Watch Your Language Blog

On Speaking English in Bombay

The subtleties of communication in India sometimes require not just a knowledge of a different language, but a different knowledge of your own language as well, as explained by Jil Wheeler in her essay at The Morning News.

The most difficult element of Bombay English to master comes from a tiny syllable—bhi or hi—that is inserted in to Hindi sentences to emphasize the word preceding it. In "red hi hat hai," it's the red hat (not the blue), while in "red hat hi hai," it's the red hat (not the shirt).

The problem—if you consider it a problem, which you probably don't, unless you tried this morning like me to catch a taxi, only, to the office itself—is that people aren't content to simply translate bhi and hi as increased stress on the word. They also translate "bhi" or "hi" as "only" or "itself;" e.g., it's the red hat only. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but anyone who has been to India does.

Tags: English, Hindi, India
May 28, 2009