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Linguistic history and language diversity in India: Views and counterviews

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Abstract

This paper addresses the theme of the seminar from the perspective of historical linguistics. It introduces the construct of ‘language family’ and then proceeds to a discussion of contact and the dynamics of linguistic exchange among the main language families of India over several millennia. Some prevalent hypotheses to explain the creation of India as a linguistic area are presented. The ‘substratum view’ is critically assessed. Evidence from historical linguistics in support of two dominant hypotheses – ‘the Aryan migration view’ and ‘the out-of-India hypothesis’ – is presented and briefly assessed. In conclusion, it is observed that the current understanding in historical linguistics favours the Aryan migration view though the ‘substratum view’ is questionable.

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Figure 1
Figure 2

(Source: Masica C 1991 The Indo-Aryan Languages (CUP) p 449).

Figure 3

(Source: Krishnamurti B 2003 The Dravidian Languages (CUP)).

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Notes

  1. George Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India (1905–1926), which documented 364 languages, remains an indispensable resource for linguists in India.

  2. This was a system introduced in the nineteenth century in British India in which land ownership rights were given to the peasants and taxes were collected directly from the peasants.

  3. Diffusion, a one-way process, is distinguished from convergence which is the gradual reduction of distance between languages as a result of the diffusion of features through the medium of bilingual speakers.

  4. The substratum model refers to a situation in which one language intrudes into the territory of another, typically as a result of migration. ‘Substrate’ is a language with lower social power or prestige than a ‘superstratum’ language.

  5. Elfenbein (1987: 215) presents evidence to propose an alternative hypothesis, viz. that the Brahuis are a recent migration to their present habitat from Central India.

  6. However, see Bryant (2012: 70–71) for a critique of Kuiper’s methodology.

  7. Talageri (1993 Chapter 12) is of the opinion that retroflexion was acquired by the other language families of India from Indo-Aryan.

  8. Diglossia refers to a situation in which a community used two languages or two varieties of the same language exclusively for high functions (literature, formal conversation, education, etc.) and low functions (e.g. everyday informal conversation).

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  1. Deccan College, Pune, India

    Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi

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  1. Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi
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Kulkarni-Joshi, S. Linguistic history and language diversity in India: Views and counterviews. J Biosci 44, 62 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-019-9879-1

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