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IndianEnglish
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

IndianEnglishisanyoftheformsofEnglishcharacteristicoftheIndiansubcontinent.[1]Englishhas
slowlybecomeoneofthelinguafrancasoftheIndiansubcontinent(includingPakistan,Bangladesh,
Nepal,SriLanka),andisthelanguageoftheirculturalandpoliticalelites,offeringsignificanteconomic,
political,andsocialadvantagetofluentspeakers.[2]
ThoughEnglishisoneoftwoofficiallanguagesoftheUnionGovernmentofIndia,onlyafewhundred
thousandIndianshaveEnglishastheirfirstlanguage.[3][4][5][6][7]Accordingtothe2005IndiaHuman
DevelopmentSurvey,ofthe41,554surveyedhouseholdsreportedthat72percentofmen(29,918)did
notspeakanyEnglish,28percent(11,635)spokeatleastsomeEnglish,and5percent(2,077,roughly
17.9%ofthosewhospokeatleastsomeEnglish)spokefluentEnglish.Amongwomen,the
correspondingpercentageswere83percent(34,489)speakingnoEnglish,17percent(7,064)speakingat
leastsomeEnglish,and3percent(1,246,roughly17.6%ofthosewhospokeatleastsomeEnglish)
speakingEnglishfluently.[8]AccordingtostatisticsofDistrictInformationSystemforEducation(DISE)
ofNationalUniversityofEducationalPlanningandAdministrationunderMinistryofHumanResource
Development,GovernmentofIndia,enrollmentinEnglishmediumschoolsincreasedby50%between
200809and201314.ThenumberofEnglishmediumschoolstudentsinIndiaincreasedfromover1.5
crore(15million)in200809to2.9crore(29million)by201314.[9]InDecember2015,theSupreme
CourtofIndiaruledthatEnglishistheonlycourtlanguage.[10]
IndianEnglishgenerallyusestheIndiannumberingsystem.IdiomaticformsderivedfromIndianliterary
languagesandvernacularshavebeenabsorbedintoIndianEnglish.Nevertheless,thereremainsgeneral
homogeneityinphonetics,vocabulary,andphraseologybetweenvariantsoftheIndianEnglish
dialect.[11][12][13][14]

Contents
1 History
2 Phonology
2.1 Vowels
2.2 Consonants
2.3 Spellingpronunciation
2.4 Suprasegmentalfeatures
3 Morphologyandsyntax
4 Numberingsystem
5 SomeexamplesofIndianEnglishusage
6 Spellingandnationaldifferences

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6 Spellingandnationaldifferences
7 Seealso
8 Notes
9 References
10 Furtherreading
11 Externallinks

History
EnglishlanguagepublicinstructionbeganinIndiainthe1830sduringtheruleoftheEastIndia
Company(Indiawasthen,andistoday,oneofthemostlinguisticallydiverseregionsoftheworld[15]).
In1837,EnglishreplacedPersianastheofficiallanguageoftheCompany.LordMacaulayplayeda
majorroleinintroducingEnglishandwesternconceptstoeducationinIndia.Hesupportedthe
replacementofPersianbyEnglishastheofficiallanguage,theuseofEnglishasthemediumof
instructioninallschools,andthetrainingofEnglishspeakingIndiansasteachers.[16]Throughoutthe
1840sand1850s,primarymiddleandhighschoolswereopenedinmanydistrictsofBritishIndia,with
mosthighschoolsofferingEnglishlanguageinstructioninsomesubjects.In1857,justbeforetheendof
Companyrule,universitiesmodelledontheUniversityofLondonandusingEnglishasthemediumof
instructionwereestablishedinBombay,CalcuttaandMadras.DuringsubsequentCrownRuleinIndia,
ortheBritishRaj,lastingfrom1858to1947,EnglishlanguagepenetrationincreasedthroughoutIndia.
ThiswasdriveninpartbythegraduallyincreasinghiringofIndiansinthecivilservices.Atthetimeof
India'sindependencein1947,Englishwastheonlyfunctionallinguafrancainthecountry.
AfterIndianIndependencein1947,Hindiwasdeclaredthefirstofficiallanguage,andattemptswere
madetodeclareHindithesolenationallanguageofIndia.DuetoprotestsfromTamilNaduandother
nonHindispeakingstates,itwasdecidedtotemporarilyretainEnglishforofficialpurposesuntilatleast
1965.Bytheendofthisperiod,however,oppositionfromnonHindistateswasstilltoostrongtohave
Hindideclaredthesolelanguage.Withthisinmind,theEnglishLanguageAmendmentBilldeclared
Englishtobeanassociatelanguage"untilsuchtimeasallnonHindiStateshadagreedtoitsbeing
dropped."Thishasn'tyetoccurred,anditisstillwidelyused.Forinstance,itistheonlyreliablemeans
ofdaytodaycommunicationbetweenthecentralgovernmentandthenonHindistates.
ThespreadoftheEnglishlanguageinIndiahasledittobecomeadaptedtosuitthelocaldialects.Dueto
thelargediversityinIndianlanguagesandcultures,therecanbeinstanceswherethesameEnglishword
canmeandifferentthingstodifferentpeopleindifferentpartsofIndia.Therearethreedifferentstagesof
EnglishLanguageinIndiai.e.Cultivated,closelyapproximatingReceivedPronunciationand
associatedwithyoungergenerationofurbanandsuburbanregionsofmetropolitancitiesofthecountry
Standard,asocialindicatorofthehighereducation,andRegional,associatedwiththegeneral
population,andcloselyapproximatingthesecondlanguageVernacularEnglishvariety.
WhilethereisanassumptionthatEnglishisreadilyavailableinIndia,availablestudiesshowthatits
usageisactuallyrestrictedtoanelite,becauseofinadequateeducationtolargepartsoftheIndian
population.TheuseofoutdatedteachingmethodsandthepoorgraspofEnglishexhibitedbytheauthors
ofmanyguidebooks,disadvantagestudentswhorelyonthesebooks.[17]
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Phonology
Indianaccentsvarygreatly.MostIndiansleantowardamore'vernacular',nativetinted,accentfortheir
EnglishspeechwhilefewothersspeakEnglishwithanaccentveryclosetoaStandardBritish
(ReceivedPronunciation)accent.

