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Scholars have given different definitions for bilingualism. According to Uriel Weinreich 'two or more languages will be said to be in contact if they are used alternately by the same persons. The practice of alternately using two languages will be called bilingualism and the persons involved bilingual' (Weinreich 1967, p. 1).

When two communities speaking different languages come in contact, certain linguistic and cultural changes ensue which are attributable directly to contact. Language contact and cultural contact commonly result in the transfer of traits from one community to the other by a process which has been labeled borrowing or diffusion. This 'transfer of elements produces systemic change which might be called convergent contact' (Diebold 1961). Convergence between two different languages or cultures result in a sociological situation wherein the same individual learns elements from a linguistic or cultural system other than his native system. Linguists refer to this learning situation as language contact and to the particular learning process as bilingualization' (Diebold 1961).

Bloomfield defines bilingualism as 'native like control of two languages' (Bloomfield 1963). Diebold explaining the process which results in bilingualism says that 'when two languages come into contact, speakers of either language may learn elements of the other language. This acquisition of the non-native language produces bilingualism' (Diebold 1961).

According to William F. Mackey, 'bilingualism is not a phenomenon of language, it is a characteristic of its use. It is not a feature of the code but of the message. It does not belong to the domain of 'langue' but of 'parole'. Bilingualism is the property of the individual …… it seems obvious, therefore, that if we are to study the phenomenon of bilingualism we are forced to consider it as something entirely relative. We must moreover include the use not only of two languages, but of any number of languages. we shall therefore consider bilingualism as the alternate use of two or more languages by the same individual (Mackey 1968: p. 555).

This study is based on the original Hindi writings and Hindi translations of proficient Tamil-Hindi writers. (Tamil-Hindi = Hindi Written by Tamil native speakers). This study includes the works of Dr. Malik Mohammad, R. Villinathan, N. Sundaran, Madhavi Rajagopalan, P. Somasundaram and some other authors. My main aim of presenting this paper is to show the deviations in Hindi written by Tamil-Hindi writers as compared to standard Hindi. Hindi is the official language of the Central Government and a number of State Governments. It is used as a language of communication between Hindi and non-Hindi speakers as well as by non-Hindi speakers as well as by non-Hindi speakers in various parts of the country. One can easily manage through Hindi from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, i.e., from one corner to the other in the country. Non-native speakers of Hindi are bearing professional scholars and are contributing literary and creative writings in Hindi. Hindi is a second language for them. 'Popularly a second language is one other than one's own mother-tongue' (Pattanayak 1969 : p. 27). However, it is a language which belongs culturally and linguistically to native country (Kachru 1965: Word, 213). In the Indian context where there are many Indian language, any language can be chosen as language by an individual or a group. This has been recognised by Pattanayak when he says' .

However Hindi is the most widespread second language in the country.

Tamil belongs to the Dravidian language family and is spoken in Tamil Nadu. Only a small section of population in this State has any competence in Hindi and most of such persons are from urban areas. Out of the total population of 3,36,86,953 of Tamil Nadu (according to 1961 Census). Tamil native speakers are 2,80,11,099 and only 15,87, 552 (5.66%) are bilinguals among them. Among these bilinguals only 17,142 report to be bilinguals in Hindi. Thus only 1.08% of the Tamil bilinguals are bilingual in Hindi.

Degrees of Bilinguality

Kachru sets up a cline of bilingualism with three 'measuring points'. These are 'zero point being the bottom on the axis' (Kachru 1965). Since bilingualism is a relative concept it involves the question of degree. How well does the individual know the second language? On the basis of their proficiency in Hindi we can make three categories of Tamil-Hindi users-

i) Proficient
ii) Semi-proficient
iii) Minimally bilingual

A proficient Tamil-Hindi speaker may be defined as one whose Hindi is intelligible not only to other Tamil-Hindi speakers but also to the educated native speakers of Hindi. Our study is based on the writings of the proficient Tamil-Hindi authors.

Deviations in Tamil-Hindi

Tamil is the first language and Hindi the second for Tamil-Hindi bilinguals. it can be safely assumed that Tamil-Hindi bilinguals use features belonging to their mother-tongue, while writing in Hindi. This phenomenon can be called 'Interference' which has been defined as 'those instances of deviation from the norms of either language which occur in the speech of bilinguals as a result of their familiarity with more than one language, i.e., as a result of language contact (Weinreich 1967 : p.1).

