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Introduction to Indian English

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Re: Introduction to Indian English

#23
post #12

In my experience, at least some aspects of the Indian English exists because we Indians often mentally translate what we want to say from our native language (which are plentiful) to English before it comes out of our mouth. I don't imagine this is a uniquely Indian phenomenon – other non-native English speakers would be doing the same.

Even Irish people whose main language since birth is English do this. There's a verb in Gaeilge which does exist in English but is translated as "does be". Examples: - He does be eating his breakfast - She does be out walking the dog It's the continuous/habitual form of to be, so the implication is that she does be walking the dog everyday, or regularly. He does be eating his breakfast everyday. The interesting thing…

It really do be like that sometimes

Re: Introduction to Indian English

#29
post #10

Not exactly Indian English, but my favourite English word with an Indian origin is Juggernaut. Its a morphed version of the name of an Indian deity – Jagannath. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggernaut : > A juggernaut, in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. > This English usage originates in the mid-nineteenth century. Juggernaut is the…

Thats a good one. Also as an Indian I didn't know Anaconda, Pariah, Mango, Mulligatawny, etc originated from Indian languages

Re: Introduction to Indian English

#30
post #6
post #2

One typical expression that stuck with me is "[please] do the needful" (often used when assigning Jira tickets to someone else).

It seems to be a direct translation of the word करणीय (karaniya, that which needs to be done) in many Indic languages. A more idiomatic translation might be “please get this done”; the “needful” phrase might also be a signal that the writer isn’t that familiar with idioms used in other English-speaking countries. Hobson-Jobson[1] had a great early compilation of some phrases that arose in the subcontinent— many are s…

In French people also say "veuillez faire le nécessaire" , literally please do the necessary", which sounds similar in sentence structure
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