LSSL 14: Indian English: A Sociolinguistic Profile

Indian English: A Sociolinguistic Profile

Verusca Costenaro
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia

Indian English: what does this term exactly mean? Is this variety of English characterized by some specific language features, and if so, can this be due to the Indian plurilingual and socio-cultural context in which the English language is used?

The present works tries to give an answer to these questions. As the title suggests, the main aim is to investigate the variety of English used in India from a sociolinguistic perspective.

While analysing the language structure of this variety, this work tries to determine what the main linguistic and socio-cultural factors are, which may be held responsible for its distinctiveness. The two language aspects that will be tackled are the morpho-syntax and the lexicon of the specific variety termed Educated Indian English. Throughout this work, the morpho-syntax and lexicon of Educated Indian English will be compared to those of Standard British English, in an attempt to identify those recurring traits that contribute to making Indian English a unique variety of English with its own distinctive features.

ISBN 9783862885237. LINCOM Studies in Sociolinguistics 14. 206pp. 2014.