Butler English, also known as Bearer English, or Kitchen English is a dialect of English that first developed as an occupational dialect during the British colonial period in India. It receives its name from the British head of household, butlers, as it was commonly used in conversation between English masters and their Indian household staff. It represents one of several varieties of English that emerged during this time, collectively referred to as Indian English.
The following is an example of Butler English as given by writers Priya Hosali and J. Aitchinson:
Another example, now famous amongst Indian English linguists, is the one given by Hugo Schuchardt, in which a nurse (ayah) describes the butler's practice of secretly taking small amounts of milk for himself from his master's household:
Butler English shares many features that are common to other pidgin languages, such as reduction, simplification, and reduplication. There is also a marked lack of inflections or use of copulas. Additionally, there is some evidence for the usage of incipient independent constructions, which are common of minimal pidgin languages, such as the use of been as a past tense marker.
Mesthrie notes several "striking similarities" between Butler English and South African Indian English, raising for him the question of whether there was a historical relationship between the two. These include:
He notes various dissimilarities, however:
There is much discussion among scholars over whether Butler English can be categorized as a pidgin language. While it does share many features of a pidgin, there seems to be mixed evidence over whether or not it can be classified as a minimal pidgin, a basilect, or a form of broken English. According to Loreto Todd, professor of English at the University of Ulster "It is not certain whether or not Pidgin Englishes do exist or even have existed in India"