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Characteristics of Indian English

by Dr. Asma Rizwan.
Indian English is a distinct variety of the English language. It is
important to know that not every linguistic item is used by every
Indian English speaker and that a great deal of regional and
educational differentiation exists. Some of these major differences
are discussed here which are widely used by the Indian speakers.
These operate on various phonological, morphological, lexical,
and syntactic levels.
PHONOLOGY & MORPHOLOGY
Indian accents vary greatly from those close to a pure British (RP)
to those leaning towards a more ‘vernacular’ (Indian language)-
tinted speech. Some Indian English speakers have a tendency to
drop the -ed ending after /k/ and /t/ ex: walked becomes walk
and talked becomes talk. The voiceless plosives /p/, /t/, /k/ are
always unaspirated in Indian English, whereas in RP, they are
aspirated in word-initial or stressed syllables. Thus “pin” is
pronounced [p?n] in Indian English but [p??n] in most other
accents. Chiefly in states like Punjab, Haryana and in my native
place Bhopal, the short [?] becomes lengthened and higher to long
[e?], making <pen> sound like <pain>.Standard Hindi and most
other vernaculars do not differentiate between /v/ and /w/.
Instead, most Indians use [?] for words with either sound,
possibly in free variation with [v] or [w]. So wine and vine are
homophones and volleybal is the same as wallyball.
Indian English morphology is very creative and it is filled with
new terms and usages. Indian English uses compound formation
extensively, as in English-speaking classes or convent-going. The
compounds cousin-brother and cousin-sister allow the Indian
English speaker to designate whether their cousin is male or
female. Others include batchmate or batch-mate (for class mate)
chalk-piece, key-bunch, meeting notice, age barred, and pindrop
silence. English mass nouns are often pluralized such as litters,
furnitures, equipments and woods in Indian English. Sometimes
words which should be pluralized are not; for example “One of the
largest hub”. A quintessential Indian English term which comes
from compound formation is time-pass, which means idling or
something as non-exciting, as in “That match was real time-pass.”
Some other words which are exclusive to Indian English are-
1. Over speeding and tyre bursting cause accidents
2. ‘Free of cost’ is used for ‘Free of charge”
3. Do Not Crisscross on Expressway-  crisscross is not used in
formal writings
4. Parking Inside the Lawn is Strictly Prohibited- that means don’t
park on the grass.
5. ‘ wheatish’, describing a type of complexion
6. Road In Curve Ahead-‘In Curve’; it’s about to curve around
7. Speed Breaker Ahead- referring to road Bumps.
8. Super stores – for grocery stores slightly bigger than normal
stores or department stores.
9. Super bazaar/ market – for grocery stores slightly bigger than
the super stores.
10. No 2-/3-Wheelers allowed – 2-wheelers is the generic term for
motorbikes and scooters; 3-wheelers is the everyday description
of auto-rickshaws.
LEXICON
The Indian English lexicon has many distinct terms which are
commonly used by its speakers. Some arise through the use of old
and new morphological features, as discussed above. Others come
from acronyms and abbreviations. Many terms from Indian
languages are utilized and new usages for English words or
expressions are created. It must be noted that many of these
terms and usages are specific to the population of Indian English
speakers who are currently between twenty and thirty years of
age.
Most of these short terms are coined in college campus specially
IITs & IIMs. The student of these elite technical Institutions speak
in short forms which becomes difficult to decipher for an outsider.
Roomy is one who shares the room and Tommy is one who shares
the toilet  What is interesting about Indian English abbreviations
is that they are pronounced the way they are spelled after they
have been shortened. A Native speaker will generally read an
abbreviation as though it were the entire word (i.e. Sec. is read as
Secretary). Also, He tends to abbreviate phonetically when spoken
abbreviations are used (i.e. Soc. is pronounced soash). When read
by an Indian English speaker, Soc. Sec. is pronounced sock seck.
Vowels which have been dropped by American and British English
speakers are typically articulated by Indians. For example,
typically is generally pronounced ti-pick-lee, but Indian English
speakers will often say ti-pick-ah-lee.
