Indian English: Why it will soon be sexy
June 26 2009
If you know the meaning of Jai Ho or greenwashing, you probably know that on June 10, 2009 the English language recorded its one millionth word. According to the Global Language Monitor in Texas that word is Web 2.0, which is used to describe the second generation of the World Wide Web.
For a word to officially enter the lexicon, it has to be used in books or on the internet 25,000 times. Don't panic if you are trying to learn the language. Yes, one million is indeed a stiff target, however, most people (and many experts!) can get by with just 400 words. But what's got linguists all excited is that the Hindi word Jai Ho (Be Victorious) came second in a photo finish, becoming the 999,999th word. This is no lucky accident; the explosion of words in the English language reflects the extraordinary rate of borrowings from foreign languages, including a slew of Indians ones.
Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost experts on English, says people will effectively have to learn two varieties of the language – one spoken in their home country, and a new kind of Standard English which can be internationally understood.
The English spoken in countries with rapidly-booming economies, such as India, will increasingly influence this global standard, he says. "In future, users of global Standard English might replace the British English: 'I think it's going to rain', with the Indian English: 'I am thinking it's going to rain'," argues Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He adds: "In language, numbers count.
There are more people speaking English in India than in the rest of the native English-speaking world combined. Even now, if you ring a call centre, often it's an Indian voice you hear at the end of the phone. As the Indian economy grows, so might the influence of Indian English. "There, people tend to use the present continuous where we would use the present simple. For example, where we would say: "I think, I feel, I see" a speaker of Indian English might say: "I am thinking, I am feeling, I am seeing". This way of speaking could easily become sexy and part of global Standard English."
Sexy or not, the sheer weight of numbers is moving the odds in India's favour. At least 600 million Indians are able to read and write English, and the rest are following fast. Fuelled by a throbbing economy and a rapidly growing higher education sector (again, where the medium of discourse is largely English), a bold new dialect is taking shape in India, jettisoning the ‘proper’ British one. For this growing English dialect to find acceptance by the rest of the world, India first has to become a world player.
Linguistic status comes from economic and cultural hegemony and India is showing signs that in the coming decades its hegemony will be pervasive. Call centres are just the most visible facet of Indian dominance of the new economy. The reality is that much of the world's software is written in India; modern cars are designed in CAD/CAM centres in Bangalore; the world's leading financial companies offshore their work to Indian MBAs and chartered accountants in Mumbai; Reuters has moved its editing operations to India; American newspapers are even moving local news reporting to India; daily texting exceeds the numbers in the UK and US; 2.5 billion people watch Indian movies compared with 1.5 billion who prefer Hollywood ones.
If China is the world’s shop floor, India is its think tank. As Crystal says, India has a unique position in the English-speaking world. It is a linguistic bridge between the major first-language dialects of the world, such as British and American English, and the major foreign-language varieties, such as those emerging in China and Japan.
China is the closest competitor for the English-speaking record with some 220 million speakers of English, but China does not have the pervasive English linguistic environment encountered in India; nor does it have the strength of linguistic tradition that provides multiple continuities with the rest of the English-speaking world. English is said to be the language that Shakespeare used and George Bush abused. But not even the supercomputers at Global Language Monitor’s Texas labs can predict what shape Indians will give it in the future.
However, one thing is abundantly clear – in the 21st century the New Delhi drawl rather than the New York twang will be rolling off people’s tongues. And if you are still here, greenwashing ranked 999,992nd and is defined as rebranding an old, often inferior product as environmentally friendly. Now, that’s handy to describe the NZ Greens.
Subcontinental collection
Along with considerable wealth, the British took a large number of words from India.
A small selection: Atoll, avatar, bandana, bangle, bungalow, cash, cot, cummerbund, dinghy, guru, jackfruit, jute, karma, khaki, mongoose, juggernaut, jungle, loot, mango, mugger, pajamas, polo, pundit, sentry, shampoo, swastika.
