At a function today, the emcee said, “Please bear with us while we wait for …” but it sounded like “Please beer with us …”

I have heard a few Punjabis pronounce “wear” as “weir”, so it seems that some misguided teacher has created this confusion among thousands of Punjabis. My guess is that when he was at school he missed the lesson where the difference between the pronunciation of “tear” (tear drops) and “tear” (rip apart) was pointed out.

So here it is.

• Bear (sounds like bare) =  बेर/ਬੇਰ
• Beer = बीअर/ਬੀਅਰ
• Wear (sounds like ware) = वेर/ਵੇਰ
• Tear (drop) = टीअर/ਟੀਆਰ
• Tear (rip)  = टेर/ਟੇਰ

This is a commonly mispronounced set of words among the IT community in India.

Develop

Incorrect: डेवलप डेवलोप (emphasis in bold)
Correct: डिवेलप (all syllables with equal emphasis)

Developer

Incorrect: डेवलपर डेवलोपर (emphasis in bold)

Correct: डिवेलपर (all syllables with equal emphasis)

Development:

Incorrect: डेवलपमेंट डेवलोपमेंट (emphasis in bold)

Correct: डिवेलपमेंट (all syllables with equal emphasis)

Indian languages (at least the North Indian ones) have only one letter “wa” (व) to cover the letters V and W, therefore many Indians mispronounce words that contain the letter “v”.

The “wa” sound is made with the lips forming a circle as you open the mouth.

The “va” sound requires you to place your lower lip behind the upper front teeth and release the lip as you say it.

In Marathi, the V sound is transliterated as व्ह (“vh”) – no idea why, because it causes people to inject the “h” sound when none exists.

Laloo Yadav’s speech in Parliament is a fine example of an ailing Indian English. It kicks off this website’s first post. Enjoy!