New words and new usages of standard words are introduced as
well. A food grinder is simply called a mixi. Fashionable people
are maud (modern) and – such people could be described as fast
(untraditional and modern). A deadly movie or event is hard-
hitting and action-packed. Hi-tech is not just limited to
technology; for example, one could be wearing a hi-tech outfit. A
reception is sometimes called an at home. In Indian English A
square root is known as an under root. Indian English speakers
use less to indicate that something is insufficient — “There is less
salt in the curry.” Often this is extended to too less also. Similarly
Hindi conversations are lased with occasional expressions like too
much of and so much of. None of my informants were sure why of
is used in those situations, but they all agreed it did not come
from Hindi or any other Indian language’s usage.
We Indians love our alphabet soup. Even Indians living in villages
know their letters. The world of newspapers, magazines, official
documents, street signs, billboards are all full of acronyms. In fact
we have as many initials, acronyms and abbreviations in usage as
our population. Staying abreast of current events and navigating
society often means wading into a thick pool of alphabet
soup.Examples of the use of acronyms include the following:
MCP – Male Chauvinist Pig
ABCD- American Born Confused Desi (native of India)
Acronyms are popular in shortening the names of the Hindi
movies like-
ILU – I Love You (from a song; pronounced ee-lu)
Reading a newspaper is like travelling through the maze of
acronyms. Like a head line in the daily Indian Express:
“Go to HC, SC tells NICE.” (or “Go to High Court, Supreme Court
tells Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises.”)
“Around new IITs, IIMs, will come SDZs: SEZs with a Difference.”
“Quota for SCs/STs in MBBS, BDS.”
“RBI urging the IBA to follow KYC and AML standards” (Reserve
Bank of India, Indian Banks’ Assn., Know Your Customer and
Anti-Money Laundering).”
“MMRDA trusts women’s NGOs,” (to run a public toilet-cleaning
program) reported by a Mumbai newspaper named DNA.
The profusion of abbreviations are mystifying to outsiders, for
whom scanning headlines is often like staring at an eye chart. But
their omnipresence shows as to how the country has taken
English and shaped it for its own ends, and how a once-alien
tongue continues to be a unifier of sorts in a culturally diverse
population. Consequently, it is the de facto language of the federal
government, whose bureaucrats appears to relish nothing more
than cooking up new acronyms and abbreviations for government
posts, policies, schemes, designations, agencies and institutions.
There is no dictionary to help decipher these terms. And it is not
uncommon for newspapers to neglect to spell them out in their
copy, on the assumption that no explanation is necessary for most
readers. That assumption appears true to a surprising extent.
Even illiterate residents and those who speak no English often
recognize acronyms and initials in conversation, which by their
very nature are easier to remember than the full words and
phrases, Villagers may not know what RTI ( Right to Information)
stands for but they know what it does. Similarly they know that
NREGS stands for National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme that guarantees them some days of work a year. English
acronyms and abbreviations have thus proven to be effective tools
for getting the word out on government programs to far-flung
corners.
Even Indian politics relies on acronyms. Most political parties are
known by their initials, with the major exception of the ruling
Congress Party, which is mostly represented by UPA, the ruling
coalition. Others are BJP, CPI, CPI(M0, DMK, AIADMK, which,
admittedly, is much easier to call than All India Anna Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam. Indian English’s love of short forms has got
the biggest boon by the explosion in cell phone ownership and the
immense popularity of text-messaging or SMS.
SYNTAX
Indian English grammar contains many deviations from standard
English forms, they are often a result of direct transfers of
grammar features from native languages. Hindi syntax affects
Indian English syntax in several ways. There is a seemingly
arbitrary use of the articles a and the, which do not have parallels
in Hindi. Often, one is substituted for a; for example “And one
black cat..”. The and a are often dropped when they should be said
and used when they should be left out like, “We are going to
temple”  or before professions .Something which Indian English
has that is not found in other varieties of English is the use of only
and itself to emphasize time and place. It comes from the Hindi
word “hee” and produces sentences like “I was in Delhi only” and
“Can we meet tomorrow itself?” Indian English speakers often use
reduplication as a way of emphasizing an action, like “Come
come! Sit sit!”. Reduplication can also replace very for intensifying
or extending something, as in long, long hair. Adjectives are also
intensified by doubling them. This is a common feature of most
Indian languages. For example: “She has curly-curly hair”; “We
went to different-different places in the city”; “Don’t worry about
small-small things” to mean very insignificant issues. Certain
verbs are used in Indian English in the same way they are used in
Hindi. Like using kholna and bandh karna when asking someone
to turn a light on or off; the literal translation is retained, so it
becomes “open the light” and “close the light.” The same is true of
giving a test (from the Hindi verb dena) rather than taking a test.
