At Ellis Island when you enter the building, behind the luggage exhibit is a tree. A language tree.
This tree has many words (and their root language) on its "branches" that have now become part of American English. Words like "ranch" and "hunky-dory" that Amrikans use everyday.
It was fun walking around it imagining what would a tree like this be in India? Just last week while travelling through Karnataka, I realised that many of the words were similar to Malayalam. maybe we would need a forest of trees or an Octopus or something to look at how we are related through language.
Of course Raj Thackeray and Karunanidhi would insists that Marathi and Tamil trees be separated from the rest...
This tree has many words (and their root language) on its "branches" that have now become part of American English. Words like "ranch" and "hunky-dory" that Amrikans use everyday.
It was fun walking around it imagining what would a tree like this be in India? Just last week while travelling through Karnataka, I realised that many of the words were similar to Malayalam. maybe we would need a forest of trees or an Octopus or something to look at how we are related through language.
Of course Raj Thackeray and Karunanidhi would insists that Marathi and Tamil trees be separated from the rest...
2 comments:
You know what, the Telugu words I find easiest to understand are the ones which are actually Sanskrit!
Nice post. I like these unusual things that u write about!
thanks will try to keep tickling your brain !
if you are interested i am writing about my travel experience also at www.0611metro.blogspot.com
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