Welcome to our Indian English page.
This page contains a growing list of resources regarding Indian English; how Indian English has influenced international English and how English is spoken in India.
Please leave any suggested links in the comments section.
Our blog posts on Indian English
Right so, we’re moving on: it’s Indian English month, hooray!
I confess, I don’t really know where to start with this one; it’s a big country, lots of different languages and a very rich, unique kind of English … so I have spent the last few days reading blogs by Indian bloggers who I have found on Twitter or on this India Blogs list and on Blogbharti, and the blogrolls on those blogs … you know how it goes.
It’s khichdi time!
Indian English is a smorgasbord of peculiarities and personalities, and I have lately come to realise that all those years when I was basking in pride at my impeccable grammar and not insignificant vocabulary, I should have spent more time learning to inject “Indianisms” into my writing.
How quality translations can enrich Indian literature
Of all nations, India can boast of having the richest and most diverse literature. This is not a recent phenomenon. It has been so since time immemorial – long before the written word came into existence. The tribe of Indian writers writing exclusively in English has been flourishing by the day. But that is hardly the point. What is important is the scores of others who write in a variety of regional languages.
From one extreme to the other
The younger folk have understandably rebelled. They shorten things. Nieces and nephews email and sign off with a cheery “luv”, because apparently vowels cost money now. When I am in India, my ears are subjected to, and scarred by, the spoken “OMG” (Oh my God) and “TTFN” (Tata Tata for now). Yes, I want to tell them, life is short, but it’s not that short.
Strange, amusing use of English in Gujarati
Gujarat is one of the many Indian states where English survives against the odds in the 21st century. There seems no end to the debate over whether young students should study via the medium of Gujarati (the state’s official language) or English. Many educated Gujjus (slang for natives or inhabitants of Gujarat) either find English very difficult or simply do not take it seriously.
David Crystal on Indian English
A short video in which Professor David Crystal discusses Indian English.
Indian English, Indianised English, Hinglish or the Indianisation of English?
English has been used in strange ways by certain sets of Indians – not just the less-than-literate – since time immemorial. It is either because of habit or sheer ignorance of the correct manner of writing and speaking in what is actually a third language for most Indians (the other two being their respective mother tongue – and there are plenty of them – and Hindi).
Marathi English – unofficial but officially so
The endearing part is that the ‘wrongness’ – if one could call it that – is so consistent and universal, that it could well pass off as an independent (but unofficial) version of English.
Other regional English pages
Scottish English
Irish English
Brazilian English
Japanese English
Chinese English
Russian English
South African English
American English
Australian English
Spanish English
Mexican English
Canadian English
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