Research Papers

Document Analysis

In this analysis, I will study two articles on a specific topic: the 'Amritsar Train Tragedy' which took place recently on 19th October, 2018 in the Joda Phatak area of Amritsar, India during the auspicious day of Dussehra. Both the articles that I will analyze are from big newspaper companies, namely 'The Times of India' and 'Maharashtra Times', and both talk about the same event. However, the key difference between them is that the former is a countrywide newspaper whereas the latter is confined to the state of Maharashtra. Drawing a comparison between them, I will highlight the type of English spoken throughout a country with 1,652 native languages (Census of India, 1961) (though the number has decreased since.)

Here's a summary of the Tragedy itself. During the Hindu festival of Dussehra, a celebration of the victory of good over evil (a festival especially dear to 'Bengalis'), a giant, wooden effigy of 'Ravana' the destroyer is burnt. As such, people gathered in Joda Phatak but it was soon overcrowded and people spilt over the tracks on the railway station of the area. Despite precautions and warnings by the Indian Railway Authority, a train found its way there and crashed into the spectators. 59 people died and an additional 79 were badly injured. The driver claimed to have been honking the horn and applying the emergency brake but neither worked. The families of the victims were offered $7000 and an additional $2800 for each killed family member and the injured were treated for free and awarded a compensation of $700 per family member.

Now that we know the event itself, we can begin by analyzing both the reports. The most obvious difference is, of course, the language used. Times of India (TOI) uses English whereas Maharashtra Times (MT) is written in the local language: Marathi. I will translate that article to compare the differences that exist not only with 'Standard' US English and Indian English but also how a state's perspective on an accident may differ from a nationwide perspective.

Let's start with the TOI article. Within the 'Highlights' box itself, the word 'Fatak'(pron. Fat-ak) has been used whereas the word used in Indian documents and even textbooks is 'Phatak' (pron. Fa – thak). This is an attempt to anglicize the language as 'Fatak' is easier to pronounce for non-native speakers of Hindi. Even the word 'Ravana' is used to refer to 'Ravan, the Destroyer' with no apparent reason for the suffix 'a'. However, the box does a good job of giving the audience the facts. The MH article does a good job as well: त्यांनी रेल्वे दुर्घटनेबद्दल तीव्र दु:ख व्यक्त केलं ([The Chief Minister] has expressed sadness over the tragedy).

The next immediate indication that the English used in the article is directed towards a specific audience is the currency used to describe the monetary losses. The 'Rupee' (₹) is the Indian currency. 'Lakhs'(₹1,00,000, pron. la-cks) are used instead of Hundred Thousands ($100,000) and 'Crores' (₹1,00,00,000, pron. ka-roar) are used instead of Ten Millions ($10,000,000). The currency in both is expressed in Rupees. (Crore – कोटी, Lakh – लाख).

An additional thing of note that show that the TOI article, while intended for the Indian audience, is also meant for the global society is the inclusion of the reaction of the UN Chief Antonio Guterres as well as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi (people who the global audience would be more familiar with). The MT article doesn't cite any person of importance who isn't directly involved with the state (except Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha).

Skimming or a quick read of the article will not lead an ELF speaker to find any faults. A more careful reread of the article, however, will allow the reader to spot the grammatical errors, most notably the dropping of the definite article 'The' in various sections: "a speeding train ran over a crowd of Dussehra revelers that had spilled onto [the] railway tracks while watching [the] burning of [a/the] Ravana effigy.", "...ordered [the] immediate release of Rs. 3 crores to DC Amritsar for payment...", etc. The MT article doesn't face this problem due to the nature of Marathi. Most modifiers and tense change indicating words are integrated with the verb or adjective being used: असल्याची (that is why) = असल्या (to be [state]) + ल्याची (of [possession]), विमानतळावर (on airplane) = विमानत (airplane) + ळावर (to be [place]), etc.