Did you know that India is a country where every 100 to 200 kms there is a change in the dialect spoken? Amazing right?
India itself is divided into states based on the majority language spoken in that area.
There are so many languages that are spoken here that it is mind boggling. The constitution of India recognizes 22 official languages of India. The census of 2001 has recorded that India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. There are many languages here that do not have any script and are only spoken. There are newpapers and publications that are printed all over the country in a large number of different languages. They are all widely read. That gives us an idea of the prevalence of the language in that area.
If you look at the numbers again, the most spoken language in India is Hindi and all its variations. It is understood in almost every part of the country.
But did you know that English is also one of the official languages of the country? We have more speakers of English than most European nations! Haha! 😀
The mother of all Indian languages is Sanskrit. It is now globally acknowledged that Sanskrit is the most scientifically appropriate language of the world.
Any language is a mirror to its society. Language encompasses the culture and lifestyle of its people. The songs, folk tales, idioms, and poetry are a reflection of the civilisation. The sheer number of languages of India shows the depth of its society and culture.
The literary treasure that we have in every language is just wonderful. The poetry, prose, drama and treatises is a delight to every language student to study.
There is a lot of migration now in India. A lot of people move to other states taking their mother tongue there with them and then adopt the language of the state they have moved into. Of course English and Hindi are the common threads binding all of us. So any average Indian will know at least 2 languages if not more.
I am a self proclaimed language geek. If there is an opportunity, I will learn a language. I try to converse with people in their mother tongue, if possible. Talking in one’s mother tongue is like oasis in a desert. I have learnt to read, write and speak in 5 different languages. But considering the sheer number of languages India has, what I know is not even a drop in that ocean.
I hope all the languages of India continue to thrive and prosper. And the continued preference to “English” will not be the death knell for all the small languages, because, after all the language is a reflection of the soul.
I love being linguistic. Agree to what you said, it’s great to converse in the local language and that would be an added advantage. L is for Love in the Air. https://syncwithdeep.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/l-love-is-in-the-air-blogchattera2z-atozchallenge-atoz/
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Thanks Deep. I feel that makes all the difference. The other person becomes more comfortable immediately.
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Very well explained . We are leaving in huge country with different culture n speak different languages . Amazing , but binding force between two people is still English or Hindi. I feel so .
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That’s true. Thanks for liking!
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I hope efforts are underway to preserve and record the many languages of India. They are too precious to be lost.
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Yes, Cheryl. There are many efforts to preserve the languages. But still more needs to be done. The craze for English has put many indigenous languages in peril. Thank you for dropping by.
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Nice post. The varied languages make India so rich and vibrant.
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Yes. I love to learn new ones too.
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Awesome. I must confess that I am very bad at learning new languages, maybe because I am so lazy.
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Try one at a time! 🙂
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Rather than designate any one language as the nation’s standardised tongue, it makes more sense to invest in the development of other regional languages and thus preserve India’s multiculturalism through multilinguism. Mahatma Gandhi, a largely self-taught polyglot, has said in his autobiography My Experiments with Truth that in all Indian curricula of higher education, there should be a place for Hindi, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and English, besides, of course, the local language of the particular region. He says if the education were more systematic, learning the languages could be a source of pleasure.
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Yes. 100% true. Thanks for the comment
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I wonder what would we, the bloggers, do without the support of language… any language I mean? You gave me a thought to reflect on and write about Meena 🙂
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No language? That will make everyone’s life so difficult. Thanks for coming Anagha!
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I was a person who believed that “Language was just a means for communication” and as long as the person you were going to communicate with understood your intention, language was not important. I have been proven wrong time and again. Now I wished as a child I had invested more of my time in learning other languages, and now stop at a mix of English and Tamil
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Language is not just a means of communication. It connects to the heart. Thanks for commenting namratha
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nice write up Meena! A very hypothetical situation, but know what I wish for- a universal language for people all over the world. difference in language rather than bind people creates a barrier between them.
why, you and I wouldn’t be communicating if not for the common language of English.
next point- have you noticed how eloquent the English kids are in the expression of their thoughts and feelings? thats because they think in english speak in english and learn in english
on the other hand my mother tongue is malayalam, but since my medium of learning was English my vocab build up has happened in english.
we tend to become Jack of multiple languages but master of none.
what say?
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