Abstract:
English is a member of the Indo-European family of languages.
This broad family includes most of the European languages spoken today.
The Indo-European family includes several major branches; Latin and the
modem Romance languages (French etc.); the Germanic languages
(English, German, Swedish etc); the Indo-Iranian languages (Hindi, Urdu,
Sanskrit etc); the Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, etc); the Baltic
languages of Latvian and Lithuanian the Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish,
Gaelic etc); Greek.
In its widest sense; the is now conveniently used to comprehend
the language of the English people from their settlement in Britain to the
present day, the various stages through which it has passed being
distinguished as Old, Middle, and New or Modem English. Yann
Martell (2001) English in India has a legacy from the British who
colonized the country and their language permeated through some of the
most important part of society; the government, the media, the education
system, the legal system and gradually the social sphere as well.
Furthermore, Yann Mortell (2001) views that, India is a vast nation and
in terms of number of English speakers, its ranks third in the world after
U.S.A. and the U.K .. An estimated four percent of the population use
English and Even though this may seem like a small number that is about
forty million people. This small segment of the population controls the
domain, which has professional and social prestige. Though it is closer to
British English since it originates from that style, with the influx of
globalization American English has definitely had an impact on the youth as well as in the professional sphere. However, it can neither be classified
as American nor as British English. It intermingled with other Indian
languages and emerged with its own district flavor. This had made
several scholars realize that it cannot be equated with either.
Language so far as we know, is something specific to human, that
is to say it is the basic capacity that distinguishes human from all other
living beings. Language therefore remains potentially a communicative
medium capable of expressing ideas and concepts as well as moods,
feelings and attitudes
