Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

EXPRESSIONS OF INDIA

INSET B : EXCLUSIONS

ENGLISH

: Came to India with the British in the 17th century.

English is the official language of the Union Government along

with Hindi used for inter-state correspondence by the Centre.

Although it is a link language, its usage is still relatively limited

to the educated classes. It is estimated that 1 to 2 per cent of

the population know English. Recognised as a literary language

by the

Saahitya Akademi

(National Academy of Letters). Nearly

50 per cent of the books published in India are in English and the

field of Indian writers in English is swiftly expanding.

HINDUSTANI

: Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-Aryan language

family. Developed out of the Hindi dialect of Doab, the region

around the Ganga, and areas around Agra, Delhi and Meerut. A

pot-pourri of various versions of Hindi and strong Persian influ-

ences, Hindustani was spread throughout India by the Mughals

and merchants and was commonly spoken in modem India before

partition. The name "

Hindustani

" was coined by John Borthwick

Gilchrist (1759-1841), an Englishman, who was the first presi-

dent of Fort William College in Calcutta.

PRAKRIT

: Derived from Sanskrit

Prakrit,

means natural. These

were ancient dialects of Sanskrit and were much simpler than

Sanskrit, the polished language of literature and the educated. The

dialects were used by inferior characters in the Sanskrit dramas.

These dialects bear the same relation to Sanskrit that the Romance

languages of Europe - French, Spanish, Italian etc - bear to Latin.

Ashoka's inscriptions were in Prakrit implying royal patron-

age originated from

Aadibhasha

Aadi Prakrit.

By the time of the Buddha (566-486 B.C.) the masses were

speaking in Prakrit. There were local variations. The Prakrit

spoken in the western part of modern Uttar Pradesh was called

Shauraseni and the eastern variety was called Magadhi after the

region in which it was spoken, Magadh or South Bihar. Mahar-

asthri, spoken in the North-Western Deccan, became the language

of epic poems and lyrics.

The Buddha spoke in Magadhi as he wanted to reach a wider

audience. Magadhi was the official language of the court in the

Mauryan period and the edicts of Ashoka were written in it. A

later Magadhi hybrid,

Arda-Magadhi

("Half Magadhi") became

the sacred language of the Jains.

Apabhramsha

("falling down"),

a corrupt form of Prakrit dialects, originated in the north-west,

and came down to central and western India when people migrated

to these parts. It was used by Jain writers in Gujarat and

Rajasthan for their poetic compositions. In Bengal a similar corrupt

Prakrit was used by Buddhist poets and became the mother of

modern Bengali. Other spoken dialects of Prakrit include Avanti,

Avadhi and Paisachi.

PALI

: Pali is an elevated form of Magadhi,that is, it is a literary

Prakrit. It avoided dialect forms, and its vocabulary was enriched

through expressions borrowed from other Indian languages. The

grammarian Katyayana (4th or 5th century, B.C.) formulated Pali

grammar rules in his work,

Katyayanaprakana.

A large number of the sacred books of Buddhism were

written in Pali, notably the Therevada Buddhist canons. Pali was

used throughout the countries of South East Asia. It became the

sacred language of the Buddhists of South India and Ceylon (Sri

Lanka), which accepted Therevada Buddhism.

RAJASTHANI

: Predominant in Rajasthan (Jaipur, Eastern

Sikar, Northern Tonk, Western Sanai Madhopur, Kota, north

Jhalanar, eastern Bundi districts) and also noticeable in Madhya

Pradesh (Morena and Shivpuri districts).

GUJURI

: Spoken language of Gujur tribes located in Kashmir,

Rajasthan (Chitorgarh and Jhalanar districts) Madhya Pradesh

(Rajgrah, Shajapur, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Ujjain, Sehore, Hoshan-

gabad, Betul, Nimar).

BHILI

: Bhili, an Indo-Aryan language, is related to Gujarati.

Bhili is found primarily in the mountainous regions of Gujarat,

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, forming a linguis-

tic connection between these contiguous states.

GONDI

: An unwritten language of the Dravidian family, Gondi

dialects are concentrated in the Bastar District of eastern Madhya

Pradesh, the Balaghat district, also in Madhya Pradesh, and in

the districts of Bhandara and Chanda in Maharashtra. Gondi is

also found in Adilabad, a region of northern Andhra Pradesh, and

in Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. An Eastern Gondi dialect,

Koi, is spoken in Orissa.

KURUKH/ORAON

: The Dravidian language of Kurukh or

Oraon is found primarily in the northwestern districts of Chota

Nagpur plateau in Bihar: Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Palamau, Purulia,

Singbhum, Santal Parganas, Gaya and Shahabad. In Orissa,

Kurukh is found in the districts of Sambalpur, Sundargarh,

Dhenkanal and Balasore. Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri contain the

Kurukh speakers of West Bengal. The name Oraon is derived

from "Orayo", which means "farm worker".

DOGRI

: Spoken by 1 million people, global rank is 56th. Dogri

is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Dogras in the regions

stretching between three states: Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and

Haryana. Principally, Dogri is spoken in the Kathua, Jammu and

Udamhpur regions of Jammu; the Marmat region of Doda and the

regions of Sundarbani to Sialsui in the Rajauri district. The word

"Dogri" is derived from

"duraga",

meaning difficult and hard

terrain. It uses Devanagari script, and dates back to the 12th

century. Dogri inscriptions on copper plates and stone confirm

that it was employed as an official language until the reign of

Maharaja Pratap Singh who ascended the throne in 1885 A.D.

and died in 1925 A.D. Although Dogri is generally included

in dialects of Punjab, there is some dispute by certain linguists

that it is actually closer to the Western Pahari dialects.

Dogri script known as

Dogra

Dogre Akhars

actually had

its origin from

Sharda

and

Kutil Lipi

prevalent in Kashmir and

Punjab. Domination of Urdu in official circles served as a

deterrent for Dogri. Prominent compositions include

Guttlun

(poem) by Dinu Bhai,

Jagn Duggar

by Bhagwat Prasad.

* For more information on Bhili, Gondi, Kurukh and Dogri, refer => RANKING, E 17