Sociolinguistic dimensions of Marathi: Multilingualism in central India (review)

In this study Pandharipande looks at how the Marathi language has changed both structurally and lexically as a result of contact with Hindi, English, and Sanskrit in the multilingual state of Maharashtra in central India. The three-part book is divided into eight chapters, each dealing with different aspects of language contact. While P largely uses spoken language to illustrate her points, she also takes a text-based approach by using data from Marathi newspapers, drama, and literature.

In Part 1, ‘Language pluralism and language change’, Ch. 1 (7–14) introduces the book. Ch. 2 (16–40) takes a detailed look at the changes in Marathi syntax and morphology as a result of contact with Hindi. Ch. 3 (41–52) looks at the various codes that are available to a bilingual speaker of Marathi-Hindi in the Nagpur area of central India. Here both Hindi and Marathi have borrowed extensively from each other, making for unique varieties of Marathi and Hindi—varieties known as Nagpuri Marathi and Nagpuri Hindi, respectively. The speakers of Nagpuri Marathi and Nagpuri Hindi, according to P, have two codes available to them: one similar to the standard variety of the respective languages and another code that has emerged as a result of language contact. Social setting plays an important role in determining the choice of code. Ch. 4 (53–62) looks at convergence vs. maintenance and posits several constraints that ensure that language change is not random, but is motivated by the sociolinguistic functions of the languages in contact. According to P, these constraints are devices for maintaining the separate identities of the contact languages.

In Part 2, ‘Nativization: Processes and impact’, Ch. 5 (64–89) talks about a hierarchy of nativization. P points out that Sanskrit borrowings are more nativized than Persian and English loans, and that Persian borrowings are more nativized than English borrowings. She argues that this hierarchy is a result of attitudes toward the three languages by Marathi speakers. Ch. 6 (90–116) looks at the Marathi newspaper register and how contact with other languages has given rise to new registers: Englishized Marathi, Sankritized Marathi, and Hindiized Marathi. P contends that such linguistic change leads to the ‘modernization’ of Marathi and results in a register expansion of the language.

Part 3, ‘Bi/Multilingual’s creativity’ (Chs. 7 and 8) looks at literary language as evidence of language attitudes and language change. Different styles are used in different domains and each style has a sociolinguistic function. For example, Englishized Marathi marks the character as ‘modern’; Sanskritized Marathi marks him/her as Indian rather than Westernized.

The book gives an in-depth overview of the rich multilingual situation in central India. More importantly, it stresses the need to take into account social reasons for language change and demonstrates the impact these social reasons have on both the structure and the lexicon of the language.