Endangered Languages
Nidhu Bhusan Das
International Mother Tongue Day has been observed across the globe with enthusiasm .It’s a nice idea since it encourages and inspires thought about the need for the preservation of languages which are not in the mainstream and belong to close communities. They, perhaps, do not have the inner strength to stand exposure to the wider linguistic world or the invasion of mainstream languages. Some of them are even beyond the fringe. But how far this will be able to save the endangered languages is a moot point in the age of globalization and cultural imperialism.
In India alone, according to UNESCO, 196 languages are endangered. In the whole world the number is staggering. If we consider the state of the speech communities whose languages are endangered we find that they are closed in nature. They do not often interact with the outer world, and if and when they or some members of them come in contact with the mainstream they do not use their mother tongue but interact, though feebly, using the mainstream language.Besides,their languages are not being enriched with creative use in the form of literary activities and developing capacity to embody the ideas and expressions of the world of science & technology and social sciences. Given the reality, how to save the languages from extinction is an important issue to be concerned with.
A language faces extinction or gets stagnated for different reasons which broadly fall into two categories- political and economic.
The advent of the Aryans and their dominance established the sway of the Vedic language which subsequently came to be known as Sanskrit having been reformed by the great grammarian Panini.The waves of Germanic tribes into England cornered the Celtic speech community, the aborigines of the country, and Anglo-Saxon became the language of the realm. Anglo-Saxon is the ancestor of English. The settlement of English Puritans in the American continent pushed the Red Indians to the fringes and English became the dominant language in North America. Australia, the penal colony of Britain, became a new English speaking territory. All this could happen because of the political dominance of the invading speech community.
With political dominance goes the economic mite and influence. The speech community with political dominance keeps others in subjugation and the subjects become bound to accept the language of the masters to retain or gain economic privilege.True, all of the subjugated speech community does not accept the language of the masters en masse. Those who are ambitious and stand to lose their existing privilege take the first step towards acquiring the second language. Ultimately most of them follow the suit. Thus in England under the Norman domination French was learnt by a section of the English speech community to remain in or climb to aristocracy as in India a new class of English using natives and anglophiles appeared during the British colonial rule.
In the present age of globalization and cultural imperialism, it is really difficult to preserve the languages incapable of adapting themselves to the developments in the fields of science & technology and social sciences. English is the global language and every branch of knowledge is encapsulated in English for it’s global reach.Besides, the cultural contents of the west are dished out in English through TV and Internet to the rest of the world in attractive ways for the other speech communities to adapt to and adopt to the perils of their mother tongues and folkways.
Vis-à-vis such invasion, only those languages can survive which have the resilience and capacity to absorb the shock and assimilate the contents of the knowledge and message and thereby enrich themselves. Yet they will remain in the fringe because the new generations of the other speech communities will choose English as the medium of instruction for jobs in the global market.
Not Alone
Not Alone
Nidhu Bhusan
I am alone
Who said ?
I feel
Ask yourself
How ?
Be Dr. Faustus
Don’t understand
Create a debate within
Cannot quite grasp
Look within,invoke the conscience
***************************
Am I alone?
I am your guide
Who are you ?
Conscience
May I talk to you ?
I am the forum
How to use you ?
Talk to yourself
I cannot
Know yourself
I know myself
You don’t, you have two selves within
Is it ?
Yes, introspect- see how you’re two-in-one
Introspect-look within-nice idea !
How do you decide to act ?
I reflect on what is right and what is wrong
This is conscience,wherein is the other self
Now I understand.
Nidhu Bhusan
I am alone
Who said ?
I feel
Ask yourself
How ?
Be Dr. Faustus
Don’t understand
Create a debate within
Cannot quite grasp
Look within,invoke the conscience
***************************
Am I alone?
I am your guide
Who are you ?
Conscience
May I talk to you ?
I am the forum
How to use you ?
Talk to yourself
I cannot
Know yourself
I know myself
You don’t, you have two selves within
Is it ?
Yes, introspect- see how you’re two-in-one
Introspect-look within-nice idea !
How do you decide to act ?
I reflect on what is right and what is wrong
This is conscience,wherein is the other self
Now I understand.
Bangladesh : Emotion And Reason
And Bangladesh: Emotion And Reason
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Back in late 1960s and early1970s, specifically between 1969 and 1971, the tidal wave of emotion swept the people of East Pakistan even as a nation was in the making.Bengali nationalism had it’s high tide. Was it all emotion sans reason? Emotion bereft of reason cannot lead to the emergence of a nation. The reason in this case is the fact of exploitation and the desire of Islamabad to perpetually suppress and oppress the people of East Pakistan from eleven hundred miles away The majority ethnic group of East Pakistan,the Bengalis perceived with pain and shame that they were under the colonial rule of a minority. This fact and perception provided enough reason for the people to rise in revolt. The Bengalis began to recoil from the reality of Pakistan soon after it’s birth.Their struggle against exploitation continued and gained in strength with the passage of time. Awami Muslim league shedded the adjunct ‘Muslim’ in keeping with the spirit of the emerging Bengali nationalism.Under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the Awami League came to the forefront of the nationalist movement. The league put up the Six-point Demand in 1966,and the so called Agartala Conspiracy Case
was instituted by the Pakistan Government to frame Mujib and others .In recognition of his struggle and sacrifice,the people he led fondly crowned Mujib with the title Bangabandhu.