Vowels
Ingeneral,IndianEnglishhasfewerpeculiaritiesinitsvowelsoundsthantheconsonants,especiallyas
spokenbynativespeakersoflanguageslikeHindi,thevowelphonemesystemhavingsomesimilarities
withthatofEnglish.AmongthedistinctivefeaturesofthevowelsoundsemployedbysomeIndian
Englishspeakers:
ManyIndianEnglishspeakersdonotmakeacleardistinctionbetween//and//.(Seecot
caughtmerger.)
UnlikeBritishspeakers,butlikesomeAmericans,someIndianspeakers,especiallyintheSouth,
oftendonotpronouncetherounded//or//,andsubstitute/a/instead.Thismakesnotsoundas
[nat].Thephoneme//,ifused,isonlysemiroundedatthelips..Similarly,inSouthIndiacoffee
willbepronouncedkaafi,copywillbekaapietc.
Wordssuchasclass,staffandlastwouldbepronouncedwithaback/a/asinSouthernBritish
dialectsbutunlikeNorthernBritishdialectsandstandardAmericanEnglish,i.e.,[kls],[stf],
and[lst]ratherthanAmerican[kls],[stf],and[lst].
MostIndianshavethetrapbathsplitofReceivedPronunciationbutsomeIndiansoftheyounger
generationwhotrytoimitateAmericanEnglishdonothavethissplit.Thoughthetrapbathis
prevalentinIndianEnglish,itvariesgreatly.ThedistributionissomewhatsimilartoAustralian
EnglishinRegionalIndianEnglishvarieties,butithasacompletesplitinCultivatedIndian
EnglishandStandardIndianEnglishvarieties.

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IPA
Lexical
set
Diaphoneme Cultivated Standard

~a

~o

Examples

Regional

~~

TRAP

lad,bad,cat

BATH

pass,path,sample

LOT

not,wasp

CLOTH

off,loss,cloth

THOUGHT

law,caught

KIT

kick,sit

FLEECE

see,city

FACE

date

DRESS

bed

NURSE

burn

STRUT

run,won

~o

e
~

~e

~e

()~()

()~

~~

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u
~

~o

o
~

~
~

()~()

()~

e
()

e
()~e

()

e
()~
()

()~o()

()~o()

through,you

PRICE

my,wise

CHOICE

boy,hoist

GOAT

no,toe

GOAL

goal,cold

MOUTH

now,trout

NEAR

deer,here

SQUARE

mare,there

o
~

GOOSE

put

FOOT

()~o()

()

()

~()

()

o~o()

