LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:6 June 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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A Linguistic Landscaping: A Case Study of Indigenous People of Tharu

Dr. Ashish Kumar Pandey and Ajay Kumar Singh, Research Scholar

Abstract

The present article aims to conduct a semiotic study and how the language contacts are associated and recognized with meaning within the context, in a context of multilingual codes among tribes. However, the presence of multilingualism in the community or society would have a larger effect on the communities’ code which is associated with the community. According to a scholar Khubchandani, “The inter-group communications among tribal record a wide range of variation in the claims of bilingualism, mostly depending upon the degree of heterogeneity in their contact environments and their attitude to languages surrounding them” (2001:26). According to him the community which is surviving in the heterogeneous society has less possibility to be monolingual. In India, every Tribe is surrounded by other major languages and even tribes are dependent to a great extent on them for economic, social, and cultural reasons. So language contact has likely been common throughout their lifecycle.

This language diversified situation is making them multilingual and multi-scriptural. It is a very thriving research area. The study has been conducted through available literature and direct observation in a north Indian tribe whereby the research findings have concluded three situations: first, if the tribes frequently use other codes, certainly tribes lose their identity, and second, the tribes shall lose the knowledge of ethno medicine which is transmitted by their forefathers and the third one is the loss of their culture and literature and everything that tribes possess which is unique.

Keywords: Tharu tribe, Code mixing, Script mixing, Language contact, and Linguistic Landscaping.

Introduction

The process of code-mixing takes place when the conversation between tribes and non-tribes come into contact with one another. This falls under the broad term language contact. Non-tribal as well as other tribal speakers may also acquire the code for their successful business and other accommodations.

The Tharu tribe has more than three codes at the level of writing, and more than four codes at the level of speaking: they use Hindi as primarily and Nepali as secondary and English as tertiary, but they are using Tharu at the personal level. In the current scenario, the English language is involved in the entire curriculum whether it is a business, profession, or personal. So, due to all these reasons, everyone wants to become proficient English speakers. That’s why Tharu people also want to educate their children in English medium schools. And none of us can deny that English is a global language. In the Indian subcontinent, it has involvement either directly or indirectly in the lifecycle of Indians. So, the tribal also have prefer to English language Roman script. Mostly the school-going children in the tribal areas are having the option between both Hindi and English mediums codes.

In this article, the researchers are trying to describe in detail the linguistic situation among the tribes of the Himalayan region focusing on the immediate effect when other languages enter their community. Observation of the researchers of the various tribal communities helped collection of communities’ conversational information. Here, mixed code in spoken language is not limited only to the conversation but largely it affected business deals. Some of the language terms were recorded which were found hybridized with mixing other codes. Other languages’ terms are nativized. It is noticed that tribals are borrowing other languages’ terms for personal and professional purposes.

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

Dr. Ashish Kumar Pandey
Assistant Professor
BIET, AKTU, Lucknow
kumar16pandey@gmail.com

Ajay Kumar Singh
Research Scholar
Dept. of Linguistics, LU
ajay.linguistics@gmail.com
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