[LINK] "Sanskrit and English: there’s no competition"

[rfmcdonald]

Writing in response to a claim of an Indian government minister that Sanskrit could eventually displace English as India's common language, The Hindu's Data column argues that such a dream is completely unrealistic. There aren't even enough second-language speakers of Sanskrit to pose a challenge; Sanskrit's descent Hindi would be infinitely better-placed.

Anecdotally, we’d all agree that the last ten years are likely to have seen a huge jump in the number of English-speakers; English is now the second biggest language of instruction in primary schools after Hindi.

So India’s official language numbers, over ten years old now, are almost certainly an underestimation of the number of English speakers. Even so, there is little comparison between the number of English and Sanskrit speakers.

In terms of primary languages – what we commonly understand as the “mother tongue” – both English and Sanskrit were miles away from India’s Top 10. Of the123 primary languages counted by the Census – 23 scheduled and 100 non-scheduled – Sanskrit was fifth from bottom in terms of primary languages spoken, with only Persian, Chakhesang, Afghani/ Kabuli and Simte less commonly spoken. English, meanwhile, was the 45th most commonly spoken primary language.

Charts at the site.