Postvocalic (r) in urban Indian English

Native varieties of World Englishes can shed light on competing local and international language ideologies and alignments with different standards, while quantitative variationist methods permit dialect internal analysis of structural variation without direct reference to external standards, by focusing on internal linguistic and social constraints. Contributing to these endeavors, this study examines variation in postvocalic (r)-deletion in Indian English (IndE), uncovering rhotic patterns which are significantly influenced by, and illuminate, distinct urban Indian sociolinguistic alignments. The results also demonstrate that IndE is diverging from both its British colonially influenced past, and from modern internationally prestigious English varieties, through real and apparent time analysis. This analysis focuses on the larger sociolinguistic milieu of IndE emergence and evolution, offering a nuanced response to superficial and oftentimes categorical IndE grammars. Further, studying native speakers offers a counterpoint to L1 contact explanations for IndE stabilization and evolution in the postcolonial context.</jats:p

What is India speaking: The "Hinglish" invasion

While language competition models of diachronic language shift are increasingly sophisticated, drawing on sociolinguistic components like variable language prestige, distance from language centers and intermediate bilingual transitionary populations, in one significant way they fall short. They fail to consider contact-based outcomes resulting in mixed language practices, e.g. outcome scenarios such as creoles or unmarked code switching as an emergent communicative norm. On these lines something very interesting is uncovered in India, where traditionally there have been monolingual Hindi speakers and Hindi/English bilinguals, but virtually no monolingual English speakers. While the Indian census data reports a sharp increase in the proportion of Hindi/English bilinguals, we argue that the number of Hindi/English bilinguals in India is inaccurate, given a new class of urban individuals speaking a mixed lect of Hindi and English, popularly known as "Hinglish". Based on predator-prey, sociolinguistic theories, salient local ecological factors and the rural-urban divide in India, we propose a new mathematical model of interacting monolingual Hindi speakers, Hindi/English bilinguals and Hinglish speakers. The model yields globally asymptotic stable states of coexistence, as well as bilingual extinction. To validate our model, sociolinguistic data from different Indian classes are contrasted with census reports: We see that purported urban Hindi/English bilinguals are unable to maintain fluent Hindi speech and instead produce Hinglish, whereas rural speakers evidence monolingual Hindi. Thus we present evidence for the first time where an unrecognized mixed lect involving English but not "English", has possibly taken over a sizeable faction of a large global population.Comment: This paper has been withdrawan as the model has now been modified and the existing model has some error

Technique for crossing and advancing multiple generations for mungbean (Vigna radiata L.)

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) Wilczek (2n=2×=22) is an important grain legume cultivated in South-east Asia, Africa, South America and Australia (Shanmugasundram 2007). About 90% of mungbean production occurs in South Asia, where India is the largest producer. It is consumed in various forms like, seed as a good source of easily digested dietary proteins and amino acids. Young pods and sprouts are consumed as vegetable for vitamin and mineral supplement (Engel 1977). Its plant parts are used as fodder for animal and green manure to improve soil health in rice-wheat cropping system (Sharma et al. 1995; Bhuiyan et al. 2009; Yaqub et al. 2010). It is grown as a sole crop as well as a major component in various cropping systems owing to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, rapid growth, and early maturity. Mungbean being a photo insensitive crop is grown in a wide range of climatic variations (Tiwari and Ramanujam 1976) and ideal for catch, inter and relay cropping in many countries (Ali et al. 2000). Because of wide adoptability at various temperature ranges, this crop is likely to be most suitable under currently rising global temperatur

[v]at is going on? Local and global ideologies about Indian English

ABSTRACTThis article examines local and global language ideologies surrounding a particular phonetic feature in Indian English, the pronunciation of /v/ as [w]. By focusing on how local and global participants – both individuals and institutions – imagine language variation through disparate framings of “neutral” and “standard,” it highlights how processes of globalization and localization are interconnected, dialogic, and symbiotic. Compared are (i) sociolinguistic constructions of Indian cartoon characters, (ii) American “accent training” institutes, (iii) Indian call center and language improvement books, (iv) American speakers’ interpretations of merged IE speech, and, (v) IE speakers’ attitudes about IE, “neutral,” and ”standard” language. The relative social capital of these populations mediates both how each constructs its respective ideology about language variation, and how these ideologies dialogically interact with each other. (Language variation, language ideologies, dialogic, standard language)1</jats:p

