7.3.

Indian English 127

There are many similarities between EAfEng and WAfEng,

Differences include the following:

7.2,1. EAfEng pronunciation

1. There tend to be fewer vowels in EAfEng than in WAfEng (8
as opposed to 10; cf. about 20 in EngEng RP)> and the way in
which sets of words which are distinct in native forms of English
are grouped together differs from that in WAfEng. The vowel
system of EAfEng is illustrated in Table 7.2.
Table 7.2. EAfEng vowels
hi bid, bee
id bed, bay
id bad( bard, bird, p u tt, father
tot p o t, boat, p a w , port
id p u t, boot
/ai/ buy
io\i boy
/au/ bout

2. Many speakers do not distinguish /l/ and /r/.

3. /c/ and /s/ may be merged with /s/, and /J/ and iz i with /z/.

7.2.2. EAfEng lexis

A number of words from indigenous languages are used by
EAfEng speakers even when speaking and writing English. These
include the following:
E A fE n g EngEng
askari 'policeman’
chai 'tea’
duka 'shop’
kibanda ‘black market’
m anam ba ‘labourer’
matatu ‘taxi bus’
wan an chi ‘fellow citizens’

7.3. Indian English

In the South Asian sub-continent, English is widely spoken and
written in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. We concen­
trate here on India, where English is an official language and is
used as one of the languages of education and wider communica­
tion. There are a number of native speakers of English in India,
128 Second language varieties o f English

but these are far outnumbered by those for whom it is an

additional language.
Like AfEng, Indian English (IndEng) is beset by the problem of
norms. There is no general agreement as to whether the standard
should be strictly EngEng or whether IndEng forms (especially in
grammar) which are used by the majority of educated speakers
and can also be found in newspapers should be accepted in the
Indian standard.
7.3.1. IndEng pronunciation
The pronunciation of IndEng varies quite considerably depending
on the speaker’s native language as well as on his or her education­
al background and degree of exposure to native English. There
are, nevertheless, a number of generalizations which can be made.
1. IndEng tends to have a reduced vowel system vis d vis RP (cf.
WAfEng above), with some contrasts lacking. Which contrasts
these are will depend on the system of the particular native
language, but often RP /a:/ and h :i both correspond to IndEng
/a:/, RP fry/ and / ee/ to IndEng /a/.
2. The RP diphthongs /ci/ and /ou/ tend to be monophthongal /e:/
and /o:/.
3. In southern India, word-initial front vowels tend to receive a
preceding /j/ and back vowels a preceding Av/: eight /je:t/: own
/worn/.
4. In northern India, word-initial/sk/, /st/ or/sp/ tend to receive a
preceding HI: speak /ispirk/.
5. The English of most educated Indians is non-rhotic.
6. frf tends to be a flap [r] or even a retroflex flap [[].
7. In some varieties, M and fwf are not distinguished; similarly
/p/ and ft/; W and /0/; fdf and /$/; h f and /sf—depending on the
region.
8. The consonants /p/, ftf.fkf tend to be unaspirated.
9. The alveolar consonants /t/, /d/, /s/, /!/, fzf lend to be replaced
by retro flex consonants /f/, /<j/, /§/, /[/, f z j .
10. IndEng differs considerably from other forms of English in
stress, rhythm and intonation (as do WAfEng and WIEng). These
differences make for difficulties, sometimes very serious indeed, in
comprehension on the part of speakers of other English varieties.
In particular, IndEng tends to be syllable-timed rather than
stress-timed (see 6,5.(7)). Also, syllables that would be unstressed
in other varieties of English receive some stress in IndEng and thus
do not have reduced vowels. Suffixes tend to be stressed, and
function words which are weak in other varieties of English {of
/av/, to /ta/, etc.) tend not to be reduced in IndEng.
 7.3. Indian English 129

