No incorrect way to speak English: Author Peggy Mohan

BHUBANESWAR: Eminent author Peggy Mohan on Friday enlightened the audience at Odisha Literary Festival-2024 on the nuances of English and how it has evolved by absorbing words from other languages.

Interacting with journalist Kaveree Bamzai during the session ‘English and Its Accents’, she said English, as it is spoken in India, is not incorrect. In fact, it has evolved as the speakers more often than not use their local languages while conveying a message.

“English in India has evolved from Prakrit (a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages) and in the country, nouns are used profusely as compared to other nations. When people speak English in India, they do it very well,” said the author who has taught the language in universities like Harvard, JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia.