INDIAN INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE

 

 

English language has travelled to many countries across the globe, adopting countless linguistic and cultural traits along the way. But it was Britain’s presence in India that gave the English lexicon a surprising boost as colonial travellers witnessed new civilizations and cultural practices that were simply unheard of in Britain at the time. The British East India Company seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and ruled from 1757 until 1858. Then the rule was then passed to the Crown until India’s independence in 1947.

Language assimilation often occurs when two cultures are exposed to each other over a long period of time – words from one culture are subsequently assimilated into another. This could be in the form of words completely being absorbed into another culture’s language or words being altered to fit the linguistic limitations of the recipient language. India’s influence has seen words from Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and Tamil all make their way into the English Language once the East India Company arrived in India and traded with local and surrounding territories.

There are as many as 1,000 words of Indian origin in the English language, and still counting! Atoll, avatar, bandana, bangle, bhelpuri, blighty, bungalow, calico, cashmere, catamaran, cheetah, cheroot, chintz, chit, choky, churidar, chutney, coir, cot, cowrie, cummerbund, cushy, curry, dal, dinghy, dharma, doolally, dungarees, godown, gymkhana, gunny, guru, jodhpurs, jungle, jute, karma, kedgeree, khaki,loot, Mogul, Maharaja, mantra, masala, nirvana, Pashmina, punch, Pandit, pajama, pukka, raita, roti, shampoo, teepoy, thug, tickety-boo, toddy, typhoon, veranda and yaar are just a few examples.

The English language has absorbed words from cultures the world over but the linguistic association with India is special. The following is a list of some English words whose origins lie in the Hindi, Urdu or Sanskrit languages spoken in India, Pakistan and other countries. These words have entered English through a variety of routes, but the presence of many dates back to the days of the Raj, when India was occupied by the British.

1. Avatar [Hindi / Sanskrit]
In Hinduism, an avatar is the manifestation in human or animal form of a god, especially Vishnu. The word first appeared in English in the 18th century and derives ultimately from the Sanskrit word avatara meaning descent.

More recently the word has gained additional senses, for example to refer to a computer user’s visual representation within a game, on a forum etc.

2. Bangle [Hindi]
A rigid ornamental bracelet worn around the wrist (or ankle). Its appearance in English dates back to the 18th century. It derives from the Hindi word bangri meaning a glass ring or bracelet.

3. Bungalow [Hindi]
A one-storied house. Derives from the Hindi word bangla meaning, literally, in the style of or belonging to Bengal. The word bungalow in English dates back to the 17th century when it was used to refer to a type of cottage built in Bengal for early European settlers.

4. Bandana from Bandhnu [Hindi]

The method of dyeing fabric by tying it in multiple places is known as bandhnu in Hindi, which is where the large, colourful handkerchiefs/bandanas get their name from.

5. Bandobast [Hindi / Urdu]

A relatively new entrant to the English language bandobast is from Urdu and Hindi and it means preparation or an arrangement for dealing with something. The police bandobast was very effective.

6. Candy < Sucre Candi [French] < Qandi [Persian] < Khanda [Sanskrit]

Sweet-enthusiasts munching down on crystallized sugar might never know that that candy has travelled a long way, in terms of the roots of its origin. Starting from the Sanskrit khanda, another word for sugar, it journeyed to Persia where it became qandi, meaning cane sugar. Making its way to France, old French refers to sugar candy as sucre candi, which then became candy in English.

7. Cashmere from Kashmir [Hindi / Urdu]

Those soft, smooth shawls with intricate designs in various colours find their name dating back to the 1680s, christened by the old spelling of the Himalayan state Kashmir, where wool for this garment came from long-haired goats.

8. Chit from Chitthi [Hindi]

All those who spent more time in attempts to waste time rather than paying attention in class have encountered the word chit before, referring to note-passing. The Hindi word chitthi, meaning letter, gifts chit its name.

9. Cummerbund from kamarband [Urdu]

Men dressed in the best will be incomplete without the thick band wrapped around their waists known as a kummerband, whose source can be traced back to Urdu’s qamarband.

10. Cheetah [Hindi]
A long-legged big cat from Africa, the fastest land animal on Earth. Its black spots provide the clue to the origins of its name, which derives from the Hindi word chitti, meaning speckled or variegated.

11. Chutney [Hindi]
A thick, pickled condiment made from fruit, vinegar, spices and sugar. This word entered the English language in the 19th century and derives from the Hindi word chatni, whose meaning is more or less the same as the English word.

12. Cot [Hindi]
This word has several meanings, but in the sense of a portable bed or a high-sided child’s bed, it derives from the Hindi word khat, meaning a bedstead or hammock. It arrived in the English language during the 17th century.

