Design of Languages with Ganesh Devy

Summary

Ganesh Devy is a thinker, cultural activist, institution builder, linguist, and literary critic who undertook the Indian languages survey project in 2010. As a former professor of English, his insights on language evolution, preservation, and diversity offer valuable perspectives for young designers and artists. His work documenting India's linguistic heritage reveals how languages function as designed systems that reflect cultural contexts and human consciousness.

Questions asked in this episode

• How do you define a language and then how do you define a dialect?

• Is there any traditional definition for it or has it evolved over time?

• You also spoke about the grammatical or the technical aspect of it being a bit arbitrary. Can you tell us more about it?

• Is this a pattern predominantly in the Oriental philosophy versus the Western?

• We have these four right Para ti and mada... do they classify languages in these four categories?

• In your TEDx talk you mentioned about language doesn't die, it can only be killed. Can you explain with some examples?

• What does the caring capacity of a language mean?

• Since you mentioned about the carrying capacity, I've also read about languages who thrive because they're accommodative. What is that then?

• What keeps you awake at night today?

People mentioned

• George Grayson (conducted Linguistic Survey of India 1903-1923)

• Shakespeare

• Al-Biruni (referred to as "Al, a traveler")

• Shivaji

• John Gilchrist (implied as "Ji" who documented Hindi)

Reference links

• https://www.bhasharesearch.org/plsi

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Linguistic_Survey_of_India

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-41718082

• https://language.census.gov.in

• https://www.ntm.org.in/download/ttvol/volume13-1/article18.pdf

• https://marbaniangdomenic.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/the-impact-of-fort-william-college-and-the-printing-press-on-modern-indian-literature/

• https://www.academia.edu/38359715/The_Impact_of_Fort_William_College_and_the_Printing_Press_on_Modern_Indian_Literature

• https://iep.utm.edu/bhartrihari/

• https://cbpbu.ac.in/userfiles/file/2020/STUDY_MAT/PHILO/203%20B%20sentence%20holism.pdf

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