FACOLTA' DI LETTERE E FILOSOFIA, LINGUE E BENI CULTURALI

Corso di Laurea in SCIENZA E TECNICA DELLA MEDIAZIONE LINGUISTICA

______________________________________________________________________________

Tesi di Laurea in Lingua e Traduzione Inglese

NEW ENGLISHES: THE INDIAN CASE

Relatore

Ch.mo Prof. David Katan

Laureanda

Ludovica Guida

______________________________________________________________________________

SESSIONE STRAORDINARIA DELL’A.A. 2015/2016

“The dictionary is based on the hypothesis -- obviously an unproven one --

that languages are made up of equivalent synonyms.”

Jorge Luis Borges

NEW ENGLISHES: THE INDIAN CASE

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................1
1. English in India.........................................................................................2
1.1 The Historical Context........................................................................2
1.2 India in Kachru's Three Circles of English.........................................3
2. Literature...................................................................................................4
2.1 Indian English Writing........................................................................4
2.2 Rushdie's literary style in "Midnight's Children"...............................6
3. From the Indian subcontinent to the UK..............................................10
3.1 Migration from India........................................................................11
3.2 Migration from Pakistan...................................................................11
3.3 Migration from Bangladesh..............................................................12
3.4 Migration from Sri Lanka.................................................................13
4. The Reaserch...........................................................................................13
4.1 The methodology..............................................................................14
4.2 Results and analysis..........................................................................14
4.3 "Authentic" Indian............................................................................15
4.4 Adapted words..................................................................................20
5.Conclusions...............................................................................................27
Bibliography.................................................................................................29
Sources.........................................................................................................30
Ringraziamenti.............................................................................................31
Introduction

This thesis outlines the dimensions of Indian English, which constitutes a

world of its own in linguistic, cultural, interactional, ideological, and
political terms. Apart from introducing the historical context in which Indian
English started developing and contributing to the extension of its main
source, the purpose of this thesis is to observe a particular aspect of this
language, that is to say the influence of Indian languages on English.
Educated Indian English is a sub-variety of what Kachru (1983:24-5)
defines as South Asian Englishes, together with Nepalese English,
Bangladeshi English, Sri Lankan English and Pakistani English. They are
the only five varieties that are considered as “standard” by the linguist, since
they have their own grammatical, linguistic and morphological
characteristics.
The study of Indian English as a variety was first introduced by Kachru at
the end of 1970 (Cefariello 2015:27). Kachru finds several varieties of
Indian English, which vary from speaker to speaker depending on their
mother tongue, and suggests the concept of “cline of bilingualism” to rank
bilinguals in terms of their proficiency in English, that goes from zero point
to ambilingual point. According to him, Educated Indian English is the
standard variety used by those bilinguals who rank around the central point
of the cline of bilingualism (1983:71).
Linguist Rales Bhatt states (2001:527) that what differentiates Indian
English from other varieties are loanwords (from both Indian languages and
English) and neologisms. For example, borrowings happen with Indian
ceremonies, rituals, foodstuffs and recipes since the English language
doesn't provide an exact translation of them. (Cefariello 2015:28). We will
discuss this situation later in the thesis.

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English in India

The Historical Context

According to Crystal (2003:46-9) the first regular British contact with the
subcontinent came in 1600 with the formation of the British East Indian
Company – a group of London merchants who were granted a trading
monopoly in the area by Queen Elizabeth I. The Company established its
first trading in Surat in 1612, and by the end of the century others were in
existence in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. During the eighteenth century, it
overcame competition from other European nations, especially France. As
the power of the Mughal emperors declined, the Company's influence grew,
and in 1765 it took over the revenue management of Bengal. Following a
period of financial indiscipline among Company servants, the 1784 India
Act established a Board of Control responsible to the British Parliament,
and in 1858, after the Indian Mutiny, the Company was abolished and its
powers handed over to the Crown.
During the period of British sovereignty (the Raj), from 1765 until
independence in 1947, English gradually became the medium of
administration and education throughout the subcontinent. The language
question attracted special attention during the early nineteenth century, when
colonial administrators debated the kind of educational policy which should
be introduced. A recognized turning-point was Lord William Bentinck's
acceptance of a Minute written by Thomas Macaulay in 1835, which
proposed the introduction of a Christian English educational system in India.
Macaulay's goal was to form "a class who may be interpreters between us
and the millions whom we govern - a class of persons, Indians in blood and
colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect" (quoted in
Kachru 1983:22).

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When the universities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were established in
1857, English became the primary medium of instruction, thereby
guaranteeing its status and steady growth during the next century.
In India, the bitter conflict between the supporters of English, Hindi, and
regional languages led in the 1960s to a “three language formula”, in which
English was introduced as the chief alternative to the local state language
(typically Hindi in the north and a regional language in the south). It now
has the status of an “associate” official language, with Hindi the official
language. It is also recognized as the official language of four states
(Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura) and eight Union territories.
English has, as a consequence, retained its standing within Indian society,
continuing to be used within the legal system, government administration,
secondary and higher education, the armed forces, the media, business and
tourism. It is a strong unifying force. In the Dravidian-speaking areas of the
south, it is widely preferred to Hindi as a lingua franca. In the north, its
fortunes vary from state to state, in relation to Hindi, depending on the
policies of those in power. In Pakistan, it is an associated official language.

