Dying Tongues, Vanishing Cultures & Perishing Heritage

in #india6 years ago

Do you know how many native languages are spoken in India?


It may amaze you that a country as vast as India has over 400 languages and about 2,000 dialects. In fact, there are so many dialects that it is difficult to assign a specific name to every dialect as they change every few miles you travel.

According to 2001 Census of India, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However these figures are controversial as it’s difficult to tell what a language is and what a dialect is. Sometimes even prominently spoken languages are taken as dialects as they don’t have their own script.

Several years back, I was associated with an organization which was striving to create a script for Garhwali – a language prominently spoken in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand State. The newly created State of Uttarakhand has two prominent languages viz. Garhwali & Kumaoni; named after the Garhwal & Kumaun region of the State. But none of these has any written script of its own. So they wanted to make a script for their language to probably make it as the official language of their State.

Indian States based on linguistic basis


Languages are the rivers that carry the human heritage and culture from past to present and into the future. India has a rich cultural diversity and so it has got several languages and dialects too. Languages represent the culture of a region. So when Union of India was to be reorganized into States, a linguistic basis was chosen to decide the borders of several States.

Does every country has a National Language?


I don’t know about the rest of the world but with so many languages into existence, how can India do with one National language? So India is a country with no National language. However many have a misconception of Hindi being the National Language of India but it’s not. India has got 22 Official Languages according to its Constitution. The Indian Constitution does not give any language the status of National Language. Since Hindi is most widely spoken language in Northern & Central India, it serves the purpose of lingua franca across this region.

The two foreign languages viz. Persian & English too have served as contact languages in India. Persian was, in fact, the court language during the Mughal Period before the British took over. English continues to play an important role even today as it is the language of Higher Education, business and even in High Courts and Supreme Courts. But vast majority of its people are comfortable with their mother tongue and their regional dialects.

Mewari – The dialect of Mewar Region in Rajasthan


Rajasthan is the largest State of India but with no language of its own. It is the State with several dialects but no language. It has two widely spoken dialects viz. Marwari (in Marwar region) and Mewari (in Mewar region).

However, if you ask an average non-Rajasthani Indian about the language spoken in Rajasthan, he or she is likely to have no clue of it. At best, they will respond that the language of Rajasthan should be Rajasthani. But many don’t have an idea that Rajasthani is not a single language but a group of several dialects. It was as recent as 1908 when for the first time, Sir George Abraham Grierson grouped all the dialects spoken here into Rajasthani.

Importance of Mewari


Mewari is a dialect spoken in the Mewar region, which is a small region that predominantly includes the districts of Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittaurgarh and Bhilwara along with some parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh like Neemuch & Mandsaur districts.

This part of Rajasthan has a rich cultural heritage and historic significance of its own. The Rajasthan is one of the most backward States in India. You may wonder that Udaipur – once the capital city of Mewar province and one of the most famous tourist destination is still not connected with a broad-gauge railway line, forget about electric trains.

The dialect that connects you to the tribal


This region has a dense tribal population of native tribes like Bhils. Gadiya Lohars, Minas, Sahariyas etc. Several non-profits and social reformers are willing to help the “backward” population of this region. But the rural population doesn’t know any other language than their native dialect. So it is difficult to interact with local people for the outsiders.

A couple of years back, I met a group of students and professors from Iowa University in USA who had esp. came to visit this area for some social work in the tribal belt. It was their first visit to India. But they have learned Mewari through online exchanges with a local teacher here. I spoke to them in Mewari and surprisingly they were able to understand it. I can see their willingness and commitment with the amount of time they have spent to learn a foreign dialect even before visiting here. This was my first time I was meeting people who didn’t know Hindi but could understand Mewari.

Let's learn Mewari


Inspired with this incident, I’ll now regularly post a few words and sentences in Mewari to help anyone interested to learn it. I’m not an authority in Mewari but its my mother tongue. It has no written grammar and script, and this dialect is on the verge of extinction as few people like to speak it even if they know it. Current generation in the urban areas has completely lost the touch with this dialect. I have heard several creative idioms and aphorisms in this dialect from my grandma, which are being forgotten with time. Although some people use this dialect in their day to day conversation, the depth of this dialect seems to be losing as more and more words of Hindi & English are being infused in it.

So I’ll try to write some Mewari words and their meaning in my posts to preserve them on this blockchain to some extent. I know many of you won’t take any interest in it but I want to take care of my interests first. Sorry about being so blunt. But you’re earnestly welcome if this interests you 😊

Okay, to make it more interesting, can any of you answer the following questions without the help of Google?

  • How many languages are written on an Indian currency note, so that all Indian people can understand its denomination?
  • Which was the first Indian State that was formed on the linguistic basis even before India attained independence?
  • Which languages have the distinction of being accorded the status of Classical Languages of India by the Indian Government?

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I really love to visit Udaipur coz, it is my favourite place. I usually visit Udaipur once in a month with my friends. Especially in "Celebration mall". Great work and amazing post @xyzashu.

Thanks for sharing this post. 🤗💚

WOW! So did you ever try to learn Mewari or ever heard someone speaking that? 😉

not everything was better in the past. concentrate on the bright future :>

To this, I'd say that not everything waa bad in the past. Each of us has its own criteria and discretion

Con esta cantidad de 400 idiomas y alrededor de 2.000 dialectos, me imagino, que sera dificil para los mismos habitantes del pais, poder comunicarse con las personasde de otras regiones de su pais, cariños y abrazos amigo @xyzashu

हाँ, थोड़ा मुश्किल अवश्य होता है किंतु आपसी प्रेम और समझ बहुत कुछ संभव कर देता है।

Answer of your questions.

  • 17 languages in currency notes.
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Sanskrit

Thanks for your insights!
I'll need to confirm these from some reliable sources ..LOL!

In India it is spoken in a very strange way since I am Latin and I speak Spanish but I like how they express themselves as that language sounds. The richness that is heard is impressive although I do not know what it is about I would like to learn it even if we talk about gastronomy My God, how rich are you cooking in India? I have had the good fortune to try the food so live india

Yeah, India has a rich cultural diversity, so that you are gonna love at least something, if not all. 😊

hello @xyzashu, how interesting your post. Really yes.

I started thinking about what it would be like if several languages ​​were spoken in my country (Venezuela), it would be a complex issue, but as it is demonstrated in your country, coping with that reality is possible.
I must confess that I completely ignored all that information that you have contributed, and in relation to the questions that you leave at the end of the post, I can not answer any of them without consulting google ... I must confess it.

But go that is very particular that of the languages ​​in your country, that by the way, I wanted to know. I know that they are very given to the protection of life, and that is important for me.

Thanks for finding this stuff interesting! Yes, coping with people speaking different languages is not that difficult if everyone involved is willing to converse with each other. You should visit India sometime to experience it yourself 😊

Nice post
Found some interesting stuff

Thank you!

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400 languages and about 2,000 dialects

I learned something new today. Wow that is allot.

Yeah, that's what gives so much cultural diversity to this country.

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