NRI, Hinglish are now Queen's English

New Delhi, Aug 20 (UNI) 'Non-Resident Indian' (NRI) and 'Hinglish' have become part of the Queen's English as more and more Indian words are marching into lexicons in the global language.

NRI has for the first time found a place in the new edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COD), which also has new Indian words like ''Guru Granth Sahib', 'bikram yoga', 'collector' and 'ghaghra'.

The popular use of words with a blend of Hindi and English has prompted COD editors to include 'Hinglish' as a noun. Also gaining entry into the dictionary is the commonly used Indian word 'collector', who is described as ''the chief administrative official of a district''.

Words associated with the Sikh religion have their share in the eleventh revised edition of COD, which accepts the growing influence of Sikh immigrants in English-speaking countries.

Sikh words in the new COD include 'Guru Granth Sahib', 'Granthi' and 'Adi Granth'.

India's culinary delights and colourful traditional attire continue to impress lexicographers in the West. Joining 'samosa' and 'biriyani' in the dictionary are, therefore, new words 'tarkha dhal' and 'kachori'.

'Ghagra' and 'lengha' have also been included in the COD along with 'mehndi', another new Indian word that has been anointed English.

And if you thought tom-tomming is English, think again. COD says the origin of the word 'tom-tom' is from the Hindi word 'tam tam' or the Telugu 'tamatama', only that in the Indian context, it means 'proclaim or boast about' rather than just beating the drum.

'Tamasha' too is now English with the definition, ''a grand show, performance, or celebration, especially one involving dance'.

The new COD, which has over 240,000 words and phrases and definitions, has a large volume of business-speak of 'plugged-in' executives. One of them, 'elevator pitch', means a ''succinct and persuasive sales pitch'', 'helicopter view' is ''a general survey; an overview'' and 'plugged-in' means ''up to date; aware of the latest developments or trend''.

''English is a global language, spoken or used by an estimated one third of the world's population, from Manchester to Mumbai and Boston to Botswana. It is an adaptable, flexible, and ever-evolving language that has become the international medium of communication on the Internet, in business, science, and popular culture,''as is mentioned in the introduction to 'English Uncovered' in COD.

Language researchers at the Oxford Dictionary of English collect substantial pieces of text from a huge range of sources from all parts of the English-speaking world, including Britain's former colonies like India.

Around five per cent of the new words of the 20th century in English were borrowed from other world languages.

The trend of adding Indian words substantially began at the turn of the last century when publishers of millennium editions of dictionaries like the Encarta, New Oxford Dictionary of English and Cambridge English Dictionary included Hindi and regional language words by ozen.

Besides words and their meanings, the new COD, scheduled to be launched in India tomorrow, also offers the 100 commonest nouns, 'time' topping the list followed by 'person', 'year' and way'. 'Man' at 7th place comes before 'woman' (14th) and 'war' is 49th with no sign of 'peace'! UNI FZ AKJ VC1128