The Globalization of Hindi

Abstract

Hindi is spoken by 800-900 million people at present, making it one of the three most spoken languages in the world. In India alone, where more than 400 dialects and languages are spoken, Hindi is spoken by more than 26 crore of population. With global interaction, communication in trade and business, commerce, science and technology, art and culture, andeducation, the Hindi has spread all over the world. Today, the speakers of Hindi are found worldwide, in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Guyana, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, New Zealna, the Philippines, Singapore, Italy, France, Russia, Korea and Hungary. Mauritius,Surinam, Fiji, and Trinidad deserve special mention because the language was established through the settlements of Indian labourers during the British Raj, who continue to preserved their language, religion and customs in these countries. Hindi is accepted as a formal language of UNESCO, while there are constant efforts to make Hindi one of the languages of the United Nations Organisation, along with English Spanish, Chinese, Russian, French and Arabic Hindi is taught at various levels in over 70 countries and in 175 universities. This paper examines various aspects of the growth and spread of Hindi including its effect on contemporary culture, cinema, advertising, its role as a language of the internet, and the developments in teaching Hindi.