Durational variability as a marker of prosodic structure in Indian English(es)

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of systematic durational variability as a marker of prosodic structure in the speech of university educated Indian English speakers from four L1 backgrounds (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu), with the aim of investigating the degree of uniformity in Indian English prosody. The results reveal a complex picture, with some evidence for L1 influence, alongside possible convergence factors, both in the direction of native English features and in the direction of pan-Indian features. We discuss the implications of these findings with regard to the status and putative homogeneity of Indian English.