India in Kachru's Three Circles of English

The US linguist Braj Kachru (1988) has suggested that we think of the
spread of English around the world as three concentric circles, representing
different ways in which the language has been acquired and is currently
used: the “inner circle” refers to the traditional bases of English, where it is
the primary language: it includes the USA, the UK, Ireland, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand; the “outer” or “extended circle” involves the
earlier phases of the spread of English in non-native settings, where the
language has become part of a country's chief institutions, and plays an
important “second language” role in a multilingual setting: it includes

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Singapore, India, Malawi and over fifty other territories; the “expanding” or
“extending circle” involves those nations which recognize the importance of
English as an international language, though they do not have a history of
colonization by members of the inner circle, nor have they given English
any special administrative status. It includes China, Japan, Greece, Poland
and a steadily increasing number of other states. In these areas, English is
taught as a foreign language.

Literature

Indian English Writing

As stated by Cefariello (2015) Indian writing in English highly contributed
to the development of both English poetry and fiction. Writers such as Raja
Rao, Mulkraj Anand, R.K. Narayan not only made this genres popular, but
also obtained worldwide recognition for such popularity, being nominated
for prestigious prizes and winning most of them. Amongst them there is
Salman Rushdie, who played an essential role in giving Indian English
novel a brand new, dynamic image.
Academic David McCutchion (1969:15) affirmed that the allure of Indian
writing in English (which we will refer to as “IWE” from now on) lies in its
identity as a literary phenomenon, catheterized by a constant creative
tension between the medium (English language) and the subject (Indian
thinking), resulting in a case of sequential bilingualism. This situation
explains that novels in IWE are, paradoxically, a text that has been written
and translated at the same time.
IWE can be defined as an original creative form of writing produced in
English by Indian writers or by British/American residents of Indian origins,
who are more fluent in English than most Indian speakers. This doesn't

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make such writers “less Indian”, since they are capable of describing lives,
thoughts and conversations of their Indian characters who are more likely to
speak or think in a variety of Indian languages rather than in English.
Focusing on bilingualism or multiculturalism to better understand the
linguistic situation of the Indian subcontinent, Indian academic Jaydeep
Sarangi stresses phenomena such as code-switching (when a speaker
alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the
context of a single conversation), code-mixing (mixing of two or more
languages or language varieties in speech), role-relationship (the aspects of
a relationship consisting of the reciprocal role expectations of each person
towards the other) and turn-taking (social conventions regarding hierarchy
in conversation). He claims (2005:17-9):

In the linguistically and culturally pluralistic Indian

subcontinent English is used as the Second Language (L2),
which is acquired after one has learnt the First Language (L1).
This co-existence […] results in interference from one's First
Language in the Second Language. A variety of English [...]
different from the Standard British form has come to be known
as Indian variety of English.

IWE writings include several genres, such as drama, poetry, autobiography

and novel, which stands out as the most versatile one in Indian English.
The novel in India became popular under the impact of Western novel and
more specifically English novel. Initially, Indian writers favoured the
historical novel, setting their fictional characters' actions and historical
events in a geographically and historically recognisable scenario. At a later
time, narrativization became a political action in the hands of postcolonial
writers.
Cefariello (2015) distinguishes two different categories of writers who
contributed to the development of this genre: the first one focuses on the

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social problems affecting India such as poverty, social discrimination, social
dogma, severe religious rules, which have a strong effect on Western readers;
the second one includes the so called “global Indians”, who were born in
India but spent most of their lives abroad. This way, they can be more
objective with regards to the Indian reality. Moreover, they show a confident
usage of the English language, that gets enriched by their creativity and
their linguistic experiments (neologisms, idiomatic expressions).
Salman Rushdie is one of them. According to him (1990:7), literary
language has a specific function. It is the inclusive, flexible and dialogical
dimension of literature, its capability “of holding a conversation with the
world”. Literature (more specifically, novel) is for Rushdie “the stage upon
which the great debates of society can be conducted”, and its unique
privilege is being “the arena of discourse, the place where the struggle of
languages can be acted out” (1990:16).

Rushdie's literary style in “Midnight's Children”

Rushdie's literary style is also known as “Rushdie-era writing” or “the new
phenomenon of Indian writing in English” (Rockwell 2003:597).
Everything started in the cosmopolitan and multicultural city of Bombay,
where the author spent the first fourteen years of his life, and also where
“Midnight Children” (which we may also refer to as “MC” from now on)
narrator Saleem is from. It's him that, at the end of the novel, describes a
method that he playfully describes “chutnification” (MC 235). He uses this
analogy with Indian cuisine referring to the Rushdie's new linguistic style,
that the author was going to use in all his other works.
Rustom Bharucha, an Indian culture critic, states that the result of
“chutnification” is a “bastardized, hybridized, and more recently Hindi-film-
cinematized English that is now almost two centuries old” (1994:160).

