South Asian English

Regional variation of British English spoken in South Asia

South Asian English, informally Desi English,[1] refers to English dialects spoken in most modern-day South Asian countries, inherited from British English dialect. Also known as Anglo-Indian English during the British Raj, the English language was introduced to the Indian subcontinent in the early 17th century. Today it is spoken as a second language by about 350 million people, 20% of the total population.[2]

Although it is fairly homogeneous across the subcontinent, sharing "linguistic features and tendencies at virtually all linguistic levels", there are some differences based on various regional factors.[3]

South Asian English is sometimes just called "Indian English", as British India included most of modern-day South Asia (except Afghanistan). But today, the varieties of English are officially divided according to the modern states:

* Bangladeshi English
* Indian English
* Maldivian English
* Nepalese English
* Pakistani English
* Sri Lankan English

## History

[edit]

### British India

[edit]

See also: Glossary of the British Raj

English-language public instruction began in the subcontinent in the 1830s during the rule of the British East India Company. In 1835, English replaced Persian as the official language of the East India Company. Lord Macaulay played a major role in introducing English and Western concepts into educational institutions in British-India. He supported the replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the use of English as the medium of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers.[4] Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, primary, middle, and high schools were opened in many districts of British India, with most high schools offering English language instruction in some subjects. In 1857, just before the end of East India Company rule, universities that were modeled on the University of London and used English as the medium of instruction were established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. During the British Raj (1858 to 1947), English-language penetration increased throughout the subcontinent. This was driven in part by the gradually increasing hiring of Indians in the civil services. At the time of Indian independence in 1947, English was the only functional lingua franca in the region.

## See also

[edit]

* Englishisation in South Asia
* Commonwealth English

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Very Very Indian: What Makes Desi English So Unique". www.readersdigest.in. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
2. ^ Baumgardner, p. 1
3. ^ Schilk, Marco; Bernaisch, Tobias; Mukherjee, Joybrato (2012), Hundt, Marianne; Gut, Ulrike (eds.), "Mapping unity and diversity in South Asian English lexicogrammar: Verb-complementational preferences across varieties", Varieties of English Around the World, vol. G43, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, p. 140, doi:10.1075/veaw.g43.06sch, ISBN 978-90-272-4903-6, retrieved 1 March 2025
4. ^ MacKenzie, John (January 2013). "A family empire", BBC History Magazine.

## References

[edit]

* Robert J. Baumgardner, ed. (1996). South Asian English: Structure, Use, and Users. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252064933..
* Braj Kachru, Yamuna Kachru, Cecil Nelson, The Handbook of World Englishes, 2009, ISBN 1405188316.

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Major languages of South Asia

Languages of|

* Afghanistan
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* India
* list by number of speakers
* scheduled
* classical
* Maldives
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* Sri Lanka

Contemporary
languages|

| Great Andamanese|

* Aka-Jeru
* Aka-Bo

|

Dravidian|

* Brahui
* Kannada
* Malayalam
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Tulu

Germanic|

* English
* Bangladeshi
* Indian
* Nepalese
* Pakistani
* Sri Lankan

Indo-Aryan|

* Angika
* Assamese
* Bhojpuri
* Bengali
* Chakma
* Chittagonian
* Dhivehi
* Dogri
* Gujarati
* Hindustani
* Hindi
* Urdu
* Hinglish
* Hindko
* Kashmiri
* Konkani
* Kumaoni
* Magahi
* Mahal
* Maithili
* Marathi
* Nepali
* Odia
* Punjabi
* Rajasthani
* Rangpuri
* Sanskrit
* Saraiki
* Sindhi
* Sinhala
* Sylheti

Iranian|

* Balochi
* Dari
* Pashto
* Wakhi

Isolates|

* Burushaski
* Nihali
* Kusunda

Khasic|

* Khasi
* Lyngngam
* Pnar
* War

Malay creoles|

* Sri Lankan Creole Malay

Munda|

* Ho
* Korku
* Mundari
* Santali
* Sora

Nicobaric|

* Car
* Central Nicobarese
* Chaura
* Southern Nicobarese
* Teressa

Ongan|

* Önge
* Jarawa

Romance|

* French
* Portuguese

Sino-Tibetan|

* Ao
* Balti
* Bodo
* Dzongkha
* Garo
* Hajong
* Ladakhi
* Limbu
* Meitei
* Mizo
* Nepal Bhasa
* Sikkimese
* Tenyidie
* Tibetan
* Tripuri

