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