While the French and Hindi mavens have official committees to block words (mostly English) from entering their lexicon, English is not firewalled by such futile exercises.
Hence, English is growing at the rate of 15 words a day. here's the number of words in each of these languages:
English 100,0000 Chinese 500,000 Japanese 232,000 Spanish 225,000 Russian 195,000 German 185,000 Hindi 120,000 French 100,000
( Source: Global Language Monitor, 2009 . )
Word Power
Other words that have recently made it to the English vocabulary.
N00b (Popular Culture): A derisive word to describe a newbie gamer. It has zero’s instead of oh’s.
Mobama (US): Relating to the fashion-sense of the US First Lady, as in ‘that is quite mobamaish’.
Slow food (Popular Culture): Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores).
Chuddies (Hindi): Ladies’ underwear or panties.
De-follow (Internet): No longer following the updates of someone on a social networking site.
Alchopops (Australia): Sugary-flavoured mixed drinks very much en vogue.
Chengguan (China): Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers.
--
Rakesh Krishnan is a Features Writer with Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with India Today, Hindustan Times, BusinessWorld and was the News Editor at Financial Express.
For a word to officially enter the lexicon, it has to be used in books or on the internet 25,000 times. Don't panic if you are trying to learn the language. Yes, one million is indeed a stiff target, however, most people (and many experts!) can get by with just 400 words. But what's got linguists all excited is that the Hindi word Jai Ho (Be Victorious) came second in a photo finish, becoming the 999,999th word. This is no lucky accident; the explosion of words in the English language reflects the extraordinary rate of borrowings from foreign languages, including a slew of Indians ones.
Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost experts on English, says people will effectively have to learn two varieties of the language – one spoken in their home country, and a new kind of Standard English which can be internationally understood.
The English spoken in countries with rapidly-booming economies, such as India, will increasingly influence this global standard, he says. "In future, users of global Standard English might replace the British English: 'I think it's going to rain', with the Indian English: 'I am thinking it's going to rain'," argues Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He adds: "In language, numbers count.
There are more people speaking English in India than in the rest of the native English-speaking world combined. Even now, if you ring a call centre, often it's an Indian voice you hear at the end of the phone. As the Indian economy grows, so might the influence of Indian English. "There, people tend to use the present continuous where we would use the present simple. For example, where we would say: "I think, I feel, I see" a speaker of Indian English might say: "I am thinking, I am feeling, I am seeing". This way of speaking could easily become sexy and part of global Standard English."
Sexy or not, the sheer weight of numbers is moving the odds in India's favour. At least 600 million Indians are able to read and write English, and the rest are following fast. Fuelled by a throbbing economy and a rapidly growing higher education sector (again, where the medium of discourse is largely English), a bold new dialect is taking shape in India, jettisoning the ‘proper’ British one. For this growing English dialect to find acceptance by the rest of the world, India first has to become a world player.
Linguistic status comes from economic and cultural hegemony and India is showing signs that in the coming decades its hegemony will be pervasive. Call centres are just the most visible facet of Indian dominance of the new economy. The reality is that much of the world's software is written in India; modern cars are designed in CAD/CAM centres in Bangalore; the world's leading financial companies offshore their work to Indian MBAs and chartered accountants in Mumbai; Reuters has moved its editing operations to India; American newspapers are even moving local news reporting to India; daily texting exceeds the numbers in the UK and US; 2.5 billion people watch Indian movies compared with 1.5 billion who prefer Hollywood ones.
If China is the world’s shop floor, India is its think tank. As Crystal says, India has a unique position in the English-speaking world. It is a linguistic bridge between the major first-language dialects of the world, such as British and American English, and the major foreign-language varieties, such as those emerging in China and Japan.
China is the closest competitor for the English-speaking record with some 220 million speakers of English, but China does not have the pervasive English linguistic environment encountered in India; nor does it have the strength of linguistic tradition that provides multiple continuities with the rest of the English-speaking world. English is said to be the language that Shakespeare used and George Bush abused. But not even the supercomputers at Global Language Monitor’s Texas labs can predict what shape Indians will give it in the future.
