Anna, vada, dadagiri among 70 new Indian words in Oxford English Dictionary’s latest update
The words were added as Indians have ‘a highly specific vocabulary with no direct equivalents in English’, the OED said.
Seventy new Indian words from Telugu, Urdu, Tamil, Hindi and Gujarati languages were added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its September update. The latest update adds to the 900 items already covered by the dictionary and “identified as distinctive to Indian English”.
Many of the words describe food and relationships, such as anna (elder brother), achcha, bapu, bada din, bachcha, vada, jugaad, gulab jamun, dadagiri, mirch masala, keema, funda, and chamcha. The words were added to the dictionary as Indians have “a highly specific vocabulary with no direct equivalents in English,” OED said.
The four centuries that the English were present in India have left an indelible mark on the language, Oxford English Dictionary’s World English Editor Danica Salazar said. “Lexical innovations in Indian English demonstrate how its Indian speakers modify an adopted language to accommodate the traditions, values, and norms of their local culture.”
The OED publishes four updates every year in March, June, September and December.
