Toward a lexicon of South African Indian English

Bibliographic Data

ID2268434
AuthorsRajend Mesthrie (0000-0001-6338-6076, University of Cape Town, corresponding author)
Year1988
Volume7
Issue1
Pages5-14
Publication date1988-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Englishes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0883-2919 • E-ISSN: 1467-971X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-971x.1988.tb00210.x
OpenAlexW2034431126
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited2

The aim of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, it reports on the lexical characteristics of a hitherto little studied 'New English' variety-South African Indian English. It points to lexical affinities with, and divergences from, other varieties of English in South Africa, at least one of which has been well studied in terms of its lexis. It also focuses on lexical similarities between English in India and the South African dialect under scrutiny. Preliminary comparisons with pidgins and creoles world-wide as well as with other expatriate Indian Englishes are offered. Secondly, the study suggests some useful ways in which a lexicographer of a New English variety that has arisen out of a process of language shift might proceed, especially in situations involving several 'ancestral' languages, and consequently several sublects varying according to domain, speaker background, formality etc

English-based creole languages · Formality · Indian English · Language education · Lexical item · Lexicon · Lexis · Linguistics · Modern language · Sociology · Varieties of English · Variety (cybernetics · World Englishes · Computer Science · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Philosophy · Artificial Intelligence