However, one thing is abundantly clear – in the 21st century the New Delhi drawl rather than the New York twang will be rolling off people’s tongues. And if you are still here, greenwashing ranked 999,992nd and is defined as rebranding an old, often inferior product as environmentally friendly. Now, that’s handy to describe the NZ Greens.
Subcontinental collection
Along with considerable wealth, the British took a large number of words from India.
A small selection: Atoll, avatar, bandana, bangle, bungalow, cash, cot, cummerbund, dinghy, guru, jackfruit, jute, karma, khaki, mongoose, juggernaut, jungle, loot, mango, mugger, pajamas, polo, pundit, sentry, shampoo, swastika.
While the French and Hindi mavens have official committees to block words (mostly English) from entering their lexicon, English is not firewalled by such futile exercises.
Hence, English is growing at the rate of 15 words a day. here's the number of words in each of these languages:
English 100,0000 Chinese 500,000 Japanese 232,000 Spanish 225,000 Russian 195,000 German 185,000 Hindi 120,000 French 100,000
( Source: Global Language Monitor, 2009 . )
Word Power
Other words that have recently made it to the English vocabulary.
N00b (Popular Culture): A derisive word to describe a newbie gamer. It has zero’s instead of oh’s.
Mobama (US): Relating to the fashion-sense of the US First Lady, as in ‘that is quite mobamaish’.
Slow food (Popular Culture): Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores).
Chuddies (Hindi): Ladies’ underwear or panties.
De-follow (Internet): No longer following the updates of someone on a social networking site.
Alchopops (Australia): Sugary-flavoured mixed drinks very much en vogue.
Chengguan (China): Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers.
--
Rakesh Krishnan is a Features Writer with Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with India Today, Hindustan Times, BusinessWorld and was the News Editor at Financial Express.
If you know the meaning of Jai Ho or greenwashing, you probably know that on June 10, 2009 the English language recorded its one millionth word. According to the Global Language Monitor in Texas that word is Web 2.0, which is used to describe the second generation of the World Wide Web.For a word...
If you know the meaning of Jai Ho or greenwashing, you probably know that on June 10, 2009 the English language recorded its one millionth word. According to the Global Language Monitor in Texas that word is Web 2.0, which is used to describe the second generation of the World Wide Web.
For a word to officially enter the lexicon, it has to be used in books or on the internet 25,000 times. Don't panic if you are trying to learn the language. Yes, one million is indeed a stiff target, however, most people (and many experts!) can get by with just 400 words. But what's got linguists all excited is that the Hindi word Jai Ho (Be Victorious) came second in a photo finish, becoming the 999,999th word. This is no lucky accident; the explosion of words in the English language reflects the extraordinary rate of borrowings from foreign languages, including a slew of Indians ones.
Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost experts on English, says people will effectively have to learn two varieties of the language – one spoken in their home country, and a new kind of Standard English which can be internationally understood.
The English spoken in countries with rapidly-booming economies, such as India, will increasingly influence this global standard, he says. "In future, users of global Standard English might replace the British English: 'I think it's going to rain', with the Indian English: 'I am thinking it's going to rain'," argues Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He adds: "In language, numbers count.
There are more people speaking English in India than in the rest of the native English-speaking world combined. Even now, if you ring a call centre, often it's an Indian voice you hear at the end of the phone. As the Indian economy grows, so might the influence of Indian English. "There, people tend to use the present continuous where we would use the present simple. For example, where we would say: "I think, I feel, I see" a speaker of Indian English might say: "I am thinking, I am feeling, I am seeing". This way of speaking could easily become sexy and part of global Standard English."
Sexy or not, the sheer weight of numbers is moving the odds in India's favour. At least 600 million Indians are able to read and write English, and the rest are following fast. Fuelled by a throbbing economy and a rapidly growing higher education sector (again, where the medium of discourse is largely English), a bold new dialect is taking shape in India, jettisoning the ‘proper’ British one. For this growing English dialect to find acceptance by the rest of the world, India first has to become a world player.