Diaphoneme Cultivated Standard

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~
()~o() CURE

Regional

tour,moor

NORTH

horse

FORCE

hoarse

Lexical
set

Examples
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Consonants
AmongthemostdistinctivefeaturesofconsonantsinIndianEnglishare:
Pronunciationsvarybetweenrhoticandnonrhoticwithpronunciationsleaningtowardsnative
phonologybeinggenerallyrhotic,andothersbeingnonrhoticimitativeofBritishReceived
Pronunciation.
StandardHindiandmostothervernaculars(exceptPunjabi,Marathi,Assamese&Bengali)donot
differentiatebetween/v/(voicedlabiodentalfricative)and/w/(voicedlabiovelarapproximant).
Instead,manyIndiansuseafrictionlesslabiodentalapproximant[]forwordswitheithersound,
possiblyinfreevariationwith[v]and/or[w]dependinguponregion.Thus,wetandvetareoften
homophones.[18]
Relatedtothepreviouscharacteristic,manyIndiansprefertopronouncewordssuchas<flower>
as[fla(r)],asopposedto[fla(r)],and<our>as[a(r)],asopposedto[a(r)].Thistraitis
presentindialectsofBritish,SouthAfrican,andPakistaniEnglish,amongstothers,albeitnotin
allAmericandialects
Thevoicelessplosives/p/,/t/,/k/arealwaysunaspiratedinIndianEnglish,(aspiratedincultivated
form)whereasinRP,GeneralAmericanandmostotherEnglishaccentstheyareaspiratedin
wordinitialorstressedsyllables.Thus"pin"ispronounced[pn]inIndianEnglishbut[pn]in
mostotherdialects.InnativeIndianlanguages(exceptinDravidianlanguagessuchasTamil),the
distinctionbetweenaspiratedandunaspiratedplosivesisphonemic,andtheEnglishstopsare
equatedwiththeunaspiratedratherthantheaspiratedphonemesofthelocallanguages.[19]The
sameistrueofthevoicelesspostalveolarafficate/t/.
ThealveolarstopsEnglish/d/,/t/areoftenretroflex[],[],especiallyintheSouthofIndia.[20]In
Indianlanguagestherearetwoentirelydistinctsetsofcoronalplosives:onedentalandtheother
retroflex.NativespeakersofIndianlanguagesprefertopronouncetheEnglishalveolarplosives
soundasmoreretroflexthandental,[21]andtheuseofretroflexconsonantsisacommonfeatureof
IndianEnglish.[22][23]IntheDevanagariscriptofHindi,allalveolarplosivesofEnglishare
transcribedastheirretroflexcounterparts.Onegoodreasonforthisisthatunlikemostothernative
Indianlanguages,Hindidoesnothavetrueretroflexplosives(Tiwari,[1955]2001).Thesocalled
retroflexesinHindiareactuallyarticulatedasapicalpostalveolarplosives,sometimesevenwitha
tendencytocomedowntothealveolarregion.SoaHindispeakernormallycannotdistinguishthe
differencebetweentheirownapicalpostalveolarplosivesandEnglish'salveolarplosives.
However,languagessuchasTamilhavetrueretroflexplosives,whereinthearticulationisdone
withthetonguecurvedupwardsandbackwardsattheroofofthemouth.Thisalsocauses(inparts
ofUttarPradeshandBihar)the/s/precedingalveolar/t/toallophonicallychangeto[](<stop>
/stp//ap/).MostlyinsouthIndia,somespeakersallophonicallyfurtherchangethevoiced
retroflexplosivestovoicedretroflexflap,andthenasal/n/toanasalisedretroflexflap.
ManyspeakersofIndianEnglishdonotusethevoicedpostalveolarfricative(//).SomeIndians
use/z/or/d/instead,e.g.treasure/trzr/,[20]andinthesouthIndianvariants,with//asin
<"sh'"ore>,e.g.treasure/trr/.
AllmajornativelanguagesofIndia(exceptBengali)lackthedentalfricatives(//and//spelled
withth).Usually,theaspiratedvoicelessdentalplosive[t
]issubstitutedfor//inthenorth(it
wouldbeunaspiratedinthesouth)andtheunaspiratedvoiceddentalplosive[d
],orpossiblythe
[24]
aspiratedversion[d
],issubstitutedfor//. Forexample,"thin"wouldberealisedas[t
n]
insteadof/n/forNorthIndianspeakers,whereasitwouldbepronouncedunaspiratedinthe
south.
SouthIndianstendtocurlthetongue(retroflexaccentuation)morefor/l/and/n/.
MostIndianlanguages(exceptUrduvariety)lackthevoicedalveolarfricative/z/.Asignificant
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portionofIndiansthus,eventhoughtheirnativelanguagesdohaveitsnearestequivalent:the
unvoiced/s/,oftenusethevoicedpalatalaffricate(orpostalveolar)/d/,justaswithaKorean
accent.Thismakeswordssuchas<zero>and<rosy>soundas[diro]and[rodi](thelatter,
especiallyintheNorth).ThisreplacementisequallytrueforPersianandArabicloanwordsinto
Hindi.Theprobablereasonistheconfusioncreatedbytheuseofthedevanagarigrapheme<>
(for/d/)withadotbeneathittorepresenttheloaned/z/(as<>).Thisiscommonamong
peoplewithoutformalEnglisheducation.
ManyIndianswithlowerexposuretoEnglishalsomaypronounce/f/asaspiratedvoiceless
bilabialplosive[p].AgainnotethatinHindi(devanagari)theloaned/f/fromPersianandArabic
iswrittenbyputtingadotbeneaththegraphemefornative[p]<>:<>.Thissubstitutionis
rarerthanthatfor[z],andinfactinmanyHindi/f/isusedbynativespeakersinsteadof/p/,orthe
twoareusedinterchangeably.
Inabilitytopronouncecertain(especiallywordinitial)consonantclustersbypeopleofrural
backgrounds,aswithsomeSpanishspeakers.Thisisusuallydealtwithbyepenthesis.e.g.,school
/iskul/.
Sometimes,Indianspeakersinterchange/s/and/z/,especiallywhenpluralsarebeingformed,
unlikespeakersofothervarietiesofEnglish,whouse[s]forthepluralisationofwordsendingina
voicelessconsonant,[z]forwordsendinginavoicedconsonantorvowel,and[z]forwords
endinginasibilant.
Again,indialectslikeBhojpuri,allinstancesof//arespokenlike[s],aphenomenonwhichis
alsoapparentintheirEnglish.ExactlytheoppositeisseenformanyBengalis.
Incaseofthepostalveolaraffricates/t//d/,nativelanguageslikeHindihavecorresponding
affricatesarticulatedfromthepalatalregion,ratherthanpostalveolar,andtheyhavemoreofa
stopcomponentthanfricativethisisreflectedintheirEnglish.
Whilstretaining//inthefinalposition,manyIndianspeakersaddthe[]soundafteritwhenit
occursinthemiddleoffaword.Hence/rii//rii/(ringing).
Syllabic/l/,/m/and/n/areusuallyreplacedbytheVCclusters[l],[m]and[n](asinbutton/
bun/),orifahighvowelprecedes,by[il](asinlittle/liil/).Syllablenucleiinwordswiththe
spellinger/re(aschwainRPandanrcolouredschwainGA)arealsoreplacedVCclusters.e.g.,
metre,/mitr//mir/.
IndianEnglishusesclear[l]inallinstanceslikeIrishEnglishwhereasothervarietiesuseclear[l]
insyllableinitialpositionsanddark[l](velarisedL)incodaandsyllabicpositions.

