Pragmatic Shifts in Indian English: A Diachronic Analysis of Politeness Strategies in Academic Writing

Abstract

This study investigates the evolving nature of politeness strategies in Indian English academic writing over a twenty-year period, spanning from 2005 to 2025. Drawing upon a diachronic corpus comprising peer-reviewed journal articles and postgraduate students’ theses, the research examines linguistic features such as hedging, mitigation, and indirectness—key pragmatic tools that shape scholarly discourse. The analysis reveals a discernible shift toward more assertive and direct rhetorical styles, accompanied by a gradual decline in traditional markers of deference and indirectness. These changes suggest a broader socio-linguistic transformation influenced by global academic norms, increased international collaboration, and the growing confidence of Indian scholars in asserting their intellectual positions. The findings contribute to the fields of pragmatics, corpus linguistics, and English for Academic Purposes (EAP), offering insights into how language use reflects and responds to changing cultural and epistemological paradigms within academic communities.