Progress Of Indic Languages Vs English

[Bharatvarsh]

Bodhiji Hutatma Ramprasad Bismil was supposed to have written his autobio in prison in Hindi just before he was hanged, do you know it's title?

And ya star news happens to be the worst, i have been told the same by several people.

[Bodhi]

Bharatvarshji,

I have read Sri Bismil's jail-diary cum autobiography, and probably have it somewhere in my personal collection. If I remember right, it is called 'tarAnAe-bismil' (the swansong of Bismil). Will check and let you know. He was a very good (urdu) poet, and fond of poetry. It remarkably says (ends with?) :

shaheedon ki chitaaon par lagenge har varsh mele
vatan pe miTane walon ka yahee baaki nishaan hoga

On the samadhi-s of hutatma-s, annual celebrations will certainly happen
those who die in cause for nation, this will be the remaining insignia.

Some years back, I had the opportunity to be in his home town Shahjahanpur and seen where he lived. Today there is just an ordinary statue in his memory, nothing more.

[Bodhi]

Bharatvarsh,

Here. This page has the complete text of Bismil's Autobiography (in devanagari), including a summary of his life in English in the beginning.

It also says:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ramprasad ‘Bismil’ was hanged to death in Gorakhpur jail on 19 December 1927. He started writing his autobiography in his prison-cell at Gorakhpur jail and concluded it just three days prior to being hanged. On 18 December 1927, his mother came to meet him in jail, along with his close friend, Shiv Verma. Ramprasad hid the hand-written manuscript inside the tiffin which his mother had brought, and handed it over to Shiv Verma, who was successful in bringing the manuscript outside jail premises. These pages were later got printed in the shape of a book by Bhagvaticharan Verma. Soon thereafter, the printed copies of the book were confiscated and the publication banned by the Government. After India’s Independence in 1947, this autobiography of Ramprasad Bismil was published by some Arya Samaj outfits<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[ramana]

If you know Sanskrit and Telugu you can decode any Indian language. Thats what the Brits did. The EI company college in London used to teach these two languages to the young clerks before they go to India.

[Bodhi]

asset = aasti
earning/non-earning = arjaka/anarjaka
non-earning asset = anarjaka aasti

[Bharatvarsh]

Some shudh Hindi words:

daulat = sampatthi
khatra = aapatthi
namumkin = asambhav
dushman = vairi, shatru
kismat = sanjog (i am not sure if this is used in Hindi, but used in Punjabi acc to a mitra)
shahr = nagar
lekin = parantu, kintu
maut = mrityu
kabootar = kapothi
mushkil = kashti
khush = anand
yaad = chitha, chetna
shaam = sandhya, trikaal
safed = ujjal
qilla = durg
bekasoor = nirdosh
safar = prayaan (not sure if its used for journey in Hindi or starting a journey)
aurat = sthri
mard = purush
mehman = athithi
fayida = labh
teer = bhaan
cheez = vasthu
zubaan = jib
khoobsurat = sundar
zaroor = avash
irada/tamanna = iccha
andar = antar
garib = daridr
subha = savera
khatam = samapt
dost = mitra
shaq = shank

[Bodhi]

good list Bharatvarsh. some synonyms and comments below

<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jan 9 2008, 09:26 PM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jan 9 2008, 09:26 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->khatra = aapatthi (Apatti actually means objection.  ApadA = emergence)
kismat = sanjog (sanyoga is shuddha hindi)
mushkil = kashti (kaThin actually)
khush = anand (Anandit = blissful, prasanna/sukhI=happy, mudit=joyful)
yaad = chitha, chetna (cheta/chetana as verbs and sudhi/smriti as nouns)
safed = ujjal (ujjwal/shubhra = bright, shveta = white, gaur = fair)
qilla = durg (and gaDh)
safar = prayaan (not sure if its used for journey in Hindi or starting a journey)
(you are right.  prayANa is departure. yAtrA is journey, pravAsa is trip)
aurat = sthri (also: mahilA = lady, nArI = femina, vanitA = woman/aurat in wife-sense
mard = purush (or nara, mAnava)

teer = bhaan (did not get this one)

zubaan = jib (jivhA in context of speaking sense.  rasanA in context of tasting sense)
zaroor = avash (avashya = certain, nishchit = definite)
irada/tamanna = iccha  (irAdA would be uddeshya, lakshya.  tamannA is ichchhA)
andar = antar (andar is also shuddha)
garib = daridr (or nirdhan)
subha = savera (also prbhAt)
shaq = shank (shankA = concern, and sandeha = doubt)
[right][snapback]76945[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bharatvarsh]

