Useful links:

https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/grammar-vocabulary/story/10-english-words-only-
used-by-indians-2369072-2023-05-05

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/web-stories/popular-english-words-of-indian-
origin/photostory/94856604.cms

In less than 200 years since its formal introduction as part of a nascent and westernized
education system, English has grown to be the medium through which the people of India
communicate with the world, and often with one another. In large parts of a country with several
major languages, it vies with Hindi—the most commonly used Indian language—as the spoken
language of choice. There is a range of ability from a mere smattering of words, to some
amount of rudimentary communication, to highly proficient use of the language. Arguably, the
number of Indians speaking at least a few words of English, and the contexts in which they do
so, continue to grow by the day. The language has a large presence in governance, education,
media, and the publishing industry. For instance, the number of English language newspapers
registered in India and their circulation figures are second only to those in Hindi. India produces
the third largest number of English books in the world, after the USA and UK.

History

The link between Britain and India is an old one, starting around the time of the formation of the
East India Company in 1600. The British came initially seeking business opportunities in a
wealthy country. Later, they gained control of different regions through alliances, battles, and
treaties. Educational efforts commenced with setting up individual schools and progressed to
actually implementing formal policies. This was a process that evolved over a period of 150
years. Necessarily, though not without resistance, this involved the spread and growth of
English in a territory that had a vast population speaking hundreds of languages, with many
having a formal history of at least two thousand years.

The most significant linguistic policy initiative of the British was Thomas Babington Macaulay’s
Minute of 1835, which led to the establishment of English as the language of instruction for
higher education. This momentous decision paved the way for the eventual entrenchment of
English in the country. The proposal met with fierce opposition from a group of highly-placed
British officials and Indians. In the end, though, Macaulay prevailed. As a consequence, Indians
were rapidly exposed to western ideas, science, law, governance, and, of course, English. By
1857, universities were being set up in the three Presidencies: Bengal, Bombay, and Madras.
In 1854, with Sir Charles Wood’s Despatch, school education also benefited, although the focus
was not only on English; the local languages were also given due importance. Macaulay created
a job market for people who learned English, with the aim of meeting the administrative needs
of the British; this same skill is now the gateway for Indians to compete for the best jobs,
globally.
English and the struggle for freedom

When the Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 to fight for India’s freedom preference
for membership was initially, and perhaps ironically, given to those who spoke English. By 1920,
however, Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership ensured that Indian languages were given primacy; this
coincided with the British government handing over the Education Department to be managed
by Indian officials. The debate over abandoning English altogether, and replacing it with
Hindi/Hindustani, was a low-key, parallel narrative to the struggle for freedom. As independence
drew closer, there was an attempt to have Hindi declared as the national language, while the
Constituent Assembly was holding deliberations to frame the Constitution. The proposal was
watered down to official language status in the Constitution of India which was adopted in 1950,
three years after independence in 1947.

Official status and usage

Under Article 343 of the Constitution of India, English gets the status of an associate official
language, the official language being Hindi. However, the higher legal system, federal legislative
processes, and the bulk of higher education are all still carried out in English. This dichotomy of
preference vis-à-vis the language has never gone away. The first generation of Indians who
were formally educated in English also became the standard bearers of the independence
movement. Even before independence was achieved, the next generation was deeply involved
in the creation of the United Nations and various global institutions.

English has always been an aspirational language, with a great deal of material progress and
prestige associated with it. The status accorded to English in education and governance has
however remained uncertain. Several commissions have been set up to study this matter and
attempts to dilute the pre-eminence of English have occurred in various regions. It is, by and
large, a second language to most of its users. However, for those in the cities and in the
professions, it is the language of choice for commerce, for education, and for social interaction.
The underprivileged and the lower classes see it as the language of emancipation and often
invest in getting an English education. From the middle of the 19th century, India and Indians
first accessed the knowledge base of the West, especially in the sciences, through English.
Today, India is known as the world’s back-office in information technology and is an integral part
of the global knowledge economy.

