By Sadanand

6 minutes Read

I will start with the Indian languages: Telugu, Hindi, Tamil/Malayalam, and Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan). I speak Telugu/Hindi, in addition to English. Telugu, my mother tongue, is spoken in  southern India, and Hindi is spoken in most Indian states. Telugu is such a beautiful language. Likewise, every individual’s native language is gorgeous and unique to whichever part of the world they are from. So why is it our native language so underrated, or why is its reach limited to a particular state/region—or country, in a few cases—whether it is Hindi, Telugu, Chinese, Russian, German, etc.? Have you ever wondered why some languages, like Hindi, Chinese, and Japanese, are so complex to understand and failed to become universal languages like English? Chinese is spoken by ~1.5 billion people, and Hindi is spoken by ~50% of the Indian population. In contrast, English is only spoken by ~360 million native people, including the UK and USA, and has rapidly become universal. Let’s get started with some of the history of languages.

Every language has a set of letters that constitute its alphabet: English has 26, Russian has 33, Arabic has ~28, and Japanese and Chinese have ~46. Historically, Sanskrit is considered to have biggest alphabet in the East with around 52 letters, and a few other Indian languages, like Telugu/Tamil, have more letters than Sanskrit: ~56. Still, as Dravidian languages, Telugu/Malayalam have been influenced by Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan/European), whereas Tamil has the least Sanskrit influence historically and in the lexicon. Tamil literature is considered far more ancient than Sanskrit. Hindi, with ~45 letters, is the most-spoken language in India, for reasons I don’t want to go into. Nepali, a language that historically has grown out of a region, has a 64-letter alphabet. Khmer has the largest alphabet of all languages, the Khmer language has the most extensive alphabet worldwide, totaling 74 letters. 

So why does a language’s alphabet include a certain number of letters in writing and pronunciation? A human pronounces/makes that many sounds at a maximum. More letters mean more sounds and increased expressive ability in communicating. Languages like Khmer, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Chinese, and Russian alphabets have 74, 52, 54, 56, 46, and 33 letters, covering most possible human sounds. One can assume these languages indicate humans can make that many sounds.

Fundamentally every language has devised alphabets with different numbers of letters, like 26, 52, and 46 for English, Telugu, and Hindi, respectively. Sanskrit was ancient and had more letters—52. Therefore, most poets and scholars in the East picked Sanskrit for writing the Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata, or other scriptures. Even Buddhist scriptures like Pali were translated into Sanskrit.

Sanskrit was eventually limited to a few poets and scholars and lacked a wider reach historically. It gradually gained minimal acceptance in the East and the West showed no sign of adoption. It almost faded. Similarly, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi remain used, minimally and specific to their particular regions/countries. 

Similarly, the Chinese and Japanese adopted the earliest writing systems via a method of stylized pictures, or “pictograms,” to represent words or concepts. A certain symbol may represent tree🌲 and “sun” 🌞 may represent “treason.” 🌲🌞In Chinese, it’s something like 叛国罪

The intention for adopting pictogram or other complex methods for earlier writings, especially in languages like Chinese and Japanese, is to convey a word’s essential quality. Children’s books have pictures, not letters. As the child grows, images will become abstractions replaced by words. Representation of written meaning is communicated clearly.

Though expressing a particular emotion/feeling in a language is evident, it became hard to communicate in writing forms like drawing or visualize something for every word in communication, which is a very complex problem. For non-native speakers, it can take 20 to 30 years to learn Chinese or Japanese. So, these languages lack universality, though they are ancient and intended for clear communication.

So, regarless how ancient it is or how many letters it has, no pictorial language has been able to travel beyond its home region or country, whether it be Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Hindi, or Sanskrit. None could get universal recognization or adaptation. I do not have many insights into other languages like French and German, so something similar could be why they have not made a mark.

These languages are as perfect as they can be and are a very poetic form of expression. For example, in English, which has a limited number of letters, there is only one S, whereas in Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, there are three or four. However, these languages are very poetic. Poetry is closer to emotions and feelings. Many sounds are missing from languages like English. Poetic languages let you make different sounds to express emotions as clearly as possible, especially when you are in pain, happy, excited, and so on. You can pick specific words and sounds to express yourself, communicate to others, and be understood.

Yet, they all failed to get into the universality league like English, and one of the main reasons is its complexity, poetic nature, number of letters, and many synonyms. Chinese and Japanese adopted a pictorial methodology, which is tough to write, understand, and communicate in. Meanwhile, Indian languages like Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil adopted a larger number of letters to form numerous words with different sounds and forms of vocabulary and expression. That factor becomes problematic for non-native speakers; it’s tough to understand and learn these languages quickly.

I am pretty sure they will further lose their mark (if they haven’t already) with the worldwide adaptation to English and interest in learning it. This phenomenon happened for various reasons, which I shall explain soon. Every language has some complexity, and none of these other languages were adapted by general subjects like Mathematics and Physics.

Meanwhile, English traveled to foreign countries and made a mark internationally for the following reasons:

• English has only 26 letters, much fewer than languages like Telugu, Chinese, Hindi, Sanskrit, etc.
• English is easy to learn, or at least less complex.
• English communicates about many aspects of life, including technology, education, and entertainment.
• English literature has a higher impact than almost all other languages because of its simple words.
• English is easy to express. Take music, for example. Pick any song about love, friendship, etc. All Indian-language songs have some dramatic poetry using complex lyrics. On the other hand, any English song, from 1900’s to the contemporary Hip-Hop/Rock/EDM genres, has straightforward lyrics that are easy to understand and creates an impact of an intended expression
• Most importantly, English is spoken in two powerful countries: the US and the UK.

For these reasons, English has been universally accepted and adopted in universal subjects like mathematics and physics in education, technology, and other areas.

Of course, English presents some pitfalls. People from non-English-speaking countries will have difficulty expressing some intense expressions, feelings, or thoughts in English, and they may get lost in communication.

A simple example is the word “meditation.”

Meditate (in English) is “dhyana” in Sanskrit and “dhyanam” in Telugu. When comparing the word’s actual meaning among these three languages, they are completely unrelated. “Dhyana” or “dhyanam” is sacred and has a sense of holiness, whereas meditation, in English, is not that effective. There is no other English word for Dhayana. Similarly, you may not find many English words to express something intense or profound because there are not enough words in English literature compared to the languages I mentioned.

However, English has become mainstream and has more exposure to the world in several areas like education, entertainment, science, technology, and art, especially as the global world has become like a village through connectivity. Learning the English language is a must; it will be a primary language for those who want to learn many things.

Some parents, teachers, scholars, and society insist on making children learn their native language or try to enforce it in schools and colleges in countries like India and China due to their love for their language. However, this will create a limitation on exposure in several areas. I firmly believe the current so-called Gen-Z already understands the need to adopt the English language quickly at an early age without caring much about their native language. 

Peace✌🏿