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Why is Hindi missing from internet ? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Cyrus Diglot Newbie France Joined 5509 days ago 39 posts - 70 votes  Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 9 of 39 16 January 2011 at 11:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks manasvi
However, as hindi is more and more often "heard" in every India states (thanks to Bollywood's movies, for example), isn't it becoming more and more understood ? Does it have any chance to become the real lingua franca of India in the next decades or are you sure that English will keep its current influence ? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| manasvi Diglot Newbie India Joined 5062 days ago 2 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Hindi*, English | Message 10 of 39 16 January 2011 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not only English will keep its current influence, it will gain even more momentum..you
are right that hindi is heard and understood almost everywhere..but the fact is, it is not "preferred" subtly..hindi is currently closest to the lingua franca of India.But not exactly the national language in absolute sense. In fact when I was living in the north india i used to think hindi is spoken across the country...but later when i moved to middle part of the country where i am currently staying, although Hindi is understood but not spoken in day to day conversation.Thats what makes India culturally very rich.As far as influence of English is concerned, there is no threat as such,because as it is not spoken in day to day conversation,even in the most affluent classes.But the sad part is there is decline in the hindi litrature publication... 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cyrus Diglot Newbie France Joined 5509 days ago 39 posts - 70 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 11 of 39 17 January 2011 at 2:39am | IP Logged | ||
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That's very sad consequence indeed !
By the way (I take the opportunity of being able to talk to an Indian to ask you a few others question, I can't do that everyday :) ) is it possible to distinguish in India some great "cultural regions" ? For example, in Europe, you can distinguish three bigs groups of countries : the roman countries (predominantly catholic, where romance languages are spoken : France, Spain, Italy, Portugal...) from the Germanic countries (predominantly protestants, where -guess what- Germanic languages are spoken : United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Danemark...) and the slavic countries (predominantly orthodox, with languages of the same name : Russia, Poland, Czech Republic...). I know that you can yet divide India between the dravidian-languages speaking region and the others, indo- european-language speaking regions ; but indo-european is a big family and you can surely delimitate some great cultural areas inside (not necessary separate by distant languages). Hope you've still the energy to read and answer me :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| stephen_g Groupie Canada Joined 6330 days ago 44 posts - 84 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Italian | Message 12 of 39 17 January 2011 at 4:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'll offer my opinion regarding the cultural regions. It's hard to comment in this
regard due to the extreme amount of diversity in India, but becomes easier if you want to discuss 'high culture' or the urban classes. First of all, the Hindi speaking belt generally has a great deal in common, culturally. This area is unfortunately characterised by high poverty and illiteracy, but is also the major hub of Indo-Muslim culture. The heartland is the state of Uttar Pradesh, the zone then running east to Bihar, south to Madhya Pradesh and west to Haryana. Rajasthan uses Hindi as its official language, but is quite vibrant culturally with its martial past and connection to the desert. Jharkhand and Chattisgarh in the Hindi belt are characterised by the high presence of tribal populations, meaning that while the urban classes are connected to the wider Hindi-speaking world, the common people are quite distinct in their customs. Orissa is a state with its own language (closer to Bengali than Hindi) that is nevertheless fit to be included in the same 'Tribal' grouping. Parts of Madhya Pradesh are probably more fit to fall under this category. Next is Punjabi culture, which is quite distinct. Punjab as a region extends into Pakistan, and Pakistani Punjab is actually larger than its Indian counterpart. Haryana could be identified as a transition zone between Punjabi and Hindi belt characteristics, though Hindi is used in the state. Hints of Punjabi influences are noticeable all the way down to Delhi. Punjabis are known for their popular folk dances (bhangra, for example), food, open attitude towards life and religion (Sikhism is not followed by all Punjabis, but the vast majority of Sikhs are Punjabi). Kashmir is unique in its culture. The Kashmiri language is independent (though Urdu is the official language of Kashmir, at the moment) and its people are majority Muslim. The Himalayan states are intellectually linked to the Hindi belt (Hindi is the official language in each of them), though the common people live simple lives in small mountain villages. My understanding is that crushing poverty is not a huge problem in these areas. One would also include Ladakh, part of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, within this framework, though it is closest culturally to Tibet. Gujarat and Maharashtra use their own languages, but the urban classes have much in common with Hindi speakers. Maharashtrans are known to be quite nationalistic and are extremely proud of local traditions. Mumbai, in Maharashtra, is cosmopolitan enough to be analysed on its own terms. I don't really know if one could group these two states together, however; I know little about the culture on the ground to draw up similarities and differences. I know little about Gujaratis apart from their reputation of being good in the field of business. Goa is its own tropical paradise, a small enclave of tourism and Portuguese influence. Bengali culture in the east is extremely vibrant. Bengali literature is the most well developed of all the Indo-Aryan languages, due mainly to Calcutta once being the home of the British Raj. Bengal is a region divided between India and Bangladesh, but the differences are minor outside of the religious sphere. Bengalis consider themselves to be India's intellectual elite regarding the arts and humanities. India's North-East is populated by a variety of different tribal groups, many of which are Christians. They physically have a South-East Asian appearance. Assam is a transition zone between Indian and North-Eastern tribal culture, and this is also reflected in the physical appearance of the people (just like in Nepal). Bengali influence in Assam is high due to Bengali migrant workers. South India, where the Dravidian languages are spoken, is definitely not my specialty. The ratio of Christians is higher than in other areas of the country, save the North- East. Some Christian communities are over a thousand years old. Tamil and Keralite culture is linked closely together. Kannadigas and Telugus have their own unique traditions, meaning that the South should perhaps be divided along linguistic lines, save for the Tamil-Malayalam zone. My understanding is that there is more of a tribal flavour to rural culture in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. (Edit: Spelling errors) Edited by stephen_g on 18 January 2011 at 6:19am 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cyrus Diglot Newbie France Joined 5509 days ago 39 posts - 70 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 13 of 39 18 January 2011 at 8:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks very much for this great statement on Indian cultures stephen :)
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| noyb2008 Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5055 days ago 9 posts - 14 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian, Punjabi | Message 14 of 39 23 January 2011 at 4:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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Move along folks, nothing to see here. Edited by noyb2008 on 28 January 2011 at 3:49pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6950 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 15 of 39 24 January 2011 at 4:21am | IP Logged | ||
Sadly, I think that the Japanese suffer from the same exact same complex with the exact same symptoms you described, but not quite as extreme (yet) as what seems to be going on in India. Remember, Japan was never a colony of another country per se, but was as good as a colony of the U.S. after WWII, not to mention they survived Western imperialism by imitating the West. There are definitely traces of what you might call a 'colonial mindset' here. My impression is that the situation is more or less the same all over the world, to varying extremes. It makes me sad to think that within a few decades, the entire world might be thinking and acting toward their own cultures the way Indians do now. Edited by Lucky Charms on 24 January 2011 at 4:22am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cyrus Diglot Newbie France Joined 5509 days ago 39 posts - 70 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 16 of 39 25 January 2011 at 1:57am | IP Logged | ||
Oh man, I haven't heard (or read, rather) such pessimistic things since I read Tristes tropiques. Fortunately I am not as hopeless as you :) Think about the cultured Japanese people you met (because it seems that you did, didn't you ?) ; are they not proud of their culture ? I mean, you can be very interested in the culture of the great power of your time and still be proud of yours. For example, I do not feel that the french people around me are neglecting their culture. Of course most of them do not know perfectly their own literature or history, but no more no less than the average american person knows the american one. And I do not remember a time or a country where all people were fond of their own culture and know everything about it. Of course that is quite unfair to compare France and India since France was a colonial power with a culture which is part of the western culture and more or less close to the american one, and India was a colony with a culture poles apart from the american one. And it is also totally right that the american culture is pressing the others. BUT : when you think about it, what we call here the "american culture" correspond only to the "popular" american culture -you won't say me that every japanese and indian people are fond of mark twain-, I mean fast-food, "blockbusters" entertainments, songs, and so on. In fact, this is less an american popular culture than a global popular culture, since the way the average japanese, french, German, american ( and urban indian, chinese...) people are living are more and more similar. In fact, that is not very surprising. However, when you come to cultural fields which are a bit deeper, like literature, art, or even history, I think that people are first aware of their own, and only then sometimes of foreign ones. In fact, I really not worry about japanese culture or hindi language -they are clearly strong or numerous enough to defend it- I am much more worrying about small (in demographics terms) culture and languages like tibetan one (to take a well- known example) or native sud americans, indonesian, etc ones. Edited by Cyrus on 25 January 2011 at 1:59am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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