From: Kenneth Gonsalves <law...@thenilgiris.com> >> Example: Byte, bit, computer, file, folder, directory, mouse, keyboard, >> disc, trackpad, plug, USB, laptop, internet, network, switch, bus etc.. >> but these could be transliterated into Tamil instead of being written in >> English.
>depends on what problem you are trying to solve. A person who understands >all these terms is going to use english interface anyway. I recall reading >a wikipedia entry in Hindi and came to the conclusion that only a person >who knows English will understand it. The problem I am trying to solve is >that a person who knows no English should be able to understand what is >written. This is especially important for the user interface of >applications that the common man uses - as far as the computer >professional is concerned, one can coin esoteric words which he will have >to master. I see your point. However, the reality is that those who are going to be using a computer will at some point or the other have to invent new words for disk, internet and so on because there are no words for this in Tamil/any other indian language. The other reality is that people are actually far more flexible than we think and are quite willing to use terms which are not native to the language - a crude example: we don't have equivalent terms in Tamil for "Tandoori Chicken" but pretty much anyone will understand what it means.. other examples: how many tamilians actually use the Tamil equivalent for bus, cycle, computer etc? >> I think that would allow an Indian language speaker to directly relate to >> terms which are now ubiquitous across the world without having to invent >> an absolutely bizarre sounding term (example for a network, computer etc) >> because of some vain desire to remain linguistically "pure" >unfortunately we also have to live with the fact that Tamil (and French) >are two languages where the desire to remain linguistically "pure" is very >strong. That is true. But yet, like I stated earlier, the common man on the street is quite willing to borrow words from other languages. Some arm chair pundits and others with parochial ambitions/thoughts will object, but the average person on the street is far more pragmatic. Regards, Prem _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, email ilugc-requ...@ae.iitm.ac.in with "unsubscribe <password> <address>" in the subject or body of the message. http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc
