Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T15:09:43.858Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Optimal expressions in Indian English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2000

RAKESH M. BHATT
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina

Abstract

This paper presents an account of sociolinguistic–syntactic variation in Indian English. It focuses on the differences between Standard Indian English (SIE) and Indian Vernacular English (IVE), restricting the discussion to the syntax of wh-questions, Focus constructions, null subjects and objects (pro drop), and null expletive subjects. The major claim of this paper is that the differences between the observed patterns of generalization in SIE and IVE are best accounted for in a conceptualization of grammar that is based on a general notion of priority of syntactic constraints on well-formedness. This optimality-theoretic (OT) conceptualization (Grimshaw, 1997; Prince & Smolensky, 1993) is able to capture the following generalizations: (a) IVE is just as systematic and logical as SIE; (b) the grammars of IVE and SIE are bound by the same set of grammatical constraints; and (c) the differences between the two varieties is a function of how each grammar prioritizes these constraints. This paper thus also presents a strong argument for using OT as a framework for research on language variation and use.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)