Regional languages dying in mixed marriages (fwd)

[Matthew Ward]

It's my understanding that there is indeed language shift going on in
India, but it is mostly in the direction of Hindi or other major state
languages.  Hindi is now estimated by some to be the native language of
fully one-third of the population, which means, with the population of
India having recently passed one billion, that the number of Hindi
native speakers in the world population (let alone in India) may have
already caught up with that of English.  In fact, in the next century
Hindi is widely forecasted to pass both English and Spanish to become
the world's second largest native tongue, second only to Mandarin Chinese.

As for language shift to English, it probably does occur to a certain
degree when you are dealing with people like those described in the
article:  children of members of the small upper-class elite, who are
are products of mixed marriages, and whose parents both speak minority
languages and are likely to be fluent in English.  But, for the large
majority of Indians who are not members of  this elite, mixed marriages
are far more likely to favor dominant indigenous languages like Hindi.
 At any rates, even liberal estimates put the native-English speaking
population of India at a tiny fraction.

A personal observation:  for some reason, there are a number of Indian
students in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where I am living, and although they
come from a variety of Indian states and speak a variety of Indian
languages, they use Hindi as their lingua franca, although they are
living in an English-speaking country and studying in English.  Were two
such people to marry, it seems clear that their children would be
hearing mostly Hindi at home.

There is also quite a large anti-English movement in India, and there
have been a growing number of states which have eliminated English as
one of their official languages in recent years.  This is, in my mind, a
positive development, but I have also read articles that argue that the
focus on containing the national role of English sometimes obscures a
more pressing issue:  the widespread loss of minority languages to more
dominant Indian languages.  In the more populated north, especially,
where most languages are related to Hindi, the spread of Hindi as the
national languages has met with little resistance, as it is not seen as
an alien language.  Consequently, it puts minority languages at a great
deal of risk.  In the south, where people speak completely unrelated
languages, there is more resistance to Hindi, which has allowed English
to remain a lingua franca to a greater degree, arguably a negative
development, but it also reduces the likehood that local languages will
be replaced by Hindi.  Certainly, it is a very good thing indeed that
India has chosen for their national language an indigenous language over
a colonial language, and I agree that they should continue to expand the
role of Hindi at the expense of English, but it does necessarily make
the position of minority languages any more secure.
For an extreme example of this kind of thing, I think of France, which
speaks one of the most dominant languages in the world.  All of the
French paranoia about English loan words (which have about as much
potential of "harming" French as tens of thousands of French loan-words
have "harmed" English) have obscured the reality that French-only
policies, some of the most conservative in any modern democracy, have
put traditional languages like Breton in great danger.

I think that the world in general, and not only the people who live in
the major English-speaking countries, have a good reason to be wary of
the English language, but it is not good to let that wariness draw
attention away from the reality that most of the endangered minority
languages in the world are not being replaced by English.

Don Osborn wrote:

>It would seem in principle that the same techniques used by international
>bilingual couples to impart the languages of both to their children could be
>used by interethnic couples within a country to do the same.  The situation
>described in the article is probably widespread in multilingual societies.
>In West Africa my impression is that there is not a systematic approach to
>teaching languages to the very young before school (rather laissez faire,
>with kids picking up language from family, neighbors, friends), except in
>isolated(?) cases where parents may insist on speaking French or English
>only at home in the belief this will somehow help their children. So in
>linguistically mixed marriages it's catch as catch can for the kids'
>language education, especially in the cities.
>
>Don Osborn
>Bisharat.net
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Phil Cash-Cash" <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU>
>To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 6:27 PM
>Subject: Regional languages dying in mixed marriages (fwd)
>
>
>Regional languages dying in mixed marriages
>SANDHYA IYER
>
>The Times of India
>TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2004 05:55:13 AM ]
>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/438291.cms
>
>When two mothertongues meet, the result is a third language. In the
>bargain, both the regional languages are forgotten.
>
>Sociologists are calling it a linguistic cultural quandary, that may not
>be ideal for those keen on a sense of identity and rootedness. But
>there seems to be little room for mother-tongues in todayÂ~Rs global
>village.
>
>Mixed marriages are breeding children who speak neither the
>mother-tongue of the dad or the local lingo of their momÂ~Rs hometown.
>
>Says event manager, Namita Shibad, who has two children aged 15 and 10,
>"My father was from Mangalore and my mother from Punjab . So they
>mostly stuck to speaking English,which is why I couldnÂ~Rt even gather a
>smattering of either languages. There is a regret, in the sense that
>there is no Â~QnativeÂ~R element to look up to. At the same time, it isnÂ~Rt
>so bad to shed regionality and adopt a very global approach towards
>life," she reasons.
>
>Sociologist Sujata Patel, however, warns, "The urban upper-class
>populace faces this threat most of all. It is very important for
>children to know a regional language.
>
>Primarily, because a mothertongue brings along with it an entire
>cultural ethos. Any kind of diversity and richness only comes when a
>regional language is encouraged.
>
>To be able to attain a certain level of stability, it is important that
>a special effort is made towards retaining a regional essence," she
>opines.
>
>That essence is a fast disappearing flavour with each passing generation
>in families where the parents are from different regions.
>
>Jyotsna and Vighnesh Shahane are another couple who admit that their
>five-year-old son Ishaan cannot speak either Marathi or Kannada.
>
>"ThereÂ~Rs little we can do about it. My husband is constantly travelling,
>so he gets very little time with Ishaan.
>
>IÂ~Rm am not too good with my Kannada, so I prefer sticking to English.
>The only time my son really listens to Marathi is when his grandparents
>come over," says Jyotsna.
>
>Many parents feel that the challenge is greater when there is no support
>system, in terms of extended family or grand-parents.
>
>Ashish and Shweta Khandelwal, are very keen that their kids speak both
>mothertongues. Says Ashish, "My elder daughter Vanshika can speak
>Marwari quite well.
>
>But it took some effort. My wife Shweta is from the North and doesnÂ~Rt
>speak Marwari at all. So it was primarily left to me to teach her the
>language.
>
>>>From the beginning, I was very clear that I didnÂ~Rt want her talking only
>in English. That attitude will make regional languages completely fade
>away," he warns.
>
>
>