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June 05, 2005
Case for a new language for India
Abstract: The author argues for creation of a new spoken & written language for the usage as a national language for India. The contention is that the new language would unite, invigorate and rekindle the vibrancy of India as a nation.
TOC:
* The problem of many languages
* The proposal
* Arguments for it ?
* Arguments against it ?
* Criteria for a new script
* Criteria for a new language
* How do we do it ?
* Is it worth it ?
The problem of too many languages
India has so many languages and dialects along with so many scripts (lipi). If you are traveling from one part of India to the other, you can probably survive with English or a bit of Hindi. But you can't read the local sign boards nor participate in a vernacular conversation.
Even for the administrative purposes, there needs to be a common national lingua franca. English and to some extent Hindi have done a reasonable job so far; but the demands to learn English to advance in the society has created an elite class alienated from the bottom.
The language issue has also played an anti-nation-building role. The identity derived from linguistic roots has subverted to some extent the sense of single nation.
If India needs to make progress in the new century, it has to make strides with the scientific development too. The development of science again asks for a common scientific jargon. None of our current languages including Hindi have a critical mass against English for an expression of scientific thought. Probably English can co-exist with local languages as the vehicle of advanced sciences; but the dichotomy of English and local language is not a good basis for bottom-up development of the country.
The proposal
The proposal is to create and develop a new language for India which can replace the local & national languages over a period of time.
Isn't that one heck of blasphemous unholy proposition? To create a new language ? Aren't the languages supposed to be passed to us from an higher authority ? Well, the languages are just the tools of communication. And they evolved over a period of time. There is nothing wrong to imagine creating a new language.
Well, people have constructed a lot of artificial languages all over world. For example, Esperanto published in 1887 by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof is one of reasonably successful languages. Esperanto was conceived to facilitate communication between different lands and cultures. Our own president Abdul Kalam is supposed to be well versed in Esperanto. Esperanto is a minimal language designed to serve its purpose. But what we are proposing here is a full fledged language on par with current Indian languages including English.
The plan of agenda is to create first a common modern scientific script to replace various current scripts. At this stage, the various languages are in tact but they make use of a single lipi (script). Imagine a time where at any place in India, you could read any publication, newspaper, sign board or postal addresses, probably even if you can't understand the content fully. The next stage is to work on the new language in all its glory: common words & grammar.
Arguments for it
One argument for a having a single common language is for the national integration. Having a single spoken and written language for whole of India (and probably along with the eliminating of castes) would unite India as a single nation.
There are huge economic benefits too. With such a huge population, a single language would soon attain the critical mass needed to withstand the onslaught of English for literature, arts, movies etc. We would have critical enough mass to attract publication of scientific works too.
The new language will definitely rejuvenate the spirit of India. Call it Bharati, call it Indica or call it by any specification number; the new language would definitely rekindle the sleeping Indian soul.
Arguments against it
Isn't my cultural identity destroyed with this new language ? Yes, probably the narrow-minded identity will be destroyed, but the culture as a whole will not be. Most of India shares common cultural themes albeit minor differences. A common language would hurry the cultural integration. As a matter of fact, we could protect the Indian culture against the inevitably impending western cultural imperialism.
Why can't we just use Hindi as national language ? Would it not save lot of effort creating a new language from scratch ? Using any existing Indian language would invite resistance from rest of the groups. More over, the sense of empowerment achieved through creation of new language would be a soothing balm in the struggle to regain the ancient glory of India.
Why can't we use Sanskrit as national language ? Isn't it ancient and isn't it very capable for the needs ? Yes and no. Sanskrit is a literary elite language and never worked as language of common people. Because of Sanskrit's rigorous inflexible grammatical requirements, the common folks have tended to use Prakrit'ic languages for everyday use. For example, Pali is one such language during Buddhist revolutionary days. Initial Buddhism (Theravada style) emphatically chose Pali for expressing its literature because Pali was more closer to common people than Sanskrit. Apart from Pali, there were so many variations of Sanskrit from which other current Indian languages evolved. The summary is that Sanskrit is a rigorous language probably not suitable as a replacement candidate.
Then why can't we use English as the national language ? English is an excellent and successful language in international domain. Probably we can use it as administrative, scientific and link language but definitely can't serve as replacement for all the existing Indian languages. There are so many cultural themes which probably will better suit only an Indian language.
If all existing languages are replaced by a common single language, what would happen to great works & great thinkers of my current language ? No, they are not going to be destroyed. Rather they are going to be revitalized. I am sure all the old great works of Kalidasa will be translated into our new language as has been done into so many current languages. Now we would have bigger and better pool of intellectuals, writers, poets going forward. Isn't it wonderful to have the greats of Masti, Tagore, xxx, xxx sharing their minds to whole of India rather than sharing only with smaller audience of their own language.
Criteria for new script
One has to distinguish the script from the language. The script or lipi is the set of alphabets and their corresponding rules for expressing the language in a written form. In contrast, the language is a bigger bowl; it consists of words which stand for things & grammar rules which combine words to form sentences. Probably, it makes sense to create a new national script well before attempting to create a new language as a whole.
The criteria for a national script are aesthetics, simplicity, expressibility. Probably digital automation could be one requirement but probably should not weigh too much since the fast pace of technology evolution can do justice without requiring inventing a new script just for automation purposes. One great characteristic of Indian languages compared to other world languages is that it is phonetic: what you pronounce is what you write. [There are some exceptions to this in some Indian languages e.g.. there is no separate letters for "k" and "g" sounds in Tamil.] But for most part, Indian scripts are phonetic. Probably we need to retain the phonetic character in the new script too.
As contrast, Chinese is not phonetic but a symbolic language; the English is not a phonetic language too. [ In English, both the words "know" and "no" are pronounced in same way. ] Probably we should continue the tradition of phonetic script still in the new language.
There is one more important characteristic to Indian scripts. Consonants in most of the language morph their shape based on the next vowel or next blending consonant. For example, basic shape of consonant "k" undergoes transformation when it becomes "ki" or "kyi". But some of the south Indian languages (e.g.. Tamil and Malayalam) don't undergo such transformation. Probably non-morphic nature is more suitable for simplicity and automation.
Criteria for the new language
The new language should definitely try to incorporate the most general common words from all of the languages. For example, variations of "prem" is used in most of Indian languages for the word "love". So one criterion is to leverage common words found in most languages.
The other criterion is that the language should be usable by common folks. The grammar & rules should not be strict and inflexible. At the same stroke, the language should be usable by poets and artists too.
And the language should be evolvable. The language should evolve based on needs and times.
A language defines the extent of what you can think. Language is the tool through which we understand the world. Without the symbols of language, there is nothing in this world, not even the peacefulness suggested by Jiddu's call to destroy the symbolism. As has been articulated by George Orwell in "1984", a language can also limit the scope of thinking. So our new language should be capable of expressing all that has been possible so far in this world and beyond such possibilities too.
How do we do it ?
Yes, it is doable. All we need is vision and will. It is doable over few decades of time period. Few decades or even a century for such a noble effort is a short term in the history of a nation.
Is it worth the effort ?
Is it worth the effort in terms of social and economic costs ? I believe, such an effort is worth it. The new language coupled with reorganizing states on non-linguistic basis and eradication of caste system is going to churn out a new strong, vibrant nation.
Some people can extrapolate and ask for next level of evolution. Why should we try to focus on a narrow national identity ? Why not work towards an international language ? Well, it is doable. The concept of national identity itself is silly (at least as per people like Tagore). We are probably humans first and then Indians next. I don't have a very good answer to this question. But I can only affirm that India with such an ancient bowl of knowledge and distinct cultural flavor would deserve a common language of its own. India has been an island (remember an island) of vast amount of distinct cultural evolution. Most of the themes are unique to Indian sub continent. But this vast pool of development is more or less common across all current Indian languages. The Indian identity doesn't deserve a seclusion based on the language.