Linguistic status comes from economic and cultural hegemony and India is showing signs that in the coming decades its hegemony will be pervasive. Call centres are just the most visible facet of Indian dominance of the new economy. The reality is that much of the world's software is written in India; modern cars are designed in CAD/CAM centres in Bangalore; the world's leading financial companies offshore their work to Indian MBAs and chartered accountants in Mumbai; Reuters has moved its editing operations to India; American newspapers are even moving local news reporting to India; daily texting exceeds the numbers in the UK and US; 2.5 billion people watch Indian movies compared with 1.5 billion who prefer Hollywood ones.
If China is the world’s shop floor, India is its think tank. As Crystal says, India has a unique position in the English-speaking world. It is a linguistic bridge between the major first-language dialects of the world, such as British and American English, and the major foreign-language varieties, such as those emerging in China and Japan.
China is the closest competitor for the English-speaking record with some 220 million speakers of English, but China does not have the pervasive English linguistic environment encountered in India; nor does it have the strength of linguistic tradition that provides multiple continuities with the rest of the English-speaking world. English is said to be the language that Shakespeare used and George Bush abused. But not even the supercomputers at Global Language Monitor’s Texas labs can predict what shape Indians will give it in the future.
However, one thing is abundantly clear – in the 21st century the New Delhi drawl rather than the New York twang will be rolling off people’s tongues. And if you are still here, greenwashing ranked 999,992nd and is defined as rebranding an old, often inferior product as environmentally friendly. Now, that’s handy to describe the NZ Greens.
Subcontinental collection
Along with considerable wealth, the British took a large number of words from India.
A small selection: Atoll, avatar, bandana, bangle, bungalow, cash, cot, cummerbund, dinghy, guru, jackfruit, jute, karma, khaki, mongoose, juggernaut, jungle, loot, mango, mugger, pajamas, polo, pundit, sentry, shampoo, swastika.
While the French and Hindi mavens have official committees to block words (mostly English) from entering their lexicon, English is not firewalled by such futile exercises.
Hence, English is growing at the rate of 15 words a day. here's the number of words in each of these languages:
English 100,0000 Chinese 500,000 Japanese 232,000 Spanish 225,000 Russian 195,000 German 185,000 Hindi 120,000 French 100,000
( Source: Global Language Monitor, 2009 . )
Word Power
Other words that have recently made it to the English vocabulary.
N00b (Popular Culture): A derisive word to describe a newbie gamer. It has zero’s instead of oh’s.
Mobama (US): Relating to the fashion-sense of the US First Lady, as in ‘that is quite mobamaish’.
Slow food (Popular Culture): Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores).
Chuddies (Hindi): Ladies’ underwear or panties.
De-follow (Internet): No longer following the updates of someone on a social networking site.
Alchopops (Australia): Sugary-flavoured mixed drinks very much en vogue.
Chengguan (China): Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers.
--
Rakesh Krishnan is a Features Writer with Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with India Today, Hindustan Times, BusinessWorld and was the News Editor at Financial Express.
For a word to officially enter the lexicon, it has to be used in books or on the internet 25,000 times. Don't panic if you are trying to learn the language. Yes, one million is indeed a stiff target, however, most people (and many experts!) can get by with just 400 words. But what's got linguists all excited is that the Hindi word Jai Ho (Be Victorious) came second in a photo finish, becoming the 999,999th word. This is no lucky accident; the explosion of words in the English language reflects the extraordinary rate of borrowings from foreign languages, including a slew of Indians ones.
Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost experts on English, says people will effectively have to learn two varieties of the language – one spoken in their home country, and a new kind of Standard English which can be internationally understood.
The English spoken in countries with rapidly-booming economies, such as India, will increasingly influence this global standard, he says. "In future, users of global Standard English might replace the British English: 'I think it's going to rain', with the Indian English: 'I am thinking it's going to rain'," argues Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He adds: "In language, numbers count.
There are more people speaking English in India than in the rest of the native English-speaking world combined. Even now, if you ring a call centre, often it's an Indian voice you hear at the end of the phone. As the Indian economy grows, so might the influence of Indian English. "There, people tend to use the present continuous where we would use the present simple. For example, where we would say: "I think, I feel, I see" a speaker of Indian English might say: "I am thinking, I am feeling, I am seeing". This way of speaking could easily become sexy and part of global Standard English."
Sexy or not, the sheer weight of numbers is moving the odds in India's favour. At least 600 million Indians are able to read and write English, and the rest are following fast. Fuelled by a throbbing economy and a rapidly growing higher education sector (again, where the medium of discourse is largely English), a bold new dialect is taking shape in India, jettisoning the ‘proper’ British one. For this growing English dialect to find acceptance by the rest of the world, India first has to become a world player.
Linguistic status comes from economic and cultural hegemony and India is showing signs that in the coming decades its hegemony will be pervasive. Call centres are just the most visible facet of Indian dominance of the new economy. The reality is that much of the world's software is written in India; modern cars are designed in CAD/CAM centres in Bangalore; the world's leading financial companies offshore their work to Indian MBAs and chartered accountants in Mumbai; Reuters has moved its editing operations to India; American newspapers are even moving local news reporting to India; daily texting exceeds the numbers in the UK and US; 2.5 billion people watch Indian movies compared with 1.5 billion who prefer Hollywood ones.
If China is the world’s shop floor, India is its think tank. As Crystal says, India has a unique position in the English-speaking world. It is a linguistic bridge between the major first-language dialects of the world, such as British and American English, and the major foreign-language varieties, such as those emerging in China and Japan.
China is the closest competitor for the English-speaking record with some 220 million speakers of English, but China does not have the pervasive English linguistic environment encountered in India; nor does it have the strength of linguistic tradition that provides multiple continuities with the rest of the English-speaking world. English is said to be the language that Shakespeare used and George Bush abused. But not even the supercomputers at Global Language Monitor’s Texas labs can predict what shape Indians will give it in the future.
However, one thing is abundantly clear – in the 21st century the New Delhi drawl rather than the New York twang will be rolling off people’s tongues. And if you are still here, greenwashing ranked 999,992nd and is defined as rebranding an old, often inferior product as environmentally friendly. Now, that’s handy to describe the NZ Greens.
Subcontinental collection
Along with considerable wealth, the British took a large number of words from India.
A small selection: Atoll, avatar, bandana, bangle, bungalow, cash, cot, cummerbund, dinghy, guru, jackfruit, jute, karma, khaki, mongoose, juggernaut, jungle, loot, mango, mugger, pajamas, polo, pundit, sentry, shampoo, swastika.
While the French and Hindi mavens have official committees to block words (mostly English) from entering their lexicon, English is not firewalled by such futile exercises.
Hence, English is growing at the rate of 15 words a day. here's the number of words in each of these languages:
English 100,0000 Chinese 500,000 Japanese 232,000 Spanish 225,000 Russian 195,000 German 185,000 Hindi 120,000 French 100,000
( Source: Global Language Monitor, 2009 . )
Word Power
Other words that have recently made it to the English vocabulary.
N00b (Popular Culture): A derisive word to describe a newbie gamer. It has zero’s instead of oh’s.
Mobama (US): Relating to the fashion-sense of the US First Lady, as in ‘that is quite mobamaish’.
Slow food (Popular Culture): Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores).
Chuddies (Hindi): Ladies’ underwear or panties.
De-follow (Internet): No longer following the updates of someone on a social networking site.
Alchopops (Australia): Sugary-flavoured mixed drinks very much en vogue.
Chengguan (China): Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers.
--
Rakesh Krishnan is a Features Writer with Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with India Today, Hindustan Times, BusinessWorld and was the News Editor at Financial Express.
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