Na Hindi, No
English,
We will speak wonly Hinglish!
Hinglish is a blend of the words ‘Hindi’ and ‘English’.
It is widely used in urban areas of Hindi speaking states of India and among
Indian migrants in UK and US is now an official language. It is rapidly
spreading in other parts of India as well via television, newspaper and mobile.
Many speakers are not aware of the fact that they are combining English words
and Hindi sentences and vice-versa. The trend of Hinglish language can only be
expected to grow in the coming years as the English spoken in India gets more
and more Indianized.
The oxford English dictionary has already started
compiling a list of Indian words that
have become a part of the English language and this list is growing with every passing
year. Devyani Chaubal, a columnist was the first author to use Hinglish in her
work. Author Shobha De then began to use Hinglish elements in her books and Stardust magazine. Other authors that
have used Hinglish extensively in their novels are Salman Rushdie and Upamanyu
Chatterjee.
Over the years, Hinglish has been effectively used
in Indian advertisements through the use of slogans but it is not surprising that
English newspapers today have started using more Hindi words in the body as
well as headlines. Newspapers are using lyrics from popular Hindi songs to
write headlines. The Times Of India,
with over 150 years of history behind it, uses Hinglish headlines even on the
editorial page. It surely is a sign of changing times.
Pepsi used Hinglish quite effectively in their
slogans which went on to become very successful and even after many years
people still remember slogans such as ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’, ‘Yehi Hai Right Choice Baby’ and ‘Yeh Hai Youngistan Meri Jaan’. Recent advertisements in Hinglish are , ‘Think
Hatke’ (Virgin Mobile) and ‘Clear
Hai’ (Sprite).
So what have you been speaking today- Hindi, English
or wonly ‘Hinglish’?
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