(54): Incredible Indian English

Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim

muhsin2008@gmail.com

This article first appeared on Prof. Farooq Kperogi’s column (his famous blog and the Daily Trust newspaper on Saturday) on 31st May, 2015. You may want to see it there: Guest column: Incredible Indian English

In both India and Nigeria, English is used as a second language. I couldn’t, however, resist being driven to write on Indian English— called Indianism or, more informally, “Hinglish”, which is a blend of Hindi and English—since my early days in the country some two years ago. As in other nations where English is spoken as a non-native language, English usage in both India and Nigeria differs from British and American varieties in phonetics, phonology, lexis, and structure. The distinctiveness of Indian English, though, is as incredible as the country itself.

I am not here to disparage theirs and extol ours. I don’t subscribe to linguistic imperialism. But polishing our English to the level of intelligibility among other speakers is pertinent, if not obligatory. I will highlight the uniqueness and differences of Indian English, with a few examples of words and expressions that I have personally observed.

Faculty and Professor

By way of introduction, I am a faculty at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. Oh, wait. What are you? Faculty, you read me right. The term “faculty” is rarely used in Nigerian institutions to refer to the teaching staff as a whole. It’s primarily used for a division (comprising several departments that address a particular subject and headed by a senior academic known as the Dean). This is not the case in India. It’s used both ways. You are a faculty member working in the faculty of, say, Arts, Medicine or Engineering.

The title of professor is used for every university teacher. I was first dazed when a very young-looking lecturer introduced himself to us as Professor Singh (not a real name). When my classmates learned that I also teach at a university, they began calling me “professor.” It took me minutes to explain to them (and to others) that I am a graduate assistant and have a long way to go before attaining professorship.

Ragging

I will report you for ragging (i.e. bullying, hazing) the way we speak English, Muhsin, my Indian friend, could possibly say. “Ragging” is a term used exclusively in Indian educational institutions. It’s also said to be in use in other countries in the Indian subcontinent, though. There’s even an anti-ragging law in the rules and regulations of Indian schools. In Nigeria, however, we use “bullying,” or, more colloquially, “seniority,” to refer to the act of intimidating and forcing junior students to do something for senior students. 

Cousin Brother/Sister

Culture and tradition often shape how we use language, particularly a foreign language. In India, the neuter term “cousin” is frequently followed by a redundant qualifier, such as “sister” or “brother”. Cousins are generally considered biological siblings, as they are not married to each other. People, therefore, often feel compelled to distinguish between real brothers or sisters and cousins.

What’s your good name?

Indians would hardly simply ask your name without adding “good” in the question: what’s your good name? This apparently sounds clumsy to many non-Indians. But you will get used to it if you stay in India for more than a week. I have made several efforts to identify the underlying reason for this frequently asked question, but I have yet to obtain a definitive explanation.

I used to be bewildered by the question; who told you I got a good and a bad name, I would ask sometimes obliquely and at other times pointedly. I later realised that nicknames are widely used among Indians, and perhaps that made the question relevant. For instance, the name Vicky is very, very popular in Punjab, the state where I live. During my two years here, I have not encountered a single person whose real name is Vicky.

Another observation is how my Indian friends (who are many) use various handles on Facebook, Twitter, etc, totally different from their real names.

I am “having” money

The auxiliary verb “have” is categorised as a state/stative type of verb that indicates a state. Examples such as “I have a car” and “I have the book” signify possession. For this reason, it’s mainly used without the suffix “-ing” except in a few instances, like: “I am having a headache”, where it indicates temporality as a headache usually does. However, in India, encountering a sentence like the above is very common. In fact, only fluent English speakers (who are many, especially in the metros) would escape that misuse.

Don’t take tension

Yes, “don’t take tension” (i.e. don’t worry or get tense) if you think you cannot understand them. You can. There is intelligibility between our English and theirs in most instances. Indians tell you not to take tension whenever you seem worried or tense. This is also a direct translation of Hindi, ‘tension muth le’. But tension is not an object to be taken or dropped.

You can collect it now “only”

You might have enjoyed reading this article only. Yes, only if you have read the above, else you might not have, or you will have difficulty with it. The word “only” occupies an elevated position in Indian English. Occasionally, it is used in many contexts, often unnecessarily, as exemplified above.

Different different/ little little

This is a direct translation from Hindi (though I know only a little of the language). When saying things are different, they say “alag, alag”, repeating the word. Ditto little, they say: “Thōṛā, Thōṛā”. These repetitive expressions also occur in Indian English.

Telephone vs. Telephonic

In India, a simple telephone conversation is called telephonic. For instance, “I had a telephonic conversation with her yesterday”.

Differently abled

The word “handicapped” is often considered offensive or disapproving. It’s therefore avoided as much as possible in the world’s Englishes. In Nigeria and elsewhere, I believe, they are called physically challenged, whereas Indians call them differently abled. It’s striking to me and to many others that the word abled* is nonexistent in the world’s major English dictionaries. It’s another Indian neologism.

“W” vs. “V”

The pronunciation of “W” and “V” is often interchangeable in Indian English. For instance, the Sikhs (Sikhism is a minority religion in India with millions of followers around the world) say “Waheguru”, meaning God is great. The “W” is often replaced by “V” as “Vaheguru”, and both are pronounced the same way.

In other instances, they say something like “vorld” for “world,” “vord” for “word,” etc. One frequently has to ask for the spelling of a particular word when a teacher is dictating in class.

India was once the largest English-speaking country in the world due to its billion-plus population. However, a recent survey reports that China now has more English speakers than India. That means the English-language advantage that India had over China, which had been part of India’s bragging rights, is now gone. Some attribute the decline of English in India to Hindi linguistic nationalism. Both Hindi and English are national languages in India.