The Indo-European Hypothesis [was Re: The Neolithic Hypothesis]

[Larry Trask]

On Tue, 13 Apr 1999, Ray Hendon wrote:

> One last question:  do many people speak English in India today, i.e.,
> people outside the elites?

Depends what you mean by "many".  An estimated 4% of Indians speak
English regularly.  This doesn't look like a large figure, but it adds
up to over 30 million speakers.  This means India has more
English-speakers than Canada or Australia -- more, indeed, than any
other country in the world except for the USA and the UK.  And this is
India alone, not counting the other countries of the subcontinent.

But, of course, it is true that a knowledge of English in India is
almost entirely confined to educated people.

Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk