From narsi-farsi, koti and other dialects: india speaks 780 languages

In the multinational state of India there is a particularly high variety of languages.

(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The great variety of languages of the Indian billion people has long been known. However, this is surprising Result a linguistic study, which for the first time names the exact number of different languages and also draws attention to language extinction.

If a tower were built at Babel these days, it could be in India. Anyone who takes the subway in the capital New Delhi can hear up to 300 languages, says Ganesh Devy. The founder of the Bhasha research and publication center recently presented a study of the linguistic diversity in the country with approximately 1.2 billion inhabitants – the first in more than 100 years.

The New Delhi subway is becoming a melting pot of cultures and languages every day.

(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Indian state currently assumes 122 languages, but only those with at least 10,000 speakers were included in the 2001 census. The new study also recognizes languages like Majhi, which only four people can speak, and came up with a total of 780 languages.

Many unexpected treasures came to light during the investigation, which is now gradually being published in 50 volumes. For example the Narsi-Farsi, with which thieves communicate with each other. Or the secret code language Koti, which only the transsexual hijras know and whose mastery is a criterion for acceptance into their community. Although Koti is based on Hindi, which has the most speakers in India with more than 400 million, the words have a completely different meaning than usual.

Linguistic diversity also means variety of fonts

The Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" proved that Hindi is good as an export hit.

(Photo: picture-alliance / dpa)

"Our investigation also shows that India uses 66 fonts", says Devy. More than 3,000 volunteers were involved in the study, which took four years: academics, writers, teachers, farmers, activists, bus drivers and even nomads.

That was not a door-to-door census, but the people from the language communities themselves were trained for the survey, explains Devy. They would have folk songs, traditional ones stories, Descriptions for relatives and the words for time and space are noted – this is how the world view of the language community has become visible.

Kanajibhai Patel, study coordinator for the state of Gujarat, said minority languages are threatened by the dominance of other languages and cultures in the region, as well as globalization. That happens all over the world. "The young people move to the cities for work and lose touch with their language there. There they think they will be excluded if they use their mother tongue."

Rare languages are increasingly becoming victims of globalization

But there is also the opposite trend. Bhili, for example, the language of tribal peoples in western India, is being spoken more because of economic success and growing self-confidence among the groups.

However, it is too late for Bo, who was spoken on the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. The dialect ceased to exist three years ago when the last speaker died, says study director Francis Neelam. "Along with the language, a culture, tradition, history and people’s beliefs also die. That can never be brought back."

The same fate happened to Bantu, an African language, in India. The Portuguese brought people from Africa to the West Indies as slaves 300 to 500 years ago. The Siddi used their language at first, but that was over a few decades ago.

"We feel that we have lost a large part of our identity", says Farida Ben, a Siddi. "If the language were still there, we would be more powerful. It would help our community get together and fraternize."

Linguistic diversity also means variety of fonts

Rare languages ​​are increasingly becoming victims of globalization

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Rare languages are increasingly becoming victims of globalization