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Hindi and Urdu are similar because of how they evolved and they are essentially the vernacular of parts of Northern India and Pakistan. Other Indian languages a

Hindi and Urdu are similar because of how they evolved and they are essentially the vernacular of parts of Northern India and Pakistan. Other Indian languages are nowhere near as similar to each other as Hindi and Urdu are to each other. Another thing to note is that the vernacular as spoken in India on the street is often not one single language. It's often a mix and the fact that it's understandable to you so long as you speak one Indian language should not surprise you. One thing Indians do subconsciously is adapt to using a mix of words and grammatical structure understandable to the group they are speaking to, for example when speaking to a well educated person who understands Hindi and English, I will frequently speak neither but rather Hinglish, mixing idioms and words from both languages in the same sentence, choosing words and idioms that most closely convey my thought. If I'm speaking to someone who also speaks Punjabi, I'll frequently throw in some Punjabi as well. None of this is done consciously. Also note that there are dialects even of Hindi. If you record Hindi spoken by someone from Bihar when speaking to someone else who also understands that dialect natively and only understands Hindi at the speed it's spoken may take someone from Punjab who also speaks Hindi some amount of focus to understand. However if you throw the person from Punjab into the mix of people speaking, the dialect and accent will adjust. This is something Indians never actually consciously realize they are doing. I only figured it out because I now have kids who we are raising in New York and teaching Hindi to and they haven't learned natively how to switch like that like kids growing up in India have. I've thought about this a bit and now think learning multiple "human" languages, ideally fairly different ones, should be absolutely required of everyone. Much like programming languages, there are certain thoughts you really can't think effectively in certain languages.

umanwizard 7y ago
> One thing Indians do subconsciously is adapt to using a mix of words and grammatical structure understandable to the group they are speaking to, for example when speaking to a well educated person who understands Hindi and English, I will frequently speak neither but rather Hinglish, mixing idioms and words from both languages in the same sentence, choosing words and idioms that most closely convey my thought. If I'm speaking to someone who also speaks Punjabi, I'll frequently throw in some Punjabi as well. This is called "code switching", a universal human phenomenon (not just in India) which I find extremely fascinating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching I have personally observed it happening between Spanish and English in ethnically Mexican communities in the Southwestern US, and ethnically Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in New York. Also between French and English on the streets of Montreal. > Also note that there are dialects even of Hindi. If you record Hindi spoken by someone from Bihar when speaking to someone else who also understands that dialect natively and only understands Hindi at the speed it's spoken may take someone from Punjab who also speaks Hindi some amount of focus to understand. However if you throw the person from Punjab into the mix of people speaking, the dialect and accent will adjust. This is true even in English, which is often considered (incorrectly) "not to have any dialects". I'm a native American English speaker, and I would have quite a bit of difficulty understanding a recording of a conversation between two people from rural Scotland or Northern England. But me and someone from those places would be able to communicate face-to-face just fine, slowing things down a bit and avoiding slang.

umanwizard 7y ago

> One thing Indians do subconsciously is adapt to using a mix of words and grammatical structure understandable to the group they are speaking to, for example when speaking to a well educated person who understands Hindi and English, I will frequently speak neither but rather Hinglish, mixing idioms and words from both languages in the same sentence, choosing words and idioms that most closely convey my thought. If I'm speaking to someone who also speaks Punjabi, I'll frequently throw in some Punjabi as well. This is called "code switching", a universal human phenomenon (not just in India) which I find extremely fascinating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching I have personally observed it happening between Spanish and English in ethnically Mexican communities in the Southwestern US, and ethnically Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in New York. Also between French and English on the streets of Montreal. > Also note that there are dialects even of Hindi. If you record Hindi spoken by someone from Bihar when speaking to someone else who also understands that dialect natively and only understands Hindi at the speed it's spoken may take someone from Punjab who also speaks Hindi some amount of focus to understand. However if you throw the person from Punjab into the mix of people speaking, the dialect and accent will adjust. This is true even in English, which is often considered (incorrectly) "not to have any dialects". I'm a native American English speaker, and I would have quite a bit of difficulty understanding a recording of a conversation between two people from rural Scotland or Northern England. But me and someone from those places would be able to communicate face-to-face just fine, slowing things down a bit and avoiding slang.