Abstract

The present study focuses on lexicogrammatical routines of South Asian Englishes that are associated with so-called ‘cultural keywords’. These routines are particularly significant manifestations of the overarching process of the linguistic acculturation of the English language in new postcolonial settings. Specifically, we make use of the South Asian Varieties of English Corpus in order to compare acrolectal Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan English with regard to typical noun-verb collocations linked to three cultural keywords shared by all three South Asian Englishes: government, terror and religion. This pilot study offers a way of describing the effects of diachronic divergence in the formation of South Asian Englishes although comparable historical corpora of English in South Asia are not (yet) available. Keywords: cultural keywords; South Asian Englishes; collocations; divergence; lexicogrammar

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.