Vital Statistics

[Lakshmi Srinivas]

--- Artur Karp <hart at POLBOX.COM> wrote:

> At http://www.censusindia.net/language.html Hindi
> speakers form 40.22% of
> India's population; an outsider would form a picture
> of a solid linguistic
> block.

Certain political realities serve to "solidify" this
picture. For example, there has been an increasing
tendency among Punjabi Hindus to return their mother
tongue as Hindi.

In what appears to be a reverse situation, the number
returned for Konkani is surprisingly low.

> Am I right, however, in supposing that a
> villager from Mithila would
> be still unable to communicate with a villager from
> around Bikaner without
> resorting to some third (link) language - in this
> case, most probably,
> Bazari Hindustani?
>

I doubt if communication or mutual comprehension is
the issue here.

Thanks and Warm Regards,

LS


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