Language Policies and Politics in South Asia

This chapter explores socioeconomic, political, religious ethno-cultural, and national positions toward language management, which underlie diachronic changes in South Asian nations’ language policies and linguistic ideologies. In South Asia, feelings toward linguistic diversity, as realized through national language policies and in actual national language management practices, are highly diverse. The negotiation of and diachronic changes in language policies, together with functional and ideological goals—visible through language attitudes, overt and covert language policies, and diachronic changes in language competencies—offer a lens through which to understand language management and value.</p

Elite positionings towards Hindi: Language policies, political stances and language competence in India¹

In India, Hindi is imagined and institutionalized as the national language which weds together India's pluralistic population under the banner of a shared Indian identity. Approaching language competence as embedded in and performed through language practices and ideologies, I explore how a New Delhi elite community positions themselves towards Hindi vis-à-vis national language policies and political movements. Contrasting with traditional unified elite portrayals, e.g. 'elite closure' (Myers-Scotton 1990), India has multiple sociolinguistically discordant elite groups, and these liberal elites ideologically construct their Hindi (in)competency in an alternative framework attending to the history (and failure) of Hindi-based nationalism, their disalignment with modern right-wing movements, and their continued affiliation with English. This perspective of some elites as negotiating and disagreeing with contemporary political movements and language policy legislature illuminates language competencies as socially constructed and locally grounded, and challenges past interpretations of postcolonial elites as unified actors controlling the dominant linguistic marketplace. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2011

<i>In vitro</i> screening of calli of mungbean to cercosporin, a photoactivated toxin

113-121Mungbean or Green gram [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek] is an arid/semiarid pulse crop, native to India, grown mostly as a rotational crop with cereals like wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, etc. It is an affordable source of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals preferred for its nutrient digestibility, food processing properties and bioavailability. India accounts for 65% of mungbean’s world acreage and 54% of its world production. Various pests, diseases and environmental stresses have kept mungbean yield quite unstable over decades and researcher’s worldover are looking for resistant varieties to overcome these challenges. Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) caused by Cercospora canescens is one of the most destructive diseases of mungbean and the key polyketide toxin cercosporin plays an important role in pathogenesis. Such toxins as selective agents in the tissue culture medium can help in selecting genotype with suitable levels of resistance to the toxin and/or to the pathogen among the available germplasm. Here, we standardized the dose of cercosporin for in vitro selection of resistant mungbean genotypes and variable expression of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L-1 NAA and 1.0 mg L-1 BAP was standardized for the development of callus from mungbean using hypocotyls as an explant. The calli from six cultivars of mungbean were tested in medium amended with cercosporin (0-40 µg mL-1) and calli survived up to 20 µg mL-1 of cercosporin. The calli from resistant cultivars survived 83.33-93.00%, and showed lower reduction in fresh weight (25.97-28.83%). Calli from the susceptible cultivars survived 50-60% and showed higher reduction in fresh weight. Callus showed browning, exposure to cercosporin (5-20 µg mL-1). Enzymes assay from survived calli of different cultivars showed higher peroxidase activity (7.90-8.91 ∆OD min-1 mg‑1 callus), superoxide dismutase (0.96-1.03 ∆OD min-1 mg-1 callus) and a lower catalase (0.35-0.43 µ moles of H2O2 utilized min-1 mg‑1 callus) in resistant, followed by moderately resistance and susceptible cultivars. The necrosis in leaves was recorded with 200 µg mL-1 of cercosporin, and no visible necrosis was observed below this concentration. Enzyme assayed from the controlled and cercosporin-treated (100-200 µg mL-1) leaves of mungbean genotypes showed variable activity of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase