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POLL - "Minglish" for Official Language

I am sure many of you are aware of the term "Minglish". If not, it is very common amongst South Asians where we tend to mix a bit of Urdu or Hindi while still basically speaking in English. Its a very easy method to mingle with the crowd who is speaking English and very YO at it, I must add. In fact, its very recent that many people have started speaking good correct English otherwise, until recently, I must confess, I also was of the Minglish crowd. Not everybody gets to speak English at home and even in schools including English medium ones, you only do so in class maybe. Hence, Minglish gets you into a conversation where you can easily move out of English and step back in when comfortable.

Minglish however remains one of the most HIT languages in the world still and my post is about ensuring that it enters the list of languages that appear on almost each website which gives you the option to choose your Main Language. I recently joined a few Sharing sites which are,

  1. StumbleUpon

  2. Digg

  3. Delicious

  4. Technorati

  5. Newsvine

  6. Mixx


P.S. Yes, I took the opportunity to let you know, I am on the above websites now and you are free to find and link up with me. Thanks.

Anyway, while doing the continuous exercise of creating accounts there, this thought came to my mind as to which language should I chose which could be the official language of my blog. English is what everybody chooses but is it really English? I do tend to use some Urdu or Sindhi words in my blogposts always ensuring that I translate it as well for my "Wilaiti" (foreign) readers. I have seen others do the same. So, I decided if Minglish were an official language on the list, then I am sure lots of us would choose that as the main language for the blog.

We could suggest the following official definition for "Minglish":

"Minglish is a language famous with South Asians which mix Urdu or Hindi while basically speaking English on the outlook. It is a combination of Mix or Mingle with English to come up with the Portmanteau Word , Minglish"

P.S... 

I am trying out POLLs on my website so please VOTE here for whether you would like Minglish as an official language on all websites on the Internet or not. You can also vote on the sidebar Polls widget on the right.

I will keep the poll open until enough votes have been cast and we have a direction. Thanks, as always.

14 comments:

  1. DaanishDecember 27, 2008 at 2:41 PM

    My vote is for Minglish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ZambeelDecember 27, 2008 at 3:19 PM

    Nice Idea, though I think the implementation of minglish should be left to the social networking sites and informal blogs only, as too much use of minglish will ultimately have bad effects on the two languages that make it originally i.e Urdu and english.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AfaqueDecember 27, 2008 at 3:52 PM

    Well I would still prefer either complete URDU or complete ENGLISH... I mean a sentence must be spoken using a single language... I dont want to mar the beauty of either by mixing up...
    btw ur polls not working...

    ReplyDelete
  4. LareineDecember 27, 2008 at 5:11 PM

    i think conversation-wise, it's ok... but writing in a mixed language would pose a bit of a problem... if words from language A is used to replace those in language B, i guess, we can always look them up in the dictionary...

    but what if the grammatical rules of language A is used in writing language B and the other way around? for those who are familiar with the two languages, i guess they can understand it... but what about those who only know one of the languages?...

    and speaking of grammatical rules, what if speaker A uses the rules of language A on language B and speaker B uses the rules of language B on language A? but then again, if the audience is familiar with these two languages, it won't be too much of a problem...

    i guess, the bottom line is, if your audience knows "minglish" or have a certain degree of familiarity with Urdu, Hindi, and English, it would be a sensible choice... but if you have other readers who can only understand one of the languages cited, i think it won't be easy for them (unless you're going to provide a translation)... there's always google translator, but then, what if it uses the grammatical rules of english to translate minglish and the minglish user uses the grammatical rules of Urdu or Hindi in his writings?...

    but using "minglish" can be a good start in establishing it as language with its own syntax and grammar...

    in any case, i hope you're enjoying the holiday season:)


    well if most of your audience use "minglish" it depends on your audience...

    ReplyDelete
  5. SaadatDecember 27, 2008 at 7:16 PM

    At the risk of sounding too much of a prude who can't see the lighter side of things, let me disagree with your idea.

    I have used Urdu (and on some rare occasions, even Punjabi) words and phrases in my blog posts. In fact, some of my earliest blog readers liked the very thing about my writing, though I was certainly not the first to do it. Injecting Urdu words within an English passage may be done for several reasons: it can be humour; it can be used for explaining/emphasizing a certain thing or concept; or it can be used because, if translated, it would lose its flavour.

    Now take a closer look at the above reasons. They deal more with how you are expressing things, or the overall effect of the things being narrated. They have, to the best of my knowledge, very little to do with language. (OK, fine, languages ARE used for expressing things, but I hope you can understand the difference.) Arabic speakers may mix English words in their sentences. An Englishman might use some French to convey his point. And heck, even while speaking Urdu, we mostly use English words. (Self-quiz: Do you use the word 'waqt' instead of 'time'?)

    Also, as Lareine noted above, sorting out the grammar of Minglish will not be an easy job. If, in return, it is argued that a grammar is not needed for Minglish, then I am afraid it can't be a language. A language always has a grammar. :)

    Take a look at this link, though. You might find it interesting.

    Oh, and your polls page is displaying your previous poll.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SaadatDecember 27, 2008 at 7:17 PM

    Oops, I screwed up with the link in the previous comment. My apologies; please correct it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. lubzDecember 27, 2008 at 10:02 PM

    I vouch for the minglish too..why limiting your blog to just one lingo??

    ReplyDelete
  8. utpDecember 28, 2008 at 8:41 PM

    @daanish - well I am trying out POLLS...so appreciate if you drop your vote there....on the sidebar or the POLLS page...

    @zambeel - hmm...I think that makes sense as well...maybe we could come up with something absolutely new is what I had in mind...but yes...the originality will go....TRUE...

    @afaque - you speak like my dad...but yeah...you are right in your own way...

    @lareine - WOW!!! You amaze me....are you one of those students in universities who just have to do research on the slightest of things? hehehe...I do get the feeling...

    I think however I do get your point where the issues would occur....which language takes over which would remain the issue...however I still believe, its such a casual language that people don't think too much about grammar and stuff with it...u just have to make sense to the other person...

    @saadat - hmm...I got a feeling of vague agreement in your comment heheh...mr denial...

    @lubz - that makes 3 of us now...the polls...however do not reflect that...

    ReplyDelete
  9. churningthewordmillDecember 30, 2008 at 1:26 PM

    so there is minglish too? i only knew of hinglish which is a mix of hindi and english... im not really for making it an official language...btw, i voted on ur poll.
    mandira

    ReplyDelete
  10. SpecsDecember 30, 2008 at 10:00 PM

    I would like to be a master of conlang! Minglish is what we would call 'necessary but not sufficient'

    I like the idea, though, LOL :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. utpDecember 31, 2008 at 12:37 AM

    @churningthewordmill - OH YES...well minglish is the general form of anything mixed with English...hinglish works as well I suppose...havent heard of that one before though...

    @specs - conlang?

    ReplyDelete
  12. joieJanuary 2, 2009 at 11:53 PM

    he he
    Yeahh minglish is a the easiest way to connect with all readers..
    Sometimes its d best way to express...Some words from slang...which actually have no form to express...
    I do prefer to write in minglish at times.

    ReplyDelete
  13. utpJanuary 4, 2009 at 2:20 AM

    @joie - see...I knew it...thats why the post...most bloggers like this language and readers dont mind either...so did you vote?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Syed Tayyab AliMay 17, 2009 at 1:20 AM

    @UTP: But what is the way to add it in the list of official language?

    ReplyDelete

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