SOUTH ASIAN ENGLISH
SOUTH ASIAN ENGLISH, short form SAE. The English language as used in BANGLADESH, Bhutan, India, the MALDIVES, NEPAL, Pakistan, and SRI LANKA. The combined populations of these countries, projected as 1,400m in the year 2000, constitute almost a quarter of the human race. English is their main link language, largely as a result of British commercial, colonial, and educational influence since the 17c. Only Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives remained outside the British Raj. All South Asian countries are linguistically and culturally diverse, with two major language families, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan, a shared cultural and political history, common literary and folk traditions, and pervasive strata of SANSKRIT, Persian, and English in language and literature. Three factors operated in favour of the spread of English: the work of Christian missionaries: demand from local leaders for education in English, to benefit from Western knowledge; and a decision by the government of India to make English the official medium of education. There is a general educated South Asian variety of English used for pan-regional and international purposes. Its use is influenced by three factors: level of education and proficiency; the user's first or dominant language (and the characteristics of the language family to which it belongs); and ethnic, religious, or other background. There is a continuum from this educated usage as an ACROLECT through various MESOLECTS to such BASILECTS as the BROKEN ENGLISH of servants, street vendors and beggars.
More From encyclopedia.com
British English , BRITISH ENGLISH Short from BrE. The English language as used in Britain. The phrase contrasts with kinds of ENGLISH used elsewhere, and especially wi… Norse , NORSE Also Old Norse, Scandinavian, and (with particular reference to its use in England) DANISH. The SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES in an early, relatively… English Language , English language. This originated in the speech of small groups of Anglo-Saxon settlers in eastern Britain in the 5th and 6th cents. It is now not on… Pidgin , PIDGIN A term used in both a general and a technical sense for a CONTACT LANGUAGE which draws on elements from two or more languages: pidgin Portugue… anglicism , ANGLICIZE AmE & BrE, Anglicise AusE & BrE [with and without an initial capital].
1. To make (someone or something) English in nationality, culture, o… Modern English , MODERN ENGLISH, short form ModE, MnE. Also sometimes New English.
1. The third stage in the history and development of the ENGLISH language, c.1450 t…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
SOUTH ASIAN ENGLISH