We use spoken and written language to speak out our mind,to communicate or share our feeling,emotion,attitude,knowledge,perception etc. with others.the spoken language is phonological realization of the message while the written one is orthographic realization of the same.
Now,from the obove, it is evident language involves organization of phonemic and other elements, and is,therefore,a recognized structure.A phoneme-level understanding may make it clear.CAT is a phonemic organization,a sound image. Now, if we replace phoneme C by B , R, S,F ,we get BAT,SAT,RAT,FAT respectively.The change of the initial phoneme yields different sound images. It means there is a case of change in organization or structure.Phonemic organization is the smallest possible linguistic structutre.There are phrase,clause and sentence level structures in language.These structures are the reflection of the speech habit of a speech community. A language has two predominant forms - standard and dialect. We shall, here, deal with the structures of the standard form.
Phrase A phrase is a group of words without a finite verb.It yields partial meaning e.g., on the table, by him,about the matter.
Sentence : A sentence is a group of word which, having a finite verb,gives complete sense e.g., We use language for communication.
Clause : A clause is a sentence within a sentence e.g.,I know that he is a doctor(complex and combination of two sentences -' I know' and 'He is a doctor'),
I know him and he is a doctor(combination of two sentences -' I know him' and 'He is a doctor' ).
We express different feelings ,attitudes etc when we speak.So,we have different types of sentences in respect of our expression and articulation.We have thus Statement,Question,Desires and Exclamation. Their forms are different.
Language is,therefore,a structured tool of communication. We communicate because we are social beings ,and social life is shared life. That communication and language are for each other is evident when we consider the basic oral and aural nature of the two. In case of language someone speaks and someone hears.In communication,there is a communicator and there is a receiver - the person communicated to.The communicator is also known as ENCODER(who encodes the message into linguistic signs,and the receiver is known a DECODER (who decodes the message ).The communicator/ encoder in oral communication encodes the message phonologically and delivers the same to the receiver/decoder for decoding. In written communication the message is delivered orthographically to the receiver who is a reader.Radio is an example of oral and aural communication in which the oral and aural nature of language is realized.In case of TV communication a new dimension is added to the oral and aural nature of language.Books,newspapers represent communication through orthographic realization
MAHANANDA
A THREAT: MAHANANDA CONTAMINATION
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Mahananda, the daughter of Darjeeling Himalayas is under threat. Human
settlements, cattle sheds on the river bed, human and cattle excrements, remains of funeral pyres, carcasses, sewage of towns are serious threat to the rainfed river. One expert in a recent seminar organized by Save Mahananda Committee at Siliguri presented alarming data about the presence of contaminants in the Mahananda river along the stretch in Siliguri sub-division.He said two-thirds of the water along the stretch are liquid pollutants. A large amount of the sewage of the burgeoning Siliguri Corporation is emptied into the river which bifurcates the town and is it’s main source of water. If immediate steps are not taken to bring back the health of the river, he said, people of Siliguri and contiguous area will be amenable to different serious water borne diseases.
Mahananda has her origin inChimli,Kurseong. She in her course of descent from the hills runs through a subterranean area and comes into sight after a journey of four miles. She alters her route at Siliguri and enters adjacent Jalpaiguri district.She has a catchment area of more than 25,000 sq km.She has three tributaries-Trinai, Ranochondi and the Chokor-Dauk pair. In her downhill course Balasun also joined the Mahananda system.The river gains international status entering Bangladesh. She flows through North Bengal, Bihar and Banladesh,re-enters India at Malda and turns again to Bangladesh to join the Ganges which is rechristened as Padma. Siliguri and Malda are two important urban settlements on the bank of the river.
The river in its Siliguri stretch remains a lean channel with little water flowing most of the year except during the monsoon.The bed has risen over the years with tons of boulders and pebbles rushing downhill with rain water and depositing along the stretch.The rate of siltation has increased with two more bridges built on the river between Airview More and Naukaghat,two points within a crow’s flight.
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Mahananda, the daughter of Darjeeling Himalayas is under threat. Human
settlements, cattle sheds on the river bed, human and cattle excrements, remains of funeral pyres, carcasses, sewage of towns are serious threat to the rainfed river. One expert in a recent seminar organized by Save Mahananda Committee at Siliguri presented alarming data about the presence of contaminants in the Mahananda river along the stretch in Siliguri sub-division.He said two-thirds of the water along the stretch are liquid pollutants. A large amount of the sewage of the burgeoning Siliguri Corporation is emptied into the river which bifurcates the town and is it’s main source of water. If immediate steps are not taken to bring back the health of the river, he said, people of Siliguri and contiguous area will be amenable to different serious water borne diseases.
