government of India for communication, and is enshrined in the Constitution of India. English is also an official language in seven states and seven union territories of India, and the additional official language in seven other states and one union territory. Furthermore, English is the sole official language of the Judiciary of India, unless the state governor or legislature mandates the use of a regional language, or if the President of India has given approval for the use of regional languages in courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of India</span>

Languages spoken in the Republic of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians; both families together are sometimes known as Indic languages. Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino–Tibetan, Tai–Kadai, and a few other minor language families and isolates. According to the People's Linguistic Survey of India, India has the second highest number of languages (780), after Papua New Guinea (840). Ethnologue lists a lower number of 456.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Pakistan</span>

Pakistan is a multilingual country with over 70 languages spoken as first languages. The majority of Pakistan's languages belong to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European language family.

Hinglish is the macaronic hybrid use of South Asian English and the Hindustani language. Its name is a portmanteau of the words Hindi and English. In the context of spoken language, it involves code-switching or translanguaging between these languages whereby they are freely interchanged within a sentence or between sentences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhojpuri language</span> Indo-Aryan language native to India and Nepal

Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal and. It is chiefly spoken in eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Bihar and western Jharkhand in India as well as western Madhesh and eastern Lumbini in Nepal. Bhojpuri is also widely spoken by the diaspora of Indians descended from those who left as indentured laborers during the colonial era. It is an eastern Indo Aryan language and as of 2000 it is spoken by about 5% of India's population. Bhojpuri is a descendant of Magadhi Prakrit and is related to Maithili, Magahi, Bangla, Odia, Assamese, and other eastern Indo-Aryan languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magahi language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in India

Magahi, also known as Magadhi, is a Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name derives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shina language</span> Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan and Gurez valley

Shina is a Dardic language of Indo-Aryan language family spoken by the Shina people. In Pakistan, Shina is the major language in Gilgit-Baltistan spoken by an estimated 1,146,000 people living mainly in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan. A small community of Shina speakers is also found in India, in the Guraiz valley of Jammu and Kashmir and in Dras valley of Ladakh. Outliers of Shina language such as Brokskat are found in Ladakh, Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir, Palula and Sawi in Chitral, Ushojo in the Swat Valley and Kalkoti in Dir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant Bhasha</span> Language composed of vocabulary common to northern Indian languages, used in Sikh scripture

Sant Bhasha is a liturgical and scriptural language composed of vocabulary common to northern Indian languages, which was extensively used by saints and poets to compose religious verses. It can be understood by readers with a background in either Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu and its dialects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali dialects</span> Dialects of the Bengali language

The Bengali dialects or Bengali varieties are the varieties of the Bengali language that are part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan language group of the Indo-European language family widely spoken in the Bengal region of South Asia. The spoken dialects of Bengali are mutually intelligible with neighbouring dialects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of South Asia</span>

South Asia is home to several hundred languages, spanning the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is home to the third most spoken language in the world, Hindi–Urdu; and the sixth most spoken language, Bengali. The languages in the region mostly comprise Indo-Iranic and Dravidian languages, and further members of other language families like Austroasiatic, and Tibeto-Burman languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali language</span> Indo-Aryan language in Bengal region

Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language from the Indo-European language family native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With over 250 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2024, Bengali is the fifth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language.

Malwai is an eastern dialect of the Punjabi language, spoken in the Malwa region of Punjab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punjabi dialects and languages</span> Dialects and languages spoken in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India

The Punjabi dialects and languages or Greater Punjabi are a series of dialects and languages spoken around the Punjab region of Pakistan and India with varying degrees of official recognition. They have sometimes been referred to as the Greater Punjabi macrolanguage. Punjabi may also be considered as a pluricentric language with more than one standard variety.

Most of the languages of Bihar, the third most populous state of India, belong to the Bihari subgroup of the Indo-Aryan family. Chief among them are Bhojpuri, spoken in the west of the state, Maithili in the north, Magahi in center around capital Patna and in the south of the state. Maithili has official recognition under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The official language of Bihar is Modern Standard Hindi, with Standard Urdu serving as a second official language in 15 districts.

Gambian English is the variety of English spoken in The Gambia. Gambian English has fewer speakers than any other variety of West African English (WAE), and shares similarities with Sierra Leonean English. The differences between Gambian English and other dialects of African English are mostly lexical and phonological. Gambian English has been influenced by various indigenous Gambian languages.

References

  1. J. Sethi; Dhamija Sethi & P. V. Dhamija (2004). A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 59. ISBN   9788120314955.
  2. Jaydeep Sarangi (2004). "Indian Variety of English: A Socio-Linguistic Study". In Mohit Kumar Ray (ed.). Studies in ELT, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 50. ISBN   9788126903504.
  3. 1 2 Edgar W. Schneider (2007). Postcolonial English . Cambridge University Press. p.  168. ISBN   9780521831406.
  4. N. Krishnaswamy & Lalitha Krishnaswamy (2006). the story of english in india. Foundation Books. ISBN   9788175963122.
  5. Andy Kirkpatrick (2007). World Englishes . Cambridge University Press. p.  89. ISBN   9780521851473.
  6. Ravinder Gargesh (2006). "South Asian Englishes". In Braj B. Kachru; Yamuna Kachru; Cecil L. Nelson (eds.). The Handbook of World Englishes. Blackwell Publishing. p. 92. ISBN   9781405111850.
  7. Raymond Hickey (2004). "South Asian Englishes". In Raymond Hickey (ed.). Legacies of Colonial English . Cambridge University Press. p.  543. ISBN   9780521830201.
  8. 1 2 Braj B. Kachru (2006). "English in South Asia". In Kingsley Bolton; Braj B. Kachru (eds.). World Englishes. Taylor & Francis UK. pp. 267–269. ISBN   9780415315074.
    also printed as Braj B. Kachru (1994). "English in South Asia". In Robert Burchfield (ed.). The Cambridge History of the English Language. Vol. V. English in Britain and Overseas: Origins and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 497–553. ISBN   9780521264785.
  9. Melvyn Bragg (2006). The Adventure of English. Arcade Publishing. p. 243. ISBN   9781559707848.
  10. Srinivas Aravamudan (2006). Guru English: South Asian religion in a cosmopolitan language. Princeton University Press. p. 133. ISBN   978-0-691-11828-4.
  11. Kachru, Braj B. (1 December 1965). "The Indianness in Indian English". WORD. 21 (3): 391–410. doi:10.1080/00437956.1965.11435436. ISSN   0043-7956.
  12. Yule, Henry, Sir (2015). Hobson-Jobson : the definitive glossary of British India. Burnell, A. C. (Arthur Coke), 1840-1882., Teltscher, Kate,, Teltscher, Kate, 1963-. [Oxford]. ISBN   978-0198718000. OCLC   913732430.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Further reading

Babu English

Malayali English

Tamilian English

Punjabi English

Rajasthani English

Telugu English