Reflecting the global popularity of Indian food, a number of Indian words like ‘keema’ and ‘papad’ have been accepted in the Oxford English dictionary for the first time.
The ninth edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, released here on Monday, has included over 240 words from Indian English. Many of these are words commonly used in Indian kitchens, such as ‘keema’ (finely chopped meat), ‘papad’ and ‘curry leaf’.
“English is a global language and carries influences from all over the world. Indian food is popular the world over. We made these inclusions in the dictionary to reflect the global usage of words,” Patrick White, Head of ELT Dictionaries and Reference Grammar at Oxford University Press, told PTI during the launch.
Over 60 per cent of the new Indian English words come from Hindi. “We scan new words from all over the world and then select which ones deserve a mention based on the frequency of its usage,” said Mr. White who leads a team of 20 editors and technicians responsible for creating all ELT (English language teaching) dictionary and reference grammar products.
Over the years, around 900-1000 Indian words have found its place in the Oxford dictionary. “But this time the number of inclusions is huge,” he said. The ninth edition has over 900 new words. About 20 per cent of them are from the online world.
