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Indian Languages
Context:
There was human habitation in India long before the emergence of Sanskrit, with multiple languages spoken, but there are no records that can fully reconstruct the linguistic past.
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- The earliest oral texts date back 35 centuries before the present (BP), and the earliest written records date to 24 centuries BP. However, the evolution of writing in India remains unclear compared to its use in other parts of Asia.
- The Indus Valley Civilization’s undeciphered script presents a challenge in understanding India’s linguistic history and completing a historical narrative of Indian languages.
Development of Writing in India
- Writing in India began around 24 centuries BP with inscriptions and handwritten manuscripts.
- The writing culture experienced transformations when paper was introduced 10 centuries BP and again with the advent of printing two centuries ago.
Tamil and Other Indigenous Languages
- The origins and transformation of languages like Tamil and others, especially in the second millennium BC, remain uncertain.
- The spread of Tamil to northern and northwestern parts of India during the transformation from a hunter-gatherer to a pastoral society is still not precisely dated.
- Linguistic Isolates: Some languages, like Nehali in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district, remain a mystery in terms of their origins and current geographical locations.
Language Legacies and Diversity
- Over the past five millennia, India has absorbed diverse language legacies, such as Avestan, Austro-Asiatic, and Tibeto-Burman languages, contributing to its linguistic diversity.
- The Indic (Indo-Aryan) languages, Dravidic languages, and Tibeto-Burman languages form the major linguistic groups of India.
Historical Language Exchange
- There has been significant cultural and linguistic exchange between indigenous languages and migratory languages throughout India’s history.
- Languages like Pali, Sanskrit, and Persian influenced India widely, but local languages, including Prakrits, Apabhramsas, and desi-bhashas, continued to thrive and eventually overshadow the supra-languages.
Indian Languages and English
- The relationship between Indian languages and English has evolved in a similar trajectory, marked by love-hate dynamics over the past two centuries.
- Indian languages face challenges with the dominance of English, especially in cities, where English has become a preferred vehicle for economic advancement.
Eighth Schedule Languages and Decline of Others
- Languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of India’s Constitution have more speakers compared to languages not included.
- Languages spoken by Adivasi communities and those in the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman families are increasingly at risk of disappearing due to the lack of educational facilities for them.
- These languages may continue to exist in altered forms, but there may be greater assimilation into the more dominant languages.
Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
Part XVII (Articles 343-351) of the Constitution deals with official languages.
Key Constitutional Provisions
- Article 344(1): Provides for the constitution of a language commission by the President after five years from the commencement of the Constitution.
- Article 351: Promotes the spread of Hindi as a medium of expression for India’s composite culture.
- Inclusion Criteria: No fixed criteria exist for a language to be added to the Eighth Schedule.
Currently includes 22 languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili, and Dogri.
- Amendments:
- Initially (1950): 14 languages were included.
- 21st Amendment Act (1967): Added Sindhi.
- 71st Amendment Act (1992): Added Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali.
- 92nd Amendment Act (2003, enforced in 2004): Added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santhali.
Impact of Modern Developments
- The growth of printed materials and digital technology has led to an increase in the use of major Indian languages. However, English is increasingly seen as an economic advantage, leading to a decline in the readership of Indian language literature, especially in urban and semi-urban areas.
- There is a concern about the future survival of regional languages and their literature, particularly in cities where English is becoming more dominant.
