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Indian English Grammar

Ruprecht-Karls-Universitt Heidelberg

Anglistisches Seminar

HS: Indian English

Dozentin: Prof. Dr. Marianne Hundt

Referentinnen: Eva Breither & Simone Schll

Datum: 29.05.2008

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Topics

1. Introduction: grammar

2. Indian English syntax

3. Methodology in linguistic research

4. Mukherjee & Hoffmann: study onverb-complementational profile

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1. Introduction:Grammar

Language

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Grammar

Language

Structure Pragmatics Use

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Grammar

Language

Structure Pragmatics Use

Medium of

Transmission

(phonetics/phonology)

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Grammar

Language

Structure Pragmatics Use

Medium of Grammar

Transmission

(phonetics/phonology) (morphology/syntax)

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Grammar

Language

Structure Pragmatics Use

Medium of Grammar Meaning

Transmission (semantics,

(phonetics/phonology) (morphology/syntax) lexicon/sentence)

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Grammar

Language

Structure Pragmatics Use

Medium of Grammar Meaning

Transmission (semantics,

(phonetics/phonology) (morphology/syntax) lexicon/sentence)

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GrammarMorphology

How related words, including plurals and

past tenses are formed

Syntax

What category a word belongs to and how

to use it in a sentence

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2. Indian English Syntax

South Asian English (SAE)

Cover term for educated variety

Several varieties within SAE parametersProficiency in English

Region & regional dominant language

Ethnic backgroundFunctionally determined varieties

Babu English, Butler English, Boxwll English

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Babu (baboo) English

Used in most of north India, in Nepal,

parts of south India

Formerly administrative English

Excessive stylistic ornamentation,politeness, indirectness

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Example: Application

for a PostSir, being in much need and suffering manyprivations I have after long time come to thedetermination to trouble your bounteous goodness.

[] Here on earth who have I but thee, []needless to say that unless your milk of humankindness is showered on my sad state no other hopeis left in this world

[] If your honour kindly smile on my efforts []and bestow on me a small birth (berth) of rupees[]then I can subsist myself and my families without thehunger of keen poverty, with assurance that I amever praying for your goodness and liberality.

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CharacteristicsUse of tense

Present participle indicates future: I telling

(I will tell)Preterite: I done tell(I have told)

Deletion of auxiliaries, verb inflections,prepositions; often-ingforms; restrictedlexicon

Indirect speech reported directly

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Englishisation

Impact of English language andliterature on south Asian languages and

literaturesAt the grammatical level

Impersonal construction

Passive constructionWord order

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Tag questions

VIE: cultural requirements of politeness principle of non-imposition:

You said youll do the job, isn

t it?You have taken my book, isnt it?

In cultures where verbal behaviour is underconstraint by politeness regulations, the grammarof the variety spoken permits the use ofundifferentiated tags:

These mistakes may please be corrected.These mistakes should please be corrected.

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The syntax of focus particle only

Whereas wh-phrases move to the left-edge of theclause, other elements (e.g. adverbs) like only moveto the opposite side:

These women wear everyday expensive clothes only.

He will buy over there tickets only.

verb does not have to be followed immediately

by its complement

In VIE: correlation between right-edge and

focus

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Other features I

article variabilityplural s with non-count nouns: deadwoods, furnitures,apparels

progressive with stative verbs:You must be knowing him.progressive form with future + with habitual and completedactionpresent be for perfective have and been:

I am here since 2 oclock.auxiliary variation: could and would as tentative/ politeinstead of can and will, may instead of should

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Other features II

responses to yes-no questions couched in the negative:

Didnt I see you yesterday?

Yes, you didnt see me.reduplication of adjectives and verbs:

different-different things

variation in to complements: We are involved to

collect poems.use of post-verbal adverbial there in place ofdummythere: Bread is thereThere is bread

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Methodology

Lange (Focus marking in Indian English):Investigating the use of only and itself in IndianEnglish data collected from the Indian subcorpusof the ICE

Sharma (The pluperfect in native and non-native English: a comparative study)

Examination of corpus of present-day IndianEnglish print texts for shift in usageQuantitative and qualitative comparison with twonative varieties of English (BE, AmE) to establishthe nature of this change

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Methodology

Hoffmann und Mukherjee

pilot study with descriptive aim that

combines at methodological level use ofbalanced and representative subcorpora

(ICE) with much larger databasethat hasbeen extracted from the internet archive of

the daily Indian newspaperThe Statesman

syntactic description

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Group Work

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