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According to him and Rushdie himself, using the English language this way
would free Indian English of its fake austerity and fake sophistication
(1994:161).
The language in Rushdie's novels is a mix of fusions, links and translations.
In the current paragraph we can see how Cefariello (2015) analysed the
interactions between English and bhashas (the different languages spoken in
India) in Rushdie's “Midnight's Children”.
Critic Mikhail M. Bakhtin (1986:272) affirms that:

Heteroglossia, the dialogic interrelation of different registers

and dialects, which gravitate within the orbit of a national
language, is in constant tension with the tendency towards
linguistic centralization and unification.

Rushdie's tendency towards the usage of different linguistic forms

simultaneously is an integral part of his representation of Indian
heteroglossia. One of the characteristics of the language he uses in his
novels is the usage of neologisms composed of words in English and
Hindustani, described by Webster's New World Dictionary as “the principal
dialect of Hindi/Urdu, used as a trade language throughout north India and
Pakistan”. This is the case of dia-lamp: the word dia means lamp, probably
a clay oil lamp, so dia-lamp literally stands for lamp-lamp. This kind of
compound words – resulting from the combination of an English word and
its Hindustani equivalent – are common in both Urdu and Hindustani, but
they can't be found in the real use of Indian English.
This happens because of his will to convey a tone of “Indianess” to non-
Indian readers. In order represent the limits of cultural representation,
Rushdie includes many Indian words and idiomatic expressions as well as
made-up compound words and unusual sentence structures. His writing
embellishes English – that plays the role of a pan-Indian language – with

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lexical and syntactic features of some Indian languages, especially Hindi
and Urdu, which is the other language of interaction in “Midnight's
Children”.
Another characteristic of Rashdie's writing style is the translation of Indian
words into English. In “Midnight's Children” we can find expressions such
as:

the mader-imillat or mother of the nation” (MC 322);

Godown, gudam, warehouse, call it what you like (MC 71);
There do not seem to be any goondas, any trouble-makers (MC
35);
Hey, bhaenchud! Hey, little sister-sleeper (MC 320)

Trivedi (1999:78-9) defines this method as “an embarrassment of riches:

Indian English followed by Hindi followed by proper English”, though most
of the time Hindi-Urdu words and sentences are placed next to their
translated equivalents. On the contrary, words remain untranslated when
their meaning is not crucial in the novel.
The process of translation as reduplication, very common in South Asian
languages, derives from an Indianisation of English, which makes the
Indian English sound more Indian and ensure the comprehension of it
(Kachru 1995:43).
Even when Rushdie doesn't use Indian words, he still captures their tone in
compound words like dirtyfilthy (MC 443), common words like cho chweet
(MC 89, 131), dugdugee-drummers and fighting-cock people (MC 97),
crorepati people and yaar (MC 629) that can be found in the streets of
Bombay.
According to Rushdie himself (1991), he also freed Indian English of its
fake austerity and fake sophistication. This “freedom” can be read when
Saalem Sinai compares his mother's “rump” to a “gigantic, black Alfonso
mango” (MC 223), making his character speak in a risqué way for the first

8
time in the history of Indian English literature.
In Rushdie's works, translation plays an important role in the
vernacularization of English and in the globalization of bhashas: it is only
through translation that Indian languages become an integral part of a
globalised postcolonial English. He affirms (1991:17): “it is normally
supposed that something always gets lost in translation; I cling, obstinately,
to the notion that something can also be gained”. However, one of the
problems that he faces many times is translating what it can't be translated.
One solution is be keeping the original word, so more languages are
included in the text. Another one is matching original words with an
explanation of their meaning. The final result, either way, is the combination
of “foreignizing translation” and the retention of foreign words. In an
interview with Pradyumna Chauhan (2001), Rushdie states:

you can't actually write about India in classical English […]

You have to find another thing to do with English in order to
come close to echoing the place that you write about.

In “Midnight's Children” we have many examples of both linguistic styles.

Indians show respect to the elders and to foreigners with the suffix ji/jee (e.g.
cousinji), while they use saahib and begum for “Mr” and “Mrs”, that reflect
the Indian hierarchy. According to Cefariello (2015:81) what remains
untranslated are highly used words like nasbandi, funtoosh, khichri, djinni
and abba, as well as exclamations like baap-re-baap, arré, Chhi-chhi! and
Hai!.
From a syntactic point of view, Indian English grammar is more complex
than Standard English. One of its characteristics is the use of progressive
verb tenses, which is recurring in Rushdie's works and in everyday Indian
language. For example, an Indian person is very likely to say “I am
hungering” rather than “I am hungry”.

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We can also find hybridization, which implies the usage of an English word
and an Indian word with the same meaning, like jailkhana (jail) in this
excerpt (MC 388):

Oh my God my hour has come, my darling Madam, only let me

go peacefully, do not put me in the jailkhana!

Rushdie also defines the character's social position through the use of code-
switching. In “Midnight's Children”, Padma, who works in a chutney factory,
urges Saleem to take care of himself saying:

Eat, na, food is spoiling... But what is so precious... to need al

this writing-shiting? (MC 24)

Finally, he matches the Indianized English spoken in Bombay with his

Oxfordian English, promoting a mixture of both. The author proves that
English can be remade and domesticated in order to depict different
experiences and cultures.

From the Indian subcontinent to the UK

According to the website “Striking Women”1, South Asian migrants to the
UK after 1947 (year of the Partition of India, which accompanied the
creation of two independent dominions, India and Pakistan) come from
different countries and for different reasons - to escape civil war, to seek
better economic opportunities and to join family members already settled
here. In spite of facing discrimination in Britain, these migrants have settled
in the UK, and through their struggles for workers‟ rights and civil rights
many have contributed to the political, economic and social life of the UK.

1
http://www.striking-women.org/module/map-major-south-asian-migration-flows/post-
1947-migration-uk-india-bangladesh-pakistan-and

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Migration from India
The ties between the British and the Punjab region of India go back a long
way. From 1857 onwards many Punjabis served in the British army. Sikh
soldiers who served in elite regiments, were often sent to other colonies of
the British Empire, and saw active service in both world wars. There is a
memorial in Sussex which honours the Sikh soldiers who died in WW1.
Britain‟s labour shortages shaped the post-war migration patterns from the
subcontinent. It was primarily men from middle-ranking peasant families in
Punjab, particularly those who had been previously employed in the colonial
army or the police force and their relatives, who took up this opportunity.
These Punjabi migrants found work in the manufacturing, textile and the
service sectors, including a significant number at Heathrow Airport in West
London. After the Commonwealth Immigrants Act was passed in 1962
which restricted the free movement of workers from the Commonwealth,
most workers from South Asia decided to settle in the UK and were
eventually joined by their families.

Migration from Pakistan

A large majority of Pakistani migrants in the UK originate from Mirpur in
Kashmir, which has a long history of out-migration. Sailors from Mirpur
found work as engine-room stokers on British ships sailing out of Bombay
and Karachi, some of whom settled in the UK in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
Pakistani migrants who came to Britain after the war found employment in
the textile industries of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Manchester and Bradford,
cars and engineering factories in the West Midlands, and Birmingham, and
growing light industrial estates in places like Luton and Slough. After the
Mangla dam was building 1966 which submerged large parts of the Mirpur

11
district, emigration from that area accelerated.
Other groups who migrated from Pakistan in the 1960s include Punjabis
who mainly settled in Glasgow, Birmingham and Southall in London, and
migrants from urban areas who were more likely to be professionals and
who worked for the NHS.

Migration from Bangladesh

Bangladeshi migration to the UK also has a long history. Lascars (sailors
from South East Asia) from the Sylhet region in Bangladesh arrived on
ships through the 18th and 19th century, some of whom settled in the UK.
However, large scale Bangladeshi settlement in the UK is a more recent
phenomenon compared to that of other South Asian communities.
When India gained its independence from British rule, the country was
partitioned creating a new state of Pakistan. Pakistan comprised of two
territories divided by a thousand miles - the present day Pakistan, which was
then known as East Pakistan, and the present day Bangladesh, which was
then West Pakistan. There was a civil war between East and West in 1970-
71, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Most Bangladeshi families in the UK in the present time are the result of
large scale migration in the early 1970s from the Sylhet region of
Bangladesh, as people fled from the civil unrest in their homeland, to seek a
better life in Britain. They settled in the East London boroughs, which had
previously been home to waves of immigrants such as Jewish migrants from
Eastern Europe escaping persecution before WWI, and others who fled Nazi
Germany and Austria in the 1930s. Bangladeshi men initially found work in
the steel and textile mills across England, but when these industries
collapsed, they turned to small businesses including tailoring and catering.
Many found work in the growing number of “Indian” restaurants and

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takeaways in the UK, most of which are actually owned by Bangladeshis.

Migration from Sri Lanka

During the 1960s and 70s, small numbers of professionals emigrated to the
UK from Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon till 1972), and found work in the
NHS and other white-collar occupations. These early migrants came from
affluent backgrounds, were well-educated and have become established in
British society.
The next distinctive phase of Sri Lankan migration to the UK occurred from
the 1980s onwards, during the civil war in Sri Lanka. A large number of
Tamil Sri Lankans sought asylum in the UK. These migrants were from less
affluent backgrounds, but like most who make a journey to the West, they
were by no means from the poorest sections of their society. Many Tamils
from poor backgrounds sought refuge in neighbouring India to escape state
persecution. 70% of people of Sri Lankan origin live in London, 20% in the
Midlands and the rest in other parts of the UK. Many Tamils in the UK have
found employment in small businesses, including grocery shops and
newsagents, with increasing numbers setting up their own business.

The Research
The English which is spoken in India is different from that spoken in other
regions of the world, and it is regarded as the unique variety which is called
Indian English. From this part of my thesis on, I will report my research
about some of the various ways Indians have intentionally and
unintentionally customized English to better suit their needs influenced
everyday English words. I will also explain my choice of said words,
whether is based on personal experience or on articles taken from the World
Wide Web or from books and dictionaries.

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The methodology
To start my research I used Google Ngram Viewer as my analysis tool. An
Ngram, also commonly called an N-gram is a statistical analysis of text or
speech content to find n (a number) of some sort of item, like phonemes,
prefixes, phrases, or letters. Although the N-gram is somewhat obscure
outside of researcher, it is actually used in a variety of fields, and it has a lot
of implications for people making computer programs that understand and
respond with natural spoken language.
In the case of Google Books Ngram Viewer, the text to be analysed comes
from the vast amount of books Google has scanned in from public libraries
to populate their Google Books search engine. For Google Books Ngram
Viewer, they refer to the text you are going to search as the "corpus." The
corpora in the Ngram Viewer are divided up by language, although you can
separately analyse British and American English or lump them together
(Karch:2017). For my research, I'm going to analyse both varieties together,
which Google Ngrams puts together using the name “English”, from 1800
to 2008.