"teer = bhaan (did not get this one)"

teer is persian for arrow, bhaan is native.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->P tīr [Old P. tigra; Zend tighri, rt. tij = S. तिज्; S. तीर, prob. fr. P.], s.m. An arrow;--a beam, a mast;--the planet Mercury (=tīr-ě-falak):--tīr-andāz, s.m. An archer, a bowman:--tīr-andāzī,

http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologi...ct&display=utf8<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->andar = antar (andar is also shuddha)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->P andar [Zend antara, S. अन्तर], prep. Within, in the inside (of,-ke):--andar-se, adv. From within; internally:--andar-kā, adj. (f.-ī), Inner, internal; hidden, secret:--andar karnā, v.t. To put

http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologi...ct&display=utf8<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thats why i put it there but these dictionaries could be wrong at times.

Is anumaan used for suspicion, we use it in Telugu.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->khatra = aapatthi (Apatti actually means objection.  ApadA = emergence)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Heard this for danger in Ashoka though (same in Gujarati).
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->S आपत āpat (cf. P. āfat), s.f. Accident, misfortune, calamity, disaster, evil, danger, trouble, adversity.---āpat-kāl, s.m. A season of trouble or distress.

http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologi...ct&display=utf8<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->teer is persian for arrow, bhaan is native.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
shar and vANa are also used.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->khatra = aapatthi (Apatti actually means objection.  ApadA = emergence)
Heard this for danger in Ashoka though (same in Gujarati).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

yes Apat in sanskrit is danger, risk, emergency. ApadA in Hindi. Urdu / Farsi also derive it as aaFat. Apatti however is 'objection' in Hindi.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Is anumaan used for suspicion, we use it in Telugu.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
:-) this is another of such cases where same word in Hindi and in Telugu mean very different things. anumAn in Hindi and Skt means assumption, guess etc.

[Bharatvarsh]

Dhanyavaad Bodhi.

Some other stuff i remembered:

badal = parivartan
darwaza = dwaar
isthmal = upyOg
salah/hidayat = suuchna
akhbar = samachar patrika
aawaaz = shabd, dhvani
madat = sahaayta
muft = mukht
khaandaan = parivaar, kutumbh
gadar = drohi
sitara = tara
baarish = varsha
saal = varsh/baras, sanvat
maheena = maasa
yakin = vishwas/bishwas
inkaar = nakaarna, manaa karna
shayar = kavi
asman = ambar, akash, gagan
sirf = kEval
hawa = pavan, vaayu
salaam = pranaam
jaan = praan (i am not sure, this could be used for breath, in telugu its also used for life)
zindagi = jeevan
badal = parivartan
aam = sadharan
khaas = bisesh
hukum = aadesh, aagya, shaasan
takht/masnad = singhaasan, gaddhi
saza = dand
dastar = pagri
badla = prateekaar
hazaar = sahasra
thaiyyar = siddha, sannaddh
nazar = drishti
faisla = nischay, nirnay
kamyab = saphal
galat = aparaadh, bhul
ilzaam = aarop
sahib = shreeman
ghulam = daas/daasi for female
ghulaami = daasya
rishta = sambhand
sauda/karobaar = vyapaar
khaid = bandhi
khoon = hatya
khoon = rakht, lahu, rudhir
laash = shav
jism = deha, shareer, kaaya
amir = dhani
kimat = moolya
sharm = lajja
aaraam = vishraam
bimaar = rOg
taareef = prashansa
rasta = maarg
zyaada = adhik
khwaab = sapna
jannat = swarg
jahannam = narak
matlab = arth
mouka = avsar
tota = sugga
taarikh = tithi, dinaank
akhree = antim
aadat = vyavahaar
qadam = pad
chehra/shakal = mukh

Bodhi, do you know what bajariya means, i heard it in a song.

I thought it could mean a weapon, from indra's vajra.

Also what is the word for release, as in released from jail or movie release?

vidudhala in Telugu, viduthalai in Tamizh (eg: LTTE is Tamizh Eelam Viduthalai Puligal)

[Bodhi]

<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jan 10 2008, 02:59 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jan 10 2008, 02:59 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bodhi, do you know what bajariya means, i heard it in a song.
[right][snapback]76964[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

depends upon the pronounciation.

