Chronological History of the Hindi language

Source:

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/hindiint.html

Hindi is a direct descendant of Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. It has been influenced and enriched by Dravidian, Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, Portugese and English. It is a very expressive language. In poetry and songs, it can convey emotions using simple and gentle words. It can also be used for exact and rational reasoning.

More than 180 million people in India regard Hindi as their mother tongue. Another 300 million use it as second language. Outside of India, Hindi speakers are 100,000 in USA; 685,170 in Mauritius; 890,292 in South Africa; 232,760 in Yemen; 147,000 in Uganda; 5,000 in Singapore; 8 million in Nepal; 20,000 in New Zealand; 30,000 in Germany. Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, spoken by about 41 million in Pakistan and other countries, is essentially the same language. Dakhini is an older, southern form of Urdu that uses fewer Persian or Arabic words.

Dialects of Hindi: Marwari, MAP Braj, map, Bundeli, map, Kanauji, map, Urdu, map, Chattisgarhi, map, Bagheli, map, Avadhi, map, Bhojpuri map, Maithili, –>and many others. It is not easy to delimit the borders of the Hindi speaking region. There has been considerable controversy on the status of Punjabi and Maithili, map . Sometimes they are regarded to be independent languages and sometimes dialects of Hindi. A 1997 survey found that 66% of all Indians can speak Hindi, and 77% of the Indians regard Hindi as “one language across the nation”.

Brief History of Hindi: Hindi started to emerge as Apabhramsha in the 7th cent. and by the 10 cent. became stable. Several dialects of Hindi have been used in literature. Braj was the popular literary dialect until it was replaced by khari boli in the 19th century.

Background: The period of Prakrits and Classical Sanskrit (dates are approximate):
750 BCE: Gradual emergence of post-vedic Sanskrit
500 BCE: Prakrit texts of Buddhists and Jains originate (Eastern India)
400 BCE: Panini composes his Sanskrit grammar (Western India), reflecting transition from Vedic to Paninian Sanskrit
322 BCE: Brahmi script inscriptions by Mauryas in Prakrit (Pali)
250 BCE: Classical Sanskrit emerges. [Vidhyanath Rao] 100 BCE-100 CE: Sanskrit gradually replaces Prakrit in inscriptions
320: The Gupta or Siddha-matrika script emerges.Apabhranshas and emergence of old Hindi:
400: Apabhransha in Kalidas’s Vikramorvashiyam
550: Dharasena of Valabhi’s inscription mentions Apabhramsha literature
779: Regional languages mentioned by Udyotan Suri in “Kuvalayamala”
769: Siddha Sarahpad composes Dohakosh, considered the first Hindi poet
800: Bulk of the Sanskrit literature after this time is commentaries. [Vidhyanath Rao]
933: Shravakachar of Devasena, considered the first Hindi book
1100: Modern Devanagari script emerges
1145-1229: Hemachadra writes on Apabhransha grammar

