KMC Journal, Volume 5, Issue 1, February 2023, 35 KMC Journal [A Peer-Reviewed, Open-Access Multidisciplinary Journal] ISSN 2961-1709 (Print) Published by the Research Management Cell Kailali Multiple Campus, Dhangadhi Far Western University, Nepal Semantic Volte Face of English Words in Nepal Shankar Dewan Department of English, Sukuna Multiple Campus, Morang Tribhuvan University, Nepal Corresponding Author: Shankar Dewan; Email: dewanms4@gmail.com DOI: https://doi.org/10.3126/kmcj.v5i1.52449 Abstract With the spread of English globally and its contact with the local languages, English words have undergone some changes in their pronunciation, forms, meanings, and functions. This paper attempted to explore the changes in the meaning of English words in Nepal. From diferent literary texts, I purposively selected thirty English words that I found unique in their meanings, four English language teachers who could provide information about the semantic changes of some English words, and my own experiences. The selected words were categorized into fve themes: semantic broadening, semantic narrowing, amelioration, pejoration, and semantic shifts, which were then analyzed and interpreted. The study reveals that English words in Nepal have changed their meanings from narrow to broad, from positive to negative and vice versa, and to something diferent or new in meanings, which are the variety markers of Nepali English (NE). The results of the study are useful for teaching profession, World Englishes, corpus linguistics, contact linguistics, contact literature, semantics, and pragmatics. Keywords: Semantic broadening, semantic narrowing, amelioration, pejoration, semantic shifts Introduction With globalization and the unprecedented spread of English worldwide, bilinguals’ creativity and nativization, a diferent variety of English has emerged in Nepal. The localized variety of English spoken and written in Nepal is known by diferent names such as Nepalese English (Crystal, 2003; Dewan & Laksamba, 2020; Karn, 2011; McArthur, 1987), Nepali English (Adhikari, 2018; Brett, 1999; Dewan, 2021; Giri, 2020; Hartford, 1993; Kachru, 2011), Nenglish (Danilof-Merrill, 2010, as cited in Karn, 2011; Duwadi, 2010; Koirala, 2021; Paudyal, 2019; Rai, 2006), 35-52 Copyright 2023 Author(s) This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.