TheBangabandhu was at the helm of the upsurge after he had been acquitted of the Agartala Conspiracy Case and released from jail following the Eleven- point Movement of students and agitation of Democratic Action Committee(DAC )in 1969. The people of the then East Pakistan were agitated as they perceived they were being exploited by Islamabad. The upsurge was for their emancipation. Bangabandhu reflected the hopes and aspirations of the people when he significantly and unequivocally declared in the mammoth public meeting at Race Course Ground(now Suharawardy Udyan) of Dhaka on 7 March 1971: ‘The struggle this time is for liberation,for emancipation.’ This may,perhaps,be seen as the preliminary to the final Declaration of Independence at midnight of 26 March 1971,followed by a nine-month long liberation war which ended with the surrender of about a lakh strong Pakistani Occupation Army in Dhaka under General Niazi.Indian army fought against the occupation army side by side with the freedom fighters of Bangladesh and India sheltered the huge number of evacuees from Bangladesh during the liberation war. In fact, the occupation army surrendered to the joint force of the Indian Army and the freedom fighters on 16 December 1971 at Race Course Ground,Dhaka.
.
Now in the month of February when the Bengalis with pride look back to the glorious martyrdom of 21 February 1952 for the state language status of their mother tongue and take pledge to uphold the values associated with Bengali nationalism ,it is imperative that one undertakes to see how reason and emotion went hand in hand in the struggle against exploitation.The language policy adopted by Islamabad clearly demonstrated to the people of East Pakistan that injustice was meted out to them,and they would be discriminated against in other fields as well.Urdu,the mother tongue of only 12 per cent of the Pakistanis, was adopted as the state language of the country which was eventually declared an Islamic Republic.The Bengalis of East Pakistan protested against this blatant injustice.The language movement thus turned out to be the protest against injustice and the fountainhead of Bengali nationalism based on language and culture.Bengali nationalism thus is secular in character and emerged as a counterpoint to the theocray sought to be established in Pakistan .
The recent verdict of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh restoring the basic character of the 1972 Constitution of the country bears evidence how the apex court functions as the conscience keeper of the nation. In the wake of the dastardly killing of the founding father of the nation Sheikh Mujib by renegades and usurpation of state power the four pillars of.the state policy enshrined in the Constitution- nationalism, democracy, secularism and socialism – were erased which drastically changed the basic character of the polity and it’s mother law.The apex court held that the amendment to the Constitution by the usurpers was wrong and illegitimate. The court, evidently , acted in it’s wisdom and reasoned to uphold the spirit which went into the building of the nation.Perhaps,the court took into account the resurgence of the Bengali nationalism which denigrates religious fundamentalism as regressive. If the people of Bangladesh go by modernism which is marked by scientific spirit and secular logic , the country is sure to progress and prosper as it has a rich alluvial soil, resourceful manpower and strategic geo-political position in South Asia. It is important for the nation to go by reason in the age of globalization for gaining in status as an Asian Leap Forward is on the card with India and China emerging as economic giants.Dhaka should,perhaps, have pragmatic domestic and foreign policies.Pragmatism,in this context, is synonymous with modernism.
Dhaka has a number of achievements to boast of. Meanwhile, the Unesco declared the Language Martyr Day ( 21 February ) as the International Mother Tongue Day .The SAARC is a reality . The member nations can utilize the forum for mutual gain and individual as well as regional prosperity as they are doing in Europe with their European Union.Not suspicion, but understanding and goodwill can help bring peace and prosperity.Understanding can grow only in a democratic and secular climate. Reverting to secularism Bangladesh is back to the root and can win the trust of the democratic world to it’s advantage insofar as it’s development efforts are concerned.It is heartening that Bangladesh has reinvented itself and can now work for it’s progress and economic growth,instead of being busy with fundamentalist rhetorics and raising war cry against India.
