Let The Linguistic-Liberty Speak!
By Neelesh Jain
19 March, 2012
Countercurrents.org
The one who denies the right of mother language or evaluates someone on the basis of other languages other than one’s mother tongue is basically colonial by nature. Like in India, if an English speaking person encounters a non-English speaking person, most of the time, barring exception, he inherently feels that a non-English person is inferior to him or he tries to score psychological mileage over him. This is really pity! In actual he is not superior as his thoughts are still bounded by the barrier of language, he is not evolved or liberated yet from the linguistic-psychological clutches of the colonial rules of rule.
It is not bad to speak any foreign language, actually it is an extra edge for its speaker to gain little more experiences that are preserved through the ages by that language but if someone uses his or her this ability of speaking any foreign language for the disadvantage of some non-speaker of that language, then only it is bad. It also means you don’t want to give someone his own comfort zone to express his thoughts and ideas or even feelings or emotions; as a human being do you think you are doing right or you are simply a linguistic-tyrant.
Grammar or linguistic purity is another form of linguistic-slavery. We should remember this historical fact that grammar followed language not vice-versa . Language came naturally and then came grammar. Over-emphasis on grammatical or linguistic correctness is another form of controlling someone’s natural right of expression. Mother-tongues or dialects give us the ability to react instantly naturally or truly otherwise one thinks twice before saying anything, it means a crafted un-natural language or untrue expression is possible.
So, we all have to graduate to linguistic maturity and should let the people communicate in that very language in which they feel comfortable and find solace. Then only true creativity will germinate and bloom otherwise freedom of expression that is enshrined in almost every civilized constitution will be muted and mooted forever.
Neelesh Jain is an Associate Creative Director at an International Advertising Agency in Mumbai . He can be reached at [email protected]
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