Indian English

7/26/23, 2:03 PM Indian English - Wikipedia
Indian English
Indian English
Region India
Native speakers 250,000 (2022)[1][2][3]
L2 speakers: 200
million
L3 speakers: 46
million
246 million total
speakers (2022)
Language family Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
Ingvaeonic
Anglo-Frisian
Anglic
English
Indian
English
Early forms Old English
Middle English
Early Modern
English
Writing system Latin (English
alphabet)
Unified English
Braille
Official status
Official language in India
Language codes
ISO 639-1 en (https://www.l
oc.gov/standards/
iso639-2/php/lang
codes_name.php?is
o_639_1=en)
ISO 639-2 eng (https://www.
loc.gov/standard
s/iso639-2/php/la
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English 1/20
ngcodes_name.php?
code_ID=130)
ISO 639-3 eng
Glottolog indi1255 (http://
glottolog.org/res
ource/languoid/i
d/indi1255)
IETF en-IN
Speech example
0:39
An example of a female speaker from the North Indian state of Uttarakhand (Vandana Shiva).
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Speech example
0:40
An example of a female speaker from Northeastern Indian state Meghalaya (Arundhati Roy).
Speech example
1:14
An example of a female news speaker from South Indian state of Karnataka.
Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the Republic of India and among the
Indian diaspora.[4] English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as
enshrined in the Constitution of India.[5] 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 Indian Judiciary, 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.[6]
Status
After gaining independence from the British Raj in 1947, English remained an official language of the
new Dominion of India and later the Republic of India. Only a few hundred thousand Indians, or less
than 0.1% of the total population, speak English as their first language,[7][8][9][10] and around 30% of
the Indian population can speak English to some extent.[11]
According to the 2001 Census, 12.18% of Indians knew English at that time. Of those, approximately
200,000 reported that it was their first language, 86 million reported that it was their second, and 39
million reported that it was their third.[12]
According to the 2005 India Human Development Survey,[13] of 41,554 surveyed, households
reported that 72% of men (29,918) spoke no English, 28% of them (11,635) spoke at least some
English, and 5% of them (2,077, roughly 17.9% of those who spoke at least some English) spoke fluent
English. Among women, 83% (34,489) spoke no English, 17% (7,064) spoke at least some English,
and 3% (1,246, roughly 17.6% of those who spoke at least some English) spoke English fluently.[14]
According to statistics from the District Information System for Education (DISE) of the National
University of Educational Planning and Administration under the Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India, enrollment in English-medium schools increased by 50%
between 2008–09 and 2013–14. The number of English-medium school students in India increased
from over 15 million in 2008–09 to 29 million by 2013–14.[15]
According to the 2011 Census, 129 million Indians (10.6%) spoke English. 259,678 (0.02%) Indians
spoke English as their first language.[1] It concluded that approximately 83 million Indians (6.8%)
reported English as their second language, and 46 million (3.8%) reported it as their third language,
making English the second-most spoken language in India.[2]
India ranks 52 out of 111 countries in the 2022 EF English Proficiency Index published by the EF
Education First. The index gives the country a score of 496 indicating "moderate proficiency". India
ranks 6th out of 24 Asian countries included in the index.[16]
As a multilingual country, English is the lingua franca among different regions of India.[17] Writing
for The New York Times, journalist Manu Joseph stated in 2011 that, due to the prominence and
usage of the language and the desire for English-language education, "English is the de facto national
language of India. It is a bitter truth."[18] In his book, In Search of Indian English: History, Politics
and Indigenisation, Ranjan Kumar Auddy shows that the history of the rise of Indian nationalism and
the history of the emergence of Indian English are deeply inter-related.[19]
Court language
Under the Indian Constitution, English is the language of India's Supreme Court and of all the high
courts of India.[6] However, as allowed by the Constitution, Hindi is also used in courts in Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan by virtue of special presidential approval.[20] As of
2018, the high courts of Punjab and Haryana were also awaiting presidential approval to use Hindi
alongside English,[21] and the Madras High Court has been taking steps to use Tamil alongside
English.[22]
Names
The first occurrence of the term Indian English dates from 1696,[23] though the term did not become
common until the 19th century. In the colonial era, the most common terms in use were Anglo-Indian
English, or simply Anglo-Indian, both dating from 1860. Other less common terms in use were Indo-
Anglian (dating from 1897) and Indo-English (1912).[24] An item of Anglo-Indian English was known
as an Anglo-Indianism from 1851.[24]
In the modern era, a range of colloquial portmanteau words for Indian English have been used. The
earliest of these is Indlish (recorded from 1962), and others include Indiglish (1974), Indenglish
(1979), Indglish (1984), Indish (1984), Inglish (1985) and Indianlish (2007).[25]
Features
Indian English generally uses the Indian numbering system. Idiomatic forms derived from Indian
literary languages and vernaculars have been absorbed into Indian English. Nevertheless, there
remains general homogeneity in phonetics, vocabulary, and phraseology among various dialects of
Indian English.[26][27][28][29]
Formal written publications in English in India tend to use lakh/crore for Indian currency and
Western numbering for foreign currencies like dollars and pounds, although lakh and crore are also
used to refer to other large numbers such as population sizes.[30] These terms are not used by other
native English-speakers, who have to learn what they mean in order to read Indian English news
articles.
History
The English language established a foothold in India with the granting of the East India Company
charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and the subsequent establishment of trading ports in coastal
cities such as Surat, Mumbai (called Bombay before 1995), Madras (called Chennai since 1996), and
