Hindi Bhasha Ke Vividh Rup - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "हिन्दी भाषा के विविध रूप" (Vividh Roop of Hindi Language) by Mahaveer Saran Jain, focusing on its content regarding the evolution and nature of the Hindi language:

The book discusses the multifaceted nature of the Hindi language, tracing its historical development and defining its various forms and their relationships.

Early Terminology and Usage:

Before the arrival of Muslims in India, the term "Zubane-Hindi" was used in Persian and Arabic literature to refer to Indian languages in a general linguistic context.
Upon their arrival, Muslims began using "Zubane-Hindi," "Hindi Zuban," or "Hindi" to specifically denote the languages of the central regions surrounding Delhi. This usage is evident during the time of Amir Khusro.
In contrast to Sanskrit, regional linguistic forms were referred to as "Bhasha" or "Bhakha." Kabir Das's famous quote, "Sanskrit hai koop jal, bhasha behta neer" (Sanskrit is well water, language is flowing water), highlights the vitality and accessibility of these vernacular forms.
Jayasī referred to the linguistic form of his Padmavat as "Bhasha," stating, "Likh bhasha chaupai kahen" (Write in bhasha, say the chaupai). Similarly, Tulsidas composed the Ramcharitmanas not in Sanskrit but in "Bhasha," as he stated, "Bhasha nibaddh mati manjul matnoti" (The intellect creates pleasing compositions in bhasha).

The Emergence of "Hindi" as a Specific Term:

The vernacular linguistic forms of the central regions, which were being called "Bhasha," were referred to by Muslims after their arrival in India as "Zubane-Hindi," "Hindi Zuban," or "Hindavi."
Up until the 18th century, terms like Hindi, Hindavi, Dakkhini, Urdu, Rekhta, Hindustani, and Dehlavi were used synonymously. This is evidenced by poets like Nasikh, Sauda, and Meer calling their verses "Hindi Sher" (Hindi poems) and Ghalib using Urdu and Rekhta interchangeably in his letters.

The Rise of Khadi Boli and its Influence:

While Braj and Awadhi were considered standard forms until the 18th century, Delhi's political importance grew.
Though the Dehlavi (Khadi Boli) form did not achieve the same standardization as Awadhi and Braj, it gained significant practical importance. People used it to communicate their ideas to a wider audience.
The text asserts that the language of the saints (Bhakti movement) contains abundant elements of Khadi Boli. Although they might have adopted Braj as a central language for traditional literary expression, their primary goal was to convey their message to the masses. This, along with the influence of Sufi saints creating literature in Khadi Boli and Dakkhini Hindi, led to the natural incorporation of many Khadi Boli elements into their language.
Besides saints, many other poets and Shayari used Khadi Boli as the basis for their literary creations. The text notes that individuals like Wali Qutb Shah (1565-1611), in addition to Amir Khusro, are recognized by both Hindi and Urdu historians, signifying that Khadi Boli is the common root of both Urdu and modern literary Hindi.
Literature composed on the basis of Khadi Boli until the 17th century was more inspired by the emotions of everyday life, with less influence from Sanskrit and Arabic-Persian literary traditions.
Many writers moved away from the ornate traditions of literary Braj and the reliance on Sanskrit tatsama (borrowed) vocabulary, adopting the accessible form of Khadi Boli for poetry.
Poets like Meer (1722-1810) and Ghalib (1797-1859) based their literary creations on this language but heavily incorporated vocabulary and stylistic elements from Arabic and Persian, giving their works a distinct character.

The Role of Fort William College and the Division:

In the 19th century, due to the concerted efforts of Fort William College officials and English rulers, distinct usages began to be associated with the terms Hindi and Urdu. The British actively tried to imbue these linguistic forms with communal sentiment.
The distinction between Hindi and Hindustani or Rekhta was first formally made in 1812 in the annual report of Fort William College by Captain Taylor. He stated that he was referring only to Hindustani or Rekhta, which were written in the Persian script. To establish the difference between this Hindustani/Rekhta and Hindi, he emphasized that he was not referring to Hindi, which had its own script and did not use Arabic-Persian words.
This marked a "conspiracy" at Fort William College to create two distinct languages from one linguistic form: one with a preponderance of Sanskrit tatsama vocabulary in the Devanagari script (Hindi), and another with a majority of Arabic-Persian vocabulary in the Persian script (Urdu).

Defining a Language and Language Region:

A "linguistic unit" is formed by the community of speakers through the diverse forms of their language.
The area where all the various forms of a language are used is called the "language region."
Every language has regional and class-based variations. The abstract totality of these variations is called the language itself.
The ability to understand each other between speakers of different linguistic forms within a region, and the acceptance by the majority of speakers in that region that these are merely different forms of one language, defines that region as the "language region" of that language.
Speakers of different languages cannot exchange ideas and recognize their forms as separate languages.
The text uses the example of a Tamil speaker and a Hindi speaker: the Hindi speaker may understand the Tamil speaker through gestures but not through language. In contrast, a Braj speaker and an Awadhi speaker, while facing some difficulty, can still exchange ideas to some extent and understand each other. This is the practical basis for differentiating languages.
Historical, social, cultural, and psychological factors, as well as the similarity or difference in structure and system of linguistic forms, play a significant role in recognizing them as the same or different languages.
Within a language region, there is one language from the perspective of unity, but from the perspective of diversity, there are as many "personal dialects" as there are people. The relationship between personal dialects and the language of the region is usually at the dialect level. Regional and class variations of a language are its dialects. Languages are composed of dialects, and dialects are composed of personal dialects.

Standard Language and its Development:

A standard language develops based on a dialect within each language region.
This standard form is considered the standard or refined form by all individuals in that region, and educated people use it on formal occasions.
The standard language becomes culturally significant in its region, with more fixed vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. It serves as a medium for artistic, cultural, and educational expression.
As educated individuals use it, it becomes a standard for the entire region. People who come into contact with the educated and privileged also try to learn and use this standard language.
In practice, the standard language is referred to as the "original language" or "central language" of the language region. In colloquial speech, most people call this standard form "language," and all regional and class variations are referred to as its "dialects."
However, fundamentally, language is the aggregate of all regional variations, class variations, stylistic variations, and diverse usages prevalent in its region. The linguistic form that is colloquially or for ease of usage called "language," apart from dialects, styles, and usages, is not the language itself but the standard language developed based on a specific regional form of that language.
This misperception, where the standard language is called "language" and dialects are deemed corrupted or vulgar forms, leads to misnaming. In reality, dialects are natural or Prakrit.
The standard form of a language acts as a connecting thread between all the dialects in its region.

Two Perspectives on "Hindi Language":

Practical/Colloquial: The standard or refined form of the Hindi language is called "Hindi Language."
Theoretical: The aggregate of all regional linguistic forms, class-based forms, stylistic variations, and usage forms employed across the entire Hindi region is called "Hindi Language."

Khadi Boli and Standard Hindi:

Standard Hindi is based on Khadi Boli, but Khadi Boli and Standard Hindi are not synonymous.
Many people, knowingly or unknowingly, use the term "Hindi" to mean Khadi Boli.
There have been planned efforts to limit the meaning of the word "Hindi." The text cites an editorial by Shivdan Singh Chauhan in "Alochna" (July 1965) that advocated for all regional forms of the Hindi region being separate and distinct from the Hindi language. Chauhan's views are quoted to illustrate the seriousness of the "conspiracy" to fragment Hindi within its own domain.
The text criticizes attempts by organizations like the Sahitya Akademi after 1965 to grant independent status to many dialects of the Hindi region.
In response to this "divisive policy," many thinkers raised concerns. In 1971, over 300 Hindi professors at the 25th annual conference of the Bharatiya Hindi Parishad criticized the Sahitya Akademi's language policy and passed a resolution urging its chairman to cease efforts to fragment the composite language, literature, and cultural tradition of the Hindi region. They asserted that the thousand-year tradition of Hindi had created its broad and composite form, and no academy had the right to reverse this natural progression.

The Hindi Language Region and Mutual Intelligibility:

The Hindi language region is vast, with many sub-languages having low percentages of mutual intelligibility. However, from a historical and cultural perspective, the entire Hindi language region is a linguistic unit.
The majority of speakers in this region have always recognized and accepted their respective linguistic forms as Hindi.
The spoken form of standard Hindi has high functional value within this region. When speakers of two sub-languages or dialects cannot communicate in their own forms, they use this standard form for communication.
Languages with equally large regions and large numbers of speakers, like Chinese and Russian, have similar situations. The linguistic status of these languages cannot be solely determined by mutual intelligibility between their regional forms. All three languages possess a form that allows people from different regions to communicate, in addition to their regional variations.
Mutual intelligibility between regional forms is one aspect, while the ability of people from different regions of a language to converse with each other through a specific form of the language is another. In the latter case, it's not "mutual intelligibility" but "one-way intelligibility."
In such situations, communication happens in regional forms with local people, but on formal occasions or with people from other regions, the standard form of the language or a practical language based on the standard is used. Ferguson termed this relationship between dialects and standard language as the "vertical establishment of standard language over layers of dialects," and Gumperz called this linguistic situation "bidialectalism."