Results and analysis

First of all, I have distinguished between “authentic” Indian words and
adapted words that have made it to England, and even more surprisingly, to
the Oxford English dictionary. Then, I graphically represented the
popularity of said words with the help of Google Ngram Viewer. As we will
see in the next two subchapters, the evaluation parameters have been
slightly different.
For authentic Indian words I've created three different graphs: one for
religion-related words, one for food-related words whose popularity is

14
stable and one for food-related words whose popularity is decreasing. On
the other hand, the graphs I've created for adapted words are based on the
semantic field they belong to: food, clothing, objects, and religion.

“Authentic” Indian
Going through all the Indian words that kept unchanged, I've noticed that in
the majority of cases – be them worldwide famous or only known in
countries where there's a high concentration of Indian immigrants, like the
UK – they are religion or food related.
Thanks to the study of Hindu philosophy and Buddhism, several religious
terms have entered English from Sanskrit, the classical language of Hindu
India (definitions were found on the blog “My English class”2):
• Nirvana: a blissful state characterized by the extinction of desire and
suffering. Literally, it means “blowing out”.
• Yoga: a Hindu discipline aimed at promoting the control of body and
mind.
• Karma: destiny, fate, the idea that one reaps what one sows.
• Guru: Sanskrit for „Teacher‟, it dates back to the times of the
Vedanta. The connotation in English, though, is more as an „Expert‟
on a subject.
• Pundit: Hindi for „Learned one‟. In India, „Pundit‟ is an exalted title
for a person who has achieved great heights in a field involving the
intellect or fine arts. It also means „Priest‟.
• Mantra: Sanskrit for „incantation‟ or „chant‟. Mantras in India are
supposed to have special powers and are prescribed as remedies for
rectifying spiritual issues. The English connotation of course is that

2
http://inmadom-myenglishclass.blogspot.it/2011/08/influence-of-indian-languages-in.html

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 of a panacea for a particular problem from a statement or slogan
recited repeatedly.

As for food, I've collected words from two main sources: signs outside
stores and restaurants in Whitechapel Road, a major arterial road in
Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. This borough is
known for its big Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan
communities; products sold in supermarkets such as Sainbury's and Tesco. I
will use definitions found on the online version of Oxford English
Dictionary:
• Pakora: a piece of vegetable or meat, coated in seasoned batter and
deep-fried.
• Samosa: a triangular savoury pastry fried in ghee or oil, containing
spiced vegetables or meat.
• Bhaji: a small flat cake or ball of vegetables, fried in batter.
• Garam Masala: a spice mixture used in Indian cooking.
• Korma: a mildly spiced Indian curry dish of meat or fish marinaded
in yogurt or curds.
• Rogan Josh: an Indian dish of curried meat, typically lamb, in a rich
tomato-based sauce.
• Tandoori: denoting or relating to a style of Indian cooking based on
the use of a tandoor.
• Paratha: a flat, thick piece of unleavened bread fried on a griddle.
• Chapati: a thin pancake of unleavened wholemeal bread cooked on
a griddle.
• Naan: a type of leavened bread, typically of teardrop shape and
traditionally cooked in a clay oven.
Now, let's see how data is represented in the graphs:

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This graph show how the popularity of Indian religion-related words
increased over the years. With one of the many Google Ngrams features
(which will be shown below and will be the same for each graph) we can
also have a look at the contexts (in this case books) in which our data
appears:

If we check the differences between the first and the last time frame for each
word, which will be 1800 – 1922 and 2002 – 2008 for nirvana, 1800 – 1939
and 2005 – 2008 for yoga, 1800 – 1914 and 2002 – 2008 for karma, 1800 –
1912 and 2003 – 2008 for guru, 1800 – 1823 and 1995 – 2008 for pundit
and 1800 – 1927 and 2005 – 2008 for mantra, we can see that these words
have been perfectly assimilated into Western culture: nirvana went from
books on Buddhism and encyclopedias to being the name of a popular rock
band from the 90's; yoga went from books on the Yoga philosophy to being
a popular therapy used for children and adults; karma went from books on

17
the laws of Buddhism to being a more “universal” lifestyle, regardless of
one's faith; guru went from being found in books next to spiritual directors'
names (for example “The Travels of Guru Tegh Bahadar and Guru Gobind
Singh" – 1876, “A Critical Study of the Life and Teachings of Sri Guru
Nanak Dev” - 1904, “Pandit Guru Datta's Works” - 1902) to being used as a
general word for teacher or expert (“FAQs on Marketing: Answered by the
Guru of Marketing” - 2008, “Lawn Geek: Tips and Tricks for the Ultimate
Turf from the Guru of Grass” - 2007); pundit went from being found in
documents with the purpose of informing the British about Hindustan
culture to being found in historical novels (“Clarinda, a Historical Novel” -
2005), tales (“Tales told by mystics” - 2001) and essays about politics and
theology (“The Public Intellectual: Between Philosophy and Politics” - 2003,
“Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion” - 2003); mantra went
from being discussed in texts and dictionaries, such as the Sanskrit-English
dictionary by Monier Monier-Williams (1872) to being discussed in
comparative texts between Western and Eastern cultures (for example
“Prayer Or Mantra?: A Contrast Between Christian Prayer and Eastern
Meditation” - 2006, “Mantra Practice Using the Bible” - 2005).