7.3.2. IndEng m orphology and grammar

The following morphological and grammatical features are among
those that occur sometimes in the English of even some educated
Indians and in English-language newspapers in India:
1. Differences in count noun-mass noun distinctions:
(a) the pluralization of many EngEng mass nouns (especially
abstract nouns), e.g.:
aircrafts: Many aircrafts have crashed there
fruits: We ate just fruits fo r lunch
litters (rubbish): Do not throw litters on the street
furnitures: Me bought many furnitures
woods: He gathered all the woods
(b) the use of nouns alone which appear only in partitive phrases
in EngEng, e.g.:
alphabets: He knows many alphabets already
( — letters of the alphabet)
a chalk: Everyone pick up a chalk
(= piece of chalk)
clothes: I have bought two clothes today
(= items of clothing)
toasts: I'd like two toasts, please
(= pieces/slices of toast)
2. An extended use of compound formation. In EngEng,
noun + noun compounds such as facecloth, teacup can be made
from the construction noun, 3-for- f noun2, becoming noun2+
noun, (e,g. cup for tea becomes teacup). IndEng has extended this
process to include constructions with other prepositions, notably
of. Some compounds formed from such phrases are transparent in
meaning:
chalk-piece: "piece of chalk’
key-bunch: "bunch of keys’
meeting notice "notice of a meeting’
while others are ambiguous (where o/can mean "containing")
fish tin: ‘tin containing fish’
(EngEng ‘tin for fish’)
water bottle: ‘bottle containing water’
(EngEng ‘bottle for water’)
Other IndEng compounds consisting of nouns and deverbal nouns
include:
130 Second language varieties o f English

age barred ‘barred by age'

pindrop silence ‘silent enough to hear a pin drop'
schoolgoer ‘one who goes to school’
3. The use of nominal rather than participial forms of some
words when used as adjectives, e.g.:
colour pencils (EngEng = coloured )
schedule flight (EngEng = scheduled )
4. A difference in use of prepositions in verb-preposition col­
locations :
(a) no preposition:
IndEng EngEng
to dispense (‘do without’) to dispense with
to strike (‘delete’) to strike out
(b) addition of preposition:
to accompany with
to air out (one’s views)
to combat against
to fear o f
to return back
(c) different preposition:
IndEng EngEng
to be baffled with to he baffled by
to get down (from a vehicle) to get offlout
to pay attention on to pay attention to
to tear offlaway to tear up
5. The use of itself and only to emphasize time or place where
EngEng speakers would usually use intonation to provide emph­
asis:
Can / meet with you tomorrow itself?
We will be required to have our classes here itself
Now only I have understood the problem (= just now)
W e a rriv e d to d a y o n ly

6, The use of adverbial there for ‘dummy’ there. ‘Dummy’ there

in EngEng occurs in subject position with an existential meaning
and has reduced pronunciation, while adverbial there is nol
reduced: observe the difference in the two theres in There's
(dummy) some paper over there (adverb). In IndEng, one can hear
sentences such as the following:
 7.3. Indian English 131

IndEng: What do you want to eat? Meat is there, vegetables are

there} bread is there
EngEng: There is meat, there are vegetables, there is bread
IndEng: I ’m sure an explanation is there
EngEng: I'm sure there is an explanation
1. Different use of some auxiliaries. The auxiliaries could and
would are often used instead of their present forms can and will
because IndEng speakers feel the past forms are more tentative
and thus more polite:
We hope that you could join us
L e t’s finish now jo that we could be there early
The lecture would begin at 2:00
We hope that the Vice-Chancellor would investigate this matter
Also, could is used in IndEng where EngEng speakers would use
Was able to :
He could just only finish it before we left
I could do well because I studied diligently
The auxiliary may is used to express obligations politely in
IndEng:
IndEng: t his furniture may be removed tomorrow
EngEng: This furniture is to be removed tomorrow
IndEng: These mistakes may please be corrected
EngEng: These mistakes should be corrected
8. There are several differences from EngEng in the usage of
tense and aspect in IndEng. They include the following:
(a) the use of the present tense with durational phrases (indicating
a period from past to present) where EngEng would require
the present perfect (unusual in more educated IndEng):
IndEng: / am here since two o ’clock
EngEng: I have been here since two o'clock
IndEng: / am reading this book since (for) two hours
EngEng: / have been reading this book fo r two hours
(b) the use of future forms in temporal and conditional clauses
where EngEng would require present tense forms;
IndEng: When you will arrive>please visit me
EngEng: When you arrive, please visit me
IndEng: I f / will come, I will see you
EngEng: // / comet / will see you
132 Second language varieties o f English