I would just say, it is worth it..
Just imagine, how would you feel peeping into an alternative future where such a thing has already been accomplished in India? For myself, I would feel good & would feel proud..
Posted by nachiketa at June 5, 2005 12:39 AM
Comments
We must promote Indian languages as well as english becuase English is a neutral language .
You cannot take the language of one state and promote it as the national
language. This is the opinion of many people I have spoken to.
It creates an artificial politically induced lopsided development . (I will give you an example shortly )
Either promote English (neutral language) or have drug labels in all Indian languages
(which is easily possible in the available space). Otherwise create a new artifical
language like spoken prakrit which takes words from all Indian languages.
Tomorrow if we have only Hindi medium schools throughout India , people from 4 hindi speaking states
due to their natural fluency in the language will get higher marks than me. Plus I have to learn an additional
language (Telegu) (which he doesn't) for which I have to sacrifice another subject . This is a double advantage
for a hindi speaker and a double disadvantage for a non-hindi speaker. Within years , people from 4 states will
take away all the Engineering and Medical seats and all jobs if the private sector is forced to operate in Hindi .
This will happen right from Kashmir to kanyakumari. This is not based on merit but a politically engineered differentiation.
I do agree that English is difficult but it is equally difficult for everybody. That is the point here
The greatness of India is its Unity in Diversity . Follow a unity in Diversity
model . Examples countries following this model are
(a) Switzerland
(b) Singapore
(c) Canada
Each state can select link languages based on popular demand (English and Hindi may be)
and compensate other languages for the loss in other ways - spend more money on other
languages since Hindi has already spread and will continue to do so based on the law of
demand and supply. Only Unity in Diversity sustains National
integration in the long run. You can check out the Switzerland model if you want. You
might also want to know how Unity in Diversity helped Canada from disintegrating.
The Unified Rajbhasha Model was required before liberalization but now common sense
would only indicate based on experience everywhere that a unity in diversity model
is more appropriate.
Take this oft-repeated statement
"Over centralization destroyed India, now liberalization
is reuniting India"
Here is one model you might want to adopt since Hindi has already spread.
The following is my suggestion:
Amend the constitution and
(a) Make all Indian languages National languages as a token of acknowledgement of
the rich diversity of the sub-continent and the
equality of all cultures
(b) Declare English as the recommended Official link language (But leave the choice
to the states)
(c) some states can choose Hindi as a cultural link language if required.
* Hindi enables poorer people across India to communicate with each other since 40% of
Indians speak Hindi versus 5% english , but that is about it : as a
written language hindi is almost dead outside of the Hindi belt. In my opinion
people need to learn the mother tongue first followed by English and Basic Hindi
(optional). Hindi is is mainly useful the wholesale , retail trade and the
entertainment industry and for some amount of emotional bonding. It not only imposes
load on some states but gives more preferences for 4 states with repsect to
job) and some states States , of course get to
decide their own cultural policy . This
includes
(a) Role of the mother tongue
(b) Role of English
(c) Role of Hindi
(d) Role of other Regional languages
This will ensure that the local culture gets first preference.
We need to encourage a Unity in Diversity model . I however support a basic knowledge
of ONE Indian language throughout the country
i.e Hindi (as English requires a formal education). It but let the realization come
voluntarily, let it not be imposed. Ideally
a neutral language such a spoken Prakrit
would have been better but now that Hindi has already spread
throughout most of India , it will keep spreading based on the Law of supply and
demand .We can no longer avoid it.
Several formulas are also available to judge
languages based on Historical significance,
Cultural importance, uniqueness, number of speakers etc ( A lot
of research has been done of this in the
past few years and while maintianing
national integration, such formulas can help
determine the budget spend on other Indian
languages)
Alternatively , the centre need not promote any language. Leave it to the states.
This model is followed in the European union.
Sujay
Posted by: Sujay Rao Mandavilli at October 30, 2006 03:37 AM