Dictionary of

Indian English

Sir: In reply to M Riaz Hasan (Letters, 26 July) there is no doubt that the use of "prepone" as the opposite of "postpone" (a meeting, etc.) is well established in Indian English; but it would not be true to say that Oxford dictionaries have ignored it.

Following its treatment by Paroo Nihalani's Indian and British English (OUP 1979), a work which I reviewed at the time in the journal Asian Affairs, the use has been included in the New Shorter Oxford English 1993. The noun "preponement" is also known.

G CHOWDHARAY-BEST

London SW3