Dravidian Languages
1. The
four Dravadan languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malyalam developed their own
literature. Tamil being the oldest of these langauges began writing earlier and
produced the Sangam literature.
2. The
Vijayanagara period was the golden age of Telugu literature. Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529), the
greatest of the Vijayanagara emperors, was a poet of great merit. His work Amukta Malyada is regarded as an
excellent prabandha in Telugu
literature.
3.
Apart from Telugu, Vijayanagara rulers extended their patronage to Kannada and
Sanskrit writers as well. Kannada language developed fully after the tenth
century AD. The earliest known literary work in Kannada is Kavirajamarg by the Rashtrakuta King,
Nripatunga Amoghavarsha I. Pampa, known as the father of Kannada wrote his
great poetic works Adi Purana and
Vïkramarjiva Vijaya in the
tenth century AD. Kannada literature flourished considerably between the
fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
4. The
language of Malayalam emerged around the eleventh century AD. By fifteenth
century Malayalam was recognized as an independent language. Bhasa Kautilya, a commentary on Arthashastra and Kokasandisan are two great works.
The linguistic
Diversity in India
No country in the world close to
matching the Linguistic diversity In India. Just the number of ‘Mother Tongues
in the country, as listed in the 1961 Census is 1652 The Constitution of
India does not give any language the status of national language. The
official language of the Union Government of the Republic of India is
Hindi.
In addition, the
Government of India has awarded the distinction of classical language to
Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia due to their long history
of 1500-2000 years. All Indian languages fall into one of these 4 groups:
Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan and Afro-Asiatic. The extinct and
endangered languages of the Andaman islands form a fifth family.
Here are 10 facts about Indian
languages that you may not know about:
1. Hindi is the 2nd most spoken
language in the world (ahead of English and Spanish), Bengali the 7th most,
and Punjabi the 10th most.
2. Over 970 million people in the world speak Hindi. Bengali
and Punjabi have about 250 million and 120 million speakers respectively
worldwide, ahead of popular languages like German and French.
3.Kalidas, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and literary
playwright in ancient India, composed a romantic play titled Vikramorvashiyam in
Apabhramsa in 400 AD.
4.Malayalam,
the language spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is the longest
palindrome (a word that reads the same backwards and forwards).In Mattur
village in Karnataka, people speak in Sanskrit to each other.
Here are 6 more amazing facts about
Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages known to mankind:
- NASA scientist Rick Briggs once said that Sanskrit is the only
unambiguous language in existence.
- Sanskrit is the most computer friendly language.
- 14 universities in Germany offer Sanskrit as a subject.
- Sanskrit uses many synonyms for each subject. For instance, there
are 100 synonyms for the word ‘elephant.’
- Sanskrit is the state language of Uttarakhand
- Sanskrit is supposed to belong to the same family as Latin. That is
why there are many words ending in ‘um’ in both languages.
5.
Brahui is a Dravidian language, with its roots in India, spoken by
approximately 1 million people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 23 Dravidian
languages are unrelated to any other known language family and are spoken
mostly in South India.
6.
In 1999, UNESCO declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day
to commemorate the Bengali Language Movement in 1952.
7.
Did you know around 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in
Sanskrit and Prakrit?
Although Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, it
is also one of India’s official languages. Urdu, like Hindi, is a form of
Hindustani.
8. George
Bush, former President of the USA, had allocated a budget of $114 million for
teaching Hindi in the US. Hindi was to be a part of the curriculum from
kindergarten to the graduate level, considering the importance of Hindi as a
common native language of Indian Americans. However, the plan was not carried
through once Obama became President.
9.
All Indian scripts come from the same script – Brahmi. Writing came much
later to India than to other parts of the world. Hence, both Tamil and Sanskrit
have extremely strong oral traditions.
10. Kannada
language has the second oldest written tradition of all vernacular languages of
India.
More
than a thousand notable writers have contributed to the wealth of the language
Current estimates of the total number of
epigraphs written in Kannada range from 25,000 by the scholar Sheldon
Pollock to over 30,000 by the Sahitya Akademi, making Karnataka state
“one of the most densely inscribed pieces of real estate in the world.”
STATUS OF ENGLISH IN THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE ERA
Though
a foreign language, English occupies a unique position in Indian educational
system. Even after independence,
it continues to be
a major language having a prestigious position in our society.
Introduction of English language in India includes
three phases. The first phase is the missionary phase, which includes the
efforts of the Christian missionaries. In the second phase, the Indians
themselves demanded instruction in English studies. Raja
Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) made efforts to persuade
the officials of East India company for Western scientific education in part
replacement of Sanskrit and Arabic. The third most important phase is that of
bilingualism which started with the
implementation of educational policies for instruction in English based on Lord
Macaulay's "Minute on Indian Education (1835)".
In the early 20th century, English was formally
established as the official and academic language of India. English became the
prestige language, completely replacing Persian and the other Indian languages.
