Prev | Home | Next

The Central Institute of Indian Languages was set up on the 17th July 1969 with a view to assisting and coordinating the development of Indian languages. The Institute was charged with the responsibility of serving as a nucleus to bring together all the research and literary out-put from the various linguistic streams to a common head and narrowing the gap between basic research and developmental research in the fields of languages and linguistics in India.

The Institute and its five Regional Language Centres are thus engaged in research and teaching which lead to the publication of a wide ranging variety of materials. Preparation of materials designed for teaching and learning at different levels and suited to specific needs is one of the major areas of interest of the Institute. Basic research relating to the acquisition of language and the study of language in its manifold psycho-social relations constitute another broad range of its interest. The publications include materials produced by the members of the staff of the Central Institute of Indian Languages and its Regional Language Centres and associated scholars from universities and institutions, both Indian and foreign. Serious study of language has received less attention in the country, although 50% and more time of school instruction is devoted to language teaching. Serious study of Indian languages has received less attention than the study of English. although a good deal of work has been done to define Indian English, much less work has been done to define the characteristics of pan-Indian Hindi. The study of Hindi as spoken and written in different linguistic zones of India is a pre-condition to the study of the panchromatic Hindi, the national language, which for its enrichment draws on all the Indian languages. The book presents the preliminary efforts of the Institute towards studying pan-Indian Hindi. If it helps scholars engaged in the study of regional universals, and those interested in national integration our efforts would have been amply rewarded.

Director