Indian English

Indian English, formally designated as "English (India)" or en-IN, refers to the range of English varieties that originated in India. It is used within the Republic of India and by the Indian diaspora worldwide. India hosts one of the largest English-speaking populations globally, with English serving as one of two languages the Government of India uses for official communication. The language holds official status in eight states and seven union territories, and it is a co-official language in five additional states and one union territory. English is the sole language of India’s judiciary, including the Supreme Court and all high courts, unless a state governor or legislature mandates a regional language or the President of India approves its use in courts. Before the British Empire dissolved on the subcontinent, the term "Indian English" broadly covered South Asian English, also known as Anglo-Indian English.

After independence from British rule in 1947, English remained an official language of the Dominion of India and later the Republic. Following partition, Pakistani English and Bangladeshi English became distinct from Indian English. In the 21st century, fewer than 0.1% of Indians—a few hundred thousand—report English as their first language, while about 30% of the population can speak it to some degree. The 2001 Census found that 12.18% of Indians knew English: roughly 200,000 as a first language, 86 million as a second, and 39 million as a third. A 2005 India Human Development Survey of 41,554 households showed that 72% of men spoke no English, 28% spoke at least some, and 5% spoke it fluently; among women, 83% spoke no English, 17% spoke some, and 3% spoke it fluently. Data from the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s DISE system indicated that enrollment in English-medium schools rose by 50% between 2008–09 and 2013–14, from over 15 million to 29 million students. The 2011 Census reported that 129 million Indians (10.6%) spoke English, with 259,678 (0.02%) as a first language, 83 million (6.8%) as a second, and 46 million (3.8%) as a third, making English the second-most spoken language in India. In the 2022 EF English Proficiency Index, India ranked 52nd out of 111 countries with a score of 496, indicating "moderate proficiency," and 6th among 24 Asian countries.

As a multilingual nation, English acts as a lingua franca across different regions. Journalist Manu Joseph wrote in The New York Times in 2011 that English is effectively India’s de facto national language due to its prominence and the demand for English-medium education. Scholar Ranjan Kumar Auddy, in his book In Search of Indian English, argues that the rise of Indian nationalism and the emergence of Indian English are deeply intertwined. Purdue University noted that English is so prevalent in Indian business that it is rare to find a company using non-English documents.

The term "Indian English" first appeared in 1696 but became common only in the 19th century. During the colonial era, "Anglo-Indian English" or simply "Anglo-Indian" (both from 1860) were most common, with "Indo-Anglian" (1897) and "Indo-English" (1912) also used. An item of Anglo-Indian English was called an "Anglo-Indianism" from 1851. Modern colloquial portmanteaus include Indlish (1962), Indiglish (1974), Indenglish (1979), Indglish (1984), Indish (1984), Inglish (1985), and Indianlish (2007). Indian English is sometimes called Macaulay’s English, after Thomas Babington Macaulay.

Indian English typically uses the Indian numbering system. Idioms from Indian literary languages and vernaculars have been absorbed, though there is general homogeneity in phonetics, vocabulary, and phraseology across its dialects. Formal written publications in India use lakh and crore for Indian currency and Western numbering for foreign currencies like dollars and pounds, though lakh and crore also apply to other large numbers such as population sizes. These terms are unfamiliar to other English speakers, who must learn them to read Indian English news.