Decline of Apabhransha and emergence of modern Hindi:
1283: Khusro’s pahelis and mukaris. Uses term “Hindavi”
1398-1518: Kabir’s works mark origin of “Nirguna-Bhaki” period
1370-: Love-story period originated by “Hansavali” of Asahat
1400-1479: Raighu: last of the great Apabhramsha poets
1450: “Saguna Bhakti” period starts with Ramananda
1580: Early Dakkhini work “Kalmitul-hakayat” of Burhanuddin Janam
1585: “Bhaktamal” of Nabhadas: an account of Hindi Bhakta-poets
1601: “Ardha-Kathanak” by Banarasidas, first autobiography in Hindi
1604: “Adi-Granth” a compilation of works of many poets by Guru Arjan Dev.
1532-1623: Tulsidas, author of “Ramacharita Manasa”.
1623: “Gora-badal ki katha” of Jatmal, first book in Khari Boli dialect (now the standard dialect)
1643: “Reeti” poetry tradition commences according to Ramchandra Shukla
1645: Shahjehan builds Delhi fort, language in the locality starts to be termed Urdu.
1667-1707: Vali’s compositions become popular, Urdu starts replacing Farsi among Delhi nobility.
It is often called “Hindi” by Sauda, Meer etc.
1600-1825: Poets (Bihari to Padmakar) supported by rulers of Orchha and other domains.
Modern Hindi literature emerges:
1796: Earliest type-based Devanagari printing (John Gilchrist, Grammar of the Hindoostanee Language, Calcutta) [Dick Plukker]
1805: Lalloo Lal’s Premsagar published for Fort William College, Calcutta [Daisy Rockwell]
1813-46: Maharaja Swati Tirunal Rama Varma(Travancore) composed verses in Hindi along with South Indian languages.
1826: “Udanta Martanda” Hindi weekly from Calcutta
1837: Phullori, author of “Om Jai Jagdish Hare” born
1839,1847: “History of Hindi Literature” by Garcin de Tassy in French [Daisy Rockwell]
1833-86: Gujarati Poet Narmad proposed Hindi as India’s national language
1850: The term “Hindi” no longer used for what is now called “Urdu”.
1854: “Samachar Sudhavarshan” Hindi daily from Calcutta
1873: Mahendra Bhattachary’s “Padarth-vigyan” (Chemistry) in Hindi
1877: Novel “Bhagyavati” by Shraddharam Phullori
1886: “Bharatendu period” of modern Hindi literature starts
1893 Founding of the Nagari Pracharni Sabha in Benares [Daisy Rockwell] 1900: “Dvivedi period” starts. Nationalist writings
1900: “Indumati” story by Kishorilal Goswami in “Sarasvati”
1913: “Raja Harishchandra”, first Hindi movie by Dadasaheb Phalke
1918-1938: “Chhayavad period”
1918: “Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachara Sabha” founded by Gandhi.
1929: “History of Hindi Literature” by Ramchandra Shukla
1931: “Alam Ara” first Hindi talking movie
1930’s: Hindi typewriters (”Nagari lekhan Yantra”)[Shailendra Mehta]Our age
1949: Official Language Act makes the use of Hindi in Central Government Offices mandatory
1949-50: Hindi accepted as the “official language of the Union” in the constitution. Debates a, b, c.
1952: The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan recommends that Urdu be the state language.
1965: Opposition to “Hindi-imposition” in Tamilnadu brings DMK to power.
1975: English medium private schools start asserting themselves socially, politically, financially [Peter Hook].
1985-6: Devanagari word processor, Devyani DTP software, both from Dataflow (?).
1987-88: Frans Velthuis creates Devanagari metafont. [Shailendra Mehta]
1990: According to World Almanac and Book of Facts Hindi-Urdu has passed English (and Spanish) to become the second most widely spoken language in the world [Peter Hook].
1991: ITRANS encoding scheme developed by Avinash Chopde allows Hindi documents in Roman and Devanagari on the Internet.
1995: Movie “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun” biggest grosser ever
1997: Prime Minister Deve Gowda emphasises promotion of Hindi and the regional languages, having himself learned Hindi recently.
1997: Hindi Newspaper Nai Dunia on the web (January) (Or was Milap first?)
1998: Karunanithi, the DMK leader, recites a Hindi verse during a political campaign, indicating a change in views.
1998: Sonia Gandhi’s Hindi lessons attract attention

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Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
Source:http://deepakp7.blogspot.com/2006/10/malayalam-machine-transation-how-long.html

A good overview of the various Indian Machine Translation efforts in India appears as a ppt at http://www.au-kbc.org/dfki/igws/Machine_Translation.ppt

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AUSTIN, Texas—The National Security Education Program (NSEP) has awarded The University of Texas at Austin’s South Asia Institute more than $700,000 to establish the first National Flagship Language Program in Hindi and Urdu in the United States.

Among the most widely spoken languages in the world, Hindi and Urdu are considered critical to national security and in the global market. The Hindi and Urdu Flagship Program (HUF-Program) will train students in advanced language proficiency and professional development across a range of disciplines, including business, communications and public policy. Students from the program will become candidates for employment with the federal government or hold a vital place in the worlds of business, technology or academia.

Students in the four-year undergraduate HUF-Program will take language and content classes alongside coursework in their majors. In the third year, students will study abroad at one of India’s prestigious universities. The university’s Center for Global Education Opportunities will collaborate with the institute in developing the study abroad program.

“With our internationally renowned faculty, innovative educational technology and multidisciplinary curriculum, we are poised to house the strongest advanced Hindi-Urdu language program in the country,” said Judith Langlois, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Professor of Hindi Herman Van Olphen will be the director of the HUF-Program with Asian Studies faculty Rupert Snell (Hindi) and Akbar Hyder (Urdu) as associate directors. Orlando Kelm, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese, will join the program to assist with the development of the Hindi and Urdu Cyber Project, a set of computer-assisted, audio-visual materials that draw on the latest instructional technologies. The HUF-Program will enroll about 10 students in fall 2007, with the program expanding to 20 students the following year.

The recruitment of academically excellent high school students with some knowledge of Hindi or Urdu will begin immediately for the 2007-08 academic year.

For more information contact: James Brow, director, South Asia Institute, 512-471-0058; Sarah Green, associate director, South Asia Institute, 512-475-6026; Tracy Mueller, public affairs specialist, College of Liberal Arts, 512-471-2404.

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Though the world knows the language by the name of Bengali, Bangla happens to be a derivative of the Indo-Aryan languages of yore; to be more precise, it is the closest kin of Sanskrit after Tamil and German. Somewhere around 70 years down the line, the language of the Bangali people orbited around the Bengali vocabulary (well, Parsi, Arabic and Hindi also had their share due to a large number of residents following Islam) but the recent times witnessed a conglomeration of English words within the Bengali dialect – the aftermath of the British colonization, the trend still continues and is gradually encapsulating the common Bengali tongue-set.


For the unaware, this is a piece that’s intended to bring into light the trend we often refer to as Benglish; it is a mixture (not blend) of purely English words within the perimeter of Bangla; often mispronounced, sometimes they appear funny, but nevertheless, the widespread usage has made the population liberal enough to accept them into the vocabulary (Frenchmen, please excuse us).


The strong influence immediately comes to notice when one gives a patient hearing to especially the college students; what started off as fun and experimentation quickly transformed into a trend that doesn’t stop by including into it a foreign vocabulary but goes up to the extent of forming a complete sentence of which, one part is Bangla and the other an excerpt in English. For example: “The space was so narrow that I had to kneel down” easily moulds into “I had to sit like hnatu murey”, where hnatu is the knee and murey means by folding.


Whether it’s a good thing or not is debatable; the traditionalists definitely would frown upon the whole thing whereas the modern generation claims it to be a lingua franca that allows for a more vivid and picturesque way to exchange ideas that is easy flowing and light as well. But fact remains that even a hundred years back, when certain words in English took entry into the Bengali realm like tebil (table), tifin (tiffin or snack) or cup (pushing into obscurity the word peyala), the trend was not opposed by even the scholars who found Bangla then shedding some of its weight to facilitate the required speed in its motion. However, in Bangladesh, it’s a different scenario, and they are perhaps more staunch than the French when it comes to their own mother tongue.


Bangla, like English, has distinct linguistic patterns, and that’s what has started another trend that caught up very recently; it is speaking the English language keeping the Bangla mood and syntax intact. As we all know it, repeating words is against the English grammar whereas in Bangla, it is used to denote the magnitude more vividly. Thus, instead of pretty small stuff, people hesitate not to use small small things, which is a direct translation of the idea choto choto jinish. Similarly, it feels like the weekend translates into its like Saturday-Saturday and which which places instead of what are the places we shall be visiting.


But arguments aside, all we can say is that the influence of English in Bangla has changed (or should we say, confused?) the mindset of the populace up to quite an extent; while the modern generation thinks it to be plain stupid and an indicator of backwardness to use the mother tongue, half-a-knowledge has rendered their speaking habits into a style that’s totally unique in a sarcastic way.