Spellingpronunciation
AnumberofdistinctivefeaturesofIndianEnglisharedueto"thevagariesofEnglishspelling".[24]Most
Indianlanguages,unlikeEnglish,haveanearlyphoneticspelling,sothespellingofawordisahighly
reliableguidetoitsmodernpronunciation.Indians'tendencytopronounceEnglishphoneticallyaswell
cancausedivergencefromWesternEnglish.Forexample,"jewellery"ispronounced/delri/and
"jewel"as/del/whereWesternAnglophonesmightomitthefinale,pronouncingthemas/delri/
and/dl/.
Inwordswherethedigraph<gh>representsavoicedvelarplosive(//)inotheraccents,some
IndianEnglishspeakerssupplyamurmuredversion[],forexample<ghost>[ost].Noother
accentofEnglishadmitsthisvoicedaspiration.[20]
Similarly,thedigraph<wh>maybeaspiratedas[]or[w],resultinginrealisationssuchas
<which>[t],foundinnootherEnglishaccent.[25]However,thisissomewhatsimilartothe
traditionaldistinctionbetweenwhandwpresentinEnglish,whereintheformeris//,whilstthe
latteris/w/.
Inunstressedsyllables,whichspeakersofAmericanEnglishwouldrealiseasaschwa,speakersof
IndianEnglishwouldusethespellingvowel,making<sanity>soundas[sniti]insteadof
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[snti].ThistraitisalsopresentinotherSouthAsiandialects(i.e.PakistaniandSriLankan
English),andinRP,etc. Similarly,<above>and<ago>canbeheardas[ebv]and[eo]
insteadof[bv]and[o].
Final<a>isalmostalwayspronouncedasschwa//inotherdialects(exceptionsincludewords
suchas<spa>)butinIndianEnglishtheending<a>ispronouncedasthelongopencentral
unroundedvowel/a/(asin<spa>)insteadof//.So,<India>ispronouncedas/na/insteadof
/nd/,and<sofa>as/sofa/insteadof/sof/.
Theword"of"isusuallypronouncedwitha/f/insteadofa/v/asinmostotheraccents.[24]
Useof[d]insteadof[t]forthe"ed"endingofthepasttenseaftervoicelessconsonants,for
example"developed"maybe[dlpd]insteadofRP/dvlpt/.[20]
Useof[s]insteadof[z]forthe"s"endingofthepluralaftervoicedconsonants,forexample
<dogs>maybe[das]insteadof[dz].[24]
Pronunciationof<house>as[hauz]inboththenounandtheverb,insteadof[haus]asnounand
[hauz]asverb.
Thedigraph<tz>ispronouncedas[tz]or[td]insteadof[ts](voicingmaybeassimilatedinthe
stoptoo),making<Switzerland>soundlike[stzrlnd]insteadof[swtslnd].
InRP,/r/occursonlybeforeavowel.ButsomespeakersofIndianEnglish,primarilyintheSouth,
use/r/inalmostallpositionsinwordsusingtheletter'r',[24]similartomostAmericanandsome
Irishdialects.Theallophoneusedisamildtrilloratap.Indianspeakersdonottypicallyusethe
retroflexapproximant//for<r>,whichiscommonforAmericanEnglishspeakers.
Allconsonantsaredistinctlydoubled(lengthened)inmostvarietiesofIndianEnglishwherever
thespellingsuggestsso.e.g.,<drilling>/drilli/.
Incertainwords,especiallyLatinatewordsendinginile,ispronounced[]inAmericaand[a]in
Britain.IndianEnglish,likemostotherCommonwealthdialects,willinvariablyusetheBritish
pronunciation.Thus,<tensile>wouldbepronouncedas[tnsal]liketheBritish,ratherthan
[tnsl]liketheAmerican<anti>,ontheotherhand,usei,as[nti]likeinBritain,ratherthan
[nta]likeinAmerica.SimilareffectsofBritishcolonisationare're','ise',and'our'spellingsin
wordslike'metre','realise',and'endeavour',respectively,whichAmericanswouldspellas'meter',
realize'and'endeavor'.

