Romanisation of Indian languages: a diachronic analysis of its failure

Abstract

<p>This paper will cover the rich but understudied history of the usage of the Roman script (ABCD…XYZ) for the languages of the Indian Subcontinent. The romanisation of languages in various non-European multilingual regions, such as East and South-East Asia, Africa and the Middle East, has been relatively well-documented and studied. However, any comprehensive diachronic analysis of the—ultimately unsuccessful—attempts at romanising languages in India has yet to appear. This paper is an initial effort in that direction.</p> <p>This paper comprises two sections. The first section, spanning the years 1616 to 1947, will first deal with the initial efforts by Europeans in India to transcribe Indian languages in the Roman script. It will then describe the subsequent attempts by various European and Indian proponents to introduce a uniform romanisation system throughout India, and their eventual failure. The second section will seek to answer various questions that arise during the preceding historical analysis, based on the Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Romanisation (Aytürk 2010a, 2010b).</p> Since this paper largely deals with the period prior to the Partition of British India into modernday India and Pakistan in 1947, the term ‘India’ in this paper shall mean the entire Indian Subcontinent.