'baa-jariya' in urdu means: 'through the means of'. jariyaa means medium or means. in Hindi, 'mAdhyam se'.

however as you heard it in a song, it probably is 'bajar-iya', bhojpuri adaptation of 'bazar' (market). In bhojpuri and generally in awadhi too, a noun of femanine gender is generally appended with 'iya', and of musculine with 'ava', and of ubhaya-lin^ga with either of the two as the rhyme of the sentance would suit. ('vajra' in awadhi becomes 'bajjar' :-) )

<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jan 10 2008, 02:59 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jan 10 2008, 02:59 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Also what is the word for release, as in released from jail or movie release?
[right][snapback]76964[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
release from imprisonment or hospital etc is 'mukti', and popularly 'chhUTanA'. release from a post is pada-mukti. retirement from a job is seva-mukti.

inauguration is 'udghATana', 'anAvaraNa' is used for the release of a statue or of a completed project.

book release is 'pustaka vimochana' in Hindi. I suppose the same may be applied to 'film release'. But I have not come across a specific word for it. I can think of 'paTAvataraN' <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Shambhu]

RihA also means being set free (and is often used in "getting out of jail")

As a kid I used to have a laugh when teh judge in a Hindi movie said, "defendant will be released with full H and D" (..baa'izzat barI kiyA jAtA hai..")

I was like, "whoa! Judge wants him to be buried!" (Indian pronunciation of bury was barI, not like the beh-rI we say in US)

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->however as you heard it in a song, it probably is 'bajar-iya', bhojpuri adaptation of 'bazar' (market). In bhojpuri and generally in awadhi too, a noun of femanine gender is generally appended with 'iya', and of musculine with 'ava', and of ubhaya-lin^ga with either of the two as the rhyme of the sentance would suit. ('vajra' in awadhi becomes 'bajjar' :-) )<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah that would make sense, i heard it in a song of "the rising" about mangal pandey which was set in UP.

Meanwhile some article i found:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Factors behind Hindi’s downfall
by P. D. Shastri

THE Millennium’s Grand All-World Conference on Hindi was held in New Delhi from September 14 to 23. It is hoped the event would give a great fillip to the cause of Hindi to emerge not only as the sole dominant language of India but also as one of the major languages of the world. After all, it is the official language of a country with over a billion people.

Why September 14? For on that date in 1949 the Constituent Assembly designated Hindi as the national language of India. High hopes were raised that soon Hindi would be all in all, as English was during British rule.

But things did not shape according to people’s wishful thinking. In the first flush, the people of UP and Bihar felt that the future belonged to them as they were God’s chosen people, speaking the constitutionally chosen language. This tongue, they thought, was their birthright. Their argument was that they were born with it while others took years to achieve that standard. This attitude did not make Hindi more popular with the people in the western and eastern parts of India. Non-Hindi-speaking people constitute the majority in India. The Hindi belt remained the place having the poorest strata of society in India. Also with time, non-Hindi-speaking people’s opposition to Hindi progressively evaporated.

The other day a staunch supporter of Hindi lamented that with time the importance of English was getting higher and higher while Hindi was losing its ground bit by bit. Hindi had a much greater status in 1949, with high hopes of its monopoly in the future. Today, said the enthusiast, it is on the downward slant. The fact remains that English is the predominant language in the discussions in Parliament, conferences and meetings — national and international — while Hindi has to remain content with its official status. It seems as if English is our de facto national language.

Even the DAV people, who once fanatically swore by Hindi, have opened over 500 English-medium schools all over the country. Before Independence, the number of well-known English-medium schools could be counted on the finger tips. Today they are spread all over the place, even in small towns and villages.

Press views mean opinions expressed in the English language papers. The vernacular readers (though constituting a majority among newspaper readers) do not catch the headlines. Hindi papers are read and Hindi speeches and writings generally are restricted to those whose knowledge of English is inadequate. Prestige and intellectual superiority go with the foreign language, whether we like it or not.

What are the causes for this slow progress, rather non-progress of Hindi? The chief reason is the inadequacy of our language. Due to the fault of the sponsors, it has not risen to the excellence and worldview of English.

The original Hindi was so Sanskritised that common people could not understand it. There was no use of exchanging a half understood national language with English, more popularly understood by the intelligentsia. Even Nehru said he could not understand Hindi on the signboards at UP’s railway stations (e.g. niramish bhojanalaya). It was not the people’s language. It did not have behind it the power of the heart-beats of India’s countless millions. Even today, with all corrections being made, often we cannot understand an item in official Hindi on the T.V.; we will know what it means only when we hear the news in English.

Under the compulsion of circumstances, the much-maligned cinema popularised people’s Hindi, that gave the films welcome in all parts of our vast land. The newspaper world is changing for a more acceptable Hindi, though the government-controlled media (electronic) continues in the same old way. In place of serving the sons of the soil, the scholar’s hobby is to show off their deep learning.

All languages in the world have been shaped by great men of letters; famous poets and writers whose sentences found an echo in the heart of the millions. For instance, in our case too, lines of poetry, maxims and other quotable quotes of Tulsidas, Kabir, Surdas and many others live to this day and are often sung or stated. Can this be said of our present-day authors and poets whose writings constitute the literature of the hour, not literature for all times to come. We have touched Himalayan heights in quantity, but where is the quality? The governments — state and central — every year award prizes of lakhs of rupees, but no one reads those works. These are dumped in stores where they provide a feast to white ants and termites. An occasional work of merit or purple patch passes without much notice.

It is not generally remembered and that our official Hindi was created by the babus sitting in government offices. The government gave them lists of thousands of the current English words and terms, and they were to supply their Hindi equivalent. They were the employees of the Language Department, no geniuses or men of letters. They invented a whole set of new vocabulary to substitute for English terms. Those clerks could not work wonders in coining new words. They represented the commonest mediocrity. Those new coinages were printed in the shape of dictionaries and the people were ordained to adopt them. The official media did adopt them, making their Hindi as another Esperanto. This was a grotesque situation.

In all cases, a language is evolved by degrees and later lexicographers come and compile them in the shape of a dictionary. Take the English language. Chaucer (1340-1400 A.D.) is said to be its father. But the first English dictionary came 400 years after its birth — Dr Johnson’s Dictionary in the 18th century.

We put the cart before the horse; the dictionary first and the evolution of the language later on. This is the crux of the problem. At the start a wrong direction was given. A language invented by petty clerks was supposed to be great India’s official language. With the best will in the world, it could not come on the top. The little corrections made during the last half a century have not been able to lift today’s Hindi to be on a par with other great languages of the world. The partisans put the blame on the anglicised intellectual aristocrats for being English-minded and not having that patriotic love for our own Hindi. The truth is that the language’s own inadequacy is the cause.

India’s national language cannot be the local tongue of Bihar or UP. It must borrow enough words from other Indian languages (each has a wonderful store of words worthy of all-India adoption) to make a composite language for the whole of India.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000928/edit.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
nehru was an ignorant lout who could get neither Hindi nor Urdu right, how the hell would he understand anything, that it was incomprehensible is nonsense, if one were to listen to Bhojpuri or any of the dialects spoken one would understand how sanskritised they are compared to Bollywood "Hindi", nextly even assuming that common speech had a lot of farsi/arabic that still wouldn't answer how these Hindus suddenly couldn't understand shudh Hindi because at least the religious literature was in highly shudh Hindi and religious preachers do tend to speak more shudh Hindi (eg: the Ramcharitmanas which is highly popular has very few farsi/arabic words and yet it is very popular in the Hindi belt). This is not restricted to Hindi, anyone who has heard sikh gyanis preach in Punjabi could see that their speech makes use of much more sanskrit terminology and is understood by common sikhs, if one wants to check, they will just have to listen to akash radio online when the preacher is on.

And if Hindi is not the peoples language, English fares even worse on that count (at least for now).

And the last suggestion is even more crackpot, borrow from all over Bharat, what is there to borrow, most of the other North Indian languages share a common vocabulary with Hindi, borrowing "puttar" from Punjabi will not make any difference, it's already there in Hindi as putr, if he means borrow from southern languages, instead of making the language comprehensible, it will make a hotch potch out of the whole thing and won't be understood by Hindi speakers themselves.

Also notice that he never mentions the heavy Persianation of Bollywood "Hindi", to give an example the word "aarop" will almost never figure in Bollywood vocabulary even though it's the most widely used word for accuse, instead it will always be "ilzaam", then they have the audacity to go call it "Hindi".

[Bodhi]

Bharatvarsh,

A couple of weeks back, I had the opportunity to meet a senior journalist who writes equally frequently and well in Hindi papers and English. He told me that initially he used to write only in Hindi and his writings used to evoke a huge response from readers, and only in last 5 years he was forced to switch to English because that kind of response was not coming from his Hindi writings anymore. So now he writes essencially in English, while writing in Hindi is a labour of love only.

In his assessment, the reason of downfall of not only Hindi but all other Indic languages too, is that the language of leadership became English. Leadership not only political, but also economical and cultural. A Indic educated student is hugely disadvanged when faced with English-medeum student. S parents now place children in English medeum only. Result, declined quality of Indic schools. That is the reason no 1 for decline of Hindi/Indic.