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Back in late 1960s and early1970s, specifically between 1969 and 1971, the tidal wave of emotion swept the people of East Pakistan even as a nation was in the making.Bengali nationalism had it’s high tide. Was it all emotion sans reason? Emotion bereft of reason cannot lead to the emergence of a nation. The reason in this case is the fact of exploitation and the desire of Islamabad to perpetually suppress and oppress the people of East Pakistan from eleven hundred miles away The majority ethnic group of East Pakistan,the Bengalis perceived with pain and shame that they were under the colonial rule of a minority. This fact and perception provided enough reason for the people to rise in revolt. The Bengalis began to recoil from the reality of Pakistan soon after it’s birth.Their struggle against exploitation continued and gained in strength with the passage of time. Awami Muslim league shedded the adjunct ‘Muslim’ in keeping with the spirit of the emerging Bengali nationalism.Under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the Awami League came to the forefront of the nationalist movement. The league put up the Six-point Demand in 1966,and the so called Agartala Conspiracy Case
was instituted by the Pakistan Government to frame Mujib and others .In recognition of his struggle and sacrifice,the people he led fondly crowned Mujib with the title Bangabandhu.
TheBangabandhu was at the helm of the upsurge after he had been acquitted of the Agartala Conspiracy Case and released from jail following the Eleven- point Movement of students and agitation of Democratic Action Committee(DAC )in 1969. The people of the then East Pakistan were agitated as they perceived they were being exploited by Islamabad. The upsurge was for their emancipation. Bangabandhu reflected the hopes and aspirations of the people when he significantly and unequivocally declared in the mammoth public meeting at Race Course Ground(now Suharawardy Udyan) of Dhaka on 7 March 1971: ‘The struggle this time is for liberation,for emancipation.’ This may,perhaps,be seen as the preliminary to the final Declaration of Independence at midnight of 26 March 1971,followed by a nine-month long liberation war which ended with the surrender of about a lakh strong Pakistani Occupation Army in Dhaka under General Niazi.Indian army fought against the occupation army side by side with the freedom fighters of Bangladesh and India sheltered the huge number of evacuees from Bangladesh during the liberation war. In fact, the occupation army surrendered to the joint force of the Indian Army and the freedom fighters on 16 December 1971 at Race Course Ground,Dhaka.
.
Now in the month of February when the Bengalis with pride look back to the glorious martyrdom of 21 February 1952 for the state language status of their mother tongue and take pledge to uphold the values associated with Bengali nationalism ,it is imperative that one undertakes to see how reason and emotion went hand in hand in the struggle against exploitation.The language policy adopted by Islamabad clearly demonstrated to the people of East Pakistan that injustice was meted out to them,and they would be discriminated against in other fields as well.Urdu,the mother tongue of only 12 per cent of the Pakistanis, was adopted as the state language of the country which was eventually declared an Islamic Republic.The Bengalis of East Pakistan protested against this blatant injustice.The language movement thus turned out to be the protest against injustice and the fountainhead of Bengali nationalism based on language and culture.Bengali nationalism thus is secular in character and emerged as a counterpoint to the theocray sought to be established in Pakistan .
The recent verdict of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh restoring the basic character of the 1972 Constitution of the country bears evidence how the apex court functions as the conscience keeper of the nation. In the wake of the dastardly killing of the founding father of the nation Sheikh Mujib by renegades and usurpation of state power the four pillars of.the state policy enshrined in the Constitution- nationalism, democracy, secularism and socialism – were erased which drastically changed the basic character of the polity and it’s mother law.The apex court held that the amendment to the Constitution by the usurpers was wrong and illegitimate. The court, evidently , acted in it’s wisdom and reasoned to uphold the spirit which went into the building of the nation.Perhaps,the court took into account the resurgence of the Bengali nationalism which denigrates religious fundamentalism as regressive. If the people of Bangladesh go by modernism which is marked by scientific spirit and secular logic , the country is sure to progress and prosper as it has a rich alluvial soil, resourceful manpower and strategic geo-political position in South Asia. It is important for the nation to go by reason in the age of globalization for gaining in status as an Asian Leap Forward is on the card with India and China emerging as economic giants.Dhaka should,perhaps, have pragmatic domestic and foreign policies.Pragmatism,in this context, is synonymous with modernism.
Dhaka has a number of achievements to boast of. Meanwhile, the Unesco declared the Language Martyr Day ( 21 February ) as the International Mother Tongue Day .The SAARC is a reality . The member nations can utilize the forum for mutual gain and individual as well as regional prosperity as they are doing in Europe with their European Union.Not suspicion, but understanding and goodwill can help bring peace and prosperity.Understanding can grow only in a democratic and secular climate. Reverting to secularism Bangladesh is back to the root and can win the trust of the democratic world to it’s advantage insofar as it’s development efforts are concerned.It is heartening that Bangladesh has reinvented itself and can now work for it’s progress and economic growth,instead of being busy with fundamentalist rhetorics and raising war cry against India.
Sycophant Adjective
An adjective qualifies a thing or person referred to by a noun.This is true. But what is intriguing is that adjectives are sometimes misleading, and ironical,too. When we speak at a condolence meeting we often use adjectives to glorify the person dead,although we know we are lying. Thus we may describe a ruthless autocrat as a benevolent dictator and a corrupt statesman as an honest politician.