Suprasegmentalfeatures
Englishisastresstimedlanguage,andbothsyllablestressandwordstress,whereonlycertainwordsin
asentenceorphrasearestressed,areimportantfeaturesofReceivedPronunciation.Indiannative
languagesareactuallysyllabletimedlanguages,likeLatinandFrench.IndianEnglishspeakersusually
speakwithasyllabicrhythm.[26]Further,insomeIndianlanguages,stressisassociatedwithalow
pitch,[27]whereasinmostEnglishdialects,stressedsyllablesaregenerallypronouncedwithahigher
pitch.Thus,whensomeIndianspeakersspeak,theyappeartoputthestressaccentsatthewrong
syllables,oraccentuateallthesyllablesofalongEnglishword.CertainIndianaccentsareofa"sing
song"nature,afeatureseeninafewEnglishdialectsinBritain,suchasScouseandWelshEnglish.[28]

Morphologyandsyntax
Numberingsystem
TheIndiannumberingsystemispreferredfordigitgrouping.Whenwritteninwords,orwhenspoken,
numberslessthan100,000/100000areexpressedjustastheyareinStandardEnglish.Numbers
includingandbeyond100,000/100000areexpressedinasubsetoftheIndiannumberingsystem.Thus,
thefollowingscaleisused:
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Indigits(International
system)

Indigits(Indian
system)

Inwords(longandshort
scales)

Inwords(Indian
system)

10

ten

100

onehundred

1,000

onethousand

10,000

tenthousand

100,000

1,00,000

onehundredthousand

onelakh

1,000,000

10,00,000

onemillion

tenlakh

10,000,000

1,00,00,000

tenmillion

onecrore

Largernumbersaregenerallyexpressedasmultiplesoftheabove.[29][30]

SomeexamplesofIndianEnglishusage
IndianEnglish,naturally,haswordsofIndianvernacularsthathavemadetheirwayintotheEnglish
language,suchasjungle,tank(water,irrigation),bungalow,andverandah.Ithaspolitical,sociological,
andadministrativetermsofmodernIndia:dharna,hartal,eveteasing,votebank,swaraj,swadeshi,
scheduledcaste,scheduledtribe,NRIithaswordsofAngloIndiasuchastiffin,hillstation,gymkhana
andithasslang.Someexamplesuniqueto,orchieflyusedin,standardwrittenIndianEnglishinclude:
academic(noun)(alsoCanadianandU.S.English):Inpl.:Academicpursuitsincontrastto
technicalorpracticalwork.
Example:1991Hindu(Madras)6Dec.27/2For14yearsheimmersedhimselfinacademics
andwasafineachiever.[31]
accomplish(verb,transitive),chieflyIndianEnglish:Toequip.
Example:1992H.L.ChoprainV.GroverPoliticalThinkersofModernIndiaXVII.lxiii.
488Hisinsatiablethirstforknowledgeaccomplishedhimwithallmodernstandardsof
scholarship.[32]
airdash(verbintransitive)IndianEnglish,tomakeaquickjourneybyair,especiallyinresponse
toanemergency.
Example:1973HindustanTimesWeekly25Mar.1GovernorB.K.Nehru,whoairdashedto
Shillongyesterday,flewbacktoImphal.[33]
Englishknowing(adjective)originallyandchieflyIndianEnglish(ofapersonorgroupofpeople)
thatusesorspeaksEnglish.
Example:1941J.NehruTowardFreedomvii.40TheofficialandServiceatmosphere...set
thetoneforalmostallIndianmiddleclasslife,especiallytheEnglishknowing
intelligentsia.[34]
freeship,IndianEnglish.Astudentshiporscholarshipwhichoffersfullpaymentofastudent's
fees.3rdedition,March2008,
Example:1893Med.Reporter(Calcutta)1Feb.57/1Twopermanentfreeships,each
tenableforoneyearandoneofwhichisforthesecondandtheotherforthethirdyearclass.
Example:2006EconomicTimes(India)(Nexis)12Oct.,Privateinstitutionscanonly
developiftheyareallowedtochargereasonablefees,whilealsoprovidingneedbased
freeshipsandscholarshipsforacertainpercentageofstudents.[35]
matrimonial(noun)B.3b.ChieflyIndianEnglish.Advertisementsinanewspaperforthepurpose
offindingamarriageablepartner.
Example:1999Statesman(Calcutta)10Feb.,(Midweeksection)4/3WhenIhaveajobI'll
havetobeginawholenewsearchformybetterhalf...Backtothenewspapermatrimonials
onSundays.[36]
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presspersonn.(chieflyIndianEnglish,frequentlyasoneword)anewspaperjournalist,areporter,
amemberofthepress
Example:2001Hindu(Nexis)20June,ThePrimeMinistergreetedthepresspersonswitha
namaskarandabroadsmile.[37]
redressal(noun)nowchieflyIndianEnglish.=redress(noun)
Example:1998Statesman(India)(Nexis)2Apr.,Thereisanurgentneedforsettingupan
independentauthorityforredressaloftelecomconsumercomplaints.
Example:2002SundayTimesofIndia15Sept.8/4Wheredoeshegofortheredressalofhis
genuinegrievances?[38]
upgradation(noun)IndianEnglish,theenhancementorupgradingofstatus,valueorlevelof
something
Example:1986BusinessIndia8Sept.153/1(advt.)OurCompanylaysgreatstresson
technicaltrainingandknowledgeupgradation.[39]

