WORDS WOVEN INTO THE THREADS OF TIME

Linguistic expert and author Peggy Mohan traces the history of the Subcontinent through its languages, and notes how homogenisation of language reflects centralisation of power

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Linguistic expert Dr Peggy Mohan’s new book Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India Through Its Languages (Penguin Random House, ₹599) challenges the idea of ‘racial purity’ in India. Interwoven with anecdotes from her childhood in Trinidad and later experiences in the US and other parts of the world, the Delhi-based educator and author of three novels looks at the migration patterns and intermixing among the larger Indian population down the centuries through the lens of our words, grammar and syntax. The book concludes that Indians are hybrids, like our languages.

Having earned her PhD in linguistics from University of Michigan, Dr Peggy was a professor of linguistics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. She has developed educational television programmes for children, and learnt cartoon animation and opera singing. She now teaches music at a reputed high school.

We spoke to her about the book, her study of languages, the dominance of English, and how digitisation is adding to the mix.

What excites you about the study of language – or linguistic archaeology as you call it – and why do you think it is important in this age of digital communication?

‘Important’ is a hard word for me to process. Maybe it’s better to say ‘interesting’.