Vocabulary
There are five major types of words in Indian English that are distinct from words seen across
other varieties of English: borrowings from Indian languages; novel constructions through
processes of affixation and compounding; hybrid constructions which bring together English and
Indian languages; loan translations or calques; and, finally, words that are used with different
meanings from those one finds in other varieties.
Borrowings from Indian languages
Many words that are specific to the culture, food, dress, flora and fauna, religion and philosophy
of India are part of the English used by Indians. The words come from different languages but
eventually become pan-Indian (though some words remain region-specific).

Some pan-Indian words pertaining to food are:

biryani, n. (first attested 1932) – a highly-spiced Indian dish made of meat or vegetables cooked
with rice, saffron, and usually brown lentils.
gosht, n. (1982) – red meat; beef, lamb, mutton, or goat; also (and in earliest use) a dish
containing this.
namkeen, n. (1942) – any salty or savoury snack.
raita, n. (1832) – a cold side dish consisting of yogurt or (esp. formerly) curds with herbs or
spices (traditionally including mustard seed), and typically also containing finely chopped
vegetables or fruit.
Words referring to clothing include:

dhoti(1622) – a long narrow cloth which is wound round the body, passed between the thighs,
and tucked in under the waist-band behind.
dupatta, n. (1615) – a doubled or two-layered length of cloth worn by women as a scarf, veil, or
shoulder wrap.
kurta (1913) – a loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women.
Some words from the realm of flora and fauna are:

nilgai, n. (1871) – a large Indian antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus, the male of which is blue-
grey with white markings and short straight horns, the female tawny and without horns.
neem, n. – a tree, Azadirachta indica (family Meliaceae), widely found in South Asia, where it is
valued for its leaves and bitter bark which are used medicinally, and for the oil of its seeds which
is used in soaps.
tulsi, n. –A species of basil (Ocimum sanctum), sacred to Vishnu, cultivated by the Hindus as a
sacred plant.
Words from the contexts of religion, philosophy, and culture include:

bhajan, n. (1914) – a devotional song.

bhakti, n. (1832) – religious devotion, piety, or devoted faith, as a means of salvation.
jnana (1827) – spiritual knowledge, as a means of salvation.karma, n. (1785) – the sum of a
person’s actions, esp. intentional actions, in this and previous states of existence, regarded as
determining that person’s fate in future states of existence.
karma, n. (1785) – the sum of a person’s actions, esp. intentional actions, in this and previous
states of existence, regarded as determining that person’s fate in future states of existence.
kumkum, n. (1938) – a red powder used ceremonially, and by Hindu women to make a small
distinctive spot on the forehead; the spot so made.
sadhana, n. (1898) – dedicated practice or learning to achieve an (esp. spiritual) goal.
tala, n. (1891) – musical time or rhythm; one of a series of traditional metrical patterns.
Novel constructions through processes of affixation and compounding
Many new words constructed in Indian English that are not seen in other varieties of English.
There is a general tendency in Indian English to create new compound words. For example:

kitty party, n. (1991) – a social lunch at which those attending contribute money to a central pool
and draw lots, the winner receiving the money and hosting the next lunch.
lunch home, n. (1939) – a small restaurant or other eatery.
speed breaker, n. (1940) – a ridge set in a road surface to encourage drivers to reduce their
speed; a speed bump.
Words created by processes of affixation include:

shuttler, n. (1934) – a badminton player.

wheatish, adj. (1950) – of the complexion, etc.: that is (or is held to be) of the pale golden colour
of ripe wheat; light brown, pale-skinned.
Hybrid constructions
Hybrid constructions combine two languages, usually an Indian language and English. They can
be either compounds or affixed words. Some examples are:

ashramite, n. (1933) – an occupant of an ashram.

chakka jam, n. (1972) – the blocking of a road or the deliberate creation of a traffic jam as a
form of civilian protest; a blockade.
gully cricket, n. (1980) – an informal variety of cricket played on the street.
Loan translations and calques
Idioms and some other expressions are typically translations from local languages. Some
examples are your head ‘an exclamation meaning nonsense’, eat/chew my/your brains ‘pester
someone’, and sitting on my/your head ‘put pressure on someone’.