Spellingandnationaldifferences
IndianEnglishspellingdiffersfromAmericanEnglishspelling,generallyusingthesamespellingas
CommonwealthnationssuchasAustralia,theUnitedKingdom,NewZealandandSouthAfrica.
SomecommondifferencesbetweenIndianEnglishspellingandAmericanEnglishspelling:
IndianEnglish AmericanEnglish
Labour

Labor

Colour

Color

Honour

Honor

Behaviour

Behavior

Organisation

Organization

Criticise

Criticize

Centre

Center

Theatre

TheaterorTheatre

Traveller

Traveler

Aluminium

Aluminum

Defence

Defense

Cheque

Check

Programme

Program

Similarly,incommonwithmostoftheCommonwealth,thefinalletterofthealphabet,Zispronounced
zedincontrastwithzeeintheUnitedStates.Inaddition,thepunctuationmarkattheendofasentenceis
referredtoasa"fullstop"ratherthan"period".

Seealso
Hinglish
IndianEnglishliterature
Tenglish
Tanglish
Manglish
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RegionalaccentsofEnglish
RegionaldifferencesanddialectsinIndianEnglish
Indiannumberingsystem
LanguageswithofficialstatusinIndia

Notes
1.Sedlatschek2009,p.1:TodaymanyregionalvarietiesofEnglish,orEnglishes,existaroundtheglobeandare
slowlybutsteadilygainingrecognition.IndianEnglish(IndE)isoneoftheoldest.
2.AatishTaseer(March19,2015)."HowEnglishRuinedIndianLiterature".TheNewYorkTimes.Retrieved
March21,2015."IthascreatedalinguisticlineasunbreachableasthecolorlineoncewasintheUnited
States."
3.CensusofIndia'sIndianCensus(http://www.censusindia.gov.in/),Issue25,2003,pp810,(Feature:
LanguagesofWestBengalinCensusandSurveys,BilingualismandTrilingualism).
4.FAMILYWISEGROUPINGOFTHE122SCHEDULEDANDNONSCHEDULEDLANGUAGES
(http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/statement9.htm)2001
CensusofIndia
5.Tropf,HerbertS.2005.IndiaanditsLanguages
(http://www.lilaproject.org/docs/India%20and%20its%20Languages%20v1.0.pdf).SiemensAG,Munich
6.Forthedistinctionbetween"EnglishSpeakers,"and"EnglishUsers,"pleasesee:TESOLIndia(Teachersof
EnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages)],India:World'sSecondLargestEnglishSpeakingCountry
(http://tesolindia.ac.in/EnglishTeachingIndustry/en/indiaworldssecondlargestenglishspeakingcountry).
Theirarticleexplainsthedifferencebetweenthe350millionnumbermentionedinapreviousversionofthis
Wikipediaarticleandthecurrentnumber:
"Wikipedia'sIndiaestimateof350millionincludestwocategories"EnglishSpeakers"and
"EnglishUsers".ThedistinctionbetweentheSpeakersandUsersisthatUsersonlyknow
howtoreadEnglishwordswhileSpeakersknowhowtoreadEnglish,understandspoken
EnglishaswellasformtheirownsentencestoconverseinEnglish.Thedistinctionbecomes
clearwhenyouconsiderChina'snumbers.Chinahasover200millionthatcanreadEnglish
wordsbut,asanyonecanseeonthestreetsofChina,onlyafewmillionareEnglish
speakers."
7.Ananalysisofthe2001CensusofIndia,publishedin2010(http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010
0314/india/28117934_1_secondlanguagespeakersurdu),concludedthatapproximately86millionIndians
reportedEnglishastheirsecondlanguage,andanother39millionreporteditastheirthirdlanguage.Nodata
wasavailablewhethertheseindividualswereEnglishspeakersorusers.
8.Desai,Dubey,Joshi,Sen,Sharif,Vanneman(2010)."HUMANDEVELOPMENTININDIA"(PDF).Oxford
UniversityPress.
9."NumberofchildrenstudyinginEnglishdoublesin5years".
10."CourtlanguageisEnglish,saysSupremeCourt".
11.MukeshRanjanVermaandKrishnaAutarAgrawal:ReflectionsonIndianEnglishliterature(2002),page
163:"SomeofthewordsinAmericanEnglishhavespellingpronunciationandalsopronunciationspelling.
