LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 1 January 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

HOME PAGE

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIAL

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2012
M. S. Thirumalai
Custom Search

Revisiting the Making of Hindi as a ‘National’ Language

Ganpat Teli, M.Phil.

Abstract

In the first quarter of last the century a consciousness building campaign was started among the literate people of north India. At that time as a result of a long lobbying process, Hindi language and Nagari Script had already been recognized the purpose of official usage. Thus, the leadership of this lobby started to demand a new status of the National Language for Hindi written in Nagari script. In the contest for the National Language status, Hindustani and Urdu languages were counterparts of Hindi. Supporters of both the languages – Hindi and Urdu – symbolized them with Hindu and Muslim community respectively. On the other side, Hindustani which was a colloquial language was supported by the camp of progressive writers and Gandhi.

Strong supporters of Hindi opposed the idea of Hindustani and advocated the usage of Sanskritized Hindi. They argued that Sanskrit is the pure and divine language of Hindus, so only Sanskritized Hindi can bear the cultural heritage of the community. They subscribed to the logic of Devvani and Mother Language. At the time of this debate the literacy level in India was very low. On other side, the supporters of Hindi were preparing a Language which was highly Sankritized, but did not belong to the common people, especially the marginalized groups of both Hindu and Muslim communities. This happened because Sanskrit language and its words were not used in large scale on a daily basis. The Sanskritized Hindi not only marginalized people of non-privileged social strata socially and economically, but also deprived them the opportunity to become a part of the knowledge process.

Key Words: India, Hindi, Hindustani, Urdu, Sankritization Literacy, National Language, Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Unification.

Heterogeneity

India is a land of heterogeneity; heterogeneity in geography, resources, demography, culture, language etc. Heterogeneity in the field of language is one of the major features of the country. In addition to the 22 Scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, there are innumerable dialects spoken throughout the country. While, on the one hand, these diversities fill various colours in the collage of this multi-cultural country, on the other side history bears witness to many clashes, conflicts and disputes caused due to these diversities. In this context, language is no exception. With the emergence of the ‘idea of India’ in colonial period, language has become an issue of conflict and controversy.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ganpat Teli, M.Phil.
Ph.D. Student
Centre of Indian Language
School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
New Delhi-110067
ganpat.ac@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.