It has been observed that interference is dependent on some sort of interlingual identification which the bilingual undertakes, largely unconsciously and introduces its result into his non-native language.

If we take into consideration the linguistic and cultural setting of Tamil Nadu, we can very easily understand the deviations in Tamil Hindi.

Cultural Patterns and Social Settings

At the level of cultural patterns and social settings we can get completely new situations and also partially different ones.

Situations which are not available in Hindi but transferred from Tamil by Tamil-Hindi writers may be called new situations. For example,

1. ¨ÉƇnù®ú ºÉä ±ÉÉè]õxÉä {Éè®ú ½þÉlÉ {Éä®ú vÉÉäxÉä Eäò ‡±ÉB uùÉ®ú{É®ú ¤Éè`öxÉä EòÉ ‡®ú´ÉÉWÉ ½èþ*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 156

2. ¦ÉÉäVÉxÉ Eò®úxÉä ´ÉɱÉÉå EòÉä {ÉÉxÉÒ näùxÉÉ ......... "ÉÉnùÒ ¨Éå ºÉ‡¨É‡±ÉiÉ ½þÉäxÉä +ÉxÉä ´ÉɱÉä xɪÉä-xɪÉä ¨Éä½þ¨ÉÉxÉÉå EòÒ JɇiÉ®únùÉ®úÒ ¨Éå SÉÆnùxÉ EòÉ {ªÉɱÉÉ +Éè®ú ‡¨É¸ÉÒ EòÒ lÉɱÉÒ ¤ÉgøÉ´ÉxÉÉ +ɇnù ¤É½ÖþiÉ ºÉä EòÉ¨É =ºÉä Eò®úxÉä {Éc÷iÉä lÉä*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 31

3. BEò +Éè®ú ¤ÉÉiÉ =±±ÉäJÉxÉÒªÉ ½èþ ‡Eò |Éä¨ÉÒ-|É䇨ÉEòÉ Eäò |Éä¨É ºÉƤÉÆvÉ EòÉ ºÉ¨ÉÉSÉÉ®ú ºÉÖxÉEò®ú ¦ÉÒ =xÉEäò ¨ÉÉiÉÉ-‡{ÉiÉÉ =xÉEäò ‡´É´Éɽþ Eäò ‡±ÉB ºÉ½þ¨ÉiÉ xɽþÓ ½þÉäiÉä iÉÉä |Éä¨ÉÒ '¨É=±É' {É®ú SÉgøEò®ú +{ÉxÉä iÉÒµÉ |Éä¨É EòÒ {É®úÒIÉÉ näùEò®ú |É䇨ÉEòÉ EòÉä |ÉÉ{iÉ Eò®úxÉä EòÒ PÉÉä¹ÉhÉÉ Eò®úiÉÉ ½èþ*
-- '+ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉvÉƨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉEòÉ´ªÉ', {ÉÞ. 199

Situations which are available in both the cultures with some difference, may be called partially different situations.

Example:

‡Eò^Ùõ +Éè®ú xÉÒ±ÉÉ ¡Úò±É-{ÉÒ{É±É Eäò {ÉkÉä ºÉÒEò®ú =ºÉ {É®ú JÉÉxÉÉ JÉɪÉÉ Eò®úiÉä lÉä*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ.111

¦ÉMÉ´ÉÉxÉ EòÉ VɱÉÚºÉ VÉ¤É ´É½þÉÄ ºÉä ‡xÉEò±ÉiÉÉ lÉÉ iÉÉä ´É½þÉÄ "ÉÖhb÷±É, {ÉÉxÉEò, ¨É_öÉ VÉèºÉä |ɺÉÉnù ¤ÉÉÄ]äõ VÉÉiÉä lÉä*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ.25

ºÉ¨Éä"ɪªÉ®ú EòÒ ®úɨÉɪÉhÉ ½þ‡®úEòlÉÉ ‡Eò^Ùõ Eäò ‡nù±É {É®ú +{ÉxÉÉ |ɦÉÉ´É b÷ɱÉxÉä ±ÉMÉÒ*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ.43

Grammatical Deviations

Some deviations are found at the grammatical level in Tamil-Hindi. These deviations can be classified as follows:

Verb:

Hindi verbs show the grammatical categories of aspect, mood, tense, gender, person and number in different environments and distributions. The verb shows concord for gender, number and person of the subject or object in specific constructions. Tamil-Hindi writers' usage does not accord to the standard Hindi usage as far as the use of these categories is concerned. We shall give some examples of deviations for each one of these categories.

Gender:

Hindi has a selective category of gender for nouns. It has two genders - masculine and feminine.

Tamil, like other major Dravidian languages has three genders. Tamil has a natural gender, whereas Hindi has a grammatical gender. In Tamil, nouns denoting human beings are either masculine or feminine and all non-human nouns belong to neuter gender. The Hindi items equivalent to those which belong to neuter gender in Tamil fall either under masculine or feminine in Hindi. So, it is difficult for non-native users of Hindi to correctly identify the gender of non-human words. Sometimes such words are used as masculine and sometimes as feminine. This can be easily illustrated from the writings of Tamil-Hindi writers.

Words Gender in Hindi Gender used in
Tamil-Hindi
(i) ¨Éä±É masculine feminine
(ii) ½þÉlÉ mas. fem.
(iii) ZÉÆZÉ]õ mas. fem.
(iv) ¨ÉvÉÖ mas. fem.
(v) ¨ÉÉäc÷ mas. fem.
(vi) ={ɨÉäªÉ mas. fem.
(vii) Eò¨ÉÉ±É mas. fem.
(viii) SÉɱÉSɱÉxÉ mas. fem.
(ix) MÉÉ±É mas. fem.ê
(x) ´ªÉÎCiÉ mas. fem.
(xi) VÉÒ´ÉÉi¨ÉÉ fem. mas.
(xii) ºÉɨÉÇlªÉ fem. mas.
(xii) {ɇjÉEòÉ fem. mas.
(xiv) |É±ÉªÉ fem. mas.
(xv) nùÉä{ɽþ®ú fem. mas.
(xvi) º¡ÚòÌiÉ fem. mas.
(xvii) nù´ÉÉ fem. mas.
(xviii) ºÉÖvɤÉÖvÉ fem. mas.
(xix) JÉÉäVÉ fem. mas.

Number:

In Tamil-Hindi writings sometimes number concord is absent, e.g.,

1. M´ÉɱÉä EòÒ ¤ÉÉƺÉÖ®úÒ ºÉÖxÉEò®ú SÉ®úxÉä ´ÉɱÉÒ ¦ÉºÉä BEò =xÉEäò {ÉÉºÉ +ÉEò®ú PÉ®ú ±ÉÉè]õxÉä EòÉä iÉèªÉÉ®ú ½þÉä VÉÉiÉÒ*
-- iɇ¨É±É +Éè®ú =ºÉEòÉ ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 55

2. ªÉt‡{É ´É½þ VÉxÉ-ºÉɨÉÉxªÉ EòÉ ‡nù±É ¤É½þ±ÉÉxÉä ´ÉɱÉä MÉÉxÉä ½þÒ MÉÉiÉÒ lÉÒ ‡¡ò®ú ¦ÉÒ =xÉEäò EÆò`ö ¨Éå BäºÉÉ ¨ÉÉvÉÖªÉÇ lÉÉ*
-- -- ¾þnùªÉÉnù, {ÉÞ.159

Person:

Inappropriate person concord is found in certain instances in Tamil-Hindi.

For Example,

1. <iÉxÉä ¤Écä÷ ½þÉäEò®ú ¦ÉÒ ¨Éä®äú EòhÉÇ-¨ÉÉMÉÇ ºÉä ¨Éä®äú +Ænù®ú +É{ÉxÉä |É´Éä"É Eò®ú ‡±ÉªÉÉ ½èþ, ¤ÉiÉÉ+Éå ¨Éé ¤Éc÷É ½ÚÄþ ‡Eò iÉÖ¨É*
-- +ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉxvɨÉ +Éè®ú ‡½þxnùÒ EÞò¹hÉ-EòÉ´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 290-1

2. nÚù ®úÉå EòÉä Eò¹]õ EòÉä näùJÉEò®ú ªÉ‡nù +É{É <iÉxÉÉ +‡vÉEò ËSɇiÉiÉ ½þÉäiÉä ½éþ iÉÉä +{ÉxÉä >ð{É®ú +É{ɇkÉ {Éc÷xÉä {É®ú CªÉÉ Eò®úÉäMÉä*
-- EòÉäªÉ±Éä EòÉ bÖ÷Eòc÷É, {ÉÞ. 156

3. +É{ÉEäò PÉ®ú Eäò +ɺÉ{ÉÉºÉ EòÒ EÖò‡]õªÉÉ {ÉÉxÉÒ ¨Éå bÚ÷¤É MɪÉÒ ½èþ, SɱÉÉä näùJÉ VÉÉ +ÉBÄ* ¨Éé ¦ÉÒ +É{ÉEäò ºÉÉlÉ SɱÉiÉÉ ½ÚÄþ ......... +SUôÉ SɱÉÉä*
-- EòÉäªÉ±Éä EòÉ ]ÖõEÖòc÷É, {ÉÞ. 93

In Hindi 'a:p' is used as honorific 2nd person pronoun. 'a:p' as the subject of a verb requires a '-iye' or -iyega' ending form in the imperative. Tamil-Hindi writers have not used such forms as in standard Hindi as illustrated above. The reason for this usage is that in Dravidian languages, there is a distinction between honorific polite and non-honorific (casual) plural nouns but the verb forms remain the same in both the cases.

For example,

In Hindi

iÉÖ¨É ±ÉÉäMÉ VÉÉ+Éä - casual expression
+É{É ±ÉÉäMÉ VÉÉ<B - honorific expression

Verb form has changed in the honorific use but in other Dravidian languages verb forms remain the same.

Tamil:

ni gal? po gal? -- casual
ta gal? po gal? -- honorific

Kannada:

ni:vu ho:gi -- casual
ta:vu ho:gi -- honorific

Telugu:

mi:ru vel?l?and?i -- casual
ta:ma:ru vel?l?andi -- honorific

Malayalam:

ni gal? pokan?m -- casual
ta kal? pokan?am -- honorific

Tense:

It is found that in some examples Tamil-Hindi bilinguals have not used appropriate tense forms. In Tamil there are only two tenses, viz., past and non-past and non-past forms can be used for future tense. In Hindi time is divided differently and the distinctions are past, present and future. This difference of tense system creates problems for Tamil-Hindi writers.

In conditional or contingent future constructions, the verb forms of the conditional or contingent clause and of the principal clause have the same form in Hindi. But in the writings of Tamil Hindi writers we find that the verb of the dependent clause is in the contingent future and the verb of the principal clause in present tense or present continuous or sometimes even in the past tense.

For example,
1. ´É½þ ‡nùxÉ Eò¤É +ɪÉäMÉÉ VÉ{ɇEò ¨Éé ......... +ÉxÉÆnù ¨Éå ¨ÉMxÉ ®ú½þxÉä ´ÉɱÉä ¦ÉCiÉ ¨ÉÆb÷±É ¨Éå ‡¨É±ÉEò®ú º´ÉªÉÆ +ºÉÒ¨É +ÉxÉÆnù |ÉÉ{iÉ Eò®ú ºÉEÚÄò*
-- +ɱÉEò®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉxvɨÉ +Éè®ú ‡½þxnùÒ EÞò¹hÉEòÉ´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 321

2. +MÉ®ú iÉÖ¨É <ºÉ PÉxÉ"ªÉÉ¨É Eäò ºÉÉlÉ JÉä±ÉxÉÉ SÉɽþÉäMÉä iÉÉä ¨ÉäPÉÉå Eäò {ÉÒUäô ‡Uô{ÉÉä ¨ÉiÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É ±Éɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 130

Deviant use of tense forms is also found in these writings.

1. ¦ÉMÉ´ÉÉxÉ EòÉ MÉÖhÉMÉÉxÉ Eò®ú ......... ¦ÉCiÉÉå Eäò ¨Éå VÉÉ ‡¨É±ÉxÉä EòÉ ºÉÉè¦ÉÉMªÉ ¨ÉÖZÉä Eò¤É |ÉÉ{iÉ ½þÉä*
-- +ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉÆvɨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉEòÉ´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 169

2. ¤É½ÖþiÉ ¤ÉÉ®ú ¨Éä®äú ¨ÉxÉ ¨Éå +ɪÉÉ lÉÉ ‡Eò ¨Éä®äú EòÉä<Ç ±Éc÷EòÉ ½Öþ+É ½þÉä CªÉÉ ´É½þ ¨ÉÖZÉä EòÉ"ÉÒ xÉ ±Éä VÉÉiÉÉ, VɽþÉÄ ´Éä MɪÉä lÉä*
-- iɇ¨É±É EòÒ |ɇiɇxɇvÉ Eò½þɇxɪÉÉÄ, {ÉÞ. 89

3. ´É½þÉÄ ºÉnèù´É ºÉÆMÉÒiÉ xÉÉnù Eäò ºÉÉlÉ ZÉ®úxÉä ¤É½þ ®ú½äþ ½éþ*
-- iɇ¨É±É ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 78

Postpositions:

Improper use of postpositions is very common in such Hindi writings.

For example,

1. ºÉÉlÉ ½þÒ iɇ¨É±É ¨Éå ‡´ÉYÉÉxÉ, <‡iɽþÉºÉ VÉèºÉä ‡´É¹ÉªÉÉå {É®ú OÉÆlÉÉå EòÉä +¦ÉÉ´É EòÉä ¦ÉÒ =x½þÉåxÉä +xÉÖ¦É´É ‡EòªÉÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 91

2. ®úɇvÉEòÉ ´É޹ɦÉÉxÉÖ ‡Eò EòxªÉÉ ½èþ, ......... +Éè®ú ºÉ¤É EòɨÉxÉÉ+Éå EòÉ {ÉÚ®úÉ Eò®úxÉä ´ÉɱÉÒ ½èþ*
-- +ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉÆvɨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉEòÉ´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 74

3. Eò¨¦ÉxÉ EòÒ ®úSÉxÉÉ ¨Éå ®úÉ¨É "ÉÚ{ÉÇhÉJÉÉ Eäò xÉÉEò-EòÉxÉ EòÉ]õxÉä EòÉ ‡xɇ¨ÉkÉ xɽþÓ ¤ÉxÉiÉä*
-- iɇ¨É±É ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 145

Absence of postposition where a postposition is necessary is also found.

For example,

<ºÉÒ xÉÉ¨É Eäò BEò ºÉi{ÉÖ¹ÉÇ xÉä ½þ¨ÉÉ®äú ´ÉÆ"É EòÉä ‡´ÉÎSUôzÉ ½þÉäxÉä ºÉä ¤ÉSÉɪÉÉ lÉÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É Eò½þɇxɪÉÉÄ, {ÉÞ. 85

It is observed in some cases that necessary changes in different parts of speech in accordance with the postpositions are not made.

EÆònùº´ÉɨÉÒ ¦ÉÉMÉ´ÉiÉ®ú EòÒ iÉ®ú½þ ºÉÆMÉÒiÉ +Éè®ú ¨É`ö Eäò ‡±ÉB +{ÉxÉÉ VÉÒ´ÉxÉ EòÉ ºÉ¨É{ÉÇhÉ Eò®úxÉä ´ÉɱÉä ´ªÉÎCiÉ "ÉɪÉnù ½þÒ ‡¨É±ÉåMÉä*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 210

Eèò¨É®úÉ EòÒ ºÉ½þɪÉiÉÉ ºÉä ºÉÖÆnù®ú où"ªÉÉå EòÉä ¢òÉä]õÉä ±ÉäEò®ú ®úJÉ ºÉEòiÉä ½éþ*
-- EòÉäªÉ±Éä EòÉ ]ÖõEòc÷É, {ÉÞ. 58

Eò‡´É xÉä ‡´É…ÉÉäi{ɇkÉ Eäò EòÉ®úhÉ ¥ÉÀÉ +Éè®ú ºÉƽþÉ®ú-EòÉ®úhÉ ‡"É´É EòÉä ¦ÉÒ ‡iɨÉÉÇ±É Eäò +Æ"É ¨ÉÉxÉä ½éþ*
-- +±É´ÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉÆvɨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉ EòÉ´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 25

Unnecessary use of postposition is found in some cases.