"By 1928 English has been accepted as the language of the elite, of the
administration, and of the pan Indian press. In addition, another phenomenon
with a far reaching consequences was that of developing Indian literature in
English".
ENGLISH
IN POST INDEPENDENCE ERA
The constitution of India which was adopted in 1950
had envisaged Hindi as the only official language of the Union of India.
However, English has been allowed to continue for 15 years from the date of
adoption of the constitution and then to be replaced by Hindi. It is impossible
to think that we can educate millions in a totally foreign tongue. To quote
Pandit Nehru, "English will inevitably remain an important language
because of our past association and because of its present importance in the
world".
STUDIES
ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE SITUATION AND STATUS
To assess the overall language question of India,
the Government has taken various steps like appointing study committees and
commissions. The official language commission was appointed in June 1955 under
the chairmanship of B.G Khertomake to make recommendations about the
progressive use of Hindi for all official purposes. In the report of University
Education Commission headed by Dr.S. Radhakrishnan, it was stated that English
should be studied in schools and universities so as to keep ourselves in touch
with the stream of ever growing knowledge. "Kunzru Committee of 1957
supported a general proposal to consolidate Bnglish, for the foreseeable
future, as a major university and pre-university subject. This committee
proposed two major changes in approaches to English : 1) linking of the study of English literature
to the study of Indian
literature and 2) major
expansion at all appropriate levels of linguistics.
In 1960 the Banerjee Committee emphasized the usefulness
of English as an instrument in scientific learning. The Kothari Commission of
1964 asserted that "As English will, for a long time to come, continue to
be needed as a Library
language in the fields of higher education, a strong foundation in the language
will have to be laid at the school stage can be best achieved from the books
published in English on these subjects. So long as we don't develop such skill
and prepare books in our national language or regional languages, we are
obliged to continue the study of English language. The 'Three language formula'
has been proposed as a solution to India's language problem. "English
should be one of the three compulsory languages for students at the secondary
stage, the other two being Hindi and the mother tongue or the regional
language.”
English in Education
In spite of the stated goals of the official
language policy English continues to enjoy a pride of place in our educational
setup. It continues to be a school subject throughout the country with certain differences
in the number of years English is taught at school. "The teaching of
English holds an important position in university teaching programmes in national
institutions, administration, social circles, creative writing, the mass media,
both print and electronic, and publication of books. It has acquired a
complementary function in the Indian society along with other indigenous
languages". Expressing the view
regarding the teaching of English, former Education Minister, Maulana Azad said
"In addition, English has today become one of the major languages of the
world, and Indians can neglect its study at the risk of loss to themselves. I
am convinced that in the future as well the standard of teaching English should
be maintained at as high a level as possible".
English v/s Indian Languages
The impact of English literature on. pre- and post- independence
Indian literature. is immense. Indians have experimented with the English
language, if only
to filter/express the Indian culture and experience. While
the English language underwent a process of acculturation, it began to take in
many features of the Indian languages. In turn, the language has been used to construct the Indian ethos.
This has been done by borrowing
certain words from the Indian languages and using them in English,
by forming hybrid constructions having
items from both
English and any Indian language, by extending and restricting the original meaning of
words in English and so on. These lexical and semantic changes have resulted
in a unique variety of English; the product now reveals a combination of both English features as
well as those of the languages it came into contact with in the country. The Indianness that comes across through
such linguistic devices.
is, in fact, a reflection of
the way of life of people here and of the social reality. The context is different and the speakers
are not users of the language.
It may not be a matter of simple
translation since factors such as cultural and class differences also affect
the interpretation of the message. So when Raja
Rao in the Preface to Kanthapura
stated that “One has
to convey in a language that is not one’s own the spirit
that is one’s
own.”
While talking about the English
language, one must consider the status of English
in India and
the attitudes of the speakers towards it. One must also
examine the role English plays
in the lives
of the people here in India, mainly
the educated section.
Earlier, English learning had
created a group
of elite; this segregation had
alienated the masses.
At present, the language
is not unfamiliar to the masses who use English
to intersperse their language with a lot of words borrowed from English without
any hesitation. English has been Indianised by being borrowed, transcreated, recreated,
stretched, extended, contorted perhaps.
INDIAN ENGLISH
As we
have seen, English in India has the status of an “associate' official language.
English performs yet another role
in India of being
the language used by people who do not share
a common tongue.
So it is the language of inter-ethnic communication and provides a lingua franca for communication among a
multilingual people. Apart
from this, people
of one linguistic group read English literary translations of books written in another language. Most language groups
also bring out their
own publications in English. Through
a period of use in a non-native environment and its related
growth, the language
is now capable of serving
many national as well as international communicative needs.
English in India has developed or, in other words, been nativised by the
very people who use it. This has been regarded as an attempt
to create a new identity
in terms of language. An entire body of literature exists in these varieties of
English. With reference to IE, in the 1950.s, Dustoor wrote that: there
will always be a more or less indigenous flavor about our English. In our imagery,
in our choice of words, in
the nuances of meaning we put into our words,
we must be expected to be
different from Englishmen and Americans alike. Our mental climate will always
foster plants that do not flourish in England or America.
Indian writers in English have
also moulded the language and the Indianisms they use in their work reflect Indian
thought and express
the way social
reality is ‹constructed by its new users.
These writers feel that their choice to write in English is partly their
individual choice and partly inspired
by their desire to reach an international audience.
I am an Indian, very brown, born in
Malabar, I speak three languages, write in
Two dream in one. Don’t
write in English,
they said English is not your
mother-tongue.
Why
not leave Me alone, critics, friends, visiting
cousins
These
lines of Kamala Das have relevance even today.
The growth of non-native varieties of English has its accompanying set
of problems. Use of a non-native language to serve communication requirements
in a particular socio-cultural and linguistic context may be laced with
difficulties. In India, people who use English are bilingual or multilingual
second language users. In such a situation, a child may not get adequate exposure
to develop linguistic competence akin to that of a native speaker of English.
INDIAN ENGLISH:
FEATURES
The semantic and lexical distinctive features are assumed to be variations of
similar structures in the native varieties of English. Present
continuous tense. repetition, absence of articles and prepositions and so on are some of these features.
Repetition of various elements of structure
such as child after child, bridegroom
after bridegroom, rain pouring on and on,
ages after ages are
certain sp'liStic devices used in IE. In tone, cadence and choice of diction, there is a distinct Indianness. New words have been created
through borrowing, semantic
change, innovation, translation and hybridization.
R K Narayan echoes the feeling of most IE writers by reiterating that
there is need for a “Bharat brand of English”
which will have a “Swadeshi stamp.
There
has been an assimilation of certain
Indian words into English
vocabulary alongside the processes of Indianisation of the English language.
Most of these words have lost the tag of being Indian
in origin. Certain
other words, however,
belong to the list
of Indian words in English
and have not been assimilated into the English
language. Notably, the processes of Indianisation have been necessitated primarily because certain words used in the Indian context
have no English equivalents.
THE NEED FOR NATIVISATION
“People
eager to support their one particular brand of English seem to be gratified at the idea that, while
able to retain some kind of English,
they do not have to compete
any more against the perpetual native-speaker one-upmanship.” This is one of the
many reasons for nativisation of a language.
More importantly, nativisation
of a non-native language is necessary because of difference in culture and the related
socio-cultural factors. Words may not carry the same
meaning in two cultures. Hence, mere translation may not be the key to an understanding
of the lexical items. To suit requirements of communication, linguistic devices have to be
invented and integrated in the language.
Extension of meaning
of lexical items
of a non-native language when used in a
native situation is of significance in that such processes help nativise the language. They reflect the non-native
contexts which may be unintelligible to a native speaker. The process of ‘nativisation’
of English in second language contexts is not only due to ‘transfer’ from local
languages, but also due to the pressures of a new cultural environment and
fresh communicative needs.
As
mentioned before, new
words have to be coined
to express meanings
in a new context. In addition,
there may be semantic shifts
involved. This is especially true of
kinship terms in IE where
the need for nativisation is greatly felt.
In IE. kinship terms can be used differently
Kinship terms take on additional meanings in the Indian setting
and one must be
aware of this to understand the use of such terms.
In such a situation, individuals learning English in a non-native environment must
not be judged on the basis of their competence in acquiring standard BE or AE
but on their proficiency in communicating the typical characteristics of an
alien setting in a language which is not their mother tongue.
Semantic shifts in IE help reflect the Indian life in its various aspects
— political,
economic, religious and social. The English language thus becomes a mirror to
Indian sentiments and sensibilities„ The lexical items used in BE may also be used in IE so that
their structures are similar but their interpretation in both the variety
may be a lot.
if not altogether, different.
CONCLUSION
Nativisation of English
through such linguistic strategies shows the Indianness.
Such processes may not bring about any structural or semantic change.
The preference of any
linguistic device shown
by IE users is also
reflective of the
general feature of IE. An analysis of the features of IE would “
show how creativity, more than ‘deviance’ distinguishes the lexical strictures of Indian English.
ಶೃತಿ-ಸ್ಮೃತಿ ಪುರಾಣಾನಾಂ, ಆಲಯಂ ಕರುಣಾಲಯಂ
ನಮಾಮಿ
ಭಗವತ್ ಪಾದಂ, ಶಂಕರಂ ಲೋಕ ಶಂಕರಂ
According
to the interpretations of certain historians, the period of Shankaracharya is
traced even before Buddhist period. Shankaracharya’s experiments in the field
of Indian spiritual literature has established him as an inseparable character.
The above mentioned Shloka is written glorifying his importance. The greatest
contribution of Shankaracharya is the protection of Indian Vedas through which
he became unique and universal. By establishing four Shakti Peethas in four
directions of India, he protected the legacy of Indian languages. Through
writing `Bhashyas’ on the four Vedas, he preserved both the Vedas and Indian
Languages.
