The Dilemma of Indian English - Part II
Updated: Sep 21, 2020
In the first part, we focused on
the influence of regional-language linguistics on Indian English;
how nouns dominate Indian English, while verbs dominate modern English;
the Victorian rules of vocabulary that are still followed in Indian English;
George Orwell's six rules for better writing;
examples of officialese, journalese, commercialese, and legalese;
the correct way of writing in modern English
In this part, we will continue with the misused words in many English language newspapers in India.
Indlish Example 2.1: a newspaper report (journalese)
Focus Words: pointed out
Mr Justice...of the Karnataka High Court has exhorted young advocates to utilize the ensuing summer vacation to enrich their legal knowledge....Young advocates should particularly concentrate more on pleading and drafting, he pointed out.
The government has taken the position that the attacks were localized events...It has been pointed out that the incidents took place in the month of Easter, while the Dangs atrocities also took place in the Christmas week.
It was pointed out that the US President had not really backed India's claim....
Introspection
1. Ensue means happens afterwards. Here, summer vacation appears to be a person who is going to happen afterwards.🙂
2. Points out means to draw attention to. Here the judge is advising young lawyers and not drawing their attention to.
3. In second and third sentences, who did the pointing out? - Raj-day impersonal passive.
4. Did Dangs atrocities take place then and also during Christmas? - redundant use of also - remove it.Verbals are the verbs that do not act like verbs.
An infinitive is a verbal formed from a verb, but acts as a noun, adjective or adverb. It is usually combined with 'to'.
When a verbal acts as a noun by adding 'ing', it is a gerund.
Gerunds sound more natural and common in everyday English, while infinitives sound more abstract. Infinitives emphasize the potential for something, which is near to philosophy rather than reality.
E.g. I love swimming is more natural than I love to swim.
We, Indians, have the tendency to sound abstract while speaking by using infinitives over gerunds.
In previous example,
Mr Justice...of the Karnataka High Court has exhorted young advocates to utilize the ensuing summer vacation to enrich their legal knowledge.can be modified into
Karnataka High Court's Justice Mr.... has advised young advocates to use the next summer vacation enriching their legal knowledge.and the repetitive use of 'to' can be avoided.
Indlish Example 2.2: a newspaper report (journalese)
Focus Words: meanwhile
Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) Chairman... notes that...T & D [transmission and distribution] losses are fundamental to all other issues and it is not possible to tackle other things unless this is settled, he states. Meanwhile, the chief ministers themselves held the power portfolio in both J H Patel and S M Krishna Governments (minister of state were also appointed).
AICC President Sonia Gandhi will formally launch the ... special package for development of Bellary district here on April 22...This would be Ms Gandhi's first visit to Bellary after she won the seat...Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police...said police had made elaborate security arrangements for Ms Gandhi's visit.
Introspection
1. 'In the meanwhile' means in the intervening period of time (noun) and at the same time (adverb).
2. Here, meanwhile changes the meaning - it took KERC chairman all the two CM tenures to note this. 🙂
3. In second paragraph, the police made arrangements for a future event in the past, although it is occurring at the same time.
Modern English
Mr..., Chairman of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), said...T & D [transmission and distribution] losses are fundamental to other issues and must be tackled first. The chief ministers themselves and a minister of state held the power portfolio in both J H Patel and S M Krishna Governments.
AICC President Sonia Gandhi will formally launch the ... special package for the district's development in Bellary on April 22...This would be Mrs Gandhi's first visit to Bellary after she won the seat. Mr..., the Superintendent of Police, said police is securing the area for Mrs Gandhi's upcoming visit.
Indlish Example 2.3: a newspaper report (journalese)
Focus Words: miscreant
Six persons who...rescued a car driver from the clutches of two miscreants recently were [feliciteted] at a function organised in...
Miscreants broke into a church in... on Sunday night and took away cash amounting to...According to police...miscreants gained entry into the church by breaking window grills.
Two motor-bike borne miscreants stabbed a petrol bunk worker in.... According to police, two persons on a motorbike came to a bunk located in...for [refuelling]...and picked a quarrel....The two miscreants returned around 8 pm and stabbed...with a knife and escaped.
He cited an example of robbery incident in HAL police stations where miscreants robbed 10 persons within half an hour.
Miscreants broke into a video coverage shop in...and made away with electronic gadgets worth....
The miscreants had entered the house by breaking open the rear door, police said.
Two miscreants who were attempting to burgle a house in ....aborted their plan and escaped after assaulting two persons on....
Introspection
1. Miscreant is an archaic word that means heretic. It was used during Renaissance to label people who worked against the Church. It is like 'kafir' in Arabic.
2. Felicitation is a very old word that has rare usage globally, can rather use appreciated (if verbal) and rewarded (if monetary or gift).
