Languages in Social and

Ethnic Interaction
Kishan Sankharva - 160332
Nachiket Karve - 160325
Wrishik Naskar - 160817
Ankit Nagarwal - 160124
Suraj Hanchinal - 160725
Introduction
● All social and ethnic groups operate within a cultural context.
● Halliday (1993): ‘‘Culture and language co-evolve in the same relationship as
that in which, within language, meaning and expression co-evolve.”
● There are certain aspects of culture that are more immediately relevant for
verbal communication and sharing of experiences within a culture and across
cultures.
● The aspects of culture that are relevant and influence the language are the
following: socialization, belief systems, ‘‘face’’ considerations, and
conventions of language usage and use.
Socialization: Variables that Influence Language
● In South Asia, family plays a major part in socializing the individuals, while
educational and professional institutions though significant, have a minor role.
● Caste has been the most frequently described social variable which is
correlated with observable linguistic differences in South Asia
● However, there are other social factors - education, sex, age, residence
(urban vs. rural), and presence on social media - which are strongly
associated with patterns of linguistic diversity
Socialization: Family, Society, and Caste
● The family shares the belief systems and attitudes of the larger community
(caste) that it belongs to.
● There is a well-defined code of conduct to be followed on each occasions.
● Attempts are made to make children imbibe these codes since birth.
● This explains why caste system is still
relevant in India.
● Caste based differentiation gives rise to
development of different “dialects” among
different castes and classes.
○ Tulu has a Brahmin dialect and a common dialect
Socialization: Class
● Mostly in urban areas, one’s social class is more important than one’s caste
while socializing.

● Social class includes factors such as education, economic background,

language, etc.

● We tend to interact with people from the same social class.

● We judge people’s background on the basis of their language -- we can

differentiate between a person from rural/urban background.
Case Study: How Caste Influences language
In a 1962 paper, A. L. Apte attempts to trace the development of a standard
spoken Marathi and establish which subjective factors are most important to
Marathi speakers in establishing a ranking of dialect according to prestige. Two
factors, perceived urbanness and perceived education seem to be the most
important criteria used by Marathi speakers in evaluating the speech of other
Marathis. Marathi speaking informants, when asked to rate the educational and
residential backgrounds of tape-recorded speakers, were easily able to establish
whether the subjects were urban, rural, or from the Konkan. Brahmin caste was
identifiable distinguished from non-Brahmin, and the educational level of the
speaker was likewise readily surmised. Phonological differences between taped
subjects seemed to be the primary basis of the informants judgments.
Socialization: Educational Institutions, Peer Groups
● Schools, in rural places, play their role in influencing the language, albeit a
minor one

● Such educational institutions are not as effective in socializing children in

India as they are, for instance, in the United States.

● However, friendships formed at higher educational institutions go a long way

towards forming extended networks
Socialization: Educational Institutions, Peer Groups
● Interaction between friends at colleges and work institutions influence one’s
language heavily

● Linguistic features are highly exchanged among the peers and are also
developed independently.
○ A South Indian student at IIT Kanpur imbibes Hindi but not the accent
○ A unique lingo of IIT Kanpur
○ Swearing
Effect of Modernisation
● The influence of Westernization, in particular, Americanisation is greatly
observed in the social and ethnic circles. Making use of words such as
“C’mon”, “Bye Bye” and “What’s up” has penetrated deep into the public
tongue for many languages, especially in urban areas.
● The advent of consumerism, such as McDonald's, has brought with itself
many phrases, such as “Just Do it!”, and “I am lovin’ it”.
● In rural settings, people with great educational or economic successes are
held in high esteem.
○ Example, if a boy from a remote village becomes a doctor, they are referred to as “doctor
saab” even by the elders.
Socialization: Technology and Internet
● Technology & globalisation has promoted universalization of language and in
many cases extinction of native languages.
● SMS, Chatting and Social Media - With the advent of online chatting, our
vocabulary has changed a lot:
○ Eg: ASAP, ASL, LOL, ROFL, WTF, BRB
○ Average sentence length has decreased; quite often vowels are dropped
○ “Kaunse courses le raha hai next sem?”
● The language spoken by the current generation is very different from the one
spoken by the elders. Even the native South Asian languages have
transformed a lot with popularisation of computers & social media.
○ Use of word ‘epic’
Socialization: Technology and Internet
Online Gaming

● Similarly, gamers use a lot of these slang words like noob (newbie), gg (good
game), RPG (Role Playing Game)

