Comprehensive Notes on Indian English: History, Phonology, and Sociolinguistics

Braj Kachru’s Three Circles of English Theory

Braj Kachru proposed a influential model to categorize the use of English worldwide, divided into three concentric circles based on the history, diffusion, and functional status of the language in different regions.

The Inner Circle (Norm-Providing Circle):
    * Description: Regions where English is the primary native language ( $L1$ ).
    * Examples: USA and UK.
    * Population Estimate: $320-380$ million people.
    * Linguistic Role: These regions provide the norms for English usage globally.
The Outer Circle (Norm-Developing Circle):
    * Description: Regions where English is use as a second language ( $L2$ ) and often serves official or institutional purposes due to historical colonial ties.
    * Examples: India and Nigeria.
    * Population Estimate: $300-500$ million people.
    * Linguistic Role: These regions are developing their own internalized norms and varieties.
The Expanding Circle (Norm-Depending Circle):
    * Description: Regions where English is learned as a foreign language ( $EFL$ ) for international communication but has no official internal status.
    * Examples: China, Russia, and Brazil.
    * Population Estimate: $500-1,000$ million people.
    * Linguistic Role: These regions depend on the norms established by the Inner Circle.

Overview and Legal Status of Indian English (IndE)

Indian English refers to the English language as it is utilized within the Indian subcontinent. While the term is widely recognized, it remains a subject of linguistic and social controversy due to the extreme variation in the kinds of English used across the vast geography and social strata of the country.

Demographics and Global Standing:
* An estimated $30$ million people, or roughly $4\%$ of the population, use English regularly.
* This makes India the third largest English-speaking country in the world.
Official and Educational Status:
    * English is designated as the Associate Official Language of India.
    * It serves as the official language for eight Union Territories:
        1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
        2. Arunachal Pradesh
        3. Chandigarh
        4. Dadra and Nagar Haveli
        5. Delhi
        6. Lakshadwip
        7. Mizoram
        8. Pondicherry
    * Three-Language Formula: Proposed in the $1960s$ for educational purposes, designating a tri-lingual curriculum comprising the State Language, Hindi, and English.
Social Role:
    * English acts as a "link language" in a complex multilingual society.
    * It is categorized as both a library language (for academic study) and a literary language.
    * The Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) officially recognizes Indian English literature as a distinct national literature.

Historical Development of English in India

Early Contact:
    * The first English speaker to visit India may have been an ambassador of Alfred the Great visiting St. Thomas in roughly $884\,\text{AD}$ .
    * The formal English presence began in $1600$ with the establishment of the East India Company.
    * In $1614$ , James VI (James I of England) wrote a formal letter to the Emperor Jehangir.
Trading "Factories": The use of English grew around Company trading posts established in:
    * Surat ( $1612$ )
    * Madras ( $1639-40$ )
    * Bombay ( $1674$ )
    * Calcutta ( $1690$ )
The Role of Missionaries: Missionary activity in the $18^{th}$ century was vital for the diffusion of the language through schools:
    * St Mary's Charity Schools (Madras, $1715$ )
    * Bombay school established in $1719$
    * Calcutta schools established between $1720-31$
The Struggle for Preference (Anglicist vs. Nativist): By the $1830s$ , an influential group of Indians, including the social reformer Raja Rammohan Roy ( $1772-1833$ ), pushed for English education as a gateway to Western scientific knowledge and culture.
Macaulay’s Minute ( $1835$ ): Thomas B. Macaulay, a member of the Supreme Council of India, settled the debate in favor of English. He famously stated:
> "We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, --a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population."
Institutionalization:
    * In $1857$ , the first three western-style universities were established in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras.
    * By the end of the $19^{th}$ century, universities in Allahabad and Punjab (now Lahore) were added.
    * By $1928$ , English was firmly established as the language of the elite.