He said that in the people in that last 30 years have been conditioned to think in English and therefore the elite minds and thinkers are only able to produce a meaningful intellectual debate/discourse in English. Such thinkers writing, reading and responding in Hindi and most other Indic languages is limited now. (He said Tamil, Kannada, Marathi still have that status and capability in their respective state). That is second reason and effect of the first.

Third reason he sited was the attitude of media. He has been in close association with Dainik Jagran as well as TOI. TOI of two decade back used to be totally different from what it is today, he said. As soon as TOI was taken over by the B&C, and jain brothers came to lead it, the first decision they took was to close down 6 hugely popular publications in Indic languages (Hindi+Marathi). This included the best selling Hindi new weekly Dharma Yuga founded by illustrious Dharmavir Bharati, and hugely popular teens Hindi magazine 'Parag'. The reason, he said were not commercial, because these 6 publications were generating enormous profits for TOI beyond a large part of healthy revenue. Reasons were different. New multinational management wanted to see TOI as an "English" publication leader and to have nothing to do with Indic. (TOU now has two Indic papers still - one paper in Hindi and one Marathi)

He also told another sad thing, that Dainik Jagran is going the same road as TOI went a decade and half back. After the death of DJ's founder Sri Narendra Mohan a few years back, who was a passionate writer and journalist, the management is now in hands of foreign-educated Gupta cousins (his nephew/son), who have probably not read one single Hindi book all their lives. They are concerned only about profits and nothing else. The brothers even admit, that TOI is their role-model. So if DJ is still showing the traditional nationalistic shades in its content, it is because of the old staff of Narendra Mohan days, and after this, who knows what will be the shape of DJ!

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In his assessment, the reason of downfall of not only Hindi but all other Indic languages too, is that the language of leadership became English. Leadership not only political, but also economical and cultural. A Indic educated student is hugely disadvanged when faced with English-medeum student. S parents now place children in English medeum only. Result, declined quality of Indic schools. That is the reason no 1 for decline of Hindi/Indic.

He said that in the people in that last 30 years have been conditioned to think in English and therefore the elite minds and thinkers are only able to produce a meaningful intellectual debate/discourse in English. Such thinkers writing, reading and responding in Hindi and most other Indic languages is limited now. (He said Tamil, Kannada, Marathi still have that status and capability in their respective state). That is second reason and effect of the first. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That is basically the reason, there maybe some regional differences (example due to the high linguistic pride in TN at least tall he politicians tend to speak good Tamizh, in AP even that is lacking and they speak Tenglish with some exceptions like venkaiah naidu).

The only way out i can think of for now is that in classes for Indian languages the teachers emphasise speaking proper Hindi/Telugu etc without mixing English and that a special emphasis be placed on vocabulary (eg: make the kids learn that school is badi not school in Telugu) so that when they speak the language they have enough basic vocabulary. I come to this conclusion from personal experience, while I know how to read, write and speak Telugu now, my spoken Telugu until last year used to be very anglicised even though I knew the vocabulary well since I knew literary Telugu, this was never deliberate but as a result of conditioning from childhood onwards, no one in the city said badi for school, only my grandparents in the village did, to many speaking proper Telugu is a sign of "backwardness". To control this Hindi etc teachers have to emphasise in the classroom that while learning English (or any other language) is good, its not good to mix the two so that even basic Hindi vocabulary vanishes into thin air.

Another big reason is the so called movie stars, they make their movies in our languages supposedly but when interviewed are almost always seen talking in a highly anglicised language or in english outright (this is especially true of Hindi cinema), millions of fools idolise these morons and seek to emulate them and we can see the effects.

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Anglicisation of Punjabi
Rubinder Gill

During the course of development, a language grows with addition and incorporation of new words into its vocabulary. Old and redundant words are slowly phased out as new ones are adopted and adapted to give voice to new concepts and experiences, which were hitherto not needed. For a language to flourish, a healthy database of words is an utmost necessity. In the race for ‘survival of the fittest’, languages which keep pace with times develop while others find themselves on the wrong side of evolution.

The world over, languages today are dying out quicker than at any other time in history. With the death of a language, a whole history, culture, society and wealth of experience is cast into oblivion. This is the price we are paying for going ‘global’ in the name of ‘globalisation’.

