Indians follow which english

Perhaps that is why Indians feel it less important to codify Indian English, while the Canadians may want to define the distinct features of Canadian English, or the Australians or the Irish want to do so with their dialects. Indian English is a growing presence within global English.

If you doubt that, consider IBM. That pattern is increasingly true for many multinationals. Their employees in India outnumber employees elsewhere. Today, most speakers of English throughout the world are not native speakers. And India is on course to become the country with the largest population, and possibly, the country with the most English speakers. All of us should become familiar with features of Indian English. We will likely encounter them sooner or later. Three features of Indian English stand out to me.

First, one hears or even more often, reads usage that seems archaic compared with contemporary American or British English. For example, an office within a high rise building may be referred to as a cabin, while customer demand is referred to patronage. The second feature is the use of Hindi words within English. The southern states are no more likely to be bilingual than the northern states.

Among the 10 most spoken languages, native speakers of Hindi are least likely to be multilingual, according to the Census. The most multilingual native speakers are Marathis and Gujaratis—both states have a high proportion of people who speak Hindi—as well as native Urdu speakers, who are likely to be relatively more geographically dispersed. Never miss a story!

Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! It'll just take a moment. Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image. You are now subscribed to our newsletters. A recent survey has found that people unconsciously switch their personality when they change languages. Since American English is by far the most dominant language today, anyone who wants to be a confident player in a globalised world has to speak the American lingo.

In India, there is an attachment -especially among the older generation -to the Queen's English or the English that we imagine is spoken in England.

But we tend to forget that very few people speak the Queen's English any longer. In England and elsewhere, the language spoken on the street is different from the Queen's English spoken in a plummy accent. Today, English dominates the world as no language ever has. It is estimated that some million speak English as a foreign language, another to million as a fluent second language and million as a foreign language.

From Shanghai to Sarajevo, schools have sprung up to teach English. And increasingly it is American English, rather than British English, that is being taught.