(c) absence of sequence-of-tense constraints

IndEng: When ! saw kirn last week , h e told me that he is
coming
EngEng: When f saw him last week, he told me that he was
coming
(d) the use of progressive aspect with habitual action:
IndEng: / am doing it often
EngEng: / do it often
with completed action:
IndEng: Where are you coming from ?
EngEng: Where have you come from?
and with stative verbs:
IndEng: Are you wanting anything?
EngEng: Do you want anything?
IndEng: She was having many xare.es
EngEng: She had many sarees
(e) the use of the perfective aspect instead of the simple past
(especially with past-time adverbs):
I have been there ten years ago
We have already finished it last week
Yesterday s lecture has lasted three hours
What had you told them on Friday?
I had given it to you yesterday
We had already informed you o f that
9. The absence of subject—verb inversion in direct questions, and
the use of such inversion in indirect questions (which is exactly the
opposite of EngEng usage);
(a) direct questions with no subject-verb inversion
IndEng: What this is made from?
EngEng: What is this made fro m ?
IndEng: Who you have come to see?
EngEng: Who have you come to see?
IndEng: He didn't go yesterday?
EngEng; D idn t he go y esterday?
(b) indirect questions with inversion
IndEng: I asked him where does he work
EngEng: 7 asked him where he works
 7,3. Indian English 133

IndEng: / wonder where is he

EngEng: 1 wonder where he is
10. The use of a universal, undifferentiated tag question—isn't
it ?—regardless of person tense, or main clause auxiliary (see
7.1.2. (8)):
You are going home soon , isn't it?
They said they will be here, isn't it?
We could finish this tomrrowt isn't it?
11. Differences in complement structures with certain verbs,
e.g.:
IndEng: We are involved to collect poems
EngEng: We are involved in collecting poems
IndEng: She was prevented to go
EngEng: She was prevented from going
IndEng: / would like that you come
EngEng: I would like you to come
IndEng: They want that you should leave
EngEng; They want you to leave
12. A non^English use of yes and no , as in WAfEng (see
7.1.2. (9)).

7.3.3. IndEng lexis

One distinctive characteristic of IndEng is that there is substantial
lexical borrowing from Indian languages into English. Some
frequently encountered words include the following:
IndEng EngEng
bandh ‘a total strike in an area1
crore ‘ten million1
dhobi ‘washerman1(also found in the English of
Singapore and Malaysia)
durzi tailor1
to gkerao ‘to demonstrate against someone by not
allowing the person to leave his desk/office’
hartal ‘a strike used as a political gesture1
lakh ‘one hundred thousand’
lathi ‘long heavy stick made of bamboo and bound
with iron’ (used by the police)
sahib ‘sir, master5
swadeshi ‘indigenous, native, home-grown’
134 Second language varieties o f English

Other vocabulary differences between EngEng and IndEng are

due to extension or alteration of meaning of EngEng words,
retention of archaic forms or innovations. A brief sample follows:
In d E n g EngEng
a lm ira h ‘a chest of drawers1(from Portuguese)
a p p recia b le ‘appreciated1
as su c h ‘consequently, therefore’
b a c k sid e ‘behind, in back of’
b io d a ta ‘curriculum vitae1
c o -b ro th e r ‘wife’s sister's husband’
c o lo n y ‘residential area’
co u sin -siste r female cousin1
eve-teasing ‘teasing girls’
fu r lo n g ‘Aof a mile’ (archaic in EngEng except
in horse-racing)
to h a lf-fry ‘to fry (an egg) on one side’
h o te l ‘restaurant, cafe’ (not necessarily with
lodgings)
ja w an ‘soldier’
to be o u t o f sta tio n ‘to be away from the place where one
works’
p la y b a c k artiste ‘professional singer who sings offstage
while a performer on stage mimes the
words’
p o lic e fir in g ‘shooting by police’
ryo t ‘farmer’
ste p n e y ‘a spare wheel; a substitute’
stir ‘a demonstration; agitation’
tiffin ‘lunch1

7.4. Singaporean English

Singapore is an island nation with a population of nearly 3 million.

It was a British colony until 1959. The official languages are
English, Malay, Tamil and Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin and
English have very few native speakers in Singapore, the majority
of the population being native speakers of Hokkien and other
varieties of Chinese. The English of Singapore (SingEng), which
has many similarities with that of Malaya and other areas of
Malayasia, is widely used as a lingua franca within the multilingual
society of Singapore, and, not surprisingly, demonstrates a certain
amount of influence from Chinese. The type of English described
here is that of the most educated segment of the population.