Pirate English

● Facebook has promoted the use of this very form of English

○ Eg: “What are you doing today?” will be translated to “What be ye doin' today?”
Academic/Scientific Writing
● Traditional South Asian discourse used ‘poetry’ (verse form) for all forms of
discourse, owing to knowledge being transmitted orally during olden days.
● Verse form was preferred to prose as it was easier to commit to memory.
● Development of the genre of prose is a relatively recent phenomenon that
began with the advent of the Western influence of the English language.
● However, recent research has shown that despite such influences, South
Asian literature still continues to reflect core cultural values.
Effect of Language on Socialization
● The type of language that we speak affects the groups in which we socialize.
● People speaking dialects considered inferior either don’t like to interact with
“posh” social groups or they are not welcome there.
● Further, people tend to interact more in groups based on their mother
tongues.
○ E.g. in IITK, we see Bangla groups, Telugu groups, etc.
Belief System
● In the culture of South Asia, the sense of self is not individualistic; rather, it is
more family-centric. It is the by-product of socialization within the community.
● The culture teaches us to be respectful to our elders or persons of eminence.
This is manifested in most languages of the subcontinent.
● For example, most South Asian languages have second and third person
pronouns with honorific markers (‘ap’ in Hindi). Sometimes, these coincide
with the corresponding pronouns with plural marker.
● In English, there is a word ‘please’ to indicate politeness, whereas Marathi
and Hindi have various markers for the same.
○ English: Can you do this for me?
Marathi: Tumhi majhyasathi he karu shakta?
Hindi: Aap mere liye ye Kar Sakte hai?
Belief System
● The honorific pronouns are accompanied by honorific markers on the
corresponding verbs (‘likh’ vs ‘likho’ vs ‘likhiye’)
● Further, some languages also have honorific particles (like ‘rao’ in Marathi
and ‘ji’ in Hindi) to address the listener respectfully.
● The sense of familial self also this teaches us to differentiate between our
own (‘apna’) and others (‘paraya’). This in turn defines the degree of
politeness in conversation with others.
● The new acquaintances (‘paraya’) are usually referred to respectfully.
○ On the first day at IITK, we conversed with our new friends in a manner that doesn’t hurt them.
Now, there is a marked difference in our interaction with them.
Belief System
● In the Indian society, there are also codes on who should be referred to
respectfully (using honorific particles like ‘ji’) and who should not be
respected.
● These honorific particles also vary with the caste of the other person. For
example, in Marathi, the Shudra caste has more informal honorific terms than
Brahmins.
Caste Intimate/Informal (‘tu’) Familiar (‘tumhi’) Formal/Polite (‘apan’)

Brahmin 0 6 4

Kshatriya 0 5 6

Vaishya 0 7 5

Shudra 3 6 3
Face Considerations
● Dictate what is considered polite or impolite in any interactions and how
people treat each other.
● In South Asia, politeness is determined using various factors such as relative
power, status, intimacy of participants. It is also influenced by situation and
place where we are speaking.
● In private domains, intimacy may take precedence over relative status while in
public domains, demonstration of intimacy is not appropriate according to
community norms
● Honorific pronouns are used in public interactions. Phrases such as “arrey
sunte ho jee”, “aji sunte ho”, “[child’s name] ke papa/mummi” are common in
public domains.
Face Considerations
● Our interaction is very different with friends and family
○ We can call our friend ‘arey yaar’; our elders may also call their peers ‘arey yaar’; but, we can’t
call each other the same way.
○ Similarly, we may call our closed ones with ‘abe’, ‘oye’, etc. However, these same terms told
to stranger may start a fight
● Importance of status and power is exaggerated in public domains to project
one’s own sophistication and well culturedness.
Case Study: Maithili
● The language used to speak to subordinates such as servants, sweepers,
maids is markedly different from what is spoken with family members.
● Also, the language used to speak in extremely formal settings, such as with
in-laws, is also different than the vernacular form.
● One could be easily offended if he/she is talked in the variation of the first
kind.
● Also, friends make use of many cuss words, example “Boori” (fool)
considered ridiculously impolite in formal circles.
Pidgins and Creoles
● Creoles and pidgins are usually created to aid social interaction in many
ways.
● A creole is a stable natural language formed by the mixture of various other
languages, while a pidgin is a grammatically simplified communication tool
used by people having different native languages.
● In places, where a multiplicity of languages is found social interaction
becomes limited due to language barrier.
● As a result people become bilingual or multilingual or in some other cases
create a new language which then becomes the mother tongue to the
generations to come.
Nagamese: A Case Study
● A creole used in Nagaland
● Originated from the socialization of Nagas with the Assamese
● Developed primarily as a market language to communicate for trade
● It is the lingua franca of the state
● Shares a large part of its lexicon with Assamese
● Origin is unknown - construction of roads bringing Non-Nagas into the state is
assumed to be the primary reason of creolisation.
● About 67% of Nagas are Christians, making Nagamese the language of
worship
● It is also used in on the floor of legislature and by state agencies
Conclusions
● In conclusion, we would like to say that a normal person learns the languages
he uses in social interactions from many different ways including family,
society and various other cultural contacts.
● The language one uses in a formal setting is usually much different from an
informal setting.
● Westernization in many ways has affected the way we speak and has
changed our ideas about literature as well with time.
References
1. Braj B. Kachru, Yamuna Kachru, and S.N.Sridhar. Language in South Asia. Cambridge University
Press, 2008
2. Junghare I.Y., 2015. Language, Culture and Communication: India. Redefining Community in
Intercultural Context, 4(1), pp.405-413
3. Shapiro, M.C. and Schiffman, H.F., 1975. Language and Society in South Asia.
4. https://rapidiq.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/survival-phrases-in-nagamese-the-lingua-franca-of-nagaland/
THANK YOU!