Bengali translation by native translators www.indianscripts.com

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The languages different nationalities living in India speak are as diverse as its heritage and culture. Interestingly, across our vast country, people speak in at least 850 different languages and 1,683 dialects or their “mother tongues”. Languages spoken in India belong to any of the four major groups: the Indo-Aryan (74%), the Dravidian (24%), the Austro-Asiatic (1.2%), or the Tibeto-Burman (1 %) families and some Himalayan languages still remain to be classified. On the basis of a language, India can be divided into “Hindi” and “non-Hindi” speaking regions. The Hindi speaking belt – constitutes of only 10 (out of 28) states and 3 (out of 7 union territories) has Hindi as the principal official language, while the rest use their own “state” or regional language with English translation for those who don’t understand the language. Thus, protecting the interests of people in non-Hindi speaking belt, the constitution prohibits giving any one language the status of a “National Language”, unless it is voluntarily accepted by all the Indian states. Hindi (written in the Devanagri script), has evolved from Sanskrit.Though, as per our Constitution of the country, only “Hindi in Devnagri script” enjoys the status of an “official language”, thanks to recent rapid industrialization, introduction of new technologies and globalization of our economy, English continues to be another influential communication medium for day-to-day business of the government. It is therefore accorded a similar status of “official language” as Hindi. Besides, each state from the “non-Hindi” belt uses its own “state” or regional language for communication with the rest of India. India has thus not just two, but (together with regional languages) 23 listed official languages. Among the 23 official languages, 18 are regional or “state” languages.Over time, Dravidian, Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, Portuguese and English languages have enriched it, developing as the main official language that is understood well and spoken in most urban parts of the country. Whereas, Hindi is predominantly used for communication within the central government departments and with the state governments in the “Hindi belt”, communication from the Centre to “non-Hindi belt” states are both in Hindi, accompanied with an English translation. Similarly, the communication from the “non-Hindi belt” states to the centre or any other state is in its “state” or regional language, accompanied with a translation in English. For example, information from the center to West Bengal will be in Hindi with English translation and this state communicates back in Bengali and English translation. 21 other languages, besides Hindi and English that enjoy the “official language” status are important from point of view of translation jobs.

State specific, unofficial state language (not recognized by the Constitution)
1 Kokborok Tripura 1.3
2 Mizo Mizoram, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura. Also spoken in Bangladesh, Myanmar. < 1
3 Sikkimese North Sikkim by Bhutia tribe and in Bhutan < 0.5
4 Khasi, Meghalaya, West Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Udaipur, Tripura, West Bengal. Also spoken in Bangladesh 0.6
5 Garo
6 French Pondicherry.
SOME OTHER POPULAR LANGUAGES
1 Bihari language
Angika North and South Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal (Magadh area) 0.7
Bhojpuri Bihar 23
Magadhi South Bihar 12
2 Rajasthani Language 50
Marwari Marwar Jodhpur, Nagour and Bikaner 20
Mewari Udaipur, Chittor and Kota-Bundi
Shekhavati Shekhavati (Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu) region 3
OTHER LANGUAGES
3 Haryanvi Hindi dialect used in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh 13
4 Chhatisgarhi Chhatisgarh 11
5 Dhakanni (dialect of Urdu language) Amalgam of Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Arabic, Persian and Turkish Spoken in the Deccan plateau region in the South, mostly around Hyderabad and predominantly by Muslims of South India) 11
6 Bhili Spoken by Bhil tribals 1.5
7 Gondi Spoken by Gond tribals in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra 2.1
8 Kodava Kodagu district of Karnataka 1.5
9 Kutchi Kutch region in Gujarat Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Orissa. Also spoken in Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and Tanzania. 1
10 Tulu Spoken by Tulu people in Karnataka and Kerala 2
11 Sankethi Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
12 Avadhi West UP 0.5
13 Gamit Surat (Gujrat) by Gamit Caste 0.4
MINORITY LANGUAGES (less than 1 mln speakers)
1 Mahl Minicoy island, Lakshadweep 0.015
2 French Pondicherry
3 Portuguese Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli
4 Persian Pre- British era Govt. language

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