Tracing the Boundaries Between Hindi and Urdu

Tracing the Boundaries Between Hindi and Urdu
Author: Christine Everaert
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2010
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004177310

This book sheds light on the complex relationship between Hindi and Urdu. Through a detailed reading of a representative set of 20th century short stories in both languages, the author leads the reader towards a clear definition of the differences between Hindi and Urdu. The full translations of the stories have been extensively annotated to point out the details in which the Hindi and Urdu versions differ. An overview of early and contemporary Hindi/Urdu and Hindustani grammars and language teaching textbooks demonstrates the problems of correctly naming and identifying the two languages. This book now offers a detailed and systematic database of syntactic, morphological and semantic differences between the selected Hindi and Urdu stories. A useful tool for all scholars of modern Hindi/Urdu fiction, (socio-)linguistics, history or social sciences.

Premchand in World Languages

Premchand in World Languages
Author: M. Asaduddin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2016-05-20
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1317205715

This volume explores the reception of Premchand’s works and his influence in the perception of India among Western cultures, especially Russian, German, French, Spanish and English. The essays in the collection also take a critical look at multiple translations of the same work (and examine how each new translation expands the work’s textuality and annexes new readership for the author) as well as representations of celluloid adaptations of Premchand’s works. An important intervention in the field of translation studies, this book will interest scholars and researchers of comparative literature, cultural studies and film studies.

The Making of Modern Hindi

The Making of Modern Hindi
Author: Sujata S. Mody
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2018-08-22
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0199093911

In the early twentieth century, British imperialism in India was at its peak and anti-colonial sentiments were on the rise. The nationalist desire for cultural self-identification was gaining ground and an important articulation of this was the demand for a national language and literature to represent a modern India. It was in this context that Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, a novel, daring, and contentious litterateur, launched his multimedia campaign of constructing a new Hindi literary establishment. As the long-time editor of the Hindi journal Sarasvatī, Dwivedi’s influence was so far-reaching that this period of modern literature in Hindi is known as the Dwivedi era. However, he had to face stiff opposition as well. Sujata Mody’s book sheds light on the interactions between Dwivedi and his supporters and detractors and shows how Dwivedi’s responses to challenges were pragmatic and strategically varied. The Making of Modern Hindi presents Dwivedi as a dynamic and influential arbiter of literary modernity whose exchanges with competing authorities are an important piece in the history of Hindi literature.

Essential Hindi Grammar

Essential Hindi Grammar
Author: Christine Everaert
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2017-03-30
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 0824857909

This is a comprehensive grammar of Modern Standard Hindi, the primary language spoken by more than 420 million people in India. Because each grammatical topic is thoroughly illustrated with basic examples and more complex ones from modern Hindi short stories, it can be used as a reference and supplementary grammar to any textbook from beginning to advanced levels. Its approach is efficient and effective and will be appreciated by students learning written and spoken Hindi in the classroom or independently, as well as by those wanting to read literary Hindi or teach it as a second language at the college level. Its appealing examples will enhance even heritage learners’ cultural knowledge of Hindi literature. Essential Hindi Grammar will draw in students who are new to language learning. Grammatical concepts are introduced and fully explained; basic grammatical terminology is presented in plain language but without over-simplifying material for more advanced learners. Numerous user-friendly tables accompany grammatical explanations. One of the benefits of the volume is its extensive coverage of abstract structures of the modern standard language. Drawing examples from Hindi literature, it combines the study of language with that of literature and literary culture—a rare approach to language acquisition. Scientific transliteration is provided consistently throughout the book, wherever Hindi in Devanagari is given. Essential Hindi Grammar is a solid addition to existing Hindi pedagogical materials and will assist those engaged in the acquisition of the language throughout the Anglophone world.

Imagining Indianness

Imagining Indianness
Author: Diana Dimitrova
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2017-02-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319410156

This book brings together several important essays examining the interface between identity, culture, and literature within the issue of cultural identity in South Asian literature. The book explores how one imagines national identity and how this concept is revealed in the narratives of the nation and the production of various cultural discourses. The collection of essays examines questions related to the interpretation of the Indian past and present, the meanings of ancient and venerated cultural symbols in ancient times and modern, while discussing the ideological implications of the interpretation of identity and “Indianness” and how they reflect and influence the power-structures of contemporary societies in South Asia. Thus, the book studies the various aspects of the on-going process of constructing, imagining, re-imagining, and narrating “Indianness”, as revealed in the literatures and cultures of India.

