INVITED SPEAKERS

Devaluation of Language: Debates from South Asia on ' Prakritization' of the Bhashas

Udaya Narayana Singh

Central Institute of Indi an Languages

The talk explores a few concepts floated in the literature on Applied and Socio-linguistics literature in South Asia in the last few decades of the 20 th Century in South Asia, namely, `language purity' versus `linguistic corruption', `Sanskritization or `Purification' versus `Prakritization' (often read as `degeneration') of languages and texts, as well as some other social divisions and categories are reflected in the language(s) in South Asia where one finds a `caste' distinction among them. Some are declared as `twice-born' - not only `standard' but `modern' as well, whereas a large number Bhashaas are expected to remain way below high modern language, or speech with higher value. The tension to climb up this ladder or the tendency to be ‘converted’ makes the unchaste and unmodern varieties ultimately making them shed many of their traits and lexis, and compromise with the ways one would have categorized or conceptualized in it otherwise. It is argued that the twin tendencies as outlined above – Prakritization and ‘Conversions’, contribute to what is called ‘devaluation of languages’ in the linguistic-literary debates in South Asia, because they reflect a bigger social malady. The paper will be a contribution to discussing these theoretical concepts that have emerged from South Asia and their applicability in general theoretical framework in Applied Linguistics today.