Kolkata (called Calcutta before 2001).
English-language public instruction began in India in the 1830s during the rule of the British East
India Company (India was then, and is today, one of the most linguistically diverse regions of the
world[31]). In 1835, English replaced Persian as the official language of the East India Company. Lord
Macaulay played a major role in introducing English and Western concepts into educational
institutions in India. He supported the replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the
use of English as the medium of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking
Indians as teachers.[32] Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, primary, middle, and high schools were
opened in many districts of British India, with most high schools offering English language
instruction in some subjects. In 1857, just before the end of East India Company rule, universities that
were modeled on the University of London and used English as the medium of instruction were
established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. During the British Raj (1858 to 1947), English-language
penetration increased throughout India. This was driven in part by the gradually increasing hiring of
Indians in the civil services. At the time of India's independence in 1947, English was the only
functional lingua franca in the country.
After Indian Independence in 1947, Hindi was declared the first official language, and attempts were
made to declare Hindi the sole national language of India. Due to protests from Tamil Nadu and other
non-Hindi-speaking states, it was decided to temporarily retain English for official purposes until at
least 1965. By the end of this period, however, opposition from non-Hindi states was still too strong to
have Hindi declared the sole language. With this in mind, the English Language Amendment Bill
declared English to be an associate language "until such time as all non-Hindi States had agreed to its
being dropped."[33] This has not yet occurred, and English is still widely used. For instance, it is the
only reliable means of day-to-day communication between the central government and the non-Hindi
states.
The view of the English language among many Indians has changed over time. It used to be associated
primarily with colonialism; it is now primarily associated with economic progress, and English
continues to be an official language of India.[34]
While there is an assumption that English is readily available in India, studies show that its usage is
actually restricted to the elite,[35] because of inadequate education to large parts of the Indian
population. The use of outdated teaching methods and the poor grasp of English exhibited by the
authors of many guidebooks disadvantage students who rely on these books, giving India only a
moderate proficiency in English.[36]
In addition, many features of Indian English were imported into Bhutan due to the dominance of
Indian-style education and teachers in the country after it withdrew from its isolation in the
1960s.[37][38]
Hinglish and other hybrid languages
The term Hinglish is a portmanteau of the languages English and Hindi. This typically refers to the
macaronic hybrid use of Hindi and English. It is often the growing preferred language of the urban
and semi-urban educated Indian youth, as well as the Indian diaspora abroad.[39] The Hindi film
industry, more popularly known as Bollywood, incorporates considerable amounts of Hinglish as
well.[40] Many internet platforms and voice commands on Google also recognise Hinglish.[39] When
Hindi–Urdu is viewed as a single language called Hindostani, the portmanteaus Hinglish and Urdish
mean the same code-mixed tongue, where the former term is used predominantly in modern India
and the latter term predominantly in Pakistan.
Other macaronic hybrids such as Minglish (Marathi and English), Manglish (Malayalam and
English), Kanglish (Kannada and English), Tenglish (Telugu and English), and Tanglish or Tamglish
(Tamil and English) exist in South India.[41]
Phonology
Vowels
In general, Indian English has fewer peculiarities in its vowel sounds than the consonants, especially
as spoken by native speakers of languages like Hindi, the vowel phoneme system having some
similarities with that of English. Among the distinctive features of the vowel-sounds employed by
some Indian English speakers:
North Indians, especially a minority of English students and teachers along with some people in
various professions like telephone customer service agents, often speak with a non-rhotic accent.
Examples of this include flower pronounced as [flaʊ.ə], never as [nevə], water as [ʋɒtə], etc.
Some South Indians, however, like native Telugu speakers speak with a rhotic accent, but the final
/ə/ becomes an [a], and an alveolar tap [ɾ] is used for /r/, resulting in water and never as [wɒtaɾ] or
[ʋɒʈaɾ] and [nevaɾ] respectively.
Features characteristic of North American English, such as rhoticity and r-coloured vowels,
have been gaining influence on Indian English in recent years as cultural and economic ties
increase between India and the United States.[42]
Many North Indians have an intonation pattern similar to Hiberno-English, which perhaps results
from a similar pattern used while speaking Hindi.
Indian English speakers do not necessarily make a clear distinction between /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ unlike
Received Pronunciation (RP), i.e. they may have the cot-caught merger, with the target vowel
ranging between either option.
Diphthong /eɪ/ is pronounced as [e]
Diphthong /oʊ/ is pronounced as [o]
Diphthong /ɛər/ is pronounced as [ɛ]
/ɑː/ may be more front [a] or central [ä]
/ʌ/ can be more mid central [ə] or open-mid [ɜ][43]
/æ/ may be lower [a].
/ɪ/ may be more central [ɘ], especially before /l/.[44]
Most Indians have the trap–bath split of Received Pronunciation, affecting words such as class,
staff and last (/klɑːs/, /stɑːf/ and /lɑːst/ respectively). Though the trap-bath split is prevalent in
Indian English, it varies greatly. Many younger Indians who read and listen to American English do
not have this split. The distribution is somewhat similar to Australian English in Regional Indian
English varieties, but it has a complete split in Cultivated Indian English and Standard Indian
English varieties.
Most Indians do not have the hoarse-horse merger.
The following are some variations in Indian English resulting from not distinguishing a few vowels:
Pronunciation of /ɔː/ ranging from [ɔ] to [ɒ]

