Indian languages in the diaspora

Includes Index

The People’s Linguistic Survey of India provides an overview of the extant and dying languages of India, as perceived by their speakers. It is the culmination of a nation-wide survey of languages, documented by linguists, writers, social activists and, most importantly, members of different speech communities. The work chronicles the evolution of these languages until 2011, and incorporates their socio-political and cultural dimensions. Critically, it encapsulates the world view of the speakers of the languages.

Diasporic communities strive to find or forge a language that speaks of their specific cultural experience, which is a blend of loss and discovery. Diaspora language, therefore, is characterised by both resilience and compliance. Considering the heterogeneity of the Indian diaspora, it is not surprising that the status of Indian languages varies significantly in different diasporic locations.

The contributors to the present volume, who are located in different parts of the world, explore a range of language situations and histories. They provide a conceptual overview of native languages in non-native lands, and analyses of one language in multiple locations, multiple languages in one location, and other such complex contexts. The volume covers language situations in locations such as Trinidad, East Africa, USA, Canada, Singapore and the Arabian Gulf. This volume, the forty-seventh in the series People’s Linguistic Survey of India, seeks to capture the language experience in a diasporic location, and to offer a snapshot, a state-of-the-language report.

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