We may eulogise a cruel usurer as a helpful man with the hope of getting benefit from him through sycophancy.Politicians often have sycophants as the kings did have during the feudal days. The court poets of kings were good examples of sycophants.
Adjectives like "great" , "gracious", etc, are often used by way of sycophancy and overstatement.Sometimes adjectives are used ironically as in the sentence-I am blessed that I am in such a terrible condition. Here the adjective(past participle) is used ironically to mean "cursed". So,we must be cautious when we encounter adjectives.
We may eulogise a cruel usurer as a helpful man with the hope of getting benefit from him through sycophancy.Politicians often have sycophants as the kings did have during the feudal days. The court poets of kings were good examples of sycophants.
Adjectives like "great" , "gracious", etc, are often used by way of sycophancy and overstatement.Sometimes adjectives are used ironically as in the sentence-I am blessed that I am in such a terrible condition. Here the adjective(past participle) is used ironically to mean "cursed". So,we must be cautious when we encounter adjectives.
Quarrel over importance
I am Noun.Remember, the baby first of all knows me.
Don't be so proud, Mr.Noun. You have started your boasting using 'Me'.Everyone knows 'I' is a pronoun. You have also used another pronoun 'me' in the second sentence.On the other hand,you see, I can well go without you . I could even avoid naming you in the third sentence.
You are used instead of me,and without reference to me you are hollow,Mr.Pronoun.
Why don't you understand that people are reluctant to use you repeatedly.They don't say,'Ram lost Ram's pen.' Rather they say,'Ram lost his pen.'
That's right, but 'his' here refers to 'Ram', the noun.
So, you cannot boast of being all important.As pronoun I am not like that.I understand we are equal- I need you and you need me.Well,I agree.
Don't be so proud, Mr.Noun. You have started your boasting using 'Me'.Everyone knows 'I' is a pronoun. You have also used another pronoun 'me' in the second sentence.On the other hand,you see, I can well go without you . I could even avoid naming you in the third sentence.
You are used instead of me,and without reference to me you are hollow,Mr.Pronoun.
Why don't you understand that people are reluctant to use you repeatedly.They don't say,'Ram lost Ram's pen.' Rather they say,'Ram lost his pen.'
That's right, but 'his' here refers to 'Ram', the noun.
So, you cannot boast of being all important.As pronoun I am not like that.I understand we are equal- I need you and you need me.Well,I agree.
Comrade
The term COMRADE bears political overtones.Congress President Sonia Gandhi has used the term as an adjunct to late communist patriarch Jyoti Basu.This may yield political controversy . In the context we may look up the word in the dictionary for a fair idea about it.
According to The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, Comrade is 'mate or fellow in work or play or fighting, equal with whom one is on familiar terms.'
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary says,Comrade is 'a person who is a member of the same trade union as oneself, or of the same socialist or communist political party,etc.'
While the first meaning is wider,the second one is restricted. We don't know in what sense Ms Gandhi has used the word in reference to the late communist leader.
As society evolves, our behaviour also evolves.Speech also is a kind of behaviour.The meaning,connotation,overtone and undertone of a word undergo changes over time.Besides,it is a fact that words frequently have several meanings and meanings change in time,just like other elements in language.Thus,in Old English 'tartness' could be attributed to winter and could encompass such possibilities as freezing to death. Today the meaning has changed considerably.
Samuel Johnson in his dictionary defines a 'humanist' as 'a philologer,a grammarian'. We now know these meanings have changed considerably.In Frank Norris's 'Octopus'(1901),a '...typewriter rose and withdrew,thrusting her pencil into the coil of her hair',in the 1990s 'typists' rather than tywriters engage in such activities.In brief,meanings change.
According to The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, Comrade is 'mate or fellow in work or play or fighting, equal with whom one is on familiar terms.'
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary says,Comrade is 'a person who is a member of the same trade union as oneself, or of the same socialist or communist political party,etc.'
While the first meaning is wider,the second one is restricted. We don't know in what sense Ms Gandhi has used the word in reference to the late communist leader.
As society evolves, our behaviour also evolves.Speech also is a kind of behaviour.The meaning,connotation,overtone and undertone of a word undergo changes over time.Besides,it is a fact that words frequently have several meanings and meanings change in time,just like other elements in language.Thus,in Old English 'tartness' could be attributed to winter and could encompass such possibilities as freezing to death. Today the meaning has changed considerably.
Samuel Johnson in his dictionary defines a 'humanist' as 'a philologer,a grammarian'. We now know these meanings have changed considerably.In Frank Norris's 'Octopus'(1901),a '...typewriter rose and withdrew,thrusting her pencil into the coil of her hair',in the 1990s 'typists' rather than tywriters engage in such activities.In brief,meanings change.
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