Science and Telugu ...
Ramarao Kanneganti
0) What does it mean by writing in Telugu?
I would say, use Telugu with the English words for technical words
unless there is a common telugu equivalence to it. For example,
seetakOka chiluka for butterfly, but fern instead of whatever it is in
telugu. If a child is forced to learn a new word, make him learn the
international word. I mean, not many kids will know the word "jyaa"
for "chord". Since both are new words, use the word "chord" which will
be useful for the kid later.
1) Who is the intended audience?
All those kids [roughly 70%] who are in villages; whose parents speak
only Telugu; who predominently read Telugu. For them, the burden of
learning a new language is big and should be avoided [be it sanskrit
or hindi or english] in science books. If it needs to, use English
words since the reader, at later age, can read the English books.
Unless these kids get interested in science they cannot get ahead in
school and hence can never hope to read the English science books.
3) What science?
Obviously there are several science books that can be written, in
several styles. The most obvious choice is the one that relates to the
native circumstances and tools. Then the reader can relate to it much
better. If such a choice is not avilable, the writer should make an
effort to not to lose the reader in the complex cultural slant in the
scientific narration.
4) What about the original science?
You probably mean original technology. Our idea is to teach kids and
make them understand the uses of S&T. A original scientific article
deserves a bigger and wider audience. A technological solution solving
a local problem needs a proper explanation to the local audience.
5) What about Telugu?
Frankly, my aim would not be to "save" Telugu. I believe teaching S&T
to the underprevileged empowers them and enables them to take their
destiny into their hands. That is why I am partial to Telugu books. If
I want Telugu to flourish, I would make better Telugu movies :-). [No
doubt, a rich Telugu society probably will "save" Telugu, that might
come via better Telugu novels, movies, art forms etc.]
-- rama
Murthy Gandikota
>Let us be sensible and see what we want to achieve:
>
>Obviously there are several science books that can be written, in
>several styles. The most obvious choice is the one that relates to the
>native circumstances and tools. Then the reader can relate to it much
>better. If such a choice is not avilable, the writer should make an
>effort to not to lose the reader in the complex cultural slant in the
>scientific narration.
>
>4) What about the original science?
>
>You probably mean original technology. Our idea is to teach kids and
>make them understand the uses of S&T. A original scientific article
>deserves a bigger and wider audience. A technological solution solving
>a local problem needs a proper explanation to the local audience.
I can't flame my old pal from APRJC without burning my tail :-) Rama,
how can we convey the essence of Fermet's last theorem,
(even England-based mathematicians are having a hard time following
through the proof; it is also interesting to note that Fermat was a
French mathematician and he made his comment about a simple proof to a
Greek mathematician's challenge (x**n+y**n=z**n is unsolvable with
integer n>1) in French! They (the translators) don't even know
whether he meant solvable or unsolvable, simple or hard!! They all
assumed that he meant he had a simple proof. A lot of the devil is in
the translation. This leads several people to question the veracity of
Fermat himself. Did he ever formulate any equation for challenge at
all? Or is all of this talk mere speculation as to what he actually
meant, not overlooking the fact that he was an amateur mathematician
like you and me and Vikram and Vijay and the invincible KSN back at
the rough ol' APRJC, some better but none experts :-))
or Godel's incompleteness theorem (I once read a translation of a
Russian's "succinct proof" which ran over 100 pages! I threw it with
McDonald food-holders :-() , in Telugu, without assuming the
reader's ability to comprehend "english-based" math/logic jargon?
How can you tell them how computers work in telugu, without making a
fairy tale out of it? I know you're both a telugu and computer
scholar, but would you do it? I mean beyond RIT. Can we make a true
translation, whether machine-based or natural intelligence-based, but
not like an evolutionary search (which you keep repeating: let the
language evolve), without hitting NP-completeness?
I don't know a lot in science, but I can tell you that engineering is
a tough cookie to crack. If in between the translations, we lost the
stress tolerance of a concrete block, then we would end up with a ton
of concrete in the river or on someone's head. We can't afford
reinventing the wheel (a lot of engineering is trial and error)
because someone failed to make proper translations. Do you know that
without Perry's Handbook (an english book for chemical engineers), in
spite of good science, half the good chemical engineers will go
bonkers? Of course, you can translate it into english. Then Perry
refers to a thousand other english books. Are we gonna chase them down
too?
I still think we need science and technology in the form of telugu
literature, to inspire and challenge naive people (including kids and
grown-ups) to reach for that technologically advanced society. It's
another thing whether we like to call it "oven" or "kumpati." But you
can't refute that the design of magnetic coils inside the kumpati
involves some english knowledge (a lot depends upon whether you're
copying another patent/blue-print or making something new; now, that's
also the case in India---a lot is copied "makkiki makki" as they say
near Charminar when the ECTV designers/engineers exchange their vows,
to make matters even worse from Carla Hill's point of view :-).
Regards,
--
Murthy Gandikota (908) 582-5860
Rm. 6H-514 , Building 6, P.O.Box 636
Mountain Avenue
Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636, USA
Ramana Juvvadi
I wouldn't argue survival of Telugu is not an end in itself.
It cannot be separated from the survival of Telugu speaking people itself.
As pointed out by Bapa Rao, the power of Telugu speaking people
can be increased by
(1) Telugu a more powerful language
(2) By abandoning Telugu altogether and jumping onto the English
bandwagon
Difficult as making Telugu a more powerful language may be, jettisoning
Telugu altogether will be even more difficult. I am not saying this out
of personal prejudice. The people who are already proficient in English rarely
appreciate the difficulties of people who are not so proficient.
Even if we assume that all the Telugus can make a transition, we can
never be the owners of the language. It will simply condemn us to
intellectual slavery. It will accord our society a second class status.
To give you an anology from computer world, you have a unique advantage
if you are Microsoft and everybody in the world is using DOS.
I am of course assuming that even with the talk of information age,
wholesale miscegenation of the entire globe is unlikely to occur in the
foreseeable future.
The discussion started as science writing. In general, there is very little
material available in Telugu on any subject. What about history? economics?
I am not sure I would place emphasis on science alone. Science writing is
probably the most difficult because of its specialized vocabulary.
From the government standpoint, I think the highest priority should be placed
on converting the administration and judiciary to regional languages.
It is one way of ensuring
better delivery of justice to millions of illiterates and semi-literates.
So far, governments have paid only lip service to this matter. As
Ram Manohar Lohia said English in Administration and judiciary is a means
of oppression. Typical court arguments in Telugu are seen only in movies.
Yet, one needs to remember that lives of millions of people are at stake
here.
Ramana
Bapa Rao
>1) Who is the intended audience?
>
>All those kids [roughly 70%] who are in villages; whose parents speak
>only Telugu; who predominently read Telugu. For them, the burden of
>learning a new language is big and should be avoided [be it sanskrit
>or hindi or english] in science books. If it needs to, use English
>words since the reader, at later age, can read the English books.
>Unless these kids get interested in science they cannot get ahead in
>school and hence can never hope to read the English science books.
I would also include in the intended audience
adults who are literate in Telugu or who are the
target of a literacy campaign. It seems to me that this audience will
benefit from basic exposure to science, technology, health,
economics etc. in matters that are the subject of official policy in
their environment.
Bapa Rao
My personal views