Varieties and Sociolinguistics of Indian English

Indian English is a contact language; its convergence with local languages and socio-cultural patterns has led to a process of "Indianization."

Key Variables: Proficiency (acquisition level), Regional/Mother-tongue background, and Ethnic background.
Linguistic Hierarchy:
* Educated IndE (Acrolect): High-proficiency English used by professionals.
* Pidginized Varieties (Basilects): Known by various names such as Boxwalla(h) English, Butler English, Bearer English, Kitchen English, and Babu English.
Regional Variations:
* Varieties are often named after the speaker's mother tongue (e.g., Bengali English, Gujarati English, Tamil English).
* Broad categories include Indo-Aryan English and Dravidian English.
Anglo-Indian English: A distinctive variety that emerged among the offspring of British servicemen and lower-caste Indian women.

Phonetics and Phonology of Indian English

There are five primary phonetic features often observed in Indian English:

Lack of Aspiration: Word-initial consonants like $/p/$ and $/k/$ are not aspirated. For example, "pin" and "Kanpur" are pronounced without the puff of air ( $p^{h}$ , $k^{h}$ ) typical in British English.
Retroflexion: Alveolar consonants $/t/$ and $/d/$ are replaced by retroflex consonants ( $T$ , $D$ ) where the tongue curls back. This is seen in names of months like "OcTober" and "SepTember."
Lack of Interdentals: "Thanks" and "that" are pronounced using voiceless and voiced alveolar stops rather than dental fricatives.
Bilabial Fricative Replacement: Some fricatives are replaced by bilabials; for instance, "fail" may be pronounced as "phail."
Written-Form Approximation: Pronunciation tends to be a close approximation to the orthography (spelling) of the word.

Additional Phonological Details:

Rhoticity: Indian English is rhotic, meaning the $/r/$ is pronounced in all positions.
Syllable-Timing: Unlike stress-timed British English, IndE is syllable-timed. Weak vowels are often pronounced as full vowels (e.g., in "photography" and "student").
Vowels: The vowel in "old" or "low" is generally $/o/$ .
Epenthetic Vowels: Northern (Indo-Aryan) speakers often add a vowel to initial consonant clusters (e.g., "iskool" for school in Punjab or "sakool" in Kashmir).
$V/W$ Neutralization: The distinction between $/v/$ and $/w/$ is often lost, leading to "wine" being used for both "wine" and "vine."
Glides: Southern (Dravidian) speakers often add a $/j/$ glide before initial non-low vowels (e.g., "yell, yem, yen" for letters L, M, N).
Regional Consonant Shifts: Bengalis may use $/b/$ for $/v/$ (making "bowel" and "vowel" homophones). Gujaratis may use $/d3/$ for $/z/$ (e.g., "jed" and "jero").

General Indian English (GIE) Vowel System:
GIE typically consists of a $17$-vowel system ($11$ monophthongs and $6$ diphthongs):

Monophthongs: $/i:/$ (bead), $/i/$ (this), $/e:/$ (game), $/e/$ (send), /&/ (mat), $/a:/$ (charge), $/D/$ (shot), $/o:/$ (no), $/u/$ (book), $/u:/$ (tool), and $/%/$ (bus).
Diphthongs: $/ai/$ (five), $/oi/$ (boy), $/au/$ (cow), $/i%/$ (here), $/e%/$ (there), and $/u%/$ (poor).

Grammatical Features of Indian English

Interrogative Structures: Omitting subject/auxiliary inversion (e.g., "What you would like to buy?").
Number Usage: Using "one" instead of the indefinite article "a" (e.g., "He gave me one book").
Stative Progressives: Using the progressive "-ing" form with stative verbs (e.g., "Lila is having two books"; "You must be knowing my cousin").
Reduplication: Repeated words used for emphasis or distributive meaning (e.g., "small small things"; "give them one one piece").
Question Tags: Utilizing "yes" and "no" as universal tags (e.g., "He is coming, yes?"; "She was helping you, no?").
Generalized Tag: Using "isn't it?" regardless of the preceding auxiliary (e.g., "They are coming tomorrow, isn't it?").
Emphasis with 'Only' and 'Itself': (e.g., "It was God's order itself"; "They live like that only").
Present Perfect for Past: Using present perfect with past time adverbs (e.g., "I have bought the book yesterday").

