Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
TODAY IS International Mother's language day.
Speak MALAYALAM at least today
Words get extinct
Many such original Malayalam words are gradually becoming extinct in our daily vocabulary. Even the earlier generations in cities shied away from karandies and thotties and preferred spoons and buckets in tune with a more dominant culture. But few pause to reflect that such expressions are not part of the Malayalam language.
Interestingly for cups and saucers it was a different case. Like coffee, which changed into `kappi', `cup', a western product was transformed into `koppa' in rhythm with the rustic Malayali tongue. It is true no language can ever thrive if it does not expand by borrowing words from other languages. For a language to grow it should welcome, accept and absorb not only words but even phrases (déjà vu, modus operandi etc) from other languages. English today is alive and kicking as it has boldly and blatantly borrowed from Latin, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Hindi etc. Bungalow (bangla), Dacoit (daku), Jungle (jangal) are a few of the many Hindi words that have been added to English. New words from other tongues continue to pour into English. But chances of an English word being replaced by another language in the written or spoken form is very remote.
Of all the languages we learn the most significant for our emotional and cognitive growth is our mother tongue, the one that we grasp first from our parents as babies. Nonetheless many other English terms are fast replacing spoken Malayalam. When was the last time you ever greeted anybody with a Namasthe instead of a `Hi, Hello, Good Morning' etc? Or expressed your gratitude with a `nanni' instead of a `Thank you'. Beginning right from school words, like `Sir, Madam, Teacher, Class, Standard' etc to home terminologies like `Gas, Switch, Fan, Light, Party' etc are used with ease. In cooking too we dish up effortlessly a Mutton, Beef or Chicken biriyani or a Nai/Paper Roast etc. And we also do not think twice of coining English words. Thus co-brother, a word unheard of in the English language has recently been observed in spoken Malayalam. This word to the liberal Keralite to whom relationships are important, is used to describe one's wife's sister's husband.
However, there are a few Malayalam words that have found their place in the English dictionary. They are betel (vetilla), coir (kayar), copra etc. Teak is also said to have evolved from `thaeke'. Yet what is disquieting is the future of spoken Malayalam. Urbanites cannot exchange ideas without sprinkling lavish doses of English words in their mother tongue. Today's youth, who think, feel and plan in English, finds it tough to communicate otherwise. Though such tendencies are now more among the metropolitan crowd what is worrisome is that the trend is bound to spread to rural areas too, due to multiculturalism.
Endangered
It is said a community's language is endangered if 30 percent of its children do not learn it. Youth is not at fault as adults naturally encourage children to learn the language of a dominant culture for better career prospects. Many indigenous traditions and languages in the world are dead or dying due to repression or adapting to an advanced society.
Thus will our mother tongue, which is not just a language but also a fusion of race, religion, thought, culture, and artistic expression, be affected by such a tendency? As we progress and advance in all fields will more and more English words replace Malayalam? And finally, will our mother tongue be spoken with more English words than Malayalam?
HEMJIT BHARATHAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
