Braj Kachru
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Braj Bihari Kachru (15 May 1932 – 29 July 2016) was an
Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
. He was Jubilee Professor of Linguistics at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
. He published studies on the
Kashmiri language Kashmiri () or Koshur (, /kəːʃur/) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2020, the Parliament of India passed a bill to ma ...
.


Personal life

Braj Bihari Kachru was a friend of Kashmiri poet and writer Zinda Kaul ''Masterji''. Lala Sahab and his friends and colleagues had discussions on politics, literature and philosophy at his house. During their visits, Braj had the opportunity to interact with ''Masterji'' and his father's other teacher colleagues. In 1962 Kachru gained a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. His wife was fellow linguist
Yamuna Kachru Yamuna Kachru (यमुना काचरु, (Devanagari)) (5 March 1933 in Purulia, West Bengal, India - 19 April 2013 in Urbana, Illinois) was Professor Emerita of Linguistics at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Career Kachru stu ...
. Their son,
Shamit Kachru Shamit Kachru (born 1970) is a theoretical physicist, a professor of physics at Stanford University, and the Wells Family Director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. He served as the Stanford Physics Department Chair from 2018 to ...
, is a
string theorist In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...
and professor at Stanford University. He died on 29 July 2016.


Career

He researched in the fields of World Englishes and Kashmiri language and published several books and research papers related to the field.


Scholar and educationist

At the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, Braj headed the Department of Linguistics (1968–79), directed the Division of English as an International Language (1985–91), and was director of the Center for Advanced Study (June 1996 – January 2000). At the Linguistic Institute of the
Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...
, he was appointed director in 1978. He was president of American Association of Applied Linguistics (1984). He was named Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Illinois in 1992. In 1998, he became the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Visiting Professor at Hong Kong University. He went on to become the president of the International Association for World Englishes (1997–99), and eventually the ''Honorary Fellow'' of the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, (now
English and Foreign Languages University The English and Foreign Languages University known as EFLU is a central university for English and foreign languages located in Hyderabad, India. It is the only such university dedicated to languages in South Asia. The university offers the s ...
) in Hyderabad, India, in 2001.


Writer and author

Kachru has been on the editorial board of ''Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural development'', ''International Journal of the Sociology of Languages'', '' Asian Englishes'' and ''Linguistics and the Human Sciences''. Along with authoring ''The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions and Models of Non-Native Englishes'', Kachru is also the associate editor for ''Contributor to the Cambridge History of the English Language'' and the acclaimed '' The Oxford Companion to the English Language.''


The circles of English

To better understand the use of English in different countries, Kachru conceived the idea of three
concentric circles In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center poi ...
of the language. The inner circle represents the traditional bases of English: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, Ireland, anglophone Canada, and some of the Caribbean territories. The total number of English speakers in the inner circle is as high as 380 million, of whom some 120 million are outside the United States. Next comes the outer circle, which includes countries where English is not the native tongue, but is important for historical reasons and plays a part in the nation's institutions, either as an official language or otherwise. This circle includes
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
, non-Anglophone South Africa and Canada, etc. The total number of English speakers in the outer circle is estimated to range from 150 million to 300 million. Finally, the expanding circle encompasses those countries where English plays no historical or governmental role, but where it is nevertheless widely used as a
foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at school ...
or lingua franca. This includes much of the rest of the world's population: China, Russia, Japan, most of Europe,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, etc. The total in this expanding circle is the most difficult to estimate, especially because English may be employed for specific, limited purposes, usually
business English Business English is a part of English for specific purposes and can be considered a specialism within English language learning and teaching, or a variant of international English. Many non-native English speakers study the subject with the goal ...
. The estimates of these users range from 100 million to one billion. The inner circle (UK, US, etc.) is 'norm-providing'. That means that English language norms are developed in these countries – English is the
first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
there. The outer circle (mainly
New Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
countries) is 'norm-developing'. The expanding circle (much of the rest of the world) is 'norm-dependent', because it relies on the standards set by native speakers in the inner circle.


Bibliography

*''The alchemy of English: the spread, functions, and models of non-native Englishes'', University of Illinois Press, 1990 *''World Englishes: critical concepts in linguistics, Volume 4'', Publisher: Taylor & Francis, 2006,


References


External links


Faculty Page
at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

Braj Kachru: A Biographical Sketch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kachru, Braj 1932 births 2016 deaths Applied linguists 20th-century Indian linguists Scholars from Jammu and Kashmir Indian people of Kashmiri descent Kashmiri people Kashmiri Hindus Kashmiri Pandits Kashmiri writers American people of Kashmiri descent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty People from Srinagar Linguists of Kashmiri Linguists of Hindi Linguists of English Presidents of the American Association for Applied Linguistics