C.P. Brown, in his introduction to his dictionary, says flatly that it is
impossible for an Indian to fully master all the subtleties of the English
language with the facility of a native (English person, that is). I'll type
in the exact quote from home if there is interest.
paanuganTi, in one of his saakshi essays ("svabhaasha"), says, through
janghaala saastry, (in effect) that it is impossible for a native Telugu
speaker to achieve the fullest extent of his creativity in any language
other than Telugu. Again, one reason he cites is the inability of the
Indian ear to be fully attuned to the cadences of English, for example,
"can a Telugu person truly understand the rhythm of iambic pentameter,
or appreciate the musicality of ;In Memoriam'". Part of Janghaala Saastry's
commentary was directed at the philistinism of English-educated Telugus
of that period, but he is also talking about the difficulties of truly
mastering a foreign tongue.
Comments such as the one by the Chronicle, and Brown were probably made
in a narrow Telugu-English or Indian_English context and were at least
partly motivated by prejudice. On the other hand, Janghaala Sastry does
go into the broader issue of what "mother tongue" actually means in
relation to an acquired tongue. (After all, I'll bet that, despite his
scholarship, Brown didn't have the fluency of a native in Telugu.)
Bapa Rao
>
> Reading Vissavajjhala's comments on the attitude of the English people
> during the colonial period, I remembered a passage I read in a English
> Chronicle published from London since 1700s.
>
> The 1857 issue says about Indian people. "It is difficult to teach English
> alphabets to these people. How could one possibly imagine heralding the
> treasures of Byron, Milton etc." (Not exact words but similar.)
>
> Parigi Madan
> P.S. If I am guilty of dragging this topic away from telusa agenda, please
> forgive me.
>
>