Different meanings
Some examples of this type include mutton ‘lamb (cooked and uncooked)’, flick ‘steal’, and shift
‘move house or office’. The meaning conveyed by these (and some other words) is different
from that in other varieties of English.

Grammar

A number of syntactic features are unique to—or particularly common in—Indian English. Many
of these features are likely to be unacceptable in formal contexts; that is, they would not be
considered ‘standard’. However, there are still many features that are acceptable in formal and
standard contexts. Some of these are illustrated in this article.

Reduplication
In order to express scale or emphasis, words in adjectival positions can be reduplicated in
Indian English. Some examples are:

● little-little things ‘many things that are little’,

● big-big problems ‘several sizeable problems’
● chubby-chubby cheeks ‘very chubby cheeks’

Verbs

Some verbs are used in a manner that is typical to Indian English. The verb gift is used with two
objects as in ‘Her children gifted her [first object] a new oven [second object]’ rather than ‘Her
children gifted her with a new oven’ as would be seen in other varieties of English. Many
speakers of Indian English, though not all, are also likely to say, ‘They provided us the
necessary equipment’ and ‘They supplied us blankets’. Some verbs that would typically be used
as part of a phrasal verb in most varieties of English are more commonly used without particles
(prepositions used with verbs to make phrasal verbs) in Indian English, e.g. the word bunk in the
sense of ‘skip’: ‘I am bunking college today’ is thus the more common construction in Indian
English, while ‘I am bunking off college today’ (with the particle off) is more common in British
English. Some other verbs can be used intransitively in Indian English; a good example is
enjoy: ‘We enjoyed very much’. This structure would not necessarily be considered
acceptable by all.

Many verbs can take the particle off to give some emphasis or add a negative meaning, e.g.
‘Let’s finish it off’. The intended meaning is ‘Let’s finish it and be done with it’. ‘Let’s hide it off’
carries the extra meaning of conspiracy among the interlocutors.

Address forms

When referring to or addressing people using a word that establishes the relationship, the
sequence is as follows: Vidya aunty and Mangesh uncle, in contrast to the sequence Aunty
Vidya and Uncle Mangesh that is more typical of speakers of English from other parts of the
world. This extends to teachers as well, in forms such as Vimala ma’am and Krishna sir.

Fronting

There is a tendency in Indian English to bring words, especially adverbials, to the beginning of
sentences: ‘Tomorrow, we can have a meeting’; ‘Surprisingly, he was very nice’; ‘Ten years
back, life was very different’. Though this also occurs in other varieties, it is more prevalent in
Indian English use.

Yes-no questions

Although questions are used in a manner similar to other varieties, for yes-no questions there is
less use of the structure of a question and more use of statements in the form of questions with
a rising intonation. One is therefore more likely to hear, ‘You will make the presentation?’ rather
than, ‘Will you make the presentation?’.

Rhetorical where

One rhetorical device in Indian English is to answer questions with the word where to indicate
the impossibility of a situation or event. For example:

A: Why didn’t you call me when in trouble?

B: Where?

The response where in the above indicates that it was impossible to call when in trouble.
Similarly, ‘Where are you doing any work?’ means ‘You are not doing any work’.

Tags

Indian English is known for its use of the tag isn’t it?, which can be used in a broader range of
contexts than in other varieties of English. For example,‘This needs to be re-written, isn’t it?’ or
‘You can come tomorrow, isn’t it?’ rather than ‘This needs to be rewritten, doesn’t it?’ and ‘You
can come tomorrow, can’t you?’. Additionally, the tag no is also often used, especially in
informal contexts, e.g. ‘You can come tomorrow, no?’.

Sri Lankan English

https://roar.media/english/life/culture-identities/the-story-behind-the-burghers-of-sri-
lanka

Sri Lankan English, often referred to as SLE, is a linguistic phenomenon woven by the diverse
communities that make up the island nation of Sri Lanka. It is not the English of the colonizer,
but the English of the once colonized. This variety of English holds a unique postcolonial
identity, shaped by around 200 years of history, linguistic influences, and political developments.
It plays a significant role in the country’s administration, judiciary, education, and interpersonal
communication. English is used both as a first language and as a second or third language in
Sri Lanka. While some communities, such as the Burghers, consider English their mother
tongue, for the majority, it serves primarily as a second or third language used for functional
purposes. All Sri Lankans are to some extent bilingual, and some are trilingual, being proficient
in English, Sinhalese, and Tamil.
History of English in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan English traces its origins back to the late 18th century when the British established
their presence on the island. In 1796, the Treaty of Amiens was signed between the British East
India Company and the Dutch settlers, effectively bringing the Maritime Provinces under the
control of the East India Company. By 1802, Ceylon was declared a Crown Colony of
Britain, with English designated as its official language. In 1815, the British Empire
assumed authority over the entire country after the fall of the previously independent Kandyan
Kingdom. English, alongside Sinhalese, Tamil, and a few other minority languages, was
adopted as one of Sri Lanka’s languages. However, it predominantly served the westernized
elite in urban areas, limiting its accessibility to the wider population.

Even after Ceylon gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948, English continued to
function as the de facto official language of the nation. A significant turning point in the island’s
history occurred in 1956 with the introduction of the Sinhala Only Act, which dethroned
English in official administrative and legislative communication. Given that this Act also
excluded the Tamil language, it also facilitated animosity between the Sinhala and Tamil-
speaking populations of the country, consequently fuelling the violent conflict that ensued
in the country. The “Swabasha” (mother tongue) education movement gained momentum as
English education during colonial rule had excluded many native people from social
opportunities. However, in July 1987, recognizing the importance of English in a globalizing
world, the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord established Sinhala, Tamil, and English as the official
languages of the country. This decision was later altered with the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution in November of that year, retaining only Sinhala and Tamil as the country’s official
languages, while English was designated as the ‘link language.’ The prominence of English
experienced a resurgence in the 1990s when it was reintroduced as a medium of instruction in
schools.

Status and usage

The role of English in Sri Lanka has been a source of considerable ambiguity. The 13th
Amendment to the Constitution may have designated English as a “link language” alongside
Sinhala and Tamil; however, in practice, English in Sri Lanka serves a much broader purpose. It
continues to permeate various aspects of official affairs, maintaining its presence as the
language used in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, enjoying a substantial presence in the media and
advertising, currently experiencing a resurgence in the country’s education system, and reigning
supreme as the preferred language in the private business and commercial sectors. In essence,
its dominant influence on the country remains unmistakable and unchallenged.

Sri Lankan English represents the English of the once-colonized, carrying traces of Sinhalese
and Tamil influences. It reflects the unique multiethnic and multilingual fabric of Sri Lanka.
However, despite its evolution and prevalence in contemporary Sri Lanka, many Sri Lankans
still perceive it as a symbol of discrimination and privilege. English in Sri Lanka is still often
associated with the westernized elite; the language is known colloquially as kaduwa meaning
‘sword’ in Sinhalese – double-edged in its privileged position, and weaponized. This English-
speaking class is highly conscious of its privileged position, having grown up with English as
one of their home languages. However, recent movements and policies such as ‘’Speak English
Our Way’’ in addition to academic engagement with World Englishes acknowledge the
nativization of English in the country. These efforts seek to work with this English, aiming to
make it more democratically accessible to the broader population.

Vocabulary
Sri Lankan Engl
ish vocabulary is rich and expressive, with borrowings, compounding, and expressive
terminology influenced by Sinhalese and Tamil. In Sri Lankan English, there exist five prominent
categories of words that set it apart from other forms of the English language. These distinctive
word types include:

Direct borrowings from local languages

Novel constructions through affixation and compounding
Hybrid constructions blending English and local languages
Loan translations or calques
English words used in Sri Lankan English with meanings that differ from their typical usage in
other varieties of English
Direct borrowings from local languages

Many words in the local languages specific to the culture, food, dress, religion, etc. are part of
the English used by Sri Lankans.

Words related to food:

kottu roti: a popular street food made of shredded meat mixed with chopped roti, vegetables,
and spices

kottamalli: coriander (tea)

Words referring to clothing:

osari: The Kandyan style of draping a sari (as opposed to the Indian sari)

Novel constructions through affixation and compounding

peoplization – peoplization initiative under President Ranasinghe Premadasa

saffronization – Buddhist monks publicly participating in politics; saffron (i.e., saffron robes) + –
ization

Hybrid constructions through affixation and compounding

kunukunu-fy – to grumble

rastification – a combination of the Sinhala rastiyadu ‘wasting time’ and the suffix –ification’

Loan translations or calques

Some idioms and expressions are direct translations from local languages.

‘I will go and come’

‘What to do’

Different meanings

game, e.g., Do you want game? ‘Do you want to fight?’, ask for game

shape, a versatile word that functions as an adverb (e.g., to do something shape eke means to
just get by doing the bare minimum) and an adjective (e.g., How are you feeling? Shape,
meaning ‘okay’, ‘not too bad’, very similar to the French expression comme ci comma ça).

Language mixing and influence

Language mixing is a common phenomenon in Sri Lanka, particularly in urban areas. Such
mixing has resulted in dramatic changes in all three languages: English, Sinhalese, and Tamil.
This mixing has led to the creation of Sri Lankan English.

Syntax and morphology

Sri Lankan English exhibits distinctive syntactic features, particularly in spoken form. Pronoun
deletion, the use of tags like no, and language transfer from Sinhalese to spoken English are
some of its characteristics. The gap between spoken and written Sri Lankan English is wide,
perhaps emulating the diglossic nature of both the Sinhala and Tamil languages.
Role of English in creative writing

English was initially taught in Sri Lanka as a variety of British English, and the prescriptive
attitude toward English was upheld for generations, with many considering it essential to
maintain English without incorporating Sinhalese or Tamil borrowings. However, Sri Lankan
English (SLE) as a separate variety has gained recognition in recent decades, with increasing
contributions to its regional and international literary profile. Literary awards and institutional
support have provided a platform for creative writing in English. While earlier usage of SLE in
literature was often marked by humour and satire, recent publications reflect a greater fluidity in
its use as a creative medium. SLE is now employed more earnestly by writers, who explore the
sociopolitical complexities of English in Sri Lanka with less self-consciousness.

Conclusion

The evolution of English in Sri Lanka is a complex and multifaceted journey, marked by shifts in
identity, linguistic influences, and socio-political factors. It continues to play a significant role in
the country’s cultural and linguistic landscape, reflecting the dynamic interplay between global
and local influences.

Pakistani English

In the country of Pakistan, English is a co-official language with Urdu. Linguist Tom McArthur
reports that English is used as a second language "by a national minority of c.3 million in a
population of c.133 million."

The slang term Pinglish is sometimes used as an informal (and often unflattering) synonym for
Pakistani English.

