Regional differences and dialects in Indian English
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Indian English has developed a number of dialects, distinct from the General/Standard Indian English that educators have attempted to establish and institutionalise, and it is possible to distinguish a person's sociolinguistic background from the dialect that they employ. These dialects are influenced by the different languages that different sections of the country also speak, side by side with English. The dialects can differ markedly in their phonology, to the point that two speakers using two different dialects can find each other's accents mutually unintelligible.[1][2][3]
Indian English is a "network of varieties", resulting from an extraordinarily complex linguistic situation in the country. (See
The formation of these regional/socio-economic dialects is the same form of language contact that has given rise to Scottish English.[7]
Babu English
Babu English (a.k.a. Baboo English), the name originally coming from the Bengali word for a gentleman, is a dialect of English that first developed as an occupational dialect, amongst clerks in the Bengali-speaking areas of pre-Partition India. Originally characterised as a markedly ornate form of administrative English, it is now no longer confined solely to clerks, and can be found in Nepal, north India, and in some social circles in south India.[8][9]
The distinguishing characteristics of Babu English are the florid, excessively polite, and indirect manner of expression, which have been reported for amusement value, in works such as Cecil Hunt's Honoured Sir collections (see Further reading), and lampooned, in works such as F. Antesey's Baboo Jabberjee, B.A., for over a century.[8][10]
Butler English
Butler English, also known as Bearer English or Kitchen English, is a dialect of English that first developed as an occupational dialect in the years of the Madras Presidency,[11] but that has developed over time and is now associated mainly with social class rather than occupation. It is still spoken in major metropolitan cities.
The dialect of Butler English is singular. Therefore, the present participle is used for the future indicative, and the preterite. For example, for the preterite indicative "done", "I telling" translates to "I will tell", "I done tell" to "I have told", and "done come" to "actually arrived". This form of Indian English was used both by masters for speaking to their servants as well as by servants to speak to their masters.[12]
Hindi English
Modern phonologists often divide Indian English into five major varieties.
Assamese English
Assamese English refers to the English spoken by Assamese speakers. Some major difference between Assamese English and British English are mostly seen in some consonants. In Assamese English all vowels are usually short.
Words | Pronunciation in Assamese English |
---|---|
apple | ɛpʊl |
cold | kol(d) |
ball | bɔl |
cool | kul |
mango | mɛŋɡɔ |
father | ɸadaɹ |
cat | kɛt |
she | si |
China | saɪna |
verification | bʱɛɹiɸikɛsɔn |
intelligent | intɛlizɛn |
telephone | telɪɸʊn |
jewellery | zʊɛlaɹi |
think | tʰiŋ |
desk | dɛks |
road | ɹʊd, ɹod |
guardian | ɡaɹzɛn |
fish | ɸis, pʰis |
but | bat |
number | nambaɹ |
university | iʊnibʱaɹsiti |
ghost | ɡʱos(t) |
college | kɔlɛz |
pressure | p(ɹ)saɹ |
torch | tɔ(ɹ)s |
checkpoint | sɛkpɔɪn |
halfpant | ɦappɛn |
Bengali English
Bengali English (or eastern Indian English) here refers collectively to the varieties of the West Bengal state and neighbouring country of Bangladesh, which has been greatly influenced by Bengali. Its main subdivisions are Calcutta English as well as Dhaka English. It is similar or even identical to Bangladeshi English, also known as Banglish or Benglish.
- /ɪ/ as raised, in the general vicinity of [i].
- /ʌ/ as fronted, more closely approaching [a] but [ɔ] between nasal and velar e.g. mug.
- /ʊ/ and /uː/ both in the general vicinity of [u].
- /eɪ/, almost always, as monophthong [e].
- /oʊ/, almost always, as monophthong [o].
- /f/ as [ɸ].
- /v/ as [β].
West Indian English
West Indian English here refers to a traditional variety spoken in the western part of India.
- /oʊ/ as monophthongal [oː].
- /eɪ/ as monophthongal [eː].
- /ɛ/ as [e].
- /æ/ as [ɛ].
- /θ/ and /ð/, respectively, as [t̪(ʰ)] and [d̪].
Cultivated Indian English
Cultivated Indian English here refers collectively to non-localised, non-working class, and more recent varieties of India and the surrounding region of India. It includes mainstream Indian English, a widely common, upper-class variety that preserves a few local Indian features while setting the basis for an otherwise General Indian English accent as well as new Cultivated Indian English, a youthful variety beginning in the 2000s. However, both are found rarely in India.
Southern Indian English
Southern Indian English here refers to broad varieties of Southern India.
- /oʊ/ as monophthongal [oː].
- /eɪ/ as monophthongal [eː].
- /ɒ/ as [ɑ]
- /θ/ and /ð/, respectively, as [t̪(ʰ)] and [d̪].
In addition to these, the alveolar stops [t] and [d] in words like water and door are often pronounced as their retroflex equivalents [ʈ] and [ɖ] respectively.
General Indian English
General Indian English here refers to a variety originating outside of the eastern regions and southern regions, crossing regional boundaries throughout the Republic of India. As mentioned earlier, Cultivated Indian English is almost entirely this General Indian dialect but with a few additional features derived from Received Pronunciation.
See also
- Code-switching
- English language
- Hinglish
- Bangalorean English
- Manglish
- Interlanguage
- List of dialects of the English language
- Tanglish
- Tenglish
References
- ISBN 9788120314955.
- ISBN 9788126903504.
- ^ ISBN 9780521831406.
- ISBN 9788175963122.
- ISBN 9780521851473.
- ISBN 9781405111850.
- ISBN 9780521830201.
- ^ ISBN 9780521264785.
- ISBN 9781559707848.
- ISBN 978-0-691-11828-4.
- ISSN 0043-7956.
- )
Further reading
- Wiltshire, Caroline & James D. Harnsberger (2006). "The influence of Gujarati and Tamil L1s on Indian English: a preliminary study". World Englishes. 25 (1): 91–104. .
- Braj B. Kachru (2005). Asian Englishes: Beyond the Canon. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622096660.
- (Indian Novels in English: A Sociolinguistic Study) Jaydeep Sarangi, Prakash Book Depot,Bareilly,2005 Pp 214.
Babu English
- Cecil Hunt (1931). Honoured Sir from Babujee. P. Allan & Co., Ltd.
- Cecil Hunt (1935). Babuji Writes Home: being a new edition of 'Honoured sir' with many additional letters. P. Allan & Co., Ltd.
- Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. at Project Gutenberg
Malayali English
- Suchitra Sadanandan (1981). "Stress in Malayalee English: A generative phonological approach". Hyderabad: Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages.)
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Tamilian English
- K. G. Vijayakrishnan (1978). "Stress in Tamilian English: a study within the framework of generative phonology". Hyderabad: Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages.)
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(help - S. Upendran (1980). "The intelligibility of English spoken by Tamilians".
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Punjabi English
- J. Sethi (1976). "English spoken by educated Punjabi speakers in India: A phonological study". Chandigarh: Punjabi University.
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(help) - J. Sethi (1978). "The vowel system in educated Punjabi speakers' English". Bulletin of the Central Institute of English. 14 (2): 35–48.
- J. Sethi (1980). "Word accent in educated Punjabi speakers' English". Bulletin of the Central Institute of English. 16 (2): 31–55.
Rajasthani English
- P. V. Dhamija (1976). "A phonological analysis of Rajasthani English". Hyderabad: Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages.)
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Telugu English
- B. A. Prabhakar Babu (1974). "A phonological study of English spoken by Telugu speakers in Andhra Pradesh". )