인도영어, 왜 통역하기 힘든가?:

Indian English, Why is it Difficult to Interpret? : Phonological Features of Hinglish and Tamilish

An increasing number of the world’s population is using English. More than 300 million (inner circle) and some 400 million (outer circle) use English as their first and second languages; as much as 1,000 million (expanding circle) are using the language as their first foreign language. As such, English has become the undisputed lingua franca, spoken between the native speakers of English, as well as between the non-native speakers. Among those in the outer circle, Indians constitute the largest population, reaching up to 150 million. Nevertheless, Indian English has not received due attention, and should be explored further. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between Indian English and Hindi, with much emphasis on pronunciation and accent. Nevertheless, the varieties of Indian English should also be dealt with, along with the origin and background of the phenomenon. This paper aimed to deepen the understanding of the shaping of Indian English with a dual focus on Hindi and Tamil. The guiding questions included i) the predictability of Indian English; ii) the grounds for exploring Hindi and Tamil to understand Indian English; and iii) the status of English in India. In search of answers, literature review has been carried out, followed by the comparison of Tamil and Hindi and their distinct features, which gave rise to the varieties of Indian English. The authors hope the descriptions and the contrastive analysis herein will contribute to characterizing the issues and problems during the course of interpreting and to offering guidelines for those in the profession.