Anglo-Indian: Indian words in English

Q. What, like naan and chicken tikka masala

A. Not exactly, although, it must be said, a large number of words from the Indian subcontinent relating to dishes at your local balti- or tandoori-house are used by Brits on a regular basis. What we're looking at here are those words which are really part of the language and which are everyday English currency.

Q. Like curry, then

A. Food again, eh But, yes, curry, from the Tamil kari, meaning sauce, is one such.

Q. Why is this

A. The British involvement in India, initially for trade but later as a colonial power, lasted four centuries, so there should be no surprise that the influences went both ways. In some cases there simply wasn't an English word for the thing described - jaggery, a kind of palm sugar, from the Kanarese sharkare, 'sugar', is one (more food ) - while in others - such as the Raj, from the Hindi word for reign - it just sounded better or grander than the alternative.

There are more Indian words in English than from any other part of the former Empire. First, because the British were there longer than any other colony (with the exception of Ireland) and second, because it was the so-called 'jewel in the crown', and as such was that part of the Empire which had the greatest reciprocal influence on Britain and therefore on the English language.

Q. So what does 'ap log hindi samajhate hain' mean, then

A. 'Do you understand Hindi ' If you know what the following examples mean, then you do (at least a little):

basmati (trying to keep away from food, but you've got to include some)

dacoit

dhal

ganja (yep, it's Hindi, not from the West Indies)

pukka (take it, Jamie)

sari

thug (from thugee, a member of a violent Hindu sect who worshipped the goddess Kali)

topi

verandah (though this was originally Portuguese, it came into English via Hindi)

wallah

Q. But aren't there loads of other Indian languages

A. Hindi - along with its close Muslim cousin Urdu - is the one of the 14 official languages of India, and by far the most widely spoken. However, in addition to these there are possibly hundreds of languages -some very small - the total number of which depends on the criteria you apply as to whether a language is a language in its own right or just a dialect of another.

Q. How about a few examples, then

A. There are hundreds in total, but here are a few:

Bengali: bhangra

Urdu: durbar, hookah, khaki, nawab, purdah

Sanskrit: ashram, chakra, guru, karma, mandala, mantra, nirvana, soma (no, Aldous Huxley didn't invent it), swastika (a religious symbol found throughout parts of Europe, the Middle East and India long before the Nazis appropriated it), yoga

Tagalog: boondock

Tamil: catamaran, pariah, patchouli

See also the answerbank articles on the languages of India and Aldous Huxley

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By
Simon Smith