Hinglish

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hinglish (हिंगलिश) is a language that combines words from the English language with those of South Asia.[1] The name Hinglish itself is a portmanteau of "Hindi" and "English".[2] It is spoken on the Indian subcontinent and the United Kingdom. It borrows words from other languages such as Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi.[1] At first it was spoken only by what Indians refer to as "ABCDs" (American-Born Confused Desi).[3] Now it is spoken by about 350 million speakers.[3] It is heard on television and in advertisements in India. Coca-Cola's ad in Hinglish is "Life ho to aisi" (Life should be like this). Pepsi's ad is "Yeh Dil Maange More" (the heart wants more). Domino's Pizza asks "Hungry kya?" (Are you hungry?).[3] It has become a hybrid language many Indians speak naturally and without giving it any thought.[2]

The first book written in Hinglish, All we need is Love, is by Richa Devesar.[4] It was published in March of 2015.

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sean Coughlan, BBC. "It's Hinglish, innit?". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved 8 November 2006.[permanent dead link]
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Not same, very different". The Economist Newspaper Limited. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Scott Baldauf (23 November 2004). "A Hindi-English jumble, spoken by 350 million". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. Shivalika Bhateja (15 March 2015). "Tricity gives birth to first novel in Hinglish". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 October 2015.