13. Dacoit [Hindi]

Originally from Hindi word daku, meaning a member of a class of criminals who engage in organized robbery and murder. Hence also dacoity (banditry)

14. Guru [Hindi / Sanskrit / Gurmukhi]
Originally a Hindu or Sikh spiritual guide, guru entered English in the 17th century, where it now also means any important and respected intellectual guide or mentor. The original word in the Hindi and Sanskrit, also guru, means venerable.

15. Gymkhana  from Gedkhana [Hindi] or Gendkhana [Urdu]

Hindustani languages referred to English ball-courts quite literally, calling them ball [ged or gend] houses [khana], and that’s where gymkhanas derive their name from, first used in the 1870s.

16. Juggernaut [Hindi]
In English, a juggernaut is an unstoppable force or movement that sweeps aside or destroys anything in its path. In the UK it is also used to refer to very large lorries (trucks). The word arrived in English in the 19th century and derives from the word Jagannath, a form of the Hindu deity Vishnu.

17. Jungle [Hindi]
An area of dense vegetation or, by extension, any challenging or hostile environment. It derives from the Hindi word jangal meaning a forest and began to be used in English during the 18th century.

18. Jodhpurs [Hindi]

Full-length trousers, worn for horseback riding, that are close-fitting below the knee, flared and roomy at the thigh, and have reinforced patches on the inside of the leg. These are named after Jodhpur, where similar garments are worn by Indian men as part of everyday dress.

19. Khaki [Khaki Urdu / Khak Persian]

First introduced in uniforms of British cavalry in India, as well as adopted as camouflage fabric in the Boer Wars, khaki is a well-known cloth around the world. Deriving its name from the Urdu word khaki meaning dust-coloured cloth, it originally comes from khak, meaning dust in Persian.

20. Loot [Hindi]
Loot is both a noun and a verb. As a verb it means to ransack, to steal from someone or something, often in a violent way. The noun means whatever is stolen by the act of looting or, simply, any money. The word derives from the Hindi verb lut, meaning to plunder or steal.

21. Mongoose from Mangus [Marathi]

The term used to describe the carnivorous animal known for its ability to kill venomous snakes can be traced back to mangus, the Marathi word for the same creature.

22. Mango [Tamil]

‘Mango’, commonly known as ‘aam’ in Hindi, also followed the same route. While Malayalam and Tamil languages used the word ‘mangai’, it entered into Portuguese as ‘manga’, where the British later added the word ‘mango’ into English.

23. Nirvana [Sanskrit]

From one of the world’s most sensational bands to the attainment of inner peace and realization or perfect bliss, the word nirvana is engrained in the English language since the 1890s, with its roots in the Sanskrit word nirvana meaning disappearance (of the individual soul into the universal).

24. Punch from Pancha [Sanskrit]

Cups of the fruity mixture popularly called fruit punch derives its name from Sanskrit’s pancha meaning five, in reference to the five ingredients used in this concoction.

25. Pyjamas/Pajamas [Hindi]
A set of loose-fitting sleeping clothes, consisting of a jacket and trousers. The pajama spelling is used in North America. The word entered English in the 19th century. It derives from the Hindi word payjamah, meaning leg (pay) and clothing (jamah).

26. Shampoo [Hindi]
A soapy liquid for washing the hair (or other things such as carpets). It arrived in English in the 18th century and derives from the Hindi word champo, meaning to squeeze, knead or massage.

27. Thug [Hindi]
A brutal or violent person, it derives ultimately from the Hindi word thag meaning a thief or a cheat. It entered the English language early in the 19th century.

28. Typhoon [Urdu]

This is from a Urdu word ‘toofaan’ which means cyclone

29. Veranda/Verandah [Bengali / Hindi]
A sheltered gallery or terrace attached to a house or some other building. The word began to appear in the English language early in the 18th century. In Hindi, the word varanda has a similar meaning and in Bengali it is ‘baranda’. This is not the source of the word, however, as it is thought to derive from the Portuguese word varanda meaning a balcony.

30. Yoga [Sanskrit / Hindi]
This was originally a Sanskrit word meaning yoking or union. It refers to a system of Hindu philosophy concerned with achieving reunion with the divine. A part of this discipline involves meditation, breath control and the adoption of certain postures, which is how the word came to have the sense of a system of physical exercise. It entered English in the 19th century.

There are more than 1000 words in English language which are borrowed from or they owe their origin to Indian languages. Two centuries of association and the cultural, diplomatic and social blending that followed our independence helped in enriching the English language. Authors like V.S. Naipaul, Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry, Kiran Desai, Indra Sinha, Arvind Adiga, Amitav Ghosh and Jeet Thayil have contributed towards this effort and even won the Booker Prize! Today English is spoken by far more Indians than Englishmen and India is second only to the United States when English speakers are counted!