LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Language Shift among the Tribal Languages of India
A Case Study in Bihar

Richa, Ph.D.

Introduction

The issues of language shift, maintenance and death have been consistently agitating the minds of linguists, sociologists, geneticists and anthropologists for the last fifty years. Linguists, along with other scientists, believe that languages are necessary for human evolution. Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine (2000) consider languages as part of total ecosystem and term the diversity as 'biolinguistic diversity'.

Languages are repositories of history, languages express identity, languages contribute to the sum of human knowledge and of course, languages are interesting in themselves (David Crystal, 2000). The linguistic diversity is really a benchmark of cultural diversity. If we lose language, we lose knowledge of that language and culture.

In reality, "every language is a living museum, a monument to every culture it has been vehicle to" (Daniel Nettle & Suzanne Romaine, 2000:14). Dorian (1999) regards the loss of an ethnic language far less easily recoverable than other identity markers and its cultural content is never fully recoverable.

Equilibrium State of the Languages of the World

The languages of the world have been in linguistic equilibrium for years but in the last five hundred years, waves of biological and economic importance have changed the scenario to a great extent.

Moreover, the pressure has been felt most by the languages having less status in the society, either socio-economic or political. In the 20th century, a few communities have unprecedented power which costs others loss of their culture as well as loss of their language.

Along the margins of the metropolitan economies, we see the process of sucking in of the peripheral economy and its language as well as the process of pushing off. The peripheral (minority) communities have no choice; they change or lose, they change and lose. According to Daniel Nettle, language shift occurs when there is a decrease in choice brought about by the exercise of undemocratic power.

Some Languages are More at Risk

The languages at greatest risk are the minority languages. Though language shift is a universal phenomenon, we have to take several factors into account as we deal with minority languages. Rubenstein (1957:283) believes that language shifts are normally gradual and not abrupt. A high degree of shift may occur in the areas of high cultural mobility and social instability. Sometimes, there can be cultural continuity despite language shift (Dauenhauer, 1998).

Language Shift

Language shift can result out of coercion or choice. Here, the socio-economic and political factors play a major role. Shift never occurs because of an increase in choices but in a decrease of available choices. Language shift is faster in urban areas than in rural as the insularity and rigidity of rural life reduce the acceptability of change (Fishman, 1976:315). Fasold (1984) has considered societal bilingualism as a prerequisite for language shift. It is the outcome of the dynamics of language contact. The contact-induced changes can lead to linguistic homogeneity on one hand and language attrition on the other.

So, language shift, a universal phenomenon, may occur either voluntarily or it can be forced. It can be either natural or non-natural. Natural shift is a process of historical change; non-natural shift takes place as different linguistic groups interact with each other.

The Goal of This Paper

In the present paper, we shall see the language shift among tribal languages of India [A case study: Bihar (undivided)] and how does it point to language retention and potential language loss.

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