TERM PAPER ASSIGNMEMT

NAME: AAQIB HUSSAIN

CLASS: BS ENGLISH (M)
SEMESTER: 3rd
ROLL NO: BENF18M046
SUBMITTED TO: Prof. AHMAD BILAL

South Asian (Sub-Continent) Englishes

UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA
 South Asian (Sub-Continent) Englishes

Introduction:
South Asian Englishes means that certain varieties of English language that are spoken in
countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives etc. All of these
countries have colonial past except Nepal and Bhutan. It is estimated that there are many more
speakers of English in South Asia than in the USA and the UK combined. The estimation of the
number of speakers of English in India vary from 333 million to 200 million in a population of
over a billion people. In all countries that are mentioned above, English is viewed as a language
of power and as a means of economic uplift and upward social mobility.

The presence of English language for over 200 years in the region has led to the nativization of
the language, which is evident in several local varieties of English, collectively referred to as
South Asian English. The nativization of English has enriched English as well as the indigenous
languages through processes of borrowing and coinage of new words and expressions .

English serves as a link language among people of different regions with different mother-
tongue backgrounds, and is also the link language among the South Asian. Rather than being
considered a colonial aftershocks, it is now accepted as a benefit resource in the form of a
national and international language representing educational and economic progress.

Nativization of languages in South Asia;

The process of nativization of English language is due both to transfer from local language as
well communicative needs. Because of deep social penetration and the extended range of
functions of English in diverse sociolinguistic contexts there are several varieties, localized
registers and genres for articulating local social, cultural and religious identities. Also, factors
such as the absence of a native group, inadequate teaching and acquisitional limitations (e.g.
lack of exposure and facilities, learning under compulsion) contribute to the process.

Scholars like Kachru, Verma, and Sridha etc. have all concluded that the South Asian varieties of
English are being nativized by acquiring new identities in new socio-cultural contexts. It is
emerged as autonomous local varieties with its own specific set of rules that make it a unique
and give itself a different identity.

South Asian English has emerged at a more distinctive level than in other countries where it is
used as a second language. English in India has evolved characteristic features at the
phonological, syntactic, lexica and even at discourse level. Initially, these alterations were
rejected by purists, but they are becoming increasingly accepted: English is not anymore
treated as a foreign language, now it is part of the cultural identity of India. There is a long
tradition of adaptation of non-native languages in South Asia, so the acculturation of English is
nothing new. The adaptation of Persian language led to the development of a non-native Indian
variety termed as Indian Persian, while the acculturation of English has given us labels such as
Indian English, Pakistani English, and South Asian English etc. It may be said that in South Asia
the language of intellectual activity has always been different from the local or regional
languages.

Multilingual Region and Functions of Language:

Bilingualism or multilingualism exists in almost every country of South Asia, Africa, etc.
Bilingualism or multilingualism is the normal human condition, that over more than half of the
people in the world are bilingual. For example, India has more than 1600 mother tongues with
a population at present of over a billion people; therefore, multilingualism is integrally injected
into its cultural fabric.

The language use of Indian businessmen living around Bombay is very interesting. His mother
tongue and home language is Gujarati dialect; in the market place he uses a familiar variety of
Marathi, that is the state language; at the railway station he speaks the pan-Indian lingua-
franca, Hindustani; his language of work is Kachhi, the variety use for spice trade; in the evening
he watches a film in Hindi or in English and listens to a cricket match commentary on the radio
in English. It is clear from this example that in the multilingual speech community of South Asia
a whole range of languages, is available to speakers, who choose to use them in their linguistic
interaction to perform particular social roles.

Education in English Language:

One such shared problem is the issue of English language education. At times, English language
education appears to be the only and significant option in the subcontinent. No other sector of
education in recent years in this sub-continent has attracted greater investment.

