On Thursday 02 Sep 2010 3:04:20 pm Venkat Mangudi wrote: > I am in Chennai from Sep 19 through Sep 21. Not sure where I am staying
This message reminds me of a mailing list message I got from a good friend, known to many silk-listers - a man who refuses to join silk. I quote most of it below, minus the name >Hi all, > >Here I am in Trivandrum... > >Actually I almost wrote, "I am writing this from Trivandrum", when I > remembered an article I read in which the great Prof. David Crystal (one of > the world's foremost experts and author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of > the English Language.) was quoted as saying, > >"English will fragment into 'global dialects', forcing speakers routinely to >learn two varieties of the language — one spoken in their home country and > a new kind of Standard English with pronounced Indian characteristics"... > >He predicts that "By 2010 India will have the world’s largest number of > English speakers... When 300 million Indians speak a word in a certain way, > that will be the way to speak it.” > > >The above is from a very thoughtful presentation by Gurcharan Das made on 12 > Nov 2009. Please see: > >http://www.scribd.com/doc/24588791/Indias-Future-Gurucharan-Das-Nov-2009 > >So I became very self-conscious when I realised that although it is >"technically" correct, to say, "I am writing this from Trivandrum", it falls >into the same category as in an observation made by Prof. Crystal: > >"Indians tend to "use the present continuous where we would use the present >simple (with an Indian saying) 'I am thinking, I am feeling, I am seeing' > rather than 'I think, I feel, I see'... this way of speaking could easily > become sexy and part of global Standard English," said the professor, who > has written more than 100 books." I have thoughts on the issue - but will leave them for later - assuming this message evokes some response/s. shiv