<ºÉ ºÉÆnù"ÉÇxÉ ºÉä nùÉäxÉÉå Eäò ¨ÉxÉ {É®úº{É®ú Eäò |ɇiÉ +ÉEò̹ÉiÉ ½ÖþB*
-- iɇ¨É±É ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 144

®úÉVÉÉ ½þ¹ÉÇ ®ú‡SÉiÉ Eäò ºÉƺEÞòiÉ EòÉ´ªÉ 'xÉè¹ÉvɨÉÂ' EòÉ ªÉ½þ ¦ÉÉ´ÉÉxÉÖ´ÉÉnù ½èþ*
-- iɇ¨É±É ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 82

MÉɪÉEò EòÉ iÉɱÉGò¨É ]Úõ]õiÉä näùJÉEò®ú +{ÉxÉÉ Gò¨É UôÉäc÷ Eò®ú Eò½þÓ °üEò VÉÉiÉÉ ½èþ*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 107

Use of Emphatic Particle 'iÉÉä':

It is observed that unnecessary use of 'ŸÖÖê' is very common in Hindi written by these authors.
For example,

1. ±Éä‡EòxÉ =xÉEòÉ xÉÉ¨É iÉÉä "ÉÎCiÉ ‡´ÉxÉɪÉEò lÉÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É Eò½þɇxɪÉÉÄ, {ÉÞ. 55

2. =ºÉ ¨ÉÆb÷±ÉÒ Eäò |ÉvÉÉxÉ iÉÉä +ÉSÉÉ®ú ‡´ÉSÉÉ®ú Eäò ¤Écä÷ {ÉCEäò +Éè®ú MÉÖhÉ ºÉ¨{ÉzÉ lÉä*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 59

Word Order:

Deviant word order is a very common feature of Hindi written by South Indians. This feature is found in most of the writings of the Tamilians.

For example,

1. BäºÉÒ {ÉÖjÉÒ ¨Éä®úÒ ½èþ ¨Éä®äú +É¸ÉªÉ ¨Éå ºÉÒ‡¨ÉiÉ xɽþÓ ®ú½þ ºÉEòiÉÒ*
-- +ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉÆvɨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉ Eò®ÂúÏ[´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 101

2. {É®ú +É"SɪÉÇ ªÉ½þ ½èþ ‡Eò =ºÉEòÉ ‡xÉ´ÉÉºÉ ½þÒ ¨Éä®äú ¾þnùªÉ ¨Éå*
-- +ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉÆvɨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉ Eò®ÂúÏ[´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 101

3. =x½þÒ Eäò uùÉ®úÉ iɇ¨É±É Eäò xɪÉä MÉt EòÉ ºÉ¨ÉÉnù®ú VÉxÉiÉÉ ¨Éå ¤ÉgøÉ +Éè®ú ¤ÉgøÒ {ÉÉ`öEòÉå EòÒ ‡nùxÉ nÚùxÉÒ ºÉÆJªÉÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É Eò½þɇxɪÉÉÄ, {ÉÞ. 12

4. MÉÆMÉÉvÉ®ú ‡"É´É ½éþ +Éi¨ÉÒªÉ ½þ¨ÉÉ®úÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É ºÉɇ½þiªÉ, {ÉÞ. 53

Translation:

According to Catford translation is the 'replacement of textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language)' (Catford 1969). Tamil-Hindi bilingual writers have tried to give equivalent words or expressions in their writings from their mother tongue. But they have not always been successful in translating their ideas from Tamil to Hindi.

For example,
1. CªÉÉ iÉÖ¨½þÉ®äú ¤ÉÆvÉÖ iÉÖ¨½åþ PÉä®úEò®ú ®ú½äþ ½éþ*
-- +ɱɴÉÉ®ú ¦ÉCiÉÉå EòÉ iɇ¨É±É |ɤÉÆvɨÉ +Éè®ú ˽þnùÒ EÞò¹hÉ Eò®ÂúÏ[´ªÉ, {ÉÞ. 499

In some places these writers have almost literally translated Tamil proverbs or particular expressions into Hindi. This type of translation will be called 'shift'. 'A shift (adaptation) is different from translation in the sense that in a shift no attempt is made to establish formal equivalence. An Indianism classified as a shift is usually an adaptation of an underlying formal item of an Indian language which provides its source' (Kachru 1965). Shift can be explained and understood in a better way if considered with their appropriate contextual units from the Tamil culture.

For example,

1. ¨ÉÒ`äö nÚùvÉ ¨Éå ¨ÉCJÉÒ {Éc÷ VÉɪÉäMÉÒ,
+½ÆþEò EòÒ BEò ¤ÉÚÆnù ºÉä ½þÒ nÚùvÉ ‡´É¹É ¤ÉxÉ VÉɪÉäMÉÉ*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 153

2. ½þ¨ÉÉ®äú nùɨ{ÉiªÉ VÉÒ´ÉxÉ EòÒ Eò½þÉxÉÒ BEò ®úººÉÒ ºÉä ¤ÉÆvÉä SÉÚ½äþ-¨ÉåføEò EòÒ ºÉÒ ½þÉä MɪÉÒ ½èþ*
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 151

Phonology:

Bilingualism may modify the foreign words by changing its pronunciation. The foreign word may undergo changes at the phonological level. This occurs regularly in the speech of certain types of bilinguals. Like other types of interference, this is often the result of what Weinreich has called interlingual identification, the practice of bilinguals of equating features of one language, with those of the other. Though we have included only written materials of Tamil-Hindi bilinguals in our study, it is assumed that the written forms of these words attest the way in which they are pronounced by these authors. Our analysis is based on this assumption.

It is found that aspirated consonants give trouble to Tamil-Hindi writers. In some examples aspiration is lost, while in some other cases aspirated consonants are used in the place of non-aspirated.

Loss of aspiration Tamil-Hindi equivalent
Hindi word
`äö±ÉEò®ú ]äõ±ÉEò®ú
`äöºÉ ]äõºÉ
+ÉvÉÒ +ÉnùÒ

Aspirated in place of unaspirated consonants -

Hindi word Tamil-Hindi equivalent
VÉɱÉÒ ZÉɱÉÒ
VÉÒ´ÉxÉ-nùÉxÉ VÉÒ´ÉxÉ-vÉÉxÉ
ºÉc÷Eò ºÉgøEò

Alveolar sibilants instead of palatal sibilants -

Hindi Tamil-Hindi
{Éɇ±É"É {Éɇ±ÉºÉ

Tamil-Hindi writers have used long vowels in place of short vowels and vice-versa in some places

Hindi word Tamil-Hindi equivalent
ºÉÖ‡¨ÉjÉÉ ºÉÖ¨ÉÒjÉÉ
‡´ÉVÉªÉ ´ÉÒVɪÉ
‡´É…ÉÉºÉ ´ÉÒ…ÉɺÉ
¯û‡SÉ ¯û‡SÉ
+É…ÉɺÉxÉ +…ɺÉxÉ
®úÉVÉÉYÉÉ ®úÉVÉYÉÉ

Some phonological changes are peculiar.

For example,
Hindi word Tamil-Hindi equivalent
{ÉÉ®úJÉÒ {ÉÉ®úJÉÚ
nù½äþVÉ näù½äþVÉ

Unusual Expressions

Some of the usages of Tamil-Hindi writers sound unusual to standard Hindi speakers.

Example,
1. EÞò¹hÉ ¦ÉÉMÉ´ÉiÉ®ú Eäò ºÉÆMÉÒiÉ ¨Éå ªÉ½þÒ ¨É½þÉxÉ ±ÉɱɺÉÉ ‡´ÉtɨÉÉxÉ lÉÒ +Éè®ú iÉ¤É CªÉÉ ¤É±É¨¤ÉÉ±É Eäò ‡nù±É ¨Éå ªÉ½þ ±ÉɱɺÉÉ xɽþÓ lÉÒ ?
-- ¾þnùªÉxÉÉnù, {ÉÞ. 201

2. ºÉ´Éä®úÉ ½þÉäxÉä {É®ú Uô& ¤ÉVÉä Eäò +Ænù®ú +ªªÉÆMÉÉ®ú EòÉ º´É®ú ±Éc÷JÉc÷ÉxÉä ±ÉMÉÉ*
-- iɇ¨É±É Eò½þɇxɪÉÉÄ, {ÉÞ. 72

On the basis of these examples we can conclude that

(1) Non-human words (words belonging to neuter gender) of Tamil are classified under masculine and feminine gender in Tamil-Hindi without reference to the Hindi gender classification. Hindi gender system and Tamil gender system are quite different because Hindi has a grammatical gender and Tamil has a natural gender. Due to this reason Tamil-Hindi writers have used inappropriate genders for some words.
(2) Number, tense, and person concord is not maintained properly.

(3) Use of postpositions in also deviant.

(4) Due to literal translation, proper word order is not maintained.

(5) Some phonological changes take place arbitrarily.