Turkic|

* Turkmen
* Uzbek

Scripts|

| Historical|

* Brahmi (Abugida)
* Greek
* Indus (Undeciphered)
* Kharosthi

|

Arabic|

* Arabi Malayalam
* Arwi
* Nastaliq
* Shahmukhi

Brahmic|

* Devanagari
* Bengali
* Gujarati
* Gurmukhi
* Malayalam
* Kannada
* Odia
* Ranjana
* Sinhala
* Tamil
* Telugu

Old Italic|

* Latin

Other|

* Thaana

Prestige language-

influence|

* Englishisation
* Hinglish
* Perso-Arabization
* Urdu
* Sanskritisation

Activism|

* Bengali movement
* Hela Havula
* Meitei associate official language movement
* Meitei classical language movement
* Meitei linguistic purism movement
* Newar movement
* Nepali movement
* Punjabi Movement
* Pure Tamil movement
* Sanskrit revival
* Urdu movement

* v
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* e

Dialects and accents of Modern English by continent

Europe|

| Great
Britain|

| England|

| North|

* Cheshire
* Cumbria
* Barrow
* Lancashire
* Liverpool/Scouse
* Manchester
* Northumbria
* Pitmatic
* Sunderland
* Tyneside/Geordie
* Teesside
* Yorkshire

|

Midlands|

* East Midlands
* West Midlands
* Birmingham
* Black Country
* Stoke-on-Trent

South|

* East Anglia
* London & Thames Estuary
* Cockney
* Multicultural
* Received Pronunciation
* West Country
* Cornwall
* Dorset

Scotland|

* Glasgow
* Highlands

Wales|

* Abercraf
* Cardiff
* Gower
* Port Talbot

Ireland|

* Dublin
* South-West
* Ulster

* Channel Islands
* Gibraltar
* Isle of Man
* Malta

Americas|

| North
America|

| Canada|

* Aboriginal
* Atlantic
* Lunenburg
* Newfoundland
* Multicultural Toronto
* Ottawa Valley
* Quebec
* Standard Canadian

|

United
States|

* Midland
* New England
* Boston
* East
* Maine
* West
* New York City
* accent
* North
* Inland North
* North-Central
* Philadelphia
* Baltimore
* South
* accent
* Appalachia
* Chesapeake/Outer Banks
* New Orleans
* Older South
* Texas
* West
* California
* Pacific Northwest
* Western Pennsylvania

Social and
ethno-cultural|

* African-American
* Vernacular
* American Indian
* Cajun
* Chicano
* General American
* Good American Speech
* Miami Latino
* New York Latino
* Northeastern elite
* Pennsylvania Dutch

Caribbean|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* The Bahamas
* Barbados
* Bequia
* Cayman Islands
* Bay Islands
* Jamaica
* Saba
* Samaná
* Trinidad and Tobago

* Bermuda
* Falkland Islands

Oceania|

| Australia|

* variation
* accent
* Aboriginal
* South
* Torres Strait
* West

|

* Fiji
* New Zealand
* accent
* Palau
* Solomon Islands

Africa|

* Cameroon
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Kenya
* Liberia
* Malawi
* Namibia
* Nigeria
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* accent
* Cape Flats
* South Atlantic
* Uganda
* Zimbabwe

Asia|

| East Asia|

* Hong Kong

|

South Asia|

* Bangladesh
* India
* regional and occupational
* Maldives
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* Sri Lanka

Southeast Asia|

* Brunei
* Cambodia
* Malaysia
* Myanmar
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Thailand

Antarctica|

* Antarctica

Related|

* English language
* Basic
* Broad and general accents
* Comparison of American and British English
* E-Prime
* Engrish
* English as a lingua franca
* English-based creole languages
* Englishisation
* Globish
* Gogate
* Nerrière
* International
* Jewish English (Yeshiva English)
* Learning
* Linguistic purism in English
* List of English-based pidgins
* Non-native pronunciations of English
* Plain
* Standard

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