Punjabi is struggling to survive as it tries to keep pace with technological developments. Debates have raged over ‘Sanskritisation’ and ‘Persianisation’ of Punjabi. To add twist to the tale is the declaration of a list of 311 words chosen by the Department of Development of Punjabi Language, Punjabi University, for adoption into Punjabi for spoken and literary usage. ‘Anglicisation’ of Punjabi could be the new debate to hit the language.

Punjabi University claims to have been the first to take initiative to strengthen the language. “The list has been finalised after deliberations by scholars from fields of linguistics, lexicography, literature and folk language. At the first stage, those words have been adapted which are frequently used in spoken language for which no equivalents are available so far in standard Punjabi dictionaries,” according to Dr B. S. Sandhu, Director, Public Relations.

He further adds: “The words now declared as adapted by Punjabi University are already in common usage of Punjabi speaking people from all walks of life but could not have the formal status of being Punjabi words. This declaration implies that now onwards these words can be officially used as words of Punjabi language in all forms of usage.”

Contrary to the claims of the university, many words featured in the list have more than an equivalent in Punjabi. How can a university be the sole guiding and controlling authority to decide that words like ‘airport’ and ‘urban’ have been incorporated into Punjabi?

Amalgamation of new words into a language is a slow process that can take decades. Absorption and adaptation of words can’t be forced. Dr Bhupinder Singh Khaira, Punjabi linguistics expert in the Department of Correspondence Courses, Punjabi University, is forthright about the whole process. “The list has been made by linguistically ignorant people. Their vision is limited and they have not taken into account the frequency of a word’s usage and by which group. This is a meaningless exercise.”

According to Dr Khaira: “A language is like a living process. Adaptation and absorption of a word can take up to 25 years. Words compete with each other. The one which is the phonetically closest is likely to make the cut. It is also a social process. Many words fall by the wayside while others become part of a language. Most words are adapted. We did not have a word for ‘station’. In rural areas, it slowly adapted itself to ‘tation’ and is now frequently used.

“Language is structured. You can’t tamper with its mechanism and grammar. There is a system of words and their formations. New words are coined joining two or more words. They can only be formed if they have the same root. So, can’t force a word into a language. ‘Gobhi’ and ‘balti’ are foreign words but are now a part of the language. It is not necessary for a language to have an equivalent for every word of another language. In English we have ‘explain’ and ‘describe’, which have two distinct meanings, but in Punjabi we use ‘vayakhya’, which is an adequate equivalent for both of them.”

Punjabi is grappling with technological advancements and some technical terms have to be incorporated, but imagination can be exercised to coin new terms. Dr Khaira has many new words to his credit. He along with his son Jaiteg Singh coined ‘Parnali tantar’, the equivalent of ‘operating system’ in English.

Punjabi, like any other language, can’t stay static. It needs to grow by taking new words from other languages but not at the cost of tampering with its soul. Not knowing Punjabi is no excuse for putting English words in it and then passing it off as an intellectual and academic exercise in the interest of the language. Nothing else can damage Punjabi more.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060207/edu.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

For 'airport' in punjab they say "Havai adha".
Urban = shahar

[Bharatvarsh]

Airport is Vimaanaasrayam and Urban is Nagaram in Telugu.

For comedy purposes here are the rants of some inbred retard:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Appendix II : Sanskrit Origin Impossible

Sanskrit is not the mother of Hindi. This is a false myth propagated by Nehru and Gandhi. Sanskrit has 8 cases, Hindi only 2. Hindi grammar is much simpler than Sanskrit, but due to Sanskritization it is made artificially difficult. Sanskrit is a primitive language, one word meaning several things and many words meaning teh same thing. It is also highly inflected, just as the languages of primitive peoples. The number of letters of the Devanagari alphabet are also unneccessarily more and more complex. When printed they occupy more space and reading and writing is much slower, because the Brahmins had nothing better to do. It should be abolished and replaced by either the Arabic or Latin alphabets. [ MadanGopal 99ff.]

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/133...ng/hndy_lg.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

Punjabi -
Dollar = daley
Canada = Kanada.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jan 12 2008, 05:13 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jan 12 2008, 05:13 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->For comedy purposes here are the rants of some inbred retard:
Appendix II : Sanskrit Origin Impossible
[right][snapback]77039[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bharatvarsh a small request. Dont post such articles.

Your are not only providing the commie rabid dogs, who are against sanskrit, ammunition to target sanskrit but also by providing the link of the geo-cities group it will direct other similar people to the group who visit IF.

Let's keep the commie's bile against sanskrit on his site only and not give him space here for his mindless rants.

Thank You.