Mahananda has her origin inChimli,Kurseong. She in her course of descent from the hills runs through a subterranean area and comes into sight after a journey of four miles. She alters her route at Siliguri and enters adjacent Jalpaiguri district.She has a catchment area of more than 25,000 sq km.She has three tributaries-Trinai, Ranochondi and the Chokor-Dauk pair. In her downhill course Balasun also joined the Mahananda system.The river gains international status entering Bangladesh. She flows through North Bengal, Bihar and Banladesh,re-enters India at Malda and turns again to Bangladesh to join the Ganges which is rechristened as Padma. Siliguri and Malda are two important urban settlements on the bank of the river.
The river in its Siliguri stretch remains a lean channel with little water flowing most of the year except during the monsoon.The bed has risen over the years with tons of boulders and pebbles rushing downhill with rain water and depositing along the stretch.The rate of siltation has increased with two more bridges built on the river between Airview More and Naukaghat,two points within a crow’s flight.
Media Imperialism : A Threat to Right to Information
Media Imperialism: A Threat
to Right to Information
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Media imperialism is a a phenomenon which provokes serious thought in those who are concerned about media freedom for the sake of democracy, civil liberty and protection of fundamental rights for all around the globe in consonance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Media being a capital- intensive industry to-day, the tycoons are in control of media houses worldwide. They invest to earn whooping profit, and are on the run to invade new territories to spread their networks thus to increase profit and clout. When profit counts, public interest tends to take the back seat. In the process, media freedom guaranteed in the constitutions of the democratic countries, in effect, becomes the freedom of media mughals. They are the media gatekeepers and, their interests, outlook and point of view influence the selection and presentation of news which the innocent consumers credulously accept. This is how they fall in line with the policy of the tycoons, and unwittingly become susceptible to the danger of being unable to be free thinkers.Vox populi loses originality and turns out to be the manipulated public opinion . In such a situation democracy ceases to be participatory in essence.
Back in 1980 UNESCO recognized the problem of imbalance in the flow of information between the developed and the developing worlds in the McBride report. During 1970s the Non-aligned countries identified the problem of this imbalance and strove for remedies. The developed world could not swallow the report adopted by UNESCO. With the passage of time the imbalance has increased.Globalization which encourages free market economy has paved the way for invasions of the media tycoons which the small and medium media houses cannot withstand.
The global tycoons operate in two ways. They annex new territories of operation or partner with strong local players. Those local players use their financial clout to cow down the small and medium houses and in course of time gobble them up. Thus at the local or country level also a sort of media imperialism is increasingly at work. This belies or, at least, distorts the concept of media being public fora to facilitate the right of people to unburnished and uncolored information.
to Right to Information
Nidhu Bhusan Das
Media imperialism is a a phenomenon which provokes serious thought in those who are concerned about media freedom for the sake of democracy, civil liberty and protection of fundamental rights for all around the globe in consonance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Media being a capital- intensive industry to-day, the tycoons are in control of media houses worldwide. They invest to earn whooping profit, and are on the run to invade new territories to spread their networks thus to increase profit and clout. When profit counts, public interest tends to take the back seat. In the process, media freedom guaranteed in the constitutions of the democratic countries, in effect, becomes the freedom of media mughals. They are the media gatekeepers and, their interests, outlook and point of view influence the selection and presentation of news which the innocent consumers credulously accept. This is how they fall in line with the policy of the tycoons, and unwittingly become susceptible to the danger of being unable to be free thinkers.Vox populi loses originality and turns out to be the manipulated public opinion . In such a situation democracy ceases to be participatory in essence.
Back in 1980 UNESCO recognized the problem of imbalance in the flow of information between the developed and the developing worlds in the McBride report. During 1970s the Non-aligned countries identified the problem of this imbalance and strove for remedies. The developed world could not swallow the report adopted by UNESCO. With the passage of time the imbalance has increased.Globalization which encourages free market economy has paved the way for invasions of the media tycoons which the small and medium media houses cannot withstand.
The global tycoons operate in two ways. They annex new territories of operation or partner with strong local players. Those local players use their financial clout to cow down the small and medium houses and in course of time gobble them up. Thus at the local or country level also a sort of media imperialism is increasingly at work. This belies or, at least, distorts the concept of media being public fora to facilitate the right of people to unburnished and uncolored information.
Escape
ESCAPE
Nidhu Bhusan Das
The Arrival
Sudden rain stopped us as we were trudging towards the haven, an arrow’s flight. Our guide said, the rain influenced by the nearby mountains would not last long. We waited in a house with bated breath for the rain to cease as we were in a hurry to escape across the border. We came a long way by motor launch and mostly on foot to escape the brutalities of the Pakistan Army. They were on patrol along the highway which we had left behind ducking through the jute fields which provided nice cover with the crop standing waist-high. Now we were behind the rail track patrolled by the army aboard train. During the rain the patrol- train had sped past the point we would use to cross over to India. Rain was a blessing, said our guide who had the refrain¬¬ – the more difficulty, the more escape route.
Yes, the guide was right, the rain stopped after about 15 minutes. We were led out of the house. As we were out in the open we found a sea of people heading towards the upland, and we were in a procession leaving hearth and home to keep alive. As they were crossing the border, people yelled in joy as if they were at the end of pilgrimage.
The journey was arduous and packed with fear and uncertainties. Any time we could be bombed from above. The countryside was beyond the control of the occupation army. So, there was no fear that they would find us. But the air attack was possible. Bombers and fighters were often found to be in sorties.
The place we poured into across the border was Boxanagar in Tripura.The sun was about to go down when we sat down to rest on 5 May 1971 after so many days of fear. My mother fell silent. She had left her mother, brothers and a sister, and could not think what would befall them once the army fanned out in the countryside. My grandmother was an octogenarian. Tears rolled down her crinkled cheek when my mother sought her permission to leave. It was a poignant moment. We got registered as evacuees, and were provided with rations.
We had a short shrift of having a dinner of bread with jackfruit juice before falling asleep.
.
The Crackdown
I left Dhaka on 8 March 1971.The day before Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered his historic and classic speech at Suharawardi Uddyan.It was the Charter of Independence of Bangladesh. We from Dhaka College hostel walked near the venue, and found the lawn of Arts faculty of Dhaka University as the vantage point to listen to what the leader would say.It was in the late afternoon.All roads led to the Uddyan. The swaying crowd spilled over into the adjacent Ramna Park and the roads around. It was the day of reckoning.That night at the hostel we had long discussion on what the Bangabandhu had said. We tried to understand what the leader meant by the two terms ‘Mukti’(freedom) and ‘Sadhinata’(independence).
Meanwhile,on 1 March in the afternoon the flag of Bangladesh was displayed by the students after the sudden postponement of the first session of the National Assembly of Pakistan following the general elections in December 1970 which Bangladesh Awami League led by the Bangabandhu swept. The session was scheduled to be held from 3 March at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar,Dhaka.The people of East Pakistan were perturbed.
Nidhu Bhusan Das
The Arrival
Sudden rain stopped us as we were trudging towards the haven, an arrow’s flight. Our guide said, the rain influenced by the nearby mountains would not last long. We waited in a house with bated breath for the rain to cease as we were in a hurry to escape across the border. We came a long way by motor launch and mostly on foot to escape the brutalities of the Pakistan Army. They were on patrol along the highway which we had left behind ducking through the jute fields which provided nice cover with the crop standing waist-high. Now we were behind the rail track patrolled by the army aboard train. During the rain the patrol- train had sped past the point we would use to cross over to India. Rain was a blessing, said our guide who had the refrain¬¬ – the more difficulty, the more escape route.
Yes, the guide was right, the rain stopped after about 15 minutes. We were led out of the house. As we were out in the open we found a sea of people heading towards the upland, and we were in a procession leaving hearth and home to keep alive. As they were crossing the border, people yelled in joy as if they were at the end of pilgrimage.
The journey was arduous and packed with fear and uncertainties. Any time we could be bombed from above. The countryside was beyond the control of the occupation army. So, there was no fear that they would find us. But the air attack was possible. Bombers and fighters were often found to be in sorties.
The place we poured into across the border was Boxanagar in Tripura.The sun was about to go down when we sat down to rest on 5 May 1971 after so many days of fear. My mother fell silent. She had left her mother, brothers and a sister, and could not think what would befall them once the army fanned out in the countryside. My grandmother was an octogenarian. Tears rolled down her crinkled cheek when my mother sought her permission to leave. It was a poignant moment. We got registered as evacuees, and were provided with rations.
We had a short shrift of having a dinner of bread with jackfruit juice before falling asleep.
.
The Crackdown
I left Dhaka on 8 March 1971.The day before Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered his historic and classic speech at Suharawardi Uddyan.It was the Charter of Independence of Bangladesh. We from Dhaka College hostel walked near the venue, and found the lawn of Arts faculty of Dhaka University as the vantage point to listen to what the leader would say.It was in the late afternoon.All roads led to the Uddyan. The swaying crowd spilled over into the adjacent Ramna Park and the roads around. It was the day of reckoning.That night at the hostel we had long discussion on what the Bangabandhu had said. We tried to understand what the leader meant by the two terms ‘Mukti’(freedom) and ‘Sadhinata’(independence).
Meanwhile,on 1 March in the afternoon the flag of Bangladesh was displayed by the students after the sudden postponement of the first session of the National Assembly of Pakistan following the general elections in December 1970 which Bangladesh Awami League led by the Bangabandhu swept. The session was scheduled to be held from 3 March at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar,Dhaka.The people of East Pakistan were perturbed.
Endangered Languages
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.
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.
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