LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 5 May 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.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Linguistic Duopoly: A Case of Mewati

Prerna Bakshi, M.A. (Linguistics) Candidate

Abstract

In the recent times, there has been a considerable attention drawn towards the plight of immigrant languages or minority languages and much is being done on maintaining them and bringing the issues surrounding them to the public eye. However, not much has been done on linguistic varieties labelled as 'dialects'. This study seeks to fill this gap by exploring the issues surrounding a language variety called Mewati.

This paper examines the status of Mewati in relation to the other dominant languages of Hindi and Urdu and attempts to explain how social institutions like local state run schools and madrasas contribute towards language shift. Additionally, the study explores the relationship between language, religion and identity and the politics thereof. It is recommended that school curriculums need to make a room for Mewati if its maintenance is to be ensured.

Key Words: Dialect, Identity, Religion, Hegemony, Language Policy, Language shift and maintenance, Language Politics

Introduction

Mewat is home to a very high concentration of Meos who are the traditional inhabitants of the region. Meos are Muslims and speak Mewati which is an Indo-Aryan variety spoken in the historical area of Mewat. Its geographical boundaries make it an interesting area to base a research upon as it has traditionally shared boundaries with Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. At present, the district of Mewat forms part of the state of Haryana, one of the fastest developing state in India and is a few kilometres away from Gurgaon known to be the financial and industrial hub of the state with one of the highest per capita income in the entire country.

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

Prerna Bakshi, Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics, M.A. (Linguistics) Candidate
Department of Linguistics
University of Sydney
New South Wales 2006
Australia
prernabakshi84@yahoo.co.in
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