.. ish or American English, nor has the usage of school staff ever been homogeneous. In the past, European teachers were recruited not only from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but also from Belgium and other countries. A ‘convent-educated’ person was and is expected to have a Westernised outlook, and is generally comfortable with and fluent in English.
Extensive code-mixing with local languages occurs. In middle-class circles, Convent English is equated with modernity and so the Daudi Bohra community soon became a very modern community with westernised outlooks on life. Women especially began to yearn for higher education and this remains a feature of the community even today. Most women do tend study further and are likely to be better qualified than the men.
One reason for this is that a lot of the men join the family business or firm once they finish their O/Levels and A/Levels while the women tend to go on with their education. The other is that women are more likely to pursue education for educations sake, while the men tend to focus on their careers. And although things are changing career women are still a minority within the community with many women preferring to stay after married despite their education and qualifications. However, during the last five decades many Dawoodi Bohras have taken to the learned professions law, medicine, accountancy, engineering etc. (The Island, 14 March 1982: 60) Especially in Sri Lanka the Daudi Bohra community became very multi-cultural. This not only resulted in the change of outlook in the younger generation but also resulted in that populace using English instead of their mother tongue Dawath-ni-zabaan a dialect of Gujarathi which instead of Devanagiri script used a Perso-Arabic script that is similar to Urdu in their homes.
What this meant for Daudi Bohra English as spoken in Sri Lanka is that their version of Sri Lankan English became infused with words from Hindi, Urdu, Gujarathi and Dawath-ni-zabaan, which also relies heavily on Arabic and Persian as well as the local languages of Sinhala and Tamil. Thus the Daudi Bohra English as spoken in Sri Lanka has became a variety of English that is truly representative of their cultural heritage and identity. Phonology Daudi Bohra English is rhotic /r/ being pronounced in all positions, tends to be syllable-timed, and shares many features with northern Indian English, which can be a source of comprehension difficulty for those used to a stress-timed variety especially when speech is rapid. Also highly distinctive are the alveolar consonants /t, d/ which are retroflex plosives [AKA retroflex, or domal, stops] t. and d.
[dots go underneath the t and d; some assembly required –] though these are often replaced by alveolar plosives [like those in American and British English –] in educated speech. Similarly, the traditional use of /r/ after vowels may these days be avoided by younger educated people, especially women. The fricatives /[theta], / are aspirated /t, d/, so that three of those sounds like ‘three of dhose’. The distinction between /v/ and /w/ is generally neutralised to /w/: ‘wine’ for both wine and vine. Similarly they sometimes tend to use /d3/ for /z/, so that zed and zero become ‘jed’ and ‘jero’. Morphology (1) Borrowings Borrowings from Hindi/Urdu and the regional languages are common: ? bungalow, crore (ten million), dacoit, deodar, dinghy, dungaree, ghee, gymkhana, hartal, lakh/lac (hundred thousand), loot, paisa, pakora, Raj, samo(o)sa, shampoo, tandoori, wallah (a word element denoting ‘one who does something as an occupation’, as with policewallah), atta flour, and ziarat (religious place where a saint, martyr is buried) Eve-teasing (harassment of women), Himalayan blunder (grave mistake), hotel (eating house), anna, cheetah, chintz, chit/chitty, jodhpurs, juggernaut, mulligatawny, pice, pukka, pundit, rupee, sahib Asia: Western ? Arabic, attar, aubergine, caliph, emir, gazelle, genie/jinn, ghoul, jasmine, kismet, Koran, minaret, mohair, Moslem, nadir, sheik(h), sherbet direct or through Afro-Asian languages ? ayatollah, harem, henna, hooka(h), imam, Islam, jihad, kaffir, muezzin, mujahedin, mullah, Muslim, nadir, Quran, safari, sahib, salaam, Sharia, shaykh, zenith Other words borrowed from Dawath-ni-zabaan have a religious connotation and are associated with the mosque and the traditional home and, therefore, cultural heritage.
? Jamaat, nikkah, janaaza, jaman, paani, paan, chai, Ya Hassan, Ya Hussain, Ya Ali, Ya Allah, Ya Abbas Ali, masjid, shaadi, rotti, kari chaval, jalli, Mola, bass, topee There have also been heavy influences from Sinhala and Tamil the two languages spoken in Sri Lanka, and like Sri Lanka English, Daudi Bohra English as spoken in Sri Lanka has been greatly enriched by them. These include borrowings like ? Machang, murukku, podiyan, pottu, vadai, parippu, kiri baath, paan, seeni, kiri (2) Loanwords and loan translations from other languages have been common since the 17th century, often moving into the language outside India: ? Words from Portuguese such as almirah, ayah, caste, peon, lampris, in camera; and from local languages through Portuguese such as bamboo, betel, coir, copra, curry, mango. ? Words taken from Dutch for example shroff, kokis, baas ? Some are later and less orthographically Anglicised: achcha all right (used in agreement and often repeated: Achcha achcha, I will go), basmati a kind of rice, chapatti a flat, pancake-like piece of unleavened bread, goonda a ruffian, petty criminal, jawan a soldier in the present-day Indian Army, masala spices, paisa a coin, 100th of a rupee ? Words from Arabic and Persian through north Indian languages, used especially during the British Raj: dewan chief minister of a princely state, durbar court of a prince or governor, mogul a Muslim prince (and in the general language an important person, as in movie mogul), sepoy a soldier in the British Indian Army, shroff a banker, money-changer, vakeel/vakil a lawyer, zamindar a landlord (3) Calques from local languages: cook appu, poruwa ceremony, mudukku joint, pirit ceremony, paduru party, Vesak lantern, kadu faculty, pissu bugger, and nikkah ceremony, (4) Compounds, hybrids, adaptations, and idioms. The great variety of mixed and adapted usages exists both as part of English and as a consequence of widespread code mixing ? Compounds of English and English words are used to make words special to Sri Lanka English in general whose variety Daudi Bohra English in Sri Lanka most definitely is. These include words like love cake, passion fruit, milk toffee, going away, wedding house, funeral house, basket woman, cook woman, love marriage, dining-leaf a banana leaf used to serve food, cousin brother a male cousin ? Hybrid usages, one component from English, one from a local language, often Hindi: brahminhood the condition of being a brahmin, coconut paysam a dish made of coconut, pan/paan shop a shop that sells betel nut and lime for chewing, wrapped in a pepper leaf, policewala a policeman, swadeshi cloth home-made cloth, and tiffin box a lunch-box ? Local senses and developments of general English words: batch-mate a classmate or fellow student, body-bath an ordinary bath, communal used with reference to Hindus and Muslims (as in communal riots), condole to offer condolences to someone, England-returned used of one who has been to England, for educational purposes, a been-to, foreign-returned used of someone who has been abroad for educational purposes, head-bath washing one’s hair, intermarriage a marriage involving persons from different religions or castes, issueless childless, out of station not in (one’s) town or place of work (5) Words more or less archaic in British English and American English, but used in South Asian English are also still in use in Daudi Bohra English as spoken in Sri Lanka ? such as *censored*y (the boot/trunk of a car), ? needful (‘Please do the needful’), ? thrice (‘I was seeing him thrice last week’) (6) The many idiomatic expressions ? to sit on someone’s neck to watch that person carefully, ? to stand on someone’s head to supervise that person carefully; ? Do one thing, There is one thing you could do (7) Affixation these features are the same as those that are seen in Sri Lanka English. ? A plural noun from Sinhala, Tamil or Dawath-ni-zabaan and an English plural maker are used: sereppu/s, katu/s, ? The use of fy + ing as in kendirifying, rustifying, ? The use of ing as in podaring, ? The use of fication as in rustification ? The use of ism as in cronyism, family bandyism ? The use of ization as in privatization (8) Reduplication used for emphasis and to indicate a distributive meaning: I bought some small small things; Why you don’t give them one one piece of cake? Also words like beriberi come into this phenomena of reduplication.
Syntax ? The progressive in ‘static’ [also called ‘stative’] verbs: ‘I am understanding it.’ ‘She is knowing the answer.’ ? Variations in noun number and determiners: ‘He performed many charities.’ ‘She loves to pull your legs.’ ? Prepositions: ‘pay attention on, discuss about, convey him my greetings’ ? Tag questions: ‘You’re going, isn’t it?’ ‘He’s here, no?’ ? ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ agreeing to the form of a question, not just its content — A: ‘You didn’t come on the bus?’ B: ‘Yes, I didn’t.’ Distinctive grammatical features relate to uses of the verb, article, relative clause, preposition, and adjective and verb complementation, are all shared with Indian English and of course Pakistani English as can be seen from the examples above. Features of the indigenous languages influence use of English and code mixing and code switching are common, including among the highly educated. There is great variety in syntax, from native-speaker fluency, to a weak command of many constructions. The following represents a widespread middle level and is quite similar to non-standard Sri Lanka English: (1) Interrogative constructions without subject/auxiliary inversion: What you would like to buy? (2) Definite article often used as if the conventions have been reversed: It is the nature’s way; Office is closed today. (3) One used rather than the indefinite article: He gave me one book.
(4) Stative verbs given progressive forms: Lila is having two books; You must be knowing my cousin-brother Mohan. (5) Yes and no as question tags: He is coming, yes?; She was helping you, no? (6) Isn’t it? As a generalised question tag: They are coming tomorrow, isn’t it? (7) Reflexive pronouns and only used for emphasis: It was God’s order itself It was God’s own order, They live like that only That is how they live. (8) Present perfect rather than simple past: I have bought the book yesterday Current Situation For many educated Daudi Bohras, English today is virtually their first language, and for a great number of others, who are multi-lingual, it is probably be the second. And while many of the older generation that grew up during the British Raj still use archaic convoluted British sentences, most of the younger educated generation is very familiar and comfortable with the American usage.
This is mainly due to the influence of American TV programming, like MTV; though the fact that most of the Internet’s content is also in American English has also played a part. Other examples are the TV soaps like The Bold and Beautiful, and Sunset Beach which have a huge fan following besides, Hollywood movies and American music. And no one can deny the socio-economic advantages that the knowledge of English brings. Even in the literary world, English bears the mark of socio-economic distinction. The English language is a tool of power, domination and elitist identity, and of communication across continents (Kachru, 1983) Conclusion The aim of this paper was to trace the development and emergence of a variety of English as spoken by the Daudi Bohras of Sri Lanka.
This is because language is the key to a culture and therefore understanding the specifics of a variety of English spoken by a distinct group of people is a way of unlocking some of that segments culture and identity. Historically most South Asian varieties of English have been influenced by the colonisation and British English, which was brought into the nations along with the impact of the British Imperialism. Thus the main objective of the paper was to unlock the history and heritage of the Daudi Bohra community in Sri Lanka through the tracing of their specific variety of English. English Essays.