Defining the Hindi Language Region:

The Hindi language region can be identified based on the states recognized as Hindi-speaking states in the Indian Constitution: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi.
The entire area of these Hindi-speaking states constitutes the Hindi language region. Within this region, there are pockets of dialects of other languages, and at the borders with non-Hindi speaking states, there are "transition zones" between Hindi and non-Hindi languages. However, the majority of the area is the Hindi language region, and all linguistic forms spoken here are considered parts of the Hindi language.

Two Primary Literary Styles of Hindi:

Sanskrit-centric Literary Form: Developed on the basis of Khadi Boli, known as Literary Hindi.
Arabic-Persian-centric Literary Form: Also developed on the basis of Khadi Boli, known as Urdu.

Clarification of Terms:

Khadi Boli is a regional linguistic form spoken in specific areas of the Hindi language, just as Braj, Awadhi, and Bhojpuri are regional forms of the Hindi language.
Khadi Boli is spoken by all sections of people in its region (e.g., Meerut, Rampur, Moradabad, etc.). However, like other dialects of Hindi (Braj, Haryanvi, Awadhi, etc.), educated individuals in the Khadi Boli region also use the standard language in conversation and formal settings.
Standard Hindi's development is based on Khadi Boli. While Khadi Boli is the foundation, it is not identical to Standard Hindi. Standard Hindi has also been influenced by Braj and Haryanvi and has assimilated word forms from other Hindi dialects.
As an all-India contact language, it has also absorbed words, forms, and stylistic elements from non-Hindi Indian languages.
The standard Hindi form, spoken in the Hindi language region, is called "Hindi" primarily for practical reasons. This is why statements like "Urdu is a literary style of Hindi" can lead Urdu writers to feel that Urdu is being reduced to merely a style of modern literary Hindi. In reality, Urdu is a literary style of Hindi, just as modern literary Hindi is another literary style of Hindi.

The Functional Value of Standard Hindi:

The standard Hindi developed on the basis of Khadi Boli has significant linguistic value.
Khadi Boli is a regional form of the Hindi language. Literary Hindi is the literary language used in modern Hindi literature. Standard Hindi is the language used by educated individuals in formal settings and when interacting with speakers of different dialects.
Despite potentially low mutual intelligibility and structural similarities between distant dialects and sub-languages of the Hindi region, communication is possible due to the high functional value of standard Hindi or its practical sub-standard forms.
The shared emotional and social unity, as well as the composite literary and cultural tradition of the entire Hindi language region, have played a crucial role in developing it as a single linguistic unit.
Historically, culturally, literarily, and socially, the practical form of standard Hindi has spread widely. One can travel across the Hindi region using this practical Hindi, buy goods in any market, communicate with porters and rickshaw pullers at any railway station, converse in hotels, and obtain information from government offices.
Due to the widespread propagation and development of practical Hindi across India (and even Pakistan), many of these communication scenarios are also available in non-Hindi speaking states. Thus, this practical form of standard Hindi functions as a contact language for all of India (and Pakistan).
Within the Hindi language region, one can speak practical Hindi with primary school educated individuals in any village or converse with those who have social connections outside their district.
When speakers of two different Hindi dialects or sub-languages cannot communicate in their own forms, they converse using standard Hindi or practical Hindi. For example, Maithili and Marwari speakers from bordering regions, unable to communicate in their regional forms, can converse through the standard or practical Hindi established above their regional dialects.
The high functional value of standard or practical Hindi enables the Hindi-speaking community to form a linguistic unit through communication between its various forms.

Linguistic Unity and Social/Cultural Coordination:

The process of communication through standard or practical Hindi among various linguistic forms of Hindi has fostered a consciousness of linguistic unity.
As a paradigm of social and cultural coordination, this standard or practical Hindi establishes interdependencies and relationships within the social life of the entire Hindi region.
On the literary front, there has been an unbroken tradition of Literary Hindi across the entire Hindi language region. Historians of Hindi literature have included literature composed in all sub-languages like Maithili, Awadhi, Braj, and Rajasthani within the scope of Hindi literature's history. Since the beginning of the modern period of Hindi literature, writers from every sub-language region have been composing literature in modern literary Hindi.

Conclusion:

Therefore, "Hindi Language" is the collective abstraction of all regional, class-based, stylistic, and usage-based linguistic forms used in the Hindi language region, along with standard Hindi, practical Hindi, modern literary Hindi, and Urdu literature.
"Hindi" has a broad meaning. Urdu, written in the Persian script, is its literary style, just as "modern literary Hindi," written in the Devanagari script, is another literary style.
Similarly, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Magahi, Marwari, Jaipuri, Mewati, Nimadi, and all other linguistic forms are integral parts of the Hindi language, its sub-linguistic forms.