South Asian English

Lankan English
South Asian English

and soon established trading posts in a number of cities

under the control of The East India Company. By 1765 the Company’s influence had grown to such an extent that the British were effectively controlling most parts of the country. This date is often taken as the start of what is referred to as The Raj — a period of British rule in India that lasted until Independence in 1947.

The origins of English in India

of Indian society. It is widely used in the media,

in Higher Education and government and therefore remains a common means of communication, both among the ruling classes, and between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages. According to recent surveys, approximately 4% of the Indian population use English. That figure might seem insignificant, but out of the total population this represents 35 million speakers — the largest English-speaking community outside the USA and the UK.

English in India today

‘extreme’ forms of South Asian English. In terms of pronunciation,

many speakers do not differentiate between the sounds and . They might also replace in words like think and this with a and sound, as no Indian languages contain these consonants. Under the influence of traditional Hindi grammar, speakers often use progressive tenses in statements, such as I am believing you or she is liking music.

Asian influence

constructions that are typical of speech on the Indian subcontinent.

The left hand column lists each feature, while the second column gives an explanation.