Pronunciation of /æ/ and [ɛ] as [e]
Pronunciation of /ɒ/ ranging from [ɔ] to [a][45]
Consonants
The following are the characteristics of dialect of Indian English most similar to RP:
The voiceless plosives /p/, /t/, /k/ are always unaspirated in Indian English, (aspirated in cultivated
form) whereas in RP, General American and most other English accents they are aspirated in
word-initial or stressed syllables. Thus "pin" is pronounced [pɪn] in Indian English but [pʰɪn] in
most other dialects. In native Indian languages (except in Dravidian languages such as Tamil), the
distinction between aspirated and unaspirated plosives is phonemic, and the English stops are
equated with the unaspirated rather than the aspirated phonemes of the local languages.[46] The
same is true of the voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/. The aspirated plosives are instead equated
with the fricatives such as /f/ or /θ/.
The alveolar stops English /d/, /t/ are often retroflex [ɖ], [ʈ], especially in the South of India.[47] In
Indian languages there are two entirely distinct sets of coronal plosives: one dental and the other
retroflex. Native speakers of Indian languages prefer to pronounce the English alveolar plosives
sound as more retroflex than dental,[48] and the use of retroflex consonants is a common feature
of Indian English.[49][50] In the Devanagari script of Hindi, all alveolar plosives of English are
transcribed as their retroflex counterparts. One good reason for this is that unlike most other
native Indian languages, Hindi does not have true retroflex plosives (Tiwari, [1955] 2001). The so-
called retroflexes in Hindi are actually articulated as apical post-alveolar plosives, sometimes
even with a tendency to come down to the alveolar region. So a Hindi speaker normally cannot
distinguish the difference between their own apical post-alveolar plosives and English's alveolar
plosives. Languages such as Tamil have true retroflex plosives, however, wherein the articulation
is done with the tongue curved upwards and backwards at the roof of the mouth. This also causes
(in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) the /s/ preceding alveolar /t/ to allophonically change to [ʃ]
(⟨stop⟩, /stɒp/ → /ʃʈap/). Mostly in south India, some speakers allophonically further change the
voiced retroflex plosives to voiced retroflex flap [ɽ], and the nasal /n/ to a nasalised retroflex flap.
Most major native languages of India lack the dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ (spelled with th),
although [ð] occurs variably in languages like Gujarati and Tamil. Usually, the aspirated voiceless
dental plosive [t̪ ʰ] is substituted for /θ/ in the north (it would be unaspirated in the south) and the
unaspirated voiced dental plosive [d̪ ], or possibly the aspirated version [d̪ ʱ], is substituted for /
ð/.[51] For example, "thin" would be realised as [t̪ ʰɪn] instead of /θɪn/ for North Indian speakers,
whereas it would be pronounced unaspirated in the south.
The following are the variations in Indian English:
The rhotic consonant /r/ is pronounced by most speakers as an alveolar tap [ɾ], but may also be
pronounced as a retroflex flap [ɽ] or alveolar trill [r] based on the influence by the native
phonology, or an alveolar approximant [ɹ] like in most varieties of English.[52][53]
Pronunciations vary between rhotic and non-rhotic; with pronunciations leaning towards native
phonology being generally rhotic, and others being non-rhotic.
In recent years, rhoticity has been increasing.[54] Generally, American English is seen as
having a large influence on the English language in India recently.[42]
Many Indians with rhotic accents prefer to pronounce words with [aʊə] as [aː(r)], such as
⟨flower⟩ as [flaː(r)] and ⟨our⟩ as [aː(r)], as opposed to [flaʊ.ə] and [aʊ.ə] in more non-rhotic
varieties. Speakers with rhotic accents, especially some south Indians, may also pronounce
word-final /ər/ as /ar/, resulting in water and never as /wɔːtar/ and /nevar/ respectively.
Most Indian languages (except Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Odia and Punjabi) including
Standard Hindi, do not differentiate between /v/ (voiced labiodental fricative) and /w/ (voiced
labiovelar approximant). Instead, many Indians use a frictionless labiodental approximant [ʋ] for
words with either sound, possibly in free variation with [v] and/or [w] depending upon region. Thus,
wet and vet are often homophones.[55]
South Indians tend to curl the tongue (retroflex accentuation) more for /l/ and /n/.
Sometimes, Indian speakers interchange /s/ and /z/, especially when plurals are being formed,
unlike speakers of other varieties of English, who use [s] for the pluralisation of words ending in a
voiceless consonant, [z] for words ending in a voiced consonant or vowel, and [ɨz] for words
ending in a sibilant.
In case of the postalveolar affricates /tʃ/ /dʒ/, native languages like Hindi have corresponding
affricates articulated from the palatal region, rather than postalveolar, and they have more of a
stop component than fricative; this is reflected in their English.
Syllabic /l/, /m/ and /n/ are usually replaced by the VC clusters [əl], [əm] and [ən] (as in button /
ˈbəʈʈən/), or if a high vowel precedes, by [il] (as in little /ˈliʈʈil/). Syllable nuclei in words with the
spelling er/re (a schwa in RP and an r-coloured schwa in GA) are also replaced by VC clusters.
e.g., metre, /ˈmiːtər/ → /ˈmiːʈər/.
Indian English uses clear [l] in all instances like Irish English whereas other varieties use clear [l]
in syllable-initial positions and dark l [ɫ] (velarised-L) in coda and syllabic positions.
The following are variations in Indian English due to language contact with Indian languages:
Most Indian languages (except Hindustani varieties, Assamese, Marathi and Konkani) lack the
voiced alveolar fricative /z/. A significant portion of Indians thus, even though their native
languages do have its nearest equivalent: the unvoiced /s/, often use the voiced palatal affricate
(or postalveolar) /dʒ/. This makes words such as ⟨zero⟩ and ⟨rosy⟩ sound as [ˈdʒiːro] and [ˈroːdʒiː]
(the latter, especially in the North). This replacement is equally true for Persian and Arabic
loanwords into Hindi. The probable reason is the confusion created by the use of the Devanagari
grapheme ⟨ज⟩ (for /dʒ/) with a dot beneath it to represent /z/ (as ⟨ज़⟩). A similar thing happens in
other Indian languages like Bengali, with the letters for /dʒ/ (except Indian varieties of Nepali
where ⟨ज⟩ represents /dz/) usually being used to represent /z/. This is common among people
without formal English education. In Telugu, /z/ and /dʒ/ are allophones in some cases, so the
words such as fridge /fɹɪdʒ/ become /friz/.
In Assamese, /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ are pronounced as /s/; and /dʒ/ and /ʒ/ are pronounced as /z/. Retroflex
and dental consonants are not present and only alveolar consonants are used unlike other Indian
languages. Similar to Bengali, /v/ is pronounced as /bʱ/ and /β/ in Assamese. For example;
change is pronounced as [sɛɪnz], vote is pronounced as [bʱʊt] and English is pronounced as
[iŋlis].[56]
Again, in Assamese and Bhojpuri, all instances of /ʃ/ are spoken like [s], a phenomenon that is
also apparent in their English. Exactly the opposite is seen for many Bengalis.[56]
Inability to pronounce certain (especially word-initial) consonant clusters by people of rural
backgrounds, as with some Spanish-speakers. This is usually dealt with by epenthesis. e.g.,
⟨school⟩ /isˈkuːl/.
Many Indians with lower exposure to English also may pronounce /f/ as an aspirated voiceless
bilabial plosive [pʰ]. Again note that in Hindi Devanagari the loaned /f/ from Persian and Arabic is
written by putting a dot beneath the grapheme for native [pʰ] ⟨फ⟩: ⟨फ़⟩. This substitution is rarer
than that for [z], and in fact in many Hindi /f/ is used by native speakers instead of /pʰ/, or the two
are used interchangeably.
Many speakers of Indian English do not use the voiced postalveolar fricative (/ʒ/). Some Indians
use /z/ or /dʒ/ instead, e.g. ⟨treasure⟩ /ˈtrɛzəːr/,[47] and in some south Indian variants, with /ʃ/ as in
⟨shore⟩, e.g. ⟨treasure⟩ /ˈtrɛʃər/.
Spelling pronunciation
A number of distinctive features of Indian English are due to "the vagaries of English spelling".[51]
Most Indian languages, unlike English, have a nearly phonetic spelling, so the spelling of a word is a
highly reliable guide to its modern pronunciation. Indians' tendency to pronounce English
phonetically as well can cause divergence from British English. This phenomenon is known as spelling
pronunciation.
In words where the digraph ⟨gh⟩ represents a voiced velar plosive (/ɡ/) in other accents, some
Indian English speakers supply a murmured version [ɡʱ], for example ⟨ghost⟩ [ɡʱoːst]. No other
accent of English admits this voiced aspiration.[47]
Similarly, especially with Hindi speakers, the digraph ⟨wh⟩ may be aspirated as [ʋʱ] or [wʱ],
resulting in realisations such as ⟨which⟩ [ʋʱɪtʃ], found in no other English accent (although some
Scottish accents come close).[57] This is somewhat similar to the traditional distinction between
⟨wh⟩ and ⟨w⟩ present in English, however, wherein the former is /ʍ/, whilst the latter is /w/.
In unstressed syllables, which speakers of American English would realise as a schwa, speakers
of Indian English would use the spelling vowel, making ⟨sanity⟩ sound as [ˈsæniti] instead of
[ˈsænəti]. This trait is also present in other South Asian dialects (Pakistani and Sri Lankan
English), and common for many second-language European speakers of English.
The word "of" is usually pronounced with a /f/ instead of a /v/ as in most other accents.[51]
Use of [d] instead of [t] for the "-ed" ending of the past tense after voiceless consonants, for
example "developed" may be [ˈdɛʋləpd] instead of RP /dɪˈvɛləpt/.[47]
Use of [s] instead of [z] for the ⟨-s⟩ ending of the plural after voiced consonants, for example
⟨dogs⟩ may be [daɡs] instead of [dɒɡz].[51]
Pronunciation of ⟨house⟩ as [haʊz] in both the noun and the verb, instead of [haʊs] as a noun and
[haʊz] as a verb.
Silent letters may be pronounced. For example, 'salmon' is usually pronounced with a distinct /l/.
Supra-segmental features
English is a stress-timed language. Both syllable stress and word stress (where only certain words in a
sentence or phrase are stressed) are important features of Received Pronunciation. Indian native
languages are actually syllable-timed languages, like French. Indian-English speakers usually speak
with a syllabic rhythm.[58] Further, in some Indian languages, stress is associated with a low pitch,[59]
whereas in most English dialects, stressed syllables are generally pronounced with a higher pitch.
Thus, when some Indian speakers speak, they appear to put the stress accents at the wrong syllables,
or accentuate all the syllables of a long English word. Certain Indian accents possess a "sing-song"
quality, a feature seen in a few English dialects of Britain, such as Scouse and Welsh English.[60]
Numbering system
The Indian numbering system is preferred for digit grouping.[61] When written in words, or when
spoken, numbers less than 100,000 are expressed just as they are in Standard English. Numbers
including and beyond 100,000 are expressed in a subset of the Indian numbering system. Thus, the
following scale is used:
In digits (International In digits (Indian In words (short In words (Indian system) (Only in
system) system) scales) Hindustani language)
10 ten
100 hundred
1,000 one thousand
10,000 ten thousand
one hundred
100,000 1,00,000 one lakh (from lākh लाख)
thousand
1,000,000 10,00,000 one million ten lakh (from lākh लाख)
10,000,000 1,00,00,000 ten million one crore (from karoṛ करोड़)
100,000,000 10,00,00,000 hundred million ten crore

one hundred crore
1,000,000,000 1,00,00,00,000 one billion
one arab
one thousand crore

10,000,000,000 10,00,00,00,000 ten billion
ten arab
ten thousand crore

one kharab
100,000,000,000 1,00,00,00,00,000 hundred billion

(arab and kharab are not commonly
used today)
Larger numbers are generally expressed as multiples of the above (for example, one lakh crores for
one trillion).[62][63]
Vocabulary
Indian English includes many political, sociological, and administrative terms, such as dharna, hartal,
eve-teasing, vote bank, swaraj, swadeshi, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, and NRI. It incorporates
some Anglo-Indian words such as tiffin, hill station, gymkhana, along with slang.[64][65]
Some examples of words and phrases unique to, or chiefly used in, standard written Indian English
include:
academics (noun) (also Canadian and U.S. English): Academic pursuits in contrast to technical or
practical work.
e.g. "For 14 years he immersed himself in academics and was a fine achiever." (The Hindu
(Madras), 6 December 1991 27/2)[66]
all is well: Nothing to be concerned about, everything is cool. (reference to the famous Indian
movie "3 Idiots with a song with this title").
avail (verb): take advantage of an opportunity or resource
brinjal (noun): eggplant/aubergine
cinema hall (noun): A cinema or movie theatre.[67]
e.g. "Cinema halls in Uttar Pradesh will soon display the newly-unveiled logo for Kumbh Mela,
right after the national anthem is played" (The Times of India, 3 January 2018)[68]
do the needful: To do that which is necessary or required, with the respectful implication that the
other party is trusted to understand what needs doing without being given detailed instructions.
e.g. "When asked if the UP government could reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on petro-
products to bring down prices, the CM said that the state government was aware of the
situation and will do the needful." (2018 The Pioneer)[69]
kindly adjust: used to acknowledge and apologize for something that causes problems or
difficulties and ask people to accept and adapt to the situation, or used to apologize for causing
inconvenience.
eg. "The store will be closed this afternoon due to staffing shortages. Kindly adjust."
eg: When asking someone to move along so you can sit down. "I would like to sit down, sir.
Kindly adjust".[70]
English-knowing (adjective): Of a person or group of people that uses or speaks English.
e.g. "The official and Service atmosphere ... set the tone for almost all Indian middle-class life,
especially the English-knowing intelligentsia." (Toward Freedom vii. 40, J. Nehru, 1941)[71]
foreign-returned (adjective): Of a person or group of people who has returned home after living
abroad for a while[72]
freeship (noun): A studentship or scholarship.[73]
e.g. "Two permanent freeships, each tenable for one year and one of which is for the second
and the other for the third year class." (The Medical Reporter (Calcutta) 57/1, 1 February
1893)
e.g. "Private institutions can only develop if they are allowed to charge reasonable fees, while
also providing need based freeships and scholarships for a certain percentage of students."
(The Economic Times (Nexis), 12 October 2006)[74]

hotel (noun): A restaurant or café.
e.g. "A group of four friends had gone to have dinner at a roadside hotel." (Statesman
(Calcutta), 10 February 1999 (Midweek section) 4/3)[75]
is it so: Oh really?
it will be: This is how much it is (quantifying something)
e.g. Q: "How much is this?" A:"It will be two hundred and seventy rupee."
lady finger/lady's finger (noun): okra
matrimonial (noun): Advertisements in a newspaper for the purpose of finding a marriageable
partner.
e.g. "When I have a job I'll have to begin a whole new search for my better half ... Back to the
newspaper matrimonials on Sundays." (Statesman (Calcutta), 10 February 1999 (Midweek
section) 4/3)[76]
out of station: used for saying that someone is away.[77] This phrase has its origins in the posting
of army officers to particular "stations" during the days of the East India Company.
office boy: Usually a person employed to do less important and menial jobs in a business office.
e.g. Messenger, copier maintenance, Chaiwala, etc. Often resides or spends their working time in
a special service space in the office, behind the front desk or in the pantry.
pass(ing) out (phrase): graduate from school/college or complete a course at an institution.[78]
e.g. "I passed out of college in 2007."[78]

e.g. "I passed out of my school aged 17."
petrol pump / petrol bunk (used in some parts of south India) (noun): a petrol station (British
English), gas station (American English)
bus stand (noun): a bus station (British English)
highway (noun): a motorway (British English), freeway (American English)
road junction/circle (noun): a crossroad (British English), intersection (American English)
press person (noun, frequently as a single word): A newspaper journalist, a reporter, a member of
the press.
e.g. "The Prime Minister greeted the presspersons with a 'namaskar' [customary Hindu
greeting] and a broad smile." (The Hindu (Nexis), 20 June 2001)[79]
right: confirmation, I understand you.
redressal (noun): redress
e.g. "There is an urgent need for setting up an independent authority for redressal of telecom
consumer complaints." (Statesman (India) (Nexis), 2 April 1998)
e.g. "Where does he go for the redressal of his genuine grievances?" (Sunday Times of India,
15 September 2002 8/4)[80]
upgradation (noun) The enhancement or upgrading of status, value or level of something.
e.g. "Our Company lays great stress on technical training and knowledge upgradation."
(Business India, 8 Sep 1986 153/1 (advert))[81]
revert (verb): To report back with information.
e.g. "Please revert with the required documentation."
chain-snatching (verb): To snatch a gold chain (or sometimes silver chain) from a woman (or a
man) and run away, usually perpetrated by two or more criminals on a motorbike/moped/scooter.
e.g. "Women, (as well as men), are avoiding wearing gold-chains due to the concerning rise in
number of chain-snatching cases in many parts of the city."
prepone (verb): To bring (something) forward to an earlier date or time.[82]
e.g. "The meeting has been preponed due to a change in the schedule."
talaq, talaq, talaq - A form of divorce practiced in the Indian Muslim community for many
generations. Triple talaq in India
footpath (noun) (also Australian English, British English, Hiberno-English): a sidewalk (American
English).
e.g. "Pedestrian trips account for a quarter to a third of all trips in many Indian cities, yet,
footpaths are designed as an afterthought to vehicles and commercial establishments." (The
Hindu, 29 November 2019)[83]
capsicum (noun) (also Australian English): bell pepper
e.g. "He is allergic to capsicum."
communalism: the creation of hatred between different religions and ethnicities which cause
communal violence between them. The term is usually used to describe the hatred spread by
religious leaders and politicians which cause Hindu–Muslim riots.
votebank: a particular bloc of voters from a single community or a group of communities who
always back a certain candidate or political party for bribes and/or employment favours given by
the particular party.
Spelling
Spelling practices in Indian English generally follow the British style, e.g., using travelling, litre,
practise (as a verb), anaesthesia, fulfil, catalogue and colour, rather than the American style.[84]
Dictionaries
The most famous dictionary of Indian English is Yule and Brunell's Hobson-Jobson, originally
published in 1886 with an expanded edition edited by William Crooke in 1903, widely available in
reprint since the 1960s.
Numerous other dictionaries ostensibly covering Indian English, though for the most part being
merely collections of administratively-useful words from local languages, include (chronologically):
Rousseau A Dictionary of Words used in the East Indies (1804), Wilkins Glossary to the Fifth Report
(1813), Stocqueler The Oriental Interpreter and Treasury of East Indian Knowledge (1844), Elliot A
Supplement to the Glossary of Indian Terms: A-J (1845), Brown The Zillah Dictionary in the Roman
Character (1852), Carnegy Kutcherry Technicalities (1853) and its second edition Kachahri
Technicalities (1877), Wilson Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms (1855), Giles A Glossary of
Reference, on Subjects connected with the Far East (1878), Whitworth Anglo-Indian Dictionary
(1885), Temple A Glossary of Indian Terms relating to Religion, Customs, Government, Land (1897),
and Crooke Things India: Being Discursive Notes on Various Subjects connected with India (1906).
The first dictionary of Indian English to be published after independence was Hawkins Common
Indian Words in English (1984). Other efforts include (chronologically): Lewis Sahibs, Nabobs and
Boxwallahs (1991), Muthiah Words in Indian English (1991), Sengupta's Indian English supplement
to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1996) and Hankin Hanklyn-Janklin (2003). Nihalani
et al. Indian and British English: A Handbook of Usage and Pronunciation (2004) delineates how
Indian English differs from British English for a large number of specific lexical items. The Macmillan
publishing company also produced a range of synchronic general dictionaries for the Indian market,
such as the Macmillan Comprehensive Dictionary (2006).
The most recent and comprehensive dictionary is Carls A Dictionary of Indian English, with a
Supplement on Word-formation Patterns (2017).
See also
India portal
Languages portal
Regional differences and dialects in Indian English