Examples and Observations

"English in Pakistan--Pakistani English--shares the broad characteristics of South Asian English

in general and is similar to that spoken in contiguous regions of northern India. As in many
former British colonies, English first enjoyed the status of an official language alongside Urdu
after independence in 1947...
"The grammatical features . . . [of] Indian English are largely shared by Pakistani English.
Interference stemming from background languages is common and switching between these
languages and English occurs frequently on all levels of society.
"Vocabulary. As might be expected, loans from the various indigenous languages of Pakistan
are to be found in local forms of English, e.g. atta 'flour,' ziarat 'religious place.'...
"There are also word formations consisting of hybrids and blends with inflectional elements from
English and stems from regional languages, e.g. goondaism 'hooliganism,' 'thuggish behaviour,'
biradarism 'favouring one's clan.'
"Still further word-formation processes are attested in Pakistani English with outcomes which
are not necessarily known outside this country.
Back-formation: to scrute from scrutiny; blends: telemoot from television and moot 'meeting';
conversion: to aircraft, to arson, to change sheet; compounds: to airdash 'depart quickly by air,'
to head-carry."

Subvarieties

"Linguists generally describe the three or four subvarieties [of Pakistani English] in terms of
proximity to the British Standard: the samples most distant from it--and any other variety--are
often regarded as 'genuinely' Pakistani. American English, which has gradually infiltrated the
spoken and written idiom, is discounted in most studies."

The Importance of English in Pakistan

"English is . . . an important medium in a number of key educational institutions, is the main

language of technology and international business, has a major presence in the media, and is a
key means of communication among a national elite. The constitution and the laws of the land
are codified in English."
English and Urdu in Pakistan
"In some ways, I have a lover’s quarrel with the English language. I live with it and I cherish this
relationship. But there is often this feeling that in preserving this bond, I have betrayed my first
love and my childhood’s passion--Urdu. And it is not possible to be equally faithful to both of
them. . . .
"A bit subversive it may be deemed but my contention [is] that English is . . . a barrier to our
progress because it reinforces class division and undermines the main purpose of education as
an equaliser. In fact, the domination of English in our society may also have contributed to the
growth of religious militancy in the country. Whether English should be our official language, in
spite of its value as a means of communication with the rest of the world, is surely a major issue
. . ..
"At the heart of all this discussion, of course, is education in all its dimensions. The rulers,
supposedly, are very serious about it. Their challenge is to realise the slogan of ‘education for
all.’ But, as the ‘policy dialogue’ would suggest, it should not just be education for all but quality
education for all so that we can truly be liberated. Where do English and Urdu belong in this
venture?"

Code-Switching: English and Urdu

"[T]he use of English words in Urdu--code-switching for linguists--is not an indication of not
knowing the two languages. If anything, it may be an indication of knowing both languages.
First, one switches code for many reasons, not just lack of control of languages. Indeed, code-
switching has always been going on whenever two or more languages have come in contact. . .
"People who do research on code-switching point out that people do it to emphasize certain
aspects of identity; to show informality; to show easy command of several languages and to
impress and dominate others. Depending on the situation, one can be humble, friendly, arrogant
or snobbish through the way one mixes languages. Of course, it is also true that one may know
so little English that one cannot manage to sustain a conversation in it and has to fall back upon
Urdu. That might well be the case but that is not the only reason for code-switching. And if
someone does not know English and falls back upon Urdu, then he or she knows Urdu best. It is
still untrue to argue that this person does not know any language. Not knowing literary Urdu is
one thing; not knowing the spoken language quite another."
Pronunciation in Pinglish
"[S]oftware designer Adil Najam . . . took time to define Pinglish, which according to him,
emerges when English words are mixed with words of a Pakistani language--usually, but not
solely, Urdu.
"Pinglish is not just getting the construction of the sentences wrong, but also about
pronunciation.
"'Many Pakistanis often have trouble when two consonants appear together without a vowel in
between. The word "school" is often mispronounced as either "sakool" or "iskool," depending on
whether your native tongue is Punjabi or Urdu,' pointed out blogger Riaz Haq.
"Commonplace words such as 'automatic' is 'aatucmatuc' in Pinglish, while 'genuine' is 'geniean'
and 'current' is 'krunt.' Some words also take a plural form such as 'roadien' for roads,
'exceptionein' for exception and 'classein' for classes."