Hinglish is the Indian-English spoken by English-speaking Indians.1 Hinglish, also known as Hindlish, is part of the popular Indian English; mixing Hindi idioms in English sentence construction. In pronunciation, Indian English is rhotic, /r/ being pronounced in all positions. The /v/ and /w/ are not distinct, but rather neutralized into /w/, thus wine for both wine and vine.
Although standard British continues to have influence in Indian English grammar, there are great variety in syntax, some of the popular ones are:
(1) Interrogative construction without subject/auxiliary inversion
What you would like to buy? [What would you like to buy?]
(2) Reversed usage of definitive article:
It is the nature’s way; Office is closed today.
[Office is closed today because of inclement weather]
(3) Use of one as indefinite articles
He gave me one book. [He gave me a book.]
(4) Stative verbs given progressive forms:
You must be knowing my cousin-brother Devan. [You met my cousin Devan.]
(5) Reduplication used for emphasis
I bought some small small things. [I bought a few things.]
(6) Yes and no as question tags:
You are helping her, no? [Are you helping her?]
You are coming, yes? [Are you coming along?]
(7) ‘Isn’t it? as a generalized question tag
They are coming for the meeting, isn’t it? [Will they be coming for the meeting?]
(8) Reflexive pronouns used for emphasis:
It was God’s will itself. [It was God's own will?]
(9) Only used for emphasis:
They live like that only. [That is how they live.]
(10) Present perfect rather than simple past
I have bought the book yesterday. [I bought the book yesterday.]
Some words from indigenous languages, such as Hindi and Bengali, are adapted to English:
achcha: all right (used in agreement and often repeated)
chapatti: a flat, pancake-like piece of unleavened bread.
crore: a unit of 100 lakhs, e.g. core of rupees
lakh: a unit of 100,000
paisa: a coin, 100th of a rupee
Sri, Shri, Shree: Mr. [add mati, as Srimati for Mrs.]
Some words, however, are taken directly from Sanskrit, usually religious and philosophical associations, others restricted to yoga:
chakra: a mystical center of energy in the body [popularly used in Naruto]
guru: a spiritual teacher, also to mean quasi-revered guide, e.g. management guru
nirvana: release from the wheel of rebirth [in pop-culture, the name of Kurt Cobain's band]
Some words are calques, loan translations, from local languages:
dining-leaf: a banana leaf to serve food
cousin-brother: a male cousin
co-brother-in-law: one who is also a brother-in-law
There is also widespread code-mixing vocabulary between English and Hindi:
(1) Hybrid usages; one component from English,and one from Hindi:
policewala: a policeman
grameen bank: a village bank
kaccha road: a dirt road
tiffin box: a lunch-box, popularized by Dabbawallas, of Six-Sigma fame
(2) Local senses:
body-bath: an ordinary bath
condole: to offer condolences to someone
head-bath: washing one’s hair
issueless: childless
out of station: not in one’s place of work
to sit on someone’s neck: to watch that person carefully
to stand on someone’s head: to supervise that person carefully
do one thing, mister: there is one thing you could do, mister.
this thing, that thing: all sorts of things
Local Scenes
Scene 1:
During one important meeting, the presentor was asked: "Did the auditors passed their courses to do the audit?"
The presenter answered, "Yes."
The presenter’s expat head agreed: "Yes, all the auditors passed out!"
I thought, or maybe I said it aloud, did he just said "All the auditors fainted?!"
Scene 2:
Once, my expat boss demanded: "Could you give me your digits?"
"What digits?" I replied.
"Your cellphone numbers, please."
"Oh!" I thought he was asking for my fingers and my toes!
Postscript: Later, he called my cellphone asking me to come to his cubicle. His cubicle was only a "talking distance" from where I was seated.
Scene 3:
Another time, when the mill was on a Maintenance Downturn, my expat department head told me: "Do one thing, you should stand on your personnel’s heads."
Flabbergasted at the thought, I replied: "It would be impossible to do that, there are ten men in one shift; and aside from that, that would be cruelty!"
The expat clarified: "What I mean . . . being their supervisor, sit on their necks!"
Again, picturing what he said, I just replied: "Ahhhh . . . you meant . . . supervise them!"
The expat nodded, and left shaking his head, as if in disbelief.
[Postscript: It was only later, after reading the book cited below, that I finally decoded what the expat department head was saying: "There is one thing you could do, supervise or watch them carefully!"]
Scene 4:
"So what you have done the entire week? This thing, that thing, wasting your time . . . but you have not finished the small small report, no?"
[Transliteration: "So, what have you done the entire week? All sorts of things, wasting your time but the very brief report remained unfinished?"]
"I am doing everything myself, being the only staff personnel in this department. I did research, created graphics, wrote and even formatted the report. It is unfinished because you kept on editing or adding some. By the way, it is not a brief report, but rather a 46-page, 10-pica single-spaced document!"
Scene 5:
"Could you call the generator for me?"
"What generator?" I asked.
" . . .and tell him to fill-up my water bottle, yes?" he continued.
" You mean, the janitor . . .utilily man . . . floor manager?"
He looked at me like wide-eyed schoolboy.
"The one who sweeps the floor?" I clarified.
"Yes, please."
Reference
[1] Excerpted from McArthur, Tom [ed.] (1992), The Oxford Companion to the English
Language. Oxford: University Press, 1992. pp. 504-08.