Globalising Sociolinguistics

Globalising Sociolinguistics
Author: Dick Smakman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2015-05-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317451007

This book challenges the predominance of mainstream sociolinguistic theories by focusing on lesser known sociolinguistic systems, from regions of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the European Mediterranean, and Slavic regions as well as specific speech communities such as those speaking Nivkh, Jamaican Creole, North Saami, and Central Yup’ik. In nineteen chapters, the specialist authors look at key sociolinguistic aspects of each region or speech community, such as gender, politeness strategies, speech patterns and the effects of social hierarchy on language, concentrating on the differences from mainstream models. The volume, introduced by Miriam Meyerhoff, has been written by the leading expert of each specific region or community and includes contributions by Rajend Mesthrie, Marc Greenberg and Daming Xu. This publication draws together connections across regions/communities and considers how mainstream sociolinguistics is incomplete or lacking. It reveals how lesser-known cultures can play an important role in the building of theory in sociolinguistics. Globalising Sociolinguistics is essential reading for any researcher in sociolinguistics and language variation and will be a key reference for advanced sociolinguistics courses.

Writing Systems and Phonetics

Writing Systems and Phonetics
Author: Alan Cruttenden
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2021-03-16
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 100033404X

Writing Systems and Phonetics provides students with a critical understanding of the writing systems of the world. Beginning by exploring the spelling of English, including how it arose and how it works today, the book goes on to address over 60 major languages from around the globe and includes detailed descriptions and worked examples of writing systems which foreground the phonetics of these languages. Key areas covered include: the use of the Latin alphabet in and beyond Europe; writing systems of the eastern Mediterranean, Greek and its Cyrillic offshoot, Arabic and Hebrew; languages in south and south-east Asia, including Hindi, Tamil, Burmese and Thai, as well as in east Asia, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean; reflections on ancient languages such as Sumerian, Egyptian, Linear B and Mayan; a final chapter which sets out a typology of writing systems. All of the languages covered are contextualised by authentic illustrations, including road signs, personal names and tables, to demonstrate how theoretical research can be applied to the real world. Taking a unique geographical focus that guides the reader on a journey across time and continents, this book offers an engaging introduction for students approaching for the first time the phonetics of writing systems, their typology and the origins of scripts.

From Hindi to Urdu

From Hindi to Urdu
Author: Tariq Rahman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2018-02-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780199403424

This book is the first of its kind on the socio-political history of Urdu. It analyses the historiography of the language-narratives about its names, linguistic ancestry, place of birth-and relates it to the politics of identity-construction among the Hindus and Muslims of India during the last two centuries. More importantly, a historical account of the use of Urdu in social domains such as employment, education, printing and publishing, radio, films and television etc. has been provided for the first time. These accounts are related to the expression of Hindu and Muslim identity-politics during the last two centuries. Evolution of Urdu from the language of the laity, both Hindus and Muslims, of the Indian subcontinent during the period between 15th-18th centuries to its standardization into two languages: Persianized Urdu and Sanskritized Hindi are highlighted here. The writer looks at narratives of the names, theories of genealogy and places of origin of the language in relation to the political imperatives of identity-politics of Hindus and Muslims during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In a nutshell, historiography is analyzed with reference to its political and ideological dimensions-and a fresh analysis regarding the linguistic history of Urdu is provided.

Revisualizing Boundaries

Revisualizing Boundaries
Author: Lachman M Khubchandani
Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited
Total Pages: 262
Release: 1997-02-14
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN:

Khubchandani (Center for Communication Studies, Pune) sets out a new agenda which probes the contours of plurality consciousness in studies of language, focusing on the strengths of complementary orientations. He makes a case for moving away from the monolith of language traditions to a framework that places the boundaries of speech spectrums in a fluid transactional mode, and looks at the dynamics of language as an institution, highlighting the nonlinear characteristics of natural language. For those involved with sociolinguistics, linguistic theory, and cultural studies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR