English in India: Refraction Phenomenon

Abstract

A ray passing through water changes its direction. It is known as refraction. Similarly, a language passing through an alien culture is bound to change its nature. English in India shows indelible marks of this ‘refraction phenomenon’. The arrival of English in the Indian Sub continent as an alien language, its subsequent acculturation through contact with local languages and cultures and the consequent emergence of local varieties of English present an interesting field of study for sociolinguists. The present paper aims at discussing the different aspects of this process of change. The first part of the paper briefly summarizes the spread, pervasiveness and emergence of varieties of English. It is followed by a detailed discussion of the changing English in India. The focus is on the refraction phenomenon, i.e., rebirth of English as a result of its contact with local languages and cultures. Though the changes occur at different levels like the phonological, lexical, syntactic and semantic, marked examples related to the last three levels are discussed in order to bring into focus the authenticity and legitimacy of ‘Indian English’ as an independent variety.