Vocabulary and Lexical Innovations

Loanwords from Various Sources:

Portuguese: almirah (wardrobe), ayah (nurse/nanny), caste, peon. Also items via Portuguese: bamboo, betel, coir, copra, curry, mango.
Indigenous Languages (Anglicized): anna, bungalow, cheetah, chit/chitty, dacoit, jodhpur, juggernaut, pukka, pundit, rupee.
Indigenous Languages (Later/Less Anglicized): achcha (alright), basmati, chapatti, crore ($10$ million), goonda (ruffian), jawan (soldier), lakh ($100,000$), lathi, masala, paisa, panchayat, samosa, Sri/Srimati.
Arabic/Persian via Northern Languages: dewan (minister), durbar (court), mogul (important person), sepoy (soldier), shroff (banker), vakil (lawyer), zamindar (landlord).
Sanskrit (Direct): ahimsa, ananda, chakra, guru, nirvana, samadhi, yoga, yogi.

Hybrids and Local Developments:

Hybrids: brahminhood, coconut paysam, goonda ordinance, grameen bank, kaccha road (dirt road), lathi charge, policewala, tiffin box.
Local Senses: batch-mate (classmate), body-bath (ordinary bath), head-bath (shampooing hair), interdine (eat with other castes), issueless (childless), out of station (out of town).
Archaisms (no longer common in BrE/AmE): dicky (car trunk), needful ("Please do the needful"), stepney (spare tire), thrice.

Cultural Usage and Idiomatic Expressions

Idioms:
    * "To sit on someone's neck" (to watch carefully).
    * "To stand on someone's head" (to supervise closely).
    * "Do one thing" (used as a suggestion).
Press Usage: Hybrid headlines are common (e.g., "JNU karamcharis begin dharna").
Matrimonial Advertisements: Use specific cultural terms like "gotram" (clan), "horoscope," and "subset no bar."
Common Phrases:
    * "What’s your good name?"
    * "Dear sir, with reference to your above see my below" (referring to letter text).
    * "Pritam Singh has left for his heavenly abode" (death announcement).
    * "Hue and Cry notice" (police missing person report).
    * "She freaked out" (meaning she had a good time).
    * "Kindly please advise me."
    * "Will you take tea?"
    * "To give a test" (rather than take a test).

Examples of Indian "Leave Letters"

These verbatim examples illustrate the unique application of English logic and syntax in India:

The Student: "As I am suffering from my uncle's marriage I cannot attend the class…."
The Candidate: "This has reference to your advertisement calling for a 'typist And an accountant - Male or Female'… As I am both for the past Several years and I can handle both; I am applying for the post."
The Land Seller: "Since I have to go to my village to sell my land along with my wife. Please sanction me one-week leave."
The Cremation Notice: "Since I've to go to the cremation ground at $10$ o-clocks and I may not return, please grant me half day casual leave"
The Schoolboy: "As I am studying in this school I am suffering from headache. I request you to leave me today"
The Responsible Son-in-law: "As my mother-in-law has expired and I am responsible for it, Please grant me $10$ days leave."
The Husband: "My wife is suffering from sickness and as I am her only husband At home I may be granted leave."
The Well-Wisher: "I am in well here and hope you are also in the same well."
The Father: "As I am marrying my daughter, please grant a week's leave."

Globish vs. English

The lecture concludes by contrasting standard English with "Globish" (Simplified Global English):

Standard English: "Would you please be so kind as to point me in the direction of the premises where I will find some relief?"
Globish (Direct): "Toilets, please."