ThesearealsocharacteristicfeaturesofIndianEnglishaswell.ThenovelsofMulkRajAnand,inparticular,
arefullofexamplesof..."
12.PingaliSailaja:IndianEnglish(2009),page116:"SowhatwasCauveryisnowKaveri.Someresidual
spellingsleftbytheBritishdoexistsuchastheuseofeefor/i:/asinMukherjee.Also,someplacenames
suchasCuddapahandPunjab"
13.EdwardCarney:SurveyofEnglishSpelling(2012),page56:"Notalldistributionaldifferences,however,have
importantconsequencesforspelling.Forinstance,the...Naturallyenough,IndianEnglishisheavily
influencedbythenativelanguageoftheareainwhichitisspoken."
14.IndianEnglishLiterature(2002),page300:"TheuseofIndianwordswithEnglishspellings:e.g.'Mundus,'
'raksha''EdCherukka,''ChackoSaarVannu'"
15.Lalmalsawma,David(7September2013),Indiaspeaks780languages,220lostinlast50yearssurvey,
Reuters
16.JohnMacKenzie,"Afamilyempire,"BBCHistoryMagazine(Jan2013)
17.Chelliah,ShobhanaL.(July2001)."ConstructsofIndianEnglishinlanguageguidebooks".World
Englishes20(2):161178.doi:10.1111/1467971X.00207.

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18.Wells,p.627
19.Wells,pp.627628
20.Wells,p.628
21.Ball&Muller2014:ThecommentsonretroflexconsonantsalsoapplytosouthernIndianlanguagessuchas
Tamil,Telugu,Malayalam.andKannada.Speakersoftheselanguagestendtousetheirownretroflex
consonantsinplaceofEnglishalveolarIt,d,n/.Althoughtheselanguagesdohavenonretroflexstops,these
aredental,anditseemsthatEnglishalveolarstopsareperceivedasclosertotheretroflexstopsthantothe
dentalones.
22.Ball&Muller2014,p.289b:ThisuseofretroflexconsonantsisverycharacteristicofIndianEnglish,andthe
retroflexresonanceisverypervasive...
23.Sailaja2007,p.252:1.4Indian(Telugu)English:AlltheadultswhoparticipatedinthisstudyspokeaTelugu
varietyofIndianEnglish.TelugupronunciationofEnglishisheavilyinfluencedbythespelling.Twoidentical
lettersinawordarearticulatedasgeminates.Thearticulationisalsomostlyrhotic...Inplaceofthealveolar
stops,retroflexsoundsareused.Somespeakerswouldalsousearetroflexnasalinplaceofthealveolarnasal,
andaretroflexlateralinplaceofthealveolarlateral.
24.Wells,p.629
25.Wells,p.630
26.CambridgeEncyclopediaoftheEnglishLanguage(CambridgeUniversityPress,1995),page360
27.[1](http://www.linguistics.uiuc.edu/sala25/verma.htm)Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20060901152555/http://www.linguistics.uiuc.edu/sala25/verma.htm)1September
2006attheWaybackMachine.
28.Varshney,R.L.,"AnIntroductoryTextbookofLinguisticsandPhonetics",15thEd.(2005),StudentStore,
Bareilly.
29."InvestorsloseRs4.4lakhcroreinfourdays|BusinessStandard".Bsl.co.in.20101127.Retrieved
20131107.
30."Corporatechiefsgettingcroresinsalaries:100andcounting!TheSmartInvestor".Smartinvestor.in.
Retrieved20131107.
31.academic(noun),6,OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,December2011
32.accomplish(verb,transitive,3a',OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,December2011
33.airdash(inair,Compounds,C2)(verb,transitive,OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,December2008
34.Englishknowing(adj).Compound,C2,OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,December2008
35.freeship,4.,OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,March2008
36.matrimonial(noun)B.3b.,OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,March2001
37.press(noun),Compound,OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,March2007
38.redressal(noun),OxfordEnglishDictionary,ThirdEdition,September2009
39.upgradation(noun),OxfordEnglishDictionary,1993

