aRTICLE | MetroLinguism in Delhi
The Language Delhi Speaks You must have heard the famous biblical lore of ‘The tower of Babel’. The story goes that the king Nimrod decided to make a magnificent city with a tower so high that it would reach the heavens. The tower would be a symbol of their progress and grandeur. God was infuriated with the people. He utterly disliked their hubris. How dare these humans compete with God! In order to teach them a lesson, God cursed the city with multiple languages. The workers couldn’t understand each other’s language and abandoned the tower Ayesha Saeed | Reporter
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42 May 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in
his is a seemingly harmless fable explaining the origin of multiple languages. Popular myths have their own way of interpreting the world around us. But more importantly, they implicitly convey norms and worldview of a culture. Whether one believes them or not is immaterial to this received knowledge within us. Embedded within this myth is the idea of monolingualism as being the ideal scenario; the existence of multiple languages then becomes a metaphor for the fragmented city and its anarchy. Like Bible, for a long time even philologists believed that all languages of the world originated from a single source. This theory does not hold steam in modern day linguistics, but a general perception that a single language engenders unity among people, still persists. Not just monotheism, but the language debate has been an important aspect of nationalism as well. The idea of one language, one nation (borrowed from Europe) trickled down into Indian consciousness during the 20th century movement of nationalism, when scattered provinces of India were coming together to form a national identity. In a country where states are defined linguistically, Delhi, a city and a union territory, is a metaphorical island unto itself. While other metro cities have one dominant language, the language
of Delhi is a confusing mix of as many cultures as it hosts. Sure, there is Hindi, the lingua franca of the city. But this is how it seems ostensibly; if you scratch the surface, the answer is not as simple.
Language of Delhi
Ask anyone about the language of Delhi, and they will tell you without batting an eyelid that it’s ‘Hindi’. Simple. But this simplicity is deceptive as well as exclusive. Delhi is part of what is known as the Hindi-speaking belt. Hindi is merely an umbrella term used to refer to numerous variations and styles of Hindi spoken in different regions of Northern India. There’s Delhi Hindi with a generous use of slangs, Lucknow Hindi peppered with Urdu vocabulary, Bihari Hindi with its characteristic lilt, Awadhi and many more such variations. The way one speaks Hindi marks their place of origin. Not just city or region, but also social class, caste and sometimes even religion. Linguist William Labov conducted an experiment in New York City wherein he proved that people belonging to different classes pronounced the -r syllable differently. Subsequently, many such studies were done in different cities to corroborate the fact that social markers like class can create variation within speakers of the same language itself. Delhi was a capital throughout much of its pre-modern history. In a way, it was a meeting point of cultures long before the advent of globalisation. At different points in history, Delhi has been inhabited by occupants of different cultures and social groups. The Partition of India in 1947 brutally changed its geography and demography. Refugees from the newly created Pakistan started coming to Delhi, amongst other places. Given its proximity to Delhi, most of the refugees were from Punjab. As they worked, prospered and found a home in Delhi, the tag of ‘refugee’ washed away