Indian English literature
Indian numbering system
Languages with official status in India
Indian States by most popular languages
Kanglish
Hinglish
Manglish
Pakistani English/Paklish
Bangladeshi English/Banglish
Tanglish
Tenglish
English as a lingua franca
Regional accents of English
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Ball, Martin J.; Muller, Nicole (2014). Phonetics for Communication Disorders (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=-pnKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA289). Routledge. pp. 289–. ISBN 978-1-317-77795-3.
Sailaja, Pingali (2007). "Writing Systems and Phonological Awareness" (https://books.google.com/

books?id=xac5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA252). In Bayer, Josef; Bhattacharya, Tanmoy; Babu, M. T.
Hany (eds.). Linguistic Theory and South Asian Languages: Essays in honour of K. A.
Jayaseelan. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 249–267. ISBN 978-90-272-9245-2.
Sailaja, Pingali (2009). Indian English (https://books.google.com/books?id=ntxWxuoRBiwC).
Series: Dialects of English. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2595-6.
Further reading
Henry Yule; Arthur Coke Burnell (1886). HOBSON-JOBSON: Being a glossary of Anglo-Indian
colloquial words and phrases (https://archive.org/stream/cu31924012794628#page/n7/mode/2up).
John Murray, London.
Wells, J C (1982). Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-28541-0.
Crystal, David (1990). The English Language. London & New York: Penguin. p. 10.
Whitworth, George Clifford (1885). An Anglo-Indian dictionary: a glossary of Indian terms used in
English, and of such English or other non-Indian terms as have obtained special meanings in
India. K. Paul, Trench.
Rayan, Albert P. (24 September 2017). "What ails English language teaching?" (http://www.thehind
u.com/education/what-ails-english-language-teaching/article19741269.ece). The Hindu. Retrieved
9 May 2018.
Johnson (27 August 2016). "Rue the rules" (https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/217
05667-early-years-english-teaching-should-focus-reading-and-writing-not-abstract). The
Economist. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
Joseph, Manu (16 February 2011). "India Faces a Linguistic Truth: English Spoken Here" (https://
www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/asia/17iht-letter17.html). The New York Times. Retrieved
9 May 2018.
Aula, Sahith (6 November 2014). "The Problem With The English Language In India" (https://www.
forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/11/06/the-problem-with-the-english-language-in-india/). Forbes.
Retrieved 9 May 2018.
Indian English, English To Bengali (2019), Spoken English Learning (https://indianse.in/salutation-
word-in-english-i-%e0%a6%87%e0%a6%82%e0%a6%b0%e0%a6%be%e0%a6%9c%e0%a6%b
f%e0%a6%a4%e0%a7%87-%e0%a6%85%e0%a6%ad%e0%a6%bf%e0%a6%a6%e0%a6%be%
e0%a6%a8%e0%a7%87%e0%a6%b0-%e0%a6%aa%e0%a7%8d/)
Balasubramanian, Chandrika (2009). Register Variation in Indian English (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=RB04Ay545rwC). John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-2311-1.
Baumgardner, Robert Jackson, ed. (1996). South Asian English: Structure, Use, and Users (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=750-0hSmo8YC). University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-
06493-7.
Braj B. Kachru (1983). The Indianisation of English: the English language in India. Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-561353-8.
Gargesh, Ravinder (17 February 2009). "South Asian Englishes" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=PpeXINCnDbIC&pg=PA90). In Braj Kachru; et al. (eds.). The Handbook of World Englishes.
John Wiley & Sons. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-1-4051-8831-9.
Hickey, Raymond (2004). "South Asian English" (https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_
Ax8C&pg=PA536). Legacies of Colonial English: Studies in Transported Dialects. Cambridge
University Press. pp. 536–. ISBN 978-0-521-83020-1.
Lambert, James (2012), "Beyond Hobson-Jobson: Towards a new lexicography for Indian English"
(https://benjamins.com/catalog/eww.33.3.03lam), English World-Wide, 33 (3): 292–320,
doi:10.1075/eww.33.3.03lam (https://doi.org/10.1075%2Feww.33.3.03lam)
Lambert, James (2018), "Setting the record straight: An in-depth examination of Hobson-Jobson"
(https://academic.oup.com/ijl/article-abstract/31/4/485/4996705?redirectedFrom=fulltext),
International Journal of Lexicography, 31 (4): 485–506, doi:10.1093/ijl/ecy010 (https://doi.org/10.1
093%2Fijl%2Fecy010)
Lange, Claudia (2012). The Syntax of Spoken Indian English (https://books.google.com/books?id=
3N_fJZn4yKAC). John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-4905-0.
Mehrotra, Raja Ram (1998). Indian English: Texts and Interpretation (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=BEgEE4XSvDcC). John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 90-272-4716-1.
Schilk, Marco (2011). Structural Nativization in Indian English Lexicogrammar (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=uFuev8aYFtEC). John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-0351-9.
Sedlatschek, Andreas (2009). Contemporary Indian English: Variation and Change (https://books.
google.com/books?id=7f3BHKdMUiQC). Series: Varieties of English Around the World. ISBN 978-
9027248985.
External links
"English in India" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130531024023/http://www.confluence.org.uk/200
8/12/02/the-english-project-and-the-english-language-in-india-christopher-mulvey). Archived from
the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
Indian general spoken Problems in English (http://www.wordmala.com/general-sayings/) Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20200216062757/http://www.wordmala.com/general-sayings/) 16
February 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
Indian Pronunciation Problems in English (http://englishspeaklikenative.com/resources/common-p
ronunciation-problems/indian-pronunciation-problems/), ESLAN.
'Hover & Hear' pronunciations in a Standard Indian English accent (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0091020110640/http://www.soundcomparisons.com/Eng/Direct/Englishes/SglLgIndianEnglishStan
dard.htm), and compare side by side with other English accents from around the World.
"Linguistic and Social Characteristics of Indian English" by Jason Baldridge (http://www.languagei
nindia.com/junjul2002/baldridgeindianenglish.html): An analysis of Indian language published by
the "Language In India" magazine.
On the future of Indian English (https://web.archive.org/web/20060410081342/http://yaleglobal.yal
e.edu/display.article?id=5675), by Gurcharan Das.
An exploration into linguistic majority-minority relations in India (http://www.languageinindia.com/a
ug2004/dlamallikarjun1.html), by B. Mallikarjun.
108 varieties of Indian English (http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/500/500%20dharma%20kuma
r.htm), Dharma Kumar, India Seminar, 2001 (Volume 500).
India Human Development Survey-II 2011–2012 (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/DSDR/stud
ies/36151)
Indian Novels in English: Texts, Contexts and Language Hardcover – 2018 by Jaydeep Sarangi
(Author)
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7/26/23, 2:03 PM Indian English - Wikipedia

Early forms Old English

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An example of a female news speaker from South Indian state of Karnataka.

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Hinglish and other hybrid languages

Pronunciation of /ɔː/ ranging from [ɔ] to [ɒ]

The following are the variations in Indian English:

10,000 ten thousand

1,000,000 10,00,000 one million ten lakh (from lākh लाख)

10,000,000 1,00,00,000 ten million one crore (from karoṛ करोड़)

100,000,000 10,00,00,000 hundred million ten crore

one thousand crore

ten thousand crore

100,000,000,000 1,00,00,00,00,000 hundred billion

(The Economic Times (Nexis), 12 October 2006)[74]

e.g. "I passed out of college in 2007."[78]

Regional differences and dialects in Indian English

6. "Court language is English, says Supreme Court" (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/pol

Sailaja, Pingali (2007). "Writing Systems and Phonological Awareness" (https://books.google.com/

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