Indian English in Uganda
The historical sociolinguistics of a migrant community
The Indian community in Uganda represents a special case of migration.
During the colonial period, there were several major immigration waves that
were sociologically and sociolinguistically heterogeneous. In Uganda, Indian
migrants were mostly endocentric and concentrated, often with very little
interaction with the British elite and the local African populations, and came
to represent ‘a society within a society’, economically successful and socially
mobile. Their situation changed dramatically, however, when Idi Amin expelled
the community in 1972. In this chapter, we look into the social and socio-demographic
history of Indian migrants in Uganda and outline its sociolinguistic
consequences. We argue that due to their status, they maintained Indian English
features and did not accommodate to British or East African varieties.
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Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
Meierkord, Christiane
2022.
Post‐protectorate Uganda and current models of influence across Englishes.
World Englishes 41:3
► pp. 429 ff.

Meierkord, Christiane & Bebwa Isingoma
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