3. Robbery is in itself an incident, so robbery incident is redundant.
4. In fourth paragraph, several police stations were included.🙂
5. In last three sentences, miscreants can be replaced by burglars.
6. There are misspelled words - [feliciteted] felicitated and [refuelling] refueling, which is annoying and lowers the quality.When someone breaks into a house without authorization, it is called burglary. They may or may not steal.
When someone loses their possessions from any place, it is called theft.
When someone has their possessions taken from them, it is called robbery.
When someone's wallet or a thing in their pocket is stolen, it is called pickpocketing.
When a group of armed robbers rob someone or something, it is called dacoity (old usage 1880-1900).
An important aspect to consider in modern and plain English approach is to observe the global trend in the use of words. Google has made is easy for us to observe it. This gives us a hint of which words are obsolete and which are trending.
Reporters acting as stenographers to the police note everything as dictated to them. This continues to have Raj-day jargon uncorrected. After a crime, if the criminal is unknown (which is the basis of being a criminal), he is 'unidentified'. If the criminal is known, he is a criminal or miscreant.
Indlish Example 2.4: a newspaper report (officialese)
Focus Word: unidentified
A youth, aged between 25 and 30 years, was found bludgeoned to death at...this morning. According to police, unidentified person murdered the youth, [who's] identity is yet to be ascertained, at some other place and later dumped the body at....
Unidentified men looted a convent in Jhansi in UP and desecrated the prayer room of the nuns.
A 70-year-old woman was fatally knocked down by an unidentified vehicle in ...last night....
A 35-year-old cyclist died after some unknown vehicle knocked him down at...last night...
Some miscreants broke into a building housing the...Cooperative Society in... and made away with Rs... on Thursday night.
Miscreants on...attacked a jeep being used for publicity [by a missionary]....The police chief said that three persons came in the jeep from....On the way, some youths, who were not identified by the police, suddenly stopped the jeep. They began to smash the windows of the jeep with stones. The youths stoned the jeep in which the panes of the vehicle were damaged. The tape recorder inside the jeep was also destroyed.
Introspection
1. Instead of getting the details, reporters tend to provide misinformation by tagging it as unidentified. This does not help the reader in any way.
Modern English
A youth, aged between 25 and 30 years, was found dead this morning. The murder happened at ..... and the murderer later dumped the body at....Police is yet to ascertain the murderer's identity.
Robbers looted a convent in Jhansi in UP and desecrated the prayer room of the nuns.
A 70-year-old woman was fatally knocked down by a ..[description of the vehicle and its number, if known]... in ...last night....
A 35-year-old cyclist died after a ..[description of the vehicle and its number, if known]... knocked him down at...last night...
A building housing the...Cooperative Society in...was burgled and Rs...were stolen on Thursday night.
A jeep, that was being used for publicity [by a missionary].., was attacked last night..The police chief said three men were coming in the jeep from....when they were stopped and attacked. The attackers stoned the vehicle's windows, which also damaged the tape recorder.Not only the police, but also the press reporting in government offices follow the same pattern.
Indlish Example 2.5: a press report (officialese)
Focus Words: assured
Chief Minister S M Krishna today assured in the Legislative Assembly that he will ensure due recognition to the Opposition party members in functions organised by the government.
Introspection
1. Assured is a transitive verb whose action passes to the object. A assured B (object). 'A assured' does not clear the meaning.
Modern English
In the Assembly today, Chief Minister S M Krishna [A] assured members of the Opposition [B] that they would never be excluded from government functions. He would probe into the issue himself.Another problem with proper writing is the random use of capitalization.
Let's revise the rules once again.
DO capitalize
proper nouns—New York City
forms of address—"Hello Mother!" I said.
pronoun 'I'
first word in a sentence
first word in a quoted sentence—The soldier said, “Not me, Sir, I would never speak rudely to a lady.”
first word after an ellipsis, if it starts a new grammatical sentence
after a colon for a complete sentence
months, days and holidays
words in titles, awards and job designation and prepositions if it starts any of these—Nobel Prize for Literature.
first word in a new line of poetry
DON'T capitalize
common nouns—whales, buildings
forms of address when used as common nouns—My mother is a great cook.
pronoun 'me'
first word of a quoted thought fragment—The 'cold, deserted' look on his face scared my friend.
continuing fragments of thought split by dialogue tags—“The music,” she said, looking up demurely, “makes me want to dance.”
dialogue tags, even if a quote ends in punctuation
first word following an ellipsis if it is of a continuous sentence
after a colon if the word continues a fragment of thought
seasons—The monsoon is approaching rather than The Monsoon is approaching
prepositions (other than that at the start) in titles, awards and job designation—Of Mice and Men
general award terms—Olympic gold medal and not Olympic Gold Medal
first words in 2nd or 3rd lines of a haiku
To end this part, here is what Sir Ernest Gowers said in The Complete Plain Words (1948)
If two words convey the same meaning, choose the common one over less common.
Comments