Bizarre Pronunciation Levels OfIndian English Is A “Grave” Concern: A Study Of Khushwant Sing’s “A Bride For The Sahib”

Document Type : Primary Research paper

Authors

1 Lecturer, Department of Linguistics, Sumait University, Vaddeswaram, AP, India

2 Department of English, Associate Professor, KoneruLakshmaiah Education Foundation, Tanzania

Abstract

English, a crumb of the colonial heritage which proves to be a crumble for many Indians as it has been since the arrival of the Britishers also have crumbled many lives in its clutches due to poor proficiency levels. Even though there are few differences in grammar compared to other standard verities, Indian English Pronunciation fall into a cline ranging from near native level standard to the lowest intelligible varieties. Even though, purity in language use is no longer considered as the ‘correct’ usage of a language and the “englishes” used worldwide are accepted as varieties of English or “world englishes”. Such a contention, if one looks at the Indian context, even though linguistically agreeable, but socially it is not so as this has resulted in a psychological setback for many people affecting prospective growth in various aspects of life. Along with practical life experiences, the themes in literature in Indian English writing bear a testimony for the same. The representation of different proficiency levels and codes of “English” is highlighted in many post-colonial Indian writing in English, and such a representation created fun and defined a class of people who, out of their social circumstances, became a victim of parody and pastiche. The protagonists in are such characters. This article analyses the characters of A Bride for the Sahib by Khushwant Singh in terms of the “englishes” they use and how a deviant pronunciation resulted in a “grave” tragedy for Kalyani, the protagonist Mr. Sen’s wife.

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Int. J. of Aquatic Science
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
June 2021
Pages 1227-1231

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