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For what concerns food-related words whose popularity is stable and food-
related words whose popularity is decreasing, the classification is the
following. The first and the last time frame for each word in the first of the
graphs below will be 1800 – 1943 and 2005 – 2008 for bhaji, 1800 – 1980
and 2007 – 2008 for garam masala, 1800 – 1981 and 2004 – 2008 for
tandoori, 1800 – 1922 and 2002 – 2008 for chapati. The first and the last
time frame for each word in the second graph below will be 1800 – 1968
and 2007 – 2008 for pakora, 1800 – 1974 and 2008 for samosa, 1800 –
1913 and 2006 – 2008 for korma, 1800 – 1987 and 2007 – 2008 for rogan
josh, 1800 – 1969 and 2006 – 2008 for paratha and 1800 – 1807 and 2000 –

19
2008 for naan.
I decided to analyse all of them together because we can notice from the
sources that is not the meaning of this data in a certain context that changes,
but rather its use. Each datum went from being used in cookbooks (like
garam masala in “Grand Diplôme Cooking Course - Volume 13” - 1972 and
paratha in “Hindu Cookery, Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian” - 1963) or
travel journals (like chapati in “The Merv Oasis: Travels and Adventures
East of the Caspian During the Years 1879-80-81 Including Five Months'
Residence Among the Tekkés of Merv, Volume 2” - 1882 and “Banting in
India: With Some Remarks on Diet and Things in General” - 1885), a
combination of both (like korma in “Journal of Taste - Volume 6" – 1899) or
even parliament debates reports (like tandoori in an official report from the
Rajya Sabha, 1970, described as the cause of a flight delay), to travel
guidebooks (like pakora and rogan josh in "Northeast India" by Lonely
Planet – 2007), novels (like samosa in "The Inheritance of Loss: Life &
Death In Karachi" – 2008), besides more recent cookbooks (like naan in
"Barbecues: Over 200 Great Recipes" – 2008 and bhaji in "Everyday Indian
Cooking" - 2006).

Adaptations
Some of the most widely used words in English coming from Indian
languages are (definitions are from Rangan:2015 unless otherwise stated):
• Bungalow: a small house having a single storey, from the word
bangla, meaning “Bengalese”, or “house in the Bengal style”.
• Dungarees: heavy denim fabric or the trousers or overalls made with
this material, from Hindi duṅgrī.
• Shampoo: originally a body massage given after pouring warm
water over the body and then rubbing it with extracts from herbs.

20
 Today, it refers liquid soap for washing hair. The word comes from
18th century Hindi champo, imperative of the verb champna, which
means “to press”.
• Dinghy: a small boat carried on a larger boat, or an inflatable rubber
life raft, from Hindi ḍiṅgī.
• Juggernaut: the English connotation is „a huge, overwhelming and
unstoppable force‟. It is derived from the name of God Vishnu –
Jagannath. The Jagannath temple in Puri in Eastern India has an
annual festival where a huge chariot seating the deity is dragged with
ropes by devotees. In bygone days (and days of the British Raj) such
was the religious fervour that devotees would sometimes get crushed
under the chariot but it could not and would not be stopped. Hence
the derivation.
• Mango: Malayalam and Tamil languages had the mangai which
entered the Portuguese culture as manga. Later, the British added the
word in their language and called it “mango”.
• Ginger: ginger comes from Malayalam in Kerala, travels through
Greek and Latin into Old French and Old English, and then the word
and plant become a global commodity. In the 15th Century, it‟s
introduced into the Caribbean and Africa and it grows, so the word,
the plant and the spice spread across the world (Teltscher 2015).
• Avatar: from avatāra, is the Sanskrit word for „Incarnation‟.
Traditionally used for the „incarnations‟ of the Hindu God „Vishnu‟
on earth, it is also used for a „new form‟ taken by someone. The
connotation in English is similar, though the word has become more
popular with the advent of the web in the way of online „Avatars‟.
• Khaki: first used as a colour in 1848, khaki was conceived as a
camouflage colour for desert warfare. The word khak in Hindi means

21
 „Ash‟ or „Soil‟.
• Loot: from Hindi lūṭ, from Sanskrit luṇṭh, means private property
taken from an enemy in war.
• Thug: from the Hindi word thag. Thugs were organised robbers and
assassins in India. Notoriously secretive and skilled, they would
strangle passers-by on forest routes with their legs, hanging down
from trees. They also used yellow scarves with a coin tied in the
centre to quickly strangle victims.
• Mugger: from Hindi magar, from Sanskrit makara. The crocodile is
a master of ambush hence the connotation in English.
• Dacoit: from the Hindi word dakait, a member of a band of armed
robbers.
• Chutney: from the Tamil word chatni. One of the most commonly
used culinary accompaniments in India. A mix of condiments and
spices used as a sauce or accompaniment to specific dishes or even
as a common one to several dishes.
• Jute: from the Bengali word jatho which means matted or
interwoven fabric or hair.
• Bandanna: from the Hindi word bandhan which means „Tie‟.
bandhana in Hindi means „to tie‟.
• Punch – (as in fruit punch): from the Hindi word paanch which
means „Five‟. The drink‟s original five ingredients were spirits, water,
lemon juice, sugar and spice.
• Pajamas or pyjamas: from the Hindi word paijama meaning „Leg
garment‟.
• Bandicoot: from the Telugu word pandi-kokku which means „Pig
Rat‟.

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The first and the last time frame for adapted religion-related words will be
1800 – 1923 and 2003 – 2008 for “Juggernaut” and 1800 – 1845 and 2004 –
2008 for “avatar”. Both the former and the latter went from to being studied
as Hindustan gods like in “The God Juggernaut and Hinduism in India:
From a Study of Their Sacred Books and More Than 5,000 Miles of Travel
in India" (dated 1914) and "The mythology of the Hindus: with notices of
the various mountain and island tribes inhabiting the two peninsulas of India
and the neighbouring islands, and an appendix comprising the minor avatars
and the mythological and religious terms, &c, &c of the Hindus" (1832) to
being used either as a figure of speech, like in "Globalization: The
Juggernaut of the 21st Century" (2008), "Jumble® Juggernaut: An
Unbeatable Jumble Powerhouse" (2007), "The Theatrical Juggernaut (The
Psyche of the Star): 2nd Edition, Director's Cut" (2006) or in computing,
like in “I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life”
(2007), “Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds”
(2008) and “Second Life: A Guide to Your Virtual World” (2007).

23
The first and the last time frame for adapted clothing-related words will be
1800 – 1876 and 2002 – 2008 for “bandanna”, 1800 – 1931 and 1999 –
2008 for “dungarees”, 1800 – 1922 and 2002 – 2008 for “pajamas” and
1800 – 1914 and 1994 – 2008 for “pyjamas”. In this case, it's noticeable that
the words have indeed lost their original meaning, even though it didn't
happen as soon as the adaptation took place: “dungarees” and
“pajamas”/“pyjamas” initially kept their original meaning, as we can see in
“Uniform Regulations, United States Navy: Together with Uniform
Regulations Common to Both Navy and Marine Corps” (1913) for
“dungarees” and in the novels “The Great White Tribe in Filipinia” (1903),
“The Bradys and Little Chin-Chin; Or, Exposing an Opium Gang” (1908)
for “pyjamas” and “The Wouldbegoods” (1901) for “pajamas”. As for
“bandanna”, it was referred to as “bandanna kerchief” in both magazines
and journals, like in “Colonial Times - Volume 11” (1826) and “The
American Journal of Science and Arts - Volume 24” (1833). Nowadays,
these words are mostly likely to be found in books for children, like
“bandanna” in “I'm Creative - Art and Crafts for Primary School 6” (2006),
“Timothy and the Strong Pyjamas” (2007), “Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas”
(2003) for pyjamas/pajamas as well as in books for adults, like in “The Boy

24
in the Striped Pajamas” (2008) and “From Here to Maternity” (2005) and
“The ultimate book of quilting cross stitch & needlecraft: a complete
practical and inspirational guide to traditional and contemporary handiwork
techniques with over 200 step-by-step projects and 1500 photographs”

(2005) for “dungarees”.

The first and the last time frame for adapted object-related words will be
1800 – 1860 and 1993 – 2008 for “bungalow”, 1800 – 1923 and 2005 –
2008 for “shampoo”, 1800 – 1915 and 1999 – 2008 for “dinghy”, 1800 –
1915 and 1994 – 2008 for “khaki”, 1800 – 1870 and 1992 – 2008 for “loot”,
1800 – 1865 and 2001 – 2008 for “mugger” and 1800 – 1892 and 1983 –
2008 for “jute”. All of them kept their original meaning, but the context in
which they appear has changed: “bungalow” went from travel journals
(“The Bungalow and the Tent, Or, A Visit to Ceylon” - 1854) to interior
design books (“The New Bungalow Kitchen” - 2007, “Bungalow Details:
Interior” - 2006); “shampoo” went from formularies (“Practical Druggist
and Pharmaceutical Review of Reviews” - 1900, “The Era Formulary: 5000
Formulas for Druggists” - 1893) to healthcare (“The Beauty Buyble: The
Best Beauty Products of 2007” - 2006) and scientific books (“Chemical
Composition of Everyday Products” - 2005); “dinghy” went from novels

25
(“A Desperate Voyage” - 1898), dictionaries (“The concise Oxford
dictionary Of current English” - 1911) to sailing and nautical books (“The
Voyager's Handbook: The Essential Guide to Blue Water Cruising” - 2006,
“Handbook of Offshore Cruising: The Dream and Reality of Modern Ocean
Cruising” - 2000); “jute” went from reports (“Report on Jute Culture, and
the Importance of the Industry” - 1883, “A Dictionary of the Economic
Products of India: Cabbage to Cyperus” - 1889) to history books (“Women
and Labour in Late Colonial India: The Bengal Jute Industry” - 1999, “Jute
Cultivation in India and Bangladesh: A Comparative Study” -1990);
“mugger” went from dictionaries (“A New English Dictionary of the
English Language” - 1836) to encyclopedias (“Naturalized Reptiles and
Amphibians of the World” - 2003) and novels (“Hugger Mugger” - 2001).
However, “loot” kept being used in novels (“The Cornhill Magazine -
Volume 6” - 1862, “Beautiful Loot: The Soviet Plunder of Europe's Art
Treasures” - 1995) and “khaki” went from novels (“A Monte Cristo in
Khaki: The Story of a Self-made Nobleman” - 1903) and military records
(“Regulations of the United States Naval Academy: 1909” - 1909) to novels
only (“Newsmen in Khaki: Tales of a World War II Soldier Correspondent” -
2004).

26
Finally, the first and the last time frame for adapted food-related words will
be 1800 – 1924 and 2004 – 2008 for “fruit punch”, 1800 – 1821 and 1998 –
2008 for “ginger”, 1800 – 1838 and 1997 – 2008 for “mango” and 1800 –
1916 and 2003 – 2008 for “chutney”. We can find the first three words in
cookery books from both time frames: “The Economy Administration Cook
Book” (1913) and “Party Punches: Punch Recipes from Around the World”
(2004) for “fruit punch”; “The Family receipt-book, or, Universal repository
of useful knowledge and experience in all the various branches of domestic
oeconomy” (1810) and “A Spoonful of Ginger: Irresistible, Health-Giving
Recipes from Asian Kitchens” (1999) for “ginger”; “The Cook's Oracle,
Containing Receipts for Plain Cookery” (1836) and “The Mongo Mango
Cookbook” (2001) for “mango”. The last two can be found in botanical
books from both time frames as well: “Medical Botany - Volume 1” (1810)
and “Ginger: A Versatile Healing Herb” (2003) for “ginger”; “The Universal
Herbal, Or, Botanical, Medical, and Agricultural Dictionary” (1820) and
“Breeding Tropical and Subtropical Fruits” (2002) for “mango”. “Chutney”,
on the other hand, went from being used as a substitute for the adjective
“Indian”, as in “The Chutney Lyrics: A Collection of Comic Pieces in Verse,
on Indian Subjects” (1871) and “Chutney papers: society, shikar, and sport

27
in India, by 'C.M., a Bombay-walla'.” (1884), to being used in cookbooks
(“Simply South Traditional Vegetarian Cook” - 2008) and novels (“Chutney
Power” - 2006).

Conclusions
This leads to the question – are Indian English and Indian languages really
taking over English in English L1 countries? I would consider it more of an
amalgam of all of them.
There is no doubt that the increasing number of incoming Indian immigrants
and of British and American born Indians is helping their culture to spread
overseas. It can be observed from the graphs we just finished analysing:
whether the words taken into analysis kept their original lemma or they
become assimilated by another language, whether they adapted their
meaning to the needs of another culture or kept their original one, it seems
that multiple languages can function together when their speakers have their
particular domains of use. Indians have a lot to gain from knowing English,
and the world has a lot to gain from Indians knowing English and from
knowing Indian languages and culture. This increases the diversity of
experience that people around the world receive as part of their education.

28
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Google Ngram Viewer © 2013 Google https://books.google.com/ngrams
Google Books © 2011 Google https://books.google.com/?hl=en
Oxford Living Dictionaries © 2017 Oxford University Press
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/

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Ringraziamenti

Vorrei ringraziare tutte le persone che mi hanno aiutato nella realizzazione

della mia Tesi.

La prima persona è il mio relatore, il professor David Katan. I suoi consigli

prima, durante e al completamento di questa tesi sono stati preziosi.

Un ringraziamento va poi alla mia famiglia, coloro che, con una parola o
con una musata, mi hanno sempre sostenuta e spronata a dedicarmi con tutta
me stessa alle mie passioni: mamma, papà, Alessia e Kim.

Non può mancare un ringraziamento speciale alle persone che hanno reso
più leggeri questi anni, con cui ho intrapreso questo percorso tra risate,
sudore e lacrime: Lea (Giulia per gli amici), che ha da tempo un posto
speciale nel mio cuore e con cui ho condiviso una delle esperienze più
importanti delle nostre vite; Cristina ed Elisabetta, con cui ho sudato sette
camicie (a testa!) per questa laurea; Grazia, che tra cibo, trucchi e The Sims
sapeva esattamente come farmi distrarre, al contrario di Elisabetta, che ha
sempre cercato di farmi stare attenta durante le nostre (troppo poche) lezioni
in comune. Non dimenticherò mai come le nostre diversissime personalità ci
abbiano unite più di qualsiasi momento vissuto insieme. Vi voglio bene.
Grazie anche a Luca, Giacomo, Laura, Alberto, Marco e tutti gli altri per la
loro simpatia e la loro amicizia.

Ringrazio Londra, che mi ha ispirata ad esplorare (tanto da scriverci una

tesi!) la sua multiculturalità di cui va, e sperò andrà sempre, molto fiera.

31
Ultima ma non per importanza, vorrei ringraziare me stessa, per lo spirito e
la determinazione con cui ho affrontato questi anni, dal primo giorno da
matricola al giorno di consegna di questa tesi, e che spero mi
accompagneranno negli anni a venire.

32