| Indian and British Culture – Comparison in Language, | | | | caste system have created a culture that emphasizes |
| Culture and Society | | | | established hierarchical relationships. |
| India is a country of diverse culture. It has 22 official | | | | - Indians are always conscious of social order and their |
| languages and over a thousand spoken languages. | | | | status relative to other people, be they family, friends, |
| This site is an effort to provide information on each | | | | or strangers. |
| known Indian Language. | | | | - All relationships involve hierarchies. In schools, |
| Individual mother tongues in India number several | | | | teachers are called gurus and are viewed as the |
| hundred. According to Census of India of 2001, 29 | | | | source of all knowledge. The patriarch, usually the |
| languages are spoken by more than a million native | | | | father, is considered the leader of the family. The boss |
| speakers, 122 by more than 10,000. Two languages | | | | is seen as the source of ultimate responsibility in |
| have played an important role in the history of India: | | | | business. Every relationship has a clear- cut hierarchy |
| Persian and English. | | | | that must be observed for the social order to be |
| Sanskrit and Tamil are the classical languages of India | | | | maintained. |
| according to the Government. | | | | The Role of the Family |
| Article 343 of the Indian Constitution recognizes Hindi in | | | | - People typically define themselves by the groups to |
| Devanagari script as the official language of central | | | | which they belong rather than by their status as |
| government India. The Constitution also allows for the | | | | individuals. Someone is deemed to be affiliated to a |
| continuation of use of the English language for official | | | | specific state, region, city, family, career path, religion, |
| purposes. Article 345 provides constitutional recognition | | | | etc. |
| to "official languages" of the union to include any | | | | - This group orientation stems from the close personal |
| language adopted by a state legislature as the official | | | | ties Indians maintain with their family, including the |
| language of that state. In effect, there are "official | | | | extended family. |
| languages" at the state and center level but no one | | | | - The extended family creates a myriad of |
| "national language". | | | | interrelationships, rules, and structures. Along with these |
| Until the Twenty-First Amendment of the Constitution | | | | mutual obligations comes a deep-rooted trust among |
| in 1967, the country recognized 14 official regional | | | | relatives. |
| languages. The Eighth Schedule and the Seventy-First | | | | Just Can't Say No |
| Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, | | | | - Indians do not like to express 'no,' be it verbally or |
| Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali, thereby increasing the | | | | non- verbally. |
| number of official regional languages of India to 18. | | | | - Rather than disappoint you, for example, by saying |
| The Constitution of India recognizes 22 languages, | | | | something isn't available, Indians will offer you the |
| spoken in different parts the country, namely | | | | response that they think you want to hear. |
| Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, | | | | - This behaviour should not be considered dishonest. |
| Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Meitei, | | | | An Indian would be considered terribly rude if he did |
| Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, | | | | not attempt to give a person what had been asked. |
| Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. | | | | - Since they do not like to give negative answers, |
| Hindi is an official language of the states of Uttar | | | | Indians may give an affirmative answer but be |
| Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Madhya | | | | deliberately vague about any specific details. |
| Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, | | | | This will require you to look for non-verbal cues, such |
| Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. | | | | as a reluctance to commit to an actual time for a |
| Marathi is an official language of Maharashtra. Punjabi | | | | meeting or an enthusiastic response. 3 |
| is a official language of Punjab. Gujarati is the official | | | | British Society, People and Culture |
| language of Gujarat. Tamil is a official language of | | | | The United Kingdom |
| Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar | | | | The United Kingdom is comprised of four countries: |
| Islands. Malayalam is the official language of Kerala | | | | England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is |
| and Lakshadweep. Kannada is the official language of | | | | important not only to be aware of these geographical |
| Karnataka. Telugu is the official language of Andhra | | | | distinctions, but also the strong sense of identity and |
| Pradesh. English is the co-official language of the Indian | | | | nationalism felt by the populations of these four nations. |
| Union. 1 | | | | The terms 'English' and 'British' do not mean the same |
| Whereas, in UK the widely recognized language is | | | | thing. 'British' denotes someone who is from England, |
| English and English is recognized as officially | | | | Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. 'English' refers to |
| recognized language is English by the government. The | | | | people from England. People from Scotland are 'Scots', |
| other languages in UK are Welsh, Irish, Ulster Scots, | | | | from Wales ‘Welsh’ and from Northern Ireland |
| Cornish, Gaelic and British Sign Language. | | | | ‘Irish’. Be sure not to call someone Welsh, |
| The details of Languages, Society and Culture can be | | | | Scots, or Northern Irish ‘English’. |
| described as under: | | | | The Class System |
| Languages in India | | | | Although in the past few decades, people from varied |
| The different states of India have different official | | | | backgrounds have had greater access to higher |
| languages, some of them not recognized by the | | | | education, wealth distribution is changing and more |
| central government. Some states have more then one | | | | upward/downward mobility is occurring, the British |
| official language. Bihar in east India has three official | | | | class system is still very much intact although in a |
| languages - Hindi, Urdu and Bengali - which are all | | | | more subconscious way. The playing field is levelling |
| recognized by the central government. But Sikkim, also | | | | but the British still seem to pigeon-hole people |
| in east India, has four official languages of which only | | | | according to class. |
| Nepali is recognized by the central government. | | | | Class is no longer simply about wealth or where one |
| Besides the languages officially recognized by central | | | | lives; the British are able to suss out someone’s |
| or state governments, there are other languages | | | | class through a number of complex variables including |
| which don't have this recognition and their speakers | | | | demeanour, accent, manners and comportment. |
| are running political struggles to get this recognition. | | | | A Multicultural Society |
| Central government decided that Hindi was to be the | | | | Formerly a very homogenous society, since World |
| official language of India and therefore it also has the | | | | War II, Britain has become increasingly diverse as it has |
| status of official language in the states. 3 | | | | accommodated large immigrant populations, particularly |
| Language in the UK | | | | from its former colonies such as India, Pakistan and the |
| The United Kingdom does not have a constitutionally | | | | West Indies. The mixture of ethnic groups and cultures |
| defined official language. English is the main language | | | | make it difficult to define “Britishness” nowadays |
| (being spoken monolingually by more than 70% of the | | | | and a debate rages within the nation as to what now |
| UK population) and is thus the de facto official | | | | really constitutes being a Briton. 2 |
| language. | | | | After reviewing the above literature it is significantly |
| Other native languages to the Isles include Welsh, Irish, | | | | proven that the culture in UK and India has many |
| Ulster Scots, Cornish, Gaelic and British Sign Language. | | | | differences in them. These differences bring the |
| Immigrants have naturally brought many foreign | | | | changes in perception, values and attitude of the local |
| languages from across the globe.2 | | | | people, and are one of the major obstacles in |
| Indian Society & Culture | | | | marketing of any product which is marketed in India |
| Hierarchy | | | | and United Kingdom. |
| - The influences of Hinduism and the tradition of the | | | | |