Re: Telugu script withering away?
Ramana R. Juvvadi (juvvadi@horizoncomp.com)
Wed, 23 Jul 1997 18:48:16 -0400
Bapa Rao writes:
> I think the economic cost would be very high. (e.g., all the printed material
> would have to be replicated) The claimed benefits should justify the
When I say Telugu script might give way to Roman, I don not mean
forcibly converting everything that exists in Telugu script to Roman.
If at all it happens, it is likely to be a slow process addressing the
market needs wherever necessary. For example consider the children
of Telugu diaspora. By diaspora I mean those in other states in India
too. Most of the children don't learn Telugu script but speak it at
home. Should we be upset if some entrepeneur publishes books in
Romanized Telugu. Will this market segment increase in future to
the extent that Roman is an alternate script for Telugu? What are
consequences if it happens?
> help me get a job? make more money?), etc. In the former outlook, knowing
> a language is a benefit in its own right. If you like, we can think of it
> as an investment in intellectual infrastructure--it may not directly help
Most of the telusA members including yours truly have put some effort
into learning their mother tongue because they saw some non-financial
reason in it. But is it realistic to hope that a large fraction of the
population can be convinced with a non-financial reason to
put some effort into learning their mother tongue.
> Discover magazine had a recent article in which they described a study
> that suggests that linguistic diversity is inversely related to
> "globalization" of economy. If most of the trade in A.P.'s economy
> happens in the non-Telugu sector, there is no reason for A.P. people to
> know Telugu to survive. Trade will take place in Telugu sector (as in
> the movie industry) when there is a demand for the goods/services being
> traded. The way I see it, demand can be "created" by a combination of
> modern marketing techniques and superior goods/services.
Trade is the reason I think Telugu language is in danger. Is there any
of managing trade while keeping pur unique culture? I don't know.
> Briefly, what I am saying is that Telugu people need to be given better
> economic reasons for choosing Telugu. I think this is feasible; the problem
> is not as challenging as making Telugu a peer of English or even French
> or Japanese. There has to be some basic optimism about "telugu" sector
> of the economy on the part of the investor to start with, for this to happen.
> It is just that I am not convinced that Romanizing Telugu is a step
> in the right direction for generating this optimism.
To be honest, I am not convinced that Romanization will add to the
growth of Telugu either. However, I am not convinced that we will be
able to give any economic reasons for learning Telugu in the near future.
That may be a little cynical but I would be happy to be proved wrong.
Ramana