English language education in South Asia started in the colonial era of the region. It arrived in
South Asia with the East India Company at the beginning of the 17th century, and spread with
the increasing influence of the East India Company in the region. The credit of the
implementation of an English language based education policy on South Asia goes to Sir
Thomas Macaulay’s Minute of 1835, which was similar as the Western mode of education
through the medium of English. Intellectual activities before this policy had been carried on in
Sanskrit and Persian. Wood, however, suggested that “local” languages should also be
employed to teach the larger classes who are ignorant of, or imperfectly familiar with English
.This was the beginning of the use of English and the local languages as mode of instruction on
the subcontinent. English became the dominant medium for higher intellectual activities with
the establishment of the universities of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madrasin 1857. The spread of
English was so deep-rooted that by the 1920s it had become the language of political discourse.

A leader like Gandhi struggled to create consensus for Hindustani as an acceptable pan-Indian
medium of communication, his message to the elite class was generally expressed in English.
Thus, English was the instrument that various political leaders such as B. G. Tilak, Quaid E Azam,
Nehru, and C. Rajagopalachari utilized for national awakening and the freedom struggle. By the
time of independence it had become the dominant language for education, administration,
judiciary, and the Print media, and it had also created an aristocratic class that was highly
familiar with English.

Current status of English;

After the independence in 1947, Mahatma Gandhi, who always said that “Real education is
impossible through a foreign medium” and ironically was educated in Britain at the University
College London, the influence of English decreased in favor of local languages of India with the
greater mass of people, but not with the higher educated. But did not English decrease in terms
of administration, simply because most if the people in certain positions still were dependant to
English in terms of communication all over India.

According to many other Indians, it of course was a abiding reminder of suppression and
slavery, on the other hand it was as already mentioned a necessary evil for educational and
administrative reasons. In 1961 though a first solution was found by introducing three
languages as compulsory in schools, namely Hindi, English and the regional language. The
problem about that was that even though Hindi is the variety most people speak in India, all the
other varieties together make an even bigger number and therefore felt neglected.

After division of Sub-continent into two countries, India and Pakistan. English has played a
dominant role due to very populous India. When the constitution of India implemented in 1950,
Hindi was recognized as the official language of the Union, and English was limited to the role of
an Official language for 15 years. People in non Hindi speaking regions like four south Indian
states and west Bengal thought that being an official language Hindi would allow many benefits
to other Hindi speaking India and lift their socio economic status in comparison to them .So,
they began to support the retention of English. They did not want Hindi to become the only
language for administration. Because of the political turmoil in South India in 1963, Prime
Ministers, first. Nehru and later Shastri, assured the people of non-Hindi-speaking states that
English would continue to be in use until 1965. Thus, the Official Language Act 1967 was
implemented, and English was designated an “Official Language” with no time limit; it was also
expected to serve as a “link language” between the federal government and the governments
of non-Hindi-speaking states. Inclusion of English in the list of modern Indian languages was
discussed in Central Advisory Board of in early August 2004. If this status is accorded to English,
then the issue of standardization will come up and the study of English will also become far
more widespread. At present, on the one hand, “double speak” by politicians throughout South
Asia can often be heard against the spread and use of English, and on the other hand, the
knowledge of English appears to have become imperative, with many business processes being
outsourced to India from countries such as the USA. This latter is a compelling development
from which there can be no turning back.

English in school and college education;

English has occupied an important place in the curriculum of secondary schools so that at the end of
the secondary stage the student would attain good working knowledge of English. The pupil learn
English efficiency at secondary level it will not be difficult to catch higher studies. The role of English in
school and college education exhibits a more or less similar pattern throughout South Asia.
India has the most explicitly stated norms in its educational policy in the multilingual context.
After independence there have been numerous deliberations regarding the teaching of English
in the school levels and in higher education. The Three Language Formula, first proposed in
1957 and later formalized by an Education Commission, stipulates that the first language to be
studied must be the mother tongue or the regional standard. The second language in Hindi-
speaking states will be some other modern Indian language or English, and in non-Hindi-
speaking states it will be Hindi or English. The third language in Hindi-speaking states will be
English or a modern Indian language not studied as the second language, and in non-Hindi-
speaking states, English or Hindi, whichever is not studied as the second language.

The implication of this formula was that while the teaching of the first language commenced
from class I, the teaching of the second language was recommended from class VI, depending
upon the resources of a state. The third language was also recommended to be taught from
class VI. Education is a subject under the control of state governments, hence the actual
implementations of the three-language formula vary from state to state .At present there is an
increasing trend to begin teaching English as a subject in class or grade I; for example, Delhi,
Haryana, and Bihar have begun to teach English as an additional subject from class I. The
increasing demand for English represents the transformation of a society from an agrarian to an
industrial and service-based one, which in turn is in the process of getting linked to the global
market. In Pakistan, English has been a compulsory language at the school level from class VI
onwards, as per the recommendations of the Sharif Commission. In the Pakistani provinces of
Punjab, Sindh, and more recently in the North West Frontier Province, it is now a compulsory
subject from class I onwards .In Bangladesh, the National Committee on Education Policy 1997
recommended that English should be taught from class III onwards and as a compulsory subject
in classes IX to XII, with the medium of instruction in all other subjects being Bangla.

English at university level of education;

The question of the medium of instruction in university education has been quite controversial
in South Asia .Initially, the use of English was considered as a doubtful arrangement in all these
countries, but India resolved this issue in favor of the use of English in university education.
Some of the official task forces set up to advise on the question recommended a quicker
switchover from English to Indian languages, others cautioned against haste in this regard.
English could not be removed as the medium of instruction for university education because
regional languages were just not ready to take over its functions in universities. It also noted
that English continues to be a status symbol in society and commands prestige in all walks of
life.

In Pakistan, it is reported that deficient attention has been given to problems regarding
learners language difficulties in the English medium and to developing sufficient quality
materials in Urdu for higher education. However, in all Educational Policies and Reports of
Education Commissions, set up in this regard, the official policy with regards to language has
been to maintain English as the medium of instruction in Higher Education. It may be said, then,
that the South Asian region has increasingly accepted English as the medium of instruction.

In India, the All India Educational Survey conducted by the National Educational Council
showed that the number of languages studied as a school subject decreased from 81 in 1970 to
41 in 1990. The number of languages used as a medium of instruction in school also decreased
in the same period, from 47 to18. It appears that in the age of increasing industrialization,
higher science and technical education is available almost solely via English. The educational
system reveals a pyramid structure, with the mother tongues forming the base, the regional
standards occurring in the middle, and English emerging as the sole language at the top.

Linguistic Features and Variational Ranges:

Indian English is distinct variety of English language. Many Indians claim that it is very similar to
British English but in fact this claim is only applicable to surface level, there are lot of
differences in this particular variety of Indian English, even so many items can be identified
which are indicative of Indian English speech and which are widely used. These operate on
various phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical levels.
Phonology;
The vowels, consonants, important phonological processes, and major features of English on
the subcontinent have been discussed in a book “Gargesh”. These are to a great degree
common to SAE. Some significant features related to vowels are as follows:

 The vowels /e/ and /o/ as in face and goat are realized as monophthongs not diphthongs,
as in standard British or American English.
 The opposition between /ᶺ / and /ᵊ/ as in [bᵊs] and [bᶺs], /a/ and /O/, and /ε/ and /æ/ is
not clear-cut in SAE. Some features regarding consonants are as follows:
 The syllable-initial voiceless stops of a stressed syllable are not aspirated.
 The affricates /ts/ and /dz/ are pronounced as palatal [c] and [j] in SAE.
 The alveolar [t] and [d] tend to be retroflexed.
 The interdental fricatives *θ+ and *D+ are non-existent and these are articulated as dental
aspirated voiceless stop *th+ and voiced stop *d+,respectively, e.g., thin *thIn+ and then *dεn+.

In South India the alveolars top [t] is often used for *θ+ as in thought *ᵗᵓt].Some important
phonological processes are:

 In the eastern part of the Hindi-Urdu belt a short high prothetic vowel [I] in the word initial
position is added, e.g., speech [Ispi:c], school [Isku:l], while in Punjab and Haryana the low-
back untensed vowel /ᵊ/is inserted between the clusters for the same words, e.g., [sᵊpi:c],
[sᵊku:l],etc.
 The low vowel /ᵊ/ is deleted in relatively light positions, e.g., dispensary/dIs'pεnsᵊri:/ =
*dIs'pεnsri:+, allegory /ᵊ'lεgᵊrii:/ = [ᵊ'lεgri:+.SAE generally has its own syllable-timed rhythm,
and syllables are uttered with an almost equal prominence. This means that often SAE does
not use weak forms of vowels in unstressed positions. Thus a sentence like I am thinking of
you can be heard as ['a:I 'æm 'b h IèkIèg 'Of 'yu:]. Here the first person singular pronoun,
the auxiliary, and the preposition are not realized in shortened forms such as [a:Im] or [ᵊv].
Since syllables are articulated more fully, SAE takes relatively more time in articulating
similar stretches of the English language than the native varieties.

Lexicon;
The area of lexicon that is the divergence of South Asian English is most noticeable –words
acquire fresh meanings in local contexts. The processes of innovation, compounding, blending,
semantic shift, reduplication, etc. in Indian English vocabulary items have been discussed in
detail in Hawkins B. Kachruand Nihalani.The same phenomenon in Pakistani and Bangladeshi
contexts has been described in Baumgardner (1998) and Shahed (2001), respectively. Some
examples of the indigenous words introduced into the English language are units of
measurement: Crore (10 million) and lakh (100,000) are the units used. Goldsmiths, while
weighing gold ornaments, use ratti:, ma:sha: (8 ratti), tola: (12 maasha) .Most of the units
mentioned by Baumgardner and Kennedy (1994) and Gramley (2001) for Pakistani English are
also in use in Indian English. In addition, SAE uses innovations such as finger chips ‘French fries’,
full-boiled and half-boiled egg ‘hard-’ and‘ soft-boiled eggs’. Innovative compounds are
exemplified by pen-down-strike, tool-down-strike, driver-cum-salesman, to airlift, to air dash,
to charge sheet, toturnturtle, etc. Some morphemes like +wala: (signaling ownership or
agency), +hood, +ism, etc. are quite productive, e.g., policewala, rickshawala:,
netahood,goondaism, etc.

Syntax;
The syntax of SAE has been described in a number of studies including B.Kachru , T. Rahman , S.
Sridhar, and Bhatt. Forinstance, the use of complex noun phrases in Indian English reflects the
influence of speakers’ mother tongues. In Indian contexts they function to concretize a name,
e.g., Metros Operation Control Centre (the organization that controls the operation of the
underground railroad in metropolitan cities). Another feature is the use of present progressive
with stative verbs, e.g., I am having a cold(‘I have a cold’); Gautam was knowing that he would
come (‘Gautam knew that he would come’); I am loving it (ad for MacDonald’s). B. Kachru
points out that articles in IE are used in ways unfamiliar to Inner-Circle varieties, e.g., the can
occur with proper nouns as in the Mahatma Gandhi. Lack of subject-auxiliary inversion is widely
attested, e.g., What you would like to read? When you would like to come? So is the
widespread use of isn’t it or not in tag questions, e.g., you went there yesterday, isn’t it? You
went their yesterday, no? Baumgardner describes use of noun clause or noun phrase
complement constructions in characteristic ways in Pakistani English, e.g., “They were not at all
interested in democracy . . . and were only interested to grab power at any cost,” “Pakistan has
no control to influence affairs inside Afghanistan,” “He went to China for learning Chinese” .