English (Indian)

Germanic

FamilyGermanic Speakers~130M (L2/educational; not L1) ScriptLatin CountriesIndia Official inIndia (associate official) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3eng

Indian English is the standard variety used in education, government, and the Indian media, mother tongue or near-native second language for over 250 million speakers. It features retroflex consonants under Indo-Aryan substrate, distinctive stress patterns inherited from spelling pronunciation, and a host of unique lexical items (prepone, eve-teasing, tiffin, foreign-returned). Phonologically rhotic and syllable-timed, it now exerts significant influence on global English usage and idiom.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in English (Indian)

Water

water

/ʋɔːʈɚ/

Fire

fire

/fɑːjɚ/

Sun

sun

/sʌn/

Moon

moon

/muːn/

Mother

mother

/mʌdɚ/

Father

father

/fɑːdɚ/

Eat

eat

/iːʈ/

Drink

drink

/ɖɹɪŋk/

Love

love

/lʌʋ/

Heart

heart

/hɑːɹʈ/

Tree

tree

/ʈɹiː/

House

house

/haʊs/

Dog

dog

/ɖɔɡ/

Cat

cat

/kæʈ/

Hand

hand

/hænd/

Eye

eye

/aɪ/

Hello

hello

/hɛloː/

Thank you

thanks

/tæŋks/

One

one

/ʋʌn/

Good

good

/ɡʊɖ/

Words compared

Compared with related Germanic languages

Meaning English (Indian)English (Appalachian)EnglishEnglish (Southern US)Hawaiian CreoleEnglish (Scottish)English (Irish)
Water water /ʋɔːʈɚ/ water /wɔːɾɚ/ water /ˈwɔːtə/ water /wɔːɾɚ/ wata /wɑtə/ water /wɔːtəɹ/ water /wɑːtəɹ/
Fire fire /fɑːjɚ/ fire /faːɚ/ fire /faɪə/ fire /faːɹ/ faia /fɑɪə/ fire /faɪɹ/ fire /fɑɪəɹ/
Sun sun /sʌn/ sun /sʌn/ sun /sʌn/ sun /sʌn/ san /sɑn/ sun /sʌn/ sun /sʊn/
Moon moon /muːn/ moon /muːn/ moon /muːn/ moon /muːn/ mun /muːn/ moon /muːn/ moon /muːn/
Mother mother /mʌdɚ/ mother /mʌðɚ/ mother /ˈmʌðə/ mother /mʌðɚ/ madda /mɑdə/ mother /mʌðəɹ/ mother /mʊðəɹ/
Father father /fɑːdɚ/ father /fɑːðɚ/ father /ˈfɑːðə/ father /fɑːðɚ/ fadda /fɑdə/ father /fɑːðəɹ/ father /fɑːðəɹ/
Eat eat /iːʈ/ eat /iːt/ eat /iːt/ eat /iːt/ eat /iːt/ eat /iːt/ eat /iːt/
Drink drink /ɖɹɪŋk/ drink /dɹɪŋk/ drink /dɹɪŋk/ drink /dɹɪŋk/ drink /dɹɪŋk/ drink /dɹɪŋk/ drink /dɹɪŋk/
Page 1/3

Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
English (Indian)
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Ek wil 'n pak aanpas wat ek gesien het ‌in 'n winkel oorkant die hotel
Jeg vil prøve et jakkesæt som jeg i en butik overfor hotellet
Ik wil een pak passen dat ik zag ‌in een winkel tegenover het hotel
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
English (Indian)
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel

Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.