Editing South African English (section)

== Indian South African English ==
Indian South African English (ISAE) is a sub-variety that developed among the descendants of [[Indian South Africans|Indian immigrants to South Africa]].<ref name=":0" /> The [[Apartheid]] policy, in effect from 1948 to 1991, prevented Indian children from publicly interacting with people of English heritage. This separation caused an Indian variety to develop independently from white South African English, though with phonological and lexical features still fitting under the South African English umbrella.<ref name=":0" /> Indian South African English includes a "[[basilect]]", "[[Post-creole continuum|mesolect]]", and "[[Post-creole continuum|acrolect]]".<ref name=":0" /> These terms describe varieties of a given language on a spectrum of similarity to the colonial version of that language: the "acrolect" being the most similar.<ref name=":0" /> Today, basilect speakers are generally older non-native speakers with little education; acrolect speakers closely resemble colonial native English speakers, with a few phonetic/syntactic exceptions; and mesolect speakers fall somewhere in-between.<ref name=":0" /> A significant factor in the development of ISAE is the linguistic background of the early immigrants. While often referred to locally as "Hindustani," the primary North Indian language brought by indentured labourers (predominantly from [[Bihar]] and [[Uttar Pradesh]] via [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] between 1860 and 1911) was identified by linguist Rajend Mesthrie as ''South African Bhojpuri (SABh)'', a koiné formed from Bhojpuri and Awadhi languages.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Mesthrie |first=Rajend |url=https://books.google.co.in/books/about/A_History_of_the_Bhojpuri_or_Hindi_Langu.html?id=ikdPmwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y |title=A History of the Bhojpuri (or "Hindi") Language in South Africa |date=1985 |publisher=University of Cape Town |language=en}}</ref> As this language declined throughout the 20th century and speakers shifted to English, SABh likely served as a substrate, influencing the phonology, lexicon, and syntax of the emerging Indian South African English variety, alongside influences from other Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, and Gujarati spoken by other immigrant groups<ref name=":5" /> In recent decades, the dialect has come much closer to the standard language through the model taught in schools. The result is a variety of English which mixes features of [[Indian English|Indian]], South African, [[Received Pronunciation|Standard British]], creole, and foreign language learning Englishes in a unique and fascinating way.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |publisher=University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0521401798 |location=Cambridge |pages=356}}</ref>

ISAE resembles [[Indian English]] in some respects, possibly because the varieties contain speakers with shared mother tongues or because early English teachers were brought to South Africa from India, or both.<ref name=":0" /> Four prominent education-related lexical features shared by ISAE and Indian English are: ''tuition(s),'' which means "extra lessons outside school that one pays for" (i.e. "tutoring" in other varieties of English); ''further studies'', which means "higher education"; ''alphabets'', which means "the alphabet, letters of the alphabet"; and ''by-heart'', which means "to learn off by heart"; these items show the influence of Indian English teachers in South Africa.<ref name=":0" /> Phonologically, ISAE also shares several similarities with Indian English, though certain common features are decreasing in the South African variety. For instance, consonant retroflexion in phonemes like /ḍ/ and strong aspiration in consonant production (common in North Indian English) are present in both varieties, but declining in ISAE. [[Syllable-timed]] rhythm, instead of [[stress-timed rhythm]], is still a prominent feature in both varieties, especially in more colloquial sub-varieties.<ref name=":0" />