Question

Write short note.

Linguistic diversity in India

Answer 1

i. Multi-linguism is a way of life in India. The linguistic diversity is a major part of the cultural wealth of our country.

ii. In 1956, Indian States were organised on a linguistic basis. Hence, domiciles of a particular State speak a particular language.

iii. The Constitution of India has approved of 22 official languages. Among these, Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada have been recognised as classical languages. They are given a special status and recognition.

iv. The classification of language family in India is as follows:

Indo-Aryan (Arya)	Dravidian (Dravida)	Austro-Asiatic (Nishada)	Sino-Tibetan (Kirata)	Andamanese
Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Sindhi, Kutchi, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese, Urdu, Konkani, Bihari, Avadhi, Chhattisgarhi, Bugheli, Alawari	Telugu, Kurukh, Oraon, Maler, Kui, Parji, Kolami, Tamil, Malayala, Kannada, Tulu, Kota, Coorgi, Toda	Munda [comprised of 14 languages] Mon-Khmer [has 2 subgroups]	Has 3 subdivisions viz. TibetoHimalayan, Himalayan languages, Bhutia Languages	Spoken by tribal people of the Andaman Islands viz. Aka – Jeru, Ongan and Sentinelese

v. The language policy of India guarantees protection to linguistic minorities.

vi. A unique feature of India is the concept of protecting the interest of children to get basic education in their mother tongues.

vii. The language policy of India is pluralistic. It gives priority to the use of mother tongue in administration, education and other fields of mass communication.

viii. Today, speakers of diverse languages are becoming rare and the major languages are being adopted after abandoning the mother tongue. The linguistic diversity needs to be preserved with the help of community participation.