Day 38 – Q 3. How does linguistic diversity add to India’s social capital? Analyse.
3. How does linguistic diversity add to India’s social capital? Analyse.
भाषाई विविधता भारत की सामाजिक पूँजी को कैसे बढाती है? विश्लेषण करें।
Introduction
India is a land of many languages, boasting of 22 languages accepted by the Constitution and many more languages and regional dialects. Even the States were organized on linguistic basis, making it an important part of the Indian social and political fabric.
Body
The linguistic diversity adds to social capital
- Intra-language social capital- People sharing same language tend to bond better among themselves in comparison to those speaking other languages.
- Increases tolerance- Diversity in languages as well as cultures have led to high tolerance levels in India, which is the reason that despite huge diversity Indians have peaceful co-existence.
- Common root- Most of the Indian languages can be divided under Indo-Aryan or Dravidian sharing a common language ancestry and thus despite being different languages are not difficult to comprehend by other language speakers.
- Adds to curiosity- People often encourage communication to get to know about other languages and associated customs, this act as a bridging link in social capital.
- Sharing of traditional wisdom- Each language has its own rich literature and associated traditional wisdom. Translation into other languages enriches the entire society and acts as a way to social harmony.
Conclusion
Despite being a strong force behind integration, linguistic diversity is facing a threat due to abandonment of rare languages and adoption of major languages. The problem needs to be addressed at societal level, in which the communities have to take part in conservation of language diversity that is part of cultural wealth.
Best answer: Aniket Sachan
