Hinglish is the pukka way to talk
Amrit Dhillon, Delhi
IT IS a form of English that echoes a more polite and formal age. English speakers in India talk of “doing the needful” when they feel they must do something, ask “what is your good name?” when making introductions and refer to “Eve teasing” instead of sexual harassment.
People are “felicitated” on their birthdays, “condoled” on sad occasions and if they want to be really insulting, they will dismiss an argument as “poppycock”.
Hinglish, as the variety of English spoken in India is known, may seem a little old-fashioned but according to a leading British expert it could soon become the most common spoken form of the language.
Professor David Crystal, the author of more than 50 books on English, says 350m Indians speak it as a second language, exceeding the number of native speakers in Britain and America.
He argues that the growing popularity of Indian culture around the world, including Bollywood movies, means that Hinglish will soon become more widely spoken outside the continent.
Indian expertise in writing computer software also means that Hinglish will spread via the internet, said Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales.
“Certain phrases are bound to become global with so many Indians working in information technology. As more Indians talk in chat rooms and send e-mails, the phrases and words they use to describe their lives will be picked up by others on the internet,” he said.
Hinglish contains many words and phrases that Britons or Americans might not easily understand. Some are archaic, relics of the Raj, such as “pukka”. Others are newly coined, such as “time-pass”, meaning an activity that is not very interesting but passes the time.
India’s success in attracting business has recently produced a new verb. Those whose jobs are outsourced to India are said to have been “Bangalored”.
Even the largest international companies have been forced to bow before the power of Hinglish. Ford sells the Ikon by calling it the “Josh Car” — Josh is Hindi for exciting and powerful.
English has long enjoyed a special status in India because of the country’s colonial history. It is still the language of the government, the elite and the media. It is also the only language that unites Indians in a country that has 14 official ones and more than 1,600 dialects.
The phenomenal popularity of English can be seen in every town and city. The poor are desperate to ensure that their children learn it in school because it represents a passport to jobs and prosperity.
Most Indians seem to enjoy using Hinglish and local attitudes towards imperfect English have changed. A previous longing to acquire a British or American accent has disappeared along with the sneers once prompted by mispronunciation. Now, whenever an Indian habit or idiosyncrasy is being discussed, the standard reaction is to laugh and say: “We are like that only.”
Hinglish may be catching, but it could be a while before a British man says to his wife in the morning: “Darling, can you prepone (bring forward) my meeting with the bank manager or ask my secretary to do the needful? I have to get the dent in the dicky (boot) repaired at that time. And can you pass me my chaddis (underpants)?”
‘Hinglish’ heading for world domination
October 26 2004 at 10:14AM
By Penny MacRae
New Delhi - Modern-day Indian English or “Hinglish”, as the variety of English spoken in India is called, has a distinct time-capsule flavour, harking back to the days of the British Raj.
Phrases that are dying out elsewhere remain in common parlance on the subcontinent, where “sleuths nab” their man, “miscreants abscond”, youths engage in “tomfoolery” and politicians say their opponents speak “balderdash”.
Now a leading British linguistics expert says Indian English could become the most widely spoken form of the language worldwide.
‘Indian English will soon become the most common spoken form globally’
“Already about 350 million people in India speak English as a second language,” more than the number of native speakers in Britain and the United States, said David Crystal, a world authority on English.
And knowledge of English is set to rise in India with the population growing by three percent annually compared to one percent in Britain and the United States, he said.
“With the Internet spreading English like no other tool ever and Indians at the forefront of the IT revolution, Indian English will soon become the most common spoken form globally,” he said in a recent interview.
Hinglish is coined from the collision of English and Hindi in the subcontinent where Britain was the predominant power for nearly two centuries.
Crystal, a University of Wales professor who has written over 40 books on linguistics, also said other varieties of English as a second language were spreading and would also have great influence in years to come.
‘It’s the turn of countries where English is spoken as a second language to take the lead’
“Mother tongue countries have had their day,” said Crystal, who was in India as a British Council guest to speak on the “Future of Englishes”.
“It’s the turn of countries where English is spoken as a second language to take the lead,” he said. “Internationally-accepted standard English is there but the real language resides in these colourful, creative local varieties.”
Indian English is spiced with Hindi words, like “pukka” for real, “jungli” for uncouth, “chappals” for sandals and “chuddis” for underwear.
It also has an old-fashioned formality that evokes an era when India was the brightest jewel in Britain’s colonial crown. People offer to “do the needful”, people are “wished” on their birthday, the bereaved are “condoled”.
It produces mutations like “time-pass” for an activity that is not very gripping but passes the time, appointments that are “preponed” or scheduled earlier and people who “airdash” by plane.
Sometimes, it’s mixed with English such as in Ford’s slogan for its Ikon sedan billing it as the “Josh” Car - “Josh” is the Hindi word for exciting.
Crystal said India’s British colonial past has given it the edge in creating a booming outsourcing industry. Western firms are increasingly shifting business to India to take advantage of its cheaper English-speaking workforce.
“India has this historical, cultural connection. English is everywhere, even on signs in the smallest shops. This doesn’t happen in China and Russia,” other nations seeking to lure outsourcing business.
India’s ascendance as a global economic player also has brought about a “new self-confidence and pride” among Indians in embracing “Hinglish”, once disparaged by purists, Crystal said.
Indian writers liberally sprinkle “Hinglish” in articles and books and disc jockeys and TV presenters jabber away in it. “Hinglish would have been very much frowned upon in literary circles. Now its acceptance is a very important sign of Indian English coming of age,” he said.
Still, he said there’s a danger the dominance of English, and particularly the feeling it’s a passport to success, could harm smaller languages.
“A language is dying every two weeks somewhere in the world today. Half the world’s languages will no longer be spoken in another century. This is an extremely serious concern and English has to share the blame.”
India will have to work to ensure survival of its other languages - the country’s constitution recognises 18, he said, noting in parts of the world where English has been allowed to dominate, it has crushed minority languages.
“It’s up to India to decide which way to go. What I hope is respect for multilingualism. Human beings are naturally multilingual. Three-quarters are bilingual, two thirds are trilingual and monolinguals are the exception.” - Sapa-AFP
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=qw1098763201484B213