Take means consume when used with food and drink items —
“Will you take tea?” The verb ‘lena’ is the Hindi equivalent of this.
Indian English speakers often use certain verbs in ways that are
confusing to speakers of other English varieties. One of the most
indicative signs of Indian English grammar is the use of the
continuous tense with habitual actions, completed actions, and
stative verbs. This produces sentences such as “I am doing it
often” rather than “I do it often”; “Where are you coming from?”
instead of “Where have you come from?” and “She was having
many sarees” rather than “She had many sarees” (Trudgill &
Hannah, p. 132). Perhaps to highlight this aspect of Indian
English McDonald’s created the slogan of “I am loving It” in their
advertising campaign. Other distinguished grammar usage are-
a) Progressive tense in stative verbs (Hindi influence): She is
knowing the answer.
b) Different prepositions: to discuss about, pay attention on…
c) Use of general tag questions: You are going, isn’t it? He’s here,
no?
d) Agreement with the form, not the content of a question: A. You
didn’t do it? B: Yes, I didn’t.
The word order of questions is often unique in Indian English.
Sentences such as “What you would like to eat?” instead of “what
would you like to eat?” and “Who you will come with?” show the
absence of subject-verb inversion in direct questions.
CONCLUSION
It is quiet clear that Indian English has its own distinct flavour.
We have made English into a native language with its own
linguistic and cultural ecologies and sociocultural contexts. Indian
English is very much our own. Its special functions have engraved
English into the cultural life of India, and it is very much a part of
the experience of being Indian — even if one does not speak it.
Many Indians feel that the use of English should be actively
encouraged because of the many advantages it confers – the
greatest of which is its universal character. The Indian writer and
philosopher Raja Rao wrote, “Truth, said a great Indian sage, is
not the monopoly of the Sanskrit language. Truth can use any
language, and the more universal, the better it is. If metaphysics is
India’s primary contribution to world civilization, as we believe it
is, then must she use the most universal language for her to be
universal…. And as long as the English language is universal, it
will always remain Indian…. It would then be correct to say as
long as we are Indian — that is, not nationalists, but truly Indians
of the Indian psyche — we shall have the English language with us
and amongst us, and not as a guest or friend, but as one of our
own, of our caste, our creed , our sect and our tradition” (quoted
in Kachru 1986, p. 12).
Indians use English the same way other speakers of English as a
foreign language may do it: they adapt it to fit their native
language concepts, they use the material to form new vocabulary
items, without bothering much for grammar. Even though we
hold the British English as a benchmark to perfect English, the
Indian variety is unique, and this uniqueness should be valued
and appreciated. Indian English has now come to be recognised as
a viable and self generating vehicle for expressing Indian
sensibility in an Indian atmosphere. It is now a natural product of
an alien medium developed in interaction and interference in
native language and native culture. This form of English is
thriving in our country as we Indians “don’t worry about small-
small things”.
REFERENCES
Kachru, Braj. (1983). The Indianization of English. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Kachru, Braj. (1986). The Alchemy of English: The spread,
functions and models of non-native Englishes. New York:
Pergamon Press Inc.
Trudgill, Peter, and Hannah, Jean. (1994). International English:
A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English. London: Edward
Arnold.
Strevens, Peter. ‘English as an International Language’ in The
Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Edited by Braj B. Kachru.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992. 27-47.
Crystal, David. ‘The Subcontinent Raises Its Voice.’ The Guardian
(19 November 2004):
http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,,1355064,00.html.