Languages of India • Hacker News Board

Re: Languages of India

#221

Post by random314 » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 7:04 AM UTC

yumraj wrote: post #199

random314 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you have been basically arguing is that Urdu is India's most widely spoken language and Hindi is a niche minority language, definitely outside the top 20.

It's not clear to me how that conclusion can be drawn simply my looking at a very small set of words , while completely ignoring all else that makes a language. Moreover, there are hundreds of dialects of Hindi spoken in India, each with its own nuances and varying degrees of Urdu words . In addition, there is no denying that Urdu and Hindi have some shared lineage. Again will refer to the Wikipedia [0] for better co…

Again, Hindi and Urdu are not 2 languages with shared lineage. They were one and the same language until about 1850 until Britains choice of using the Arabic script for administering India angered the Hindus.

Yes there were cultural/academic differences and many different dialects of Hindi. Kabir sounds very different from Ghalib. But for the man on the street there was no difference. At most, you can argue that Urdu is the most popular dialect of Hindi. It wouldn't be correct, but less wrong.

Hyderabadi and Tamil Muslims speak a dialect of Hindi that they call urdu that would make Ghalib spin in his grave.

Differences within Urdu/Hindi are far more tremendous than the Hindi Urdu split. Calling them separate languages is crazy.

It's a cultural standard. Muslims call their language Urdu. Hindus call it Hindi. The language is the same, whatever you call it.

Re: Languages of India

#222

Post by talonx » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 8:12 AM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #68

vishnugupta wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a testimony to India's vastness and diversity that more than 99.5% Indians wouldn't have even heard about Malana let alone know about their unique culture and society.

On the contrary, most people I know have heard of Malana simply because of "Malana Cream", a variety of highly sought after hashish

"Most people you know" does not equate to 99 or even 90% Indians, so this does not negate the previous statement.

Re: Languages of India

#223

Post by rusticpenn » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 8:15 AM UTC

peterburkimsher wrote: post #184

skissane wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the Bay Area you'll find people from various states of India. Doesn't the same thing happen within India itself, due to internal interstate migration? Not everyone who works in (for example) Bangalore's IT industry grew up there.

On a related note, does that make people in (e.g.) Bangalore speak Hindi more than Kannada? In China, the purpose-built electronics city of Shenzhen is full of migrants from other regions, so the local language is Mandarin even though the surrounding Guangdong province speaks Cantonese.

The three states surrounding karnatake (where banglore is located) don't speak Hindi...

Re: Languages of India

#224

Post by talonx » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 8:17 AM UTC

iamrohitbanga wrote: post #85

rishav_sharan wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats because the Class 1 CBSE books said that Hindi is our national language, Peacock is the national bird, Tiger the national animal and Hockey the national sport. :D

That's not entirely correct. Hindi is the official language of Republic of India. That is why 14 September is celebrated as Hindi Divas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi_Divas

There is a difference between "national" and "official".

Re: Languages of India

#225

Post by rusticpenn » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 8:18 AM UTC

ramgorur wrote: post #117

Those who are wondering why Indian languages are a subgrouop of Indo-European languages, this chart might be helpful. It shows some of the many words that Sanskrit and Slavic both share. https://www.rbth.com/blogs/2014/11/01/sanskrit_and_russian_a...

Not all indian languages are in that subgroup. There are another family of dravidian languages.

Re: Languages of India

#226

Post by rusticpenn » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 8:20 AM UTC

shripadk wrote: post #57

owaislone wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it is true they are trying to do it, it's not anything new as Delhi has for decades tried to impose Hindi on all states and the southern ones don't take it well. That said, I don't think this can result in balkanization of India as generally India is way more united in-spite of issues like Delhi seen as having way too much control over the states (which is true in my opinion). Also, IMO, balkanization of the In…

> impose Hindi on all states This is so blatantly false. I am from South and a Kannadiga and I can tell you with conviction that in my lifetime I have never had anyone impose Hindi on me. This frenzy of Hindi imposition exists only in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala (and a little in Karnataka but has since died down once people became more aware). I blame the excessive regionalism in part but major part of the bl…

Once upon a time after independence, many tamils lit themselves on fire so that Hindi imposition is stopped...

Re: Languages of India

#227

Post by yorwba » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 9:09 AM UTC

p1esk wrote: post #212

vishnugupta wrote: post #20

The diversity in general in India is mind boggling which most of Indians take for granted. Be it terrain, climate, language, culture, food, etc., And all the above change noticeably every 200KM or so such that you will find more similarities between Delhi and Lahore (different countries) than Delhi and Bangalore. It's a miracle that India manages to function as one country.

I wonder why some countries (like India) have so much diversity, while others (like Russia) have so little...

Russia does have plenty of linguistic diversity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Russia

Re: Languages of India

#228

Post by sbmthakur » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 12:51 PM UTC

navinsylvester wrote: post #178

anuraj wrote: post #12

India's right wing government under Modi is trying to impose Hindi on Indians who belong to different ethnicity and speak diverse set of languages. A sure shot recipe for balkanization of a young nation.

I can say for sure - the right wing government want to impose a common identity across the nation which is a very bad idea. Not just the languages - we have vast differences but find unity in diversity. Inclusiveness is what makes India tick. As a Tamilian i don't think we will ever allow Hindi to be enforced on us. But our first Identity is more of an Indian than a Tamilian. India is quite a fabric and we should che…

> I can say for sure - the right wing government want to impose a common identity across the nation which is a very bad idea.

Strengthening national identity is the job of any national government. And this doesn't mean it has to come at the cost of regional identity. I am an Indian and a Maharashtrian at the same time. I don't see the national government harming regional identity anyway.

Re: Languages of India

#229

Post by sbmthakur » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 1:00 PM UTC

vishnugupta wrote: post #22

neuralzen wrote: post #2

When I visited Himachel Predesh I stayed a few days in a remote Himalayan village named Malana, sometimes referred to as "The Village of Taboos" due to all of the rules they have, largely concerning outsiders. Outsiders are not allowed to touch a Malanan person, touch or enter a building, or even speak the village language even if the outsider know some of it. They also claimed to be the world's oldest continuous dem…

It's a testimony to India's vastness and diversity that more than 99.5% Indians wouldn't have even heard about Malana let alone know about their unique culture and society.

True. It's only popular around Manali.

Re: Languages of India

#230

Post by braindead_in » Thu, Jun 06, 2019, 1:42 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #219

avemuri wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean a sparse enough area? I've generally found dense areas are more homogeneous while even neighboring villages in sparsely populated areas with bad roads and no telecommunications tend to be very different. Makes intuitive sense since transmission of culture is easier.

Not really. In dense areas, you often have far more diverse populations, as cities attrat people with different traditions and backgrounds. But in a place with as many social groups as India, these people often maintain many of their customs and habits even in the dense urban context, resulting in a great variety within a small area.

Within the same city, the Hindu majority areas will look and feel noticeably different from the Muslim majority areas. The culture, and sometimes even language, is different.