Indian English Language

Almost from the early days of the Raj, the Indian version of English has seen tremendous growth and unlimited changes deeply mingled with its cultural heritage, which has led to the evolution of what is, for all needed purposes, a language of its own. A hybrid kind of form of English stalks the land, flouting its huge popularity. The rise of Indianised English runs parallel to tectonic changes in social aspirations. There can be no promotion, no social advancement, and no status without the knowledge of English. Indian English has started a long journey and it has been entertaining and educating while weaving and mixing together a history of new verbal patterns that reflect social, technological and cultural trends. This paper is a brief attempt

The most natural and immediate response would be that these are upper class people, who belong to the leading strata of a society. It is true that in most of these countries, English is primarily transmitted through the school system, so it is associated with education, and the quality of an individual’s performance tends to correlate with one’s educational attainment. But in the case of countries like India, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa the scenario is not so. Edgar W. Schneider (2011) says that there is a huge demand for English also among those with little formal education, precisely out of the instrumental motivation, because knowledge of English promises some degree of social mobility and access to better paid jobs. So English, and in practice this means indigenous forms of it, is also spreading rapidly among the less educated, often for specific purposes such as to achieve a limited communicative ability in trade or tourism.

David Crystal confesses to have been struck by the remarkable amount of semifluent or broken English which is encountered in the Indian sub-continent, used by the people with a limited educational background. Viniti Vaish (2008) describes the acquisition and use of English language in a lower middle class Government School in New Delhi, and she comments of English though members of it can listen, read and write. It is not the

Language varieties are unlimited. They include standard language and national varities, but also regional, social and ethnic dialects, group-specific language forms, contextually and stylistically defined expressions, and so on, for use in their respective cultural contexts. Compounds like Lady Doctor, Rickshaw wallah and speeches like pelt something at someone (rather than pelt someone with something) and you are coming know? (rather than Are you coming?) are very common. Indian English changes all the time, whether one prefer it or not, and irrespective of whether one is aware of this or not. Lexical innovations, fashionable words, idioms & phrases from sports write-ups, adjectives & adverbs from advertisements and internet terminology have brought numerous changes as well. Irrespective innumerable changes the educated strata of India have the belief that English language unites all Indians. It is true that Post – Independence India tried to do away with the English language. But that simply did not work out. Then the idea of having the “Three – Language Formula” from the Language Act of 1967 was recommended to develop Hindi into a new national language and to strengthen regional languages, until English would become dispensable. But Hindi, north and the Dravidian South were unwilling to yield ground and