References
Balasubramanian,Chandrika(2009),RegisterVariationinIndianEnglish,JohnBenjamins
Publishing,ISBN9027223114
Ball,MartinJ.Muller,Nicole(2014),PhoneticsforCommunicationDisorders,Routledge,
pp.289,ISBN9781317777953
Baumgardner,RobertJackson(editor)(1996),SouthAsianEnglish:Structure,Use,andUsers,
UniversityofIllinoisPress,ISBN9780252064937
BrajB.Kachru(1983).TheIndianisationofEnglish:theEnglishlanguageinIndia.Oxford
UniversityPress.ISBN0195613538.
Gargesh,Ravinder(17February2009),"SouthAsianEnglishes",inBrajKachruetal.,The
HandbookofWorldEnglishes,JohnWiley&Sons,pp.90,ISBN9781405188319
Hickey,Raymond(2004),"SouthAsianEnglish",LegaciesofColonialEnglish:Studiesin
TransportedDialects,CambridgeUniversityPress,pp.536,ISBN9780521830201
Lange,Claudia(2012),TheSyntaxofSpokenIndianEnglish,JohnBenjaminsPublishing,
ISBN9027249059
Mehrotra,RajaRam(1998),IndianEnglish:TextsandInterpretation,JohnBenjaminsPublishing,
ISBN9027247161
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Sailaja,Pingali(2007),"WritingSystemsandPhonologicalAwareness",inBayer,Josef(ed)
Bhattacharya,Tanmoy(ed)Babu,M.T.Hany(ed),LinguisticTheoryandSouthAsian
Languages:EssaysinhonourofK.A.Jayaseelan,JohnBenjaminsPublishingCompany,pp.249
267,ISBN9789027292452
Sailaja,Pingali(2009),IndianEnglish,Series:DialectsofEnglish,EdinburghUniversityPress,
ISBN9780748625956
Schilk,Marco(2011),StructuralNativizationinIndianEnglishLexicogrammar,JohnBenjamins
Publishing,ISBN9027203512
Sedlatschek,Andreas(2009),ContemporaryIndianEnglish:VariationandChange,Series:
VarietiesofEnglishAroundtheWorld,JohnBenjaminsPublishing,ISBN9027248982

Furtherreading
HenryYuleArthurCokeBurnell(1886).HOBSONJOBSON:BeingaglossaryofAngloIndian
colloquialwordsandphrases.JohnMurray,London.
Wells,JC(1982).AccentsofEnglish3:BeyondtheBritishIsles.CambridgeUniversityPress.
ISBN0521285410.
Whitworth,GeorgeClifford(1885).AnAngloIndiandictionary:aglossaryofIndiantermsused
inEnglish,andofsuchEnglishorothernonIndiantermsashaveobtainedspecialmeaningsin
India.K.Paul,Trench.

Externallinks
EnglishinIndia
(https://web.archive.org/web/20130531024023/http://www.confluence.org.uk/2008/12/02/the
englishprojectandtheenglishlanguageinindiachristophermulvey)attheWaybackMachine
(archivedMay31,2013)
EnglishLanguageProficiencyTest(ESAT)conductedbyEnglishLanguageTeachers
Association,AndhraPradesh(ELTA)forclasses4to10(http://www.eltaworld.com)
'Hover&Hear'pronunciationsinaStandardIndianEnglishaccent
(http://www.soundcomparisons.com/Eng/Direct/Englishes/SglLgIndianEnglishStandard.htm),and
comparesidebysidewithotherEnglishaccentsfromaroundtheWorld.
"LinguisticandSocialCharacteristicsofIndianEnglish"byJasonBaldridge
(http://www.languageinindia.com/junjul2002/baldridgeindianenglish.html):AnanalysisofIndian
languagepublishedbythe"LanguageInIndia"magazine.
OnthefutureofIndianEnglish(http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5675),byGurcharan
Das.
AnexplorationintolinguisticmajorityminorityrelationsinIndia
(http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2004/dlamallikarjun1.html),byB.Mallikarjun.
108varietiesofIndianEnglish(http://www.india
seminar.com/2001/500/500%20dharma%20kumar.htm),DharmaKumar,IndiaSeminar,2001
(Volume500).
WhataresomeEnglishphrasesandtermscommonlyheardinIndiabutrarelyusedelsewhere?
(http://www.quora.com/India/WhataresomeEnglishphrasesandtermscommonlyheardin
Indiabutrarelyusedelsewhere/answer/PushpendraMohta),PushpendraMohta2012.
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_English&oldid=711000115"
Categories: LanguagesofIndia IndianEnglish Englishdialects Englishlanguage
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon20March2016,at10:59.
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