Rajeev Bagra
How learning new languages gives new insight to our thought process

It is universal for children to utter mummy or something related with M for mother (mom in English, maa, mata, ammi in Hindi). This similarity perhaps comes from being part of human species just like emotions of love, joy, sorrow. The likes of argument that Indian and European races have common origin, ancestors based on similarity in languages do not stand by this line of thought. While few words like maverick are coined because of association with particular entities like a celebrity, rest should have deeper inherent.It is spontaneous to utter no by Englishmen while denying. In Hindi, denial word is naa (ना). Equivalent of red and greed in Hindi is लाल (meaning red) and लालच (meaning greed); note similarity in meaning but slight variation in pronunciation between saint and sant (संत) in Hindi; symmetry between beech (बीच) in Hindi meaning between and madhya (मध्य) meaning middle: B appears between A and C (requiring two entities) while M is the middle letter of English alphabet system.

While shape of English letter O may point to formation of round shape in air when the alphabet is pronounced, its equivalent ओ in Hindi gives no sense of circle. So, there are variations with each variation maybe signifying something different which can give new insight to our thought process making process of learning new languages a fruitful endeavor. English alphabet system appears to be direction-based, angular where geometric shape plays a crucial role compared to Sanskrit: note A for angle, B for bifurcation, C for curve, O for oval, Z for zigzag; shape of X denoting cross.

Jan 24, 2016 10:43 AM