Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0167/01671.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 28KB | 453 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01671}
$Pretitle{221}
$Title{India
Chapter 4A.   Linguistic Relations and Ethnic Minorities}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{P. A. Kluck}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{languages
language
hindi
linguistic
regional
social
dravidian
english
sanskrit
dialects}
$Date{1985}
$Log{Asokan Iron Pillar, Delhi*0167101.scf
Figure 12.*0167102.scf
Traffic, Bombay*0167104.scf
Street Scene, Bombay*0167105.scf
Don't Give Alms*0167106.scf
}
Country:     India
Book:        India, A Country Study
Author:      P. A. Kluck
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1985

Chapter 4A.   Linguistic Relations and Ethnic Minorities

[See Asokan Iron Pillar, Delhi: Asokan Iron Pillar, Delhi]

     India's ethnic and linguistic complexity is unparalleled in virtually any
other single country in the world. To gain even a superficial understanding
of the relationships governing the huge number of ethnic and linguistic
groups, the country should be visualized not as a nation-state but as the seat
of a major world civilization on the scale of Europe. The population is not
only immense but also has been highly varied throughout recorded history; its
systems of values have always encouraged certain kinds of diversity. The
linguistic requirements of numerous empires, an independent country, and
modern communication are superimposed on a heterogeneous sociocultural base.

     The major languages of India belong to two major families, Dravidian
and Indo-Aryan; they are as different in their form and construction as, for
example, Indo-European and Semitic and are written in a number of unrelated
scripts. Furthermore, most of the significant South Asian languages exist
in a number of different forms or dialects that are distributed among the
populace according to complex geographic and social patterns. Different
individuals know different language forms and styles and use them in a
given social context according to a number of subtle criteria.

     There are a total of some 50 major regional tongues; the Constitution
recognizes 15 (plus English) as official languages. In postindependence
India, linguistic affinity has served as a basis for organizing interest
groups; the "language question" itself has become an increasingly sensitive
political issue. Efforts to reach a consensus on a single national language
that transcends the myriad linguistic regions and is acceptable to diverse
language communities have been largely unsuccessful. Many Indian nationalists
originally intended that Hindi should replace English-the language of British
imperial rule-as a medium of common communication. Both Hindi and English are
extensively used, and each has its own supporters. Hindi speakers, who are
concentrated in the northern part of the subcontinent, contend that English,
as a hangover from the colonial past spoken by only a small fraction of the
population, is hopelessly elitist and unsuitable as the nation's official
language.

     Proponents of English argue, in contrast, that the use of Hindi is
unfair because it is a liability for those Indians who do not speak it as
their native tongue. English, they say, at least represents an equal handicap
for Indians of every region. English continues to serve as the premier
language of prestige. Efforts to switch to Hindi or other regional tongues
encounter stiff opposition both from those who know English well and whose
privileged position requires proficiency in that tongue and from those who
see learning it as a means of upward mobility.

     The evolution of India's multitudinous languages provides a glimpse of
the subcontinent's culture, prehistory, and political history. Lacking any
rationale for an overarching political authority, the belief that all the
diverse tongues were derived from Sanskrit suggested a measure of cultural
integration in much the same way that caste offered unity in the midst of
social diversity. Linguistic analysis reveals much of the prehistory of South
Asia's peoples. The rise and fall of empires has given impetus to the
development of administrative lingua francas.

     Linguistic diversity is apparent on a variety of levels. Major regional
tongues include their stylized literary forms, often with an extensive body
of literature. These differ markedly from the spoken vernaculars and village
dialects that coexist with a plethora of caste idioms and regional lingua
francas. Part of the reason for such linguistic diversity lies in the complex
social realities of South Asia. India's languages reflect the intricate
levels of social hierarchy and caste. Individuals have in their speech
repertoire a variety of styles and dialects appropriate to various social
situations. In general, the higher the speaker's status, the more speech
forms at his or her disposal. Speech is adapted in countless ways to reflect
the specific social context and the relative standing of the speakers.

     Regional languages figure in the politically charged atmosphere
surrounding language policy. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s attempts were made
to redraw state boundaries to coincide with linguistic ones. Such efforts have
had mixed results. Linguistic affinity has often failed to overcome other
social and economic differences. In addition, most states have linguistic
minorities, and questions surrounding the definition and use of the official
language in those regions are fraught with controversy.

     Beyond distinctions of language, non-Hindu religious groups and a
variety of social groups outside the bound of the caste system lend further
complexity to Indian society. There are tribal peoples in a number of regions;
in addition, the country has several well-established groups of foreign
descent occupying strategic positions in a number of locales and regions.
Further distinctions along religious lines create a multidimensional mosaic
of social groups.

     India's tribal peoples-roughly 3 percent of the total population-are
located along the Himalayas and in the central hill region. The very
definition of which groups should be officially listed as tribes is contested
because to have official tribal status is to gain potential access to a
variety of governmental benefits. The traits normally seen as establishing
tribal identity-language, social organization, religious practices, economic
patterns, and self-identification-are often diffuse; exceptions can be found
to all of the conventional traits believed to define tribal (see Glossary)
groups. The situation is complicated by the extent to which tribes have
tended to assimilate characteristics associated with the Hindu majority.

     The past century has seen a growing increase in the contacts between
tribes and outsiders in most tribal regions. Under both British and
postindependence rule, government policies have affected tribes' possession
and use of their lands. Improved means of transportation have given Hindus
and Muslims access to tribal land and labor. The exchange between tribes and
the majority of rural Indians has been anything but equal.

     Protective legislation has had a mixed impact; nontribals have proved
more than adept at subverting laws prohibiting alienation of tribal lands.
The system of forest reserves has had a more deleterious impact on tribals
than on large-scale commercial interests or Indian peasants. Preference given
tribals in education is diluted by the lack of elementary schools in remote
areas, instructional materials in tribal tongues, and properly trained
teachers.

Linguistic Relations

Languages of India

     The myriad spoken and written languages on the subcontinent belong to
four major language families; the vast majority of the population speaks one
of two of these-Indo-Aryan or Dravidian. Perhaps three-quarters of all Indians
speak an Indo-Aryan language, a family related to Indo-European, to which
nearly all European languages belong. Persian and the languages of Afghanistan
are closer relatives. Brought into India by migrants, the Indo-Aryan tongues
spread