Topic Of The Day:-“English use”
As against this, the use of English is not seen through the perspective of a second language. Counting for this is restricted to the “mother tongue” category — in effect bringing down the figure substantially. Given the widespread use of English in education, law, administration, media and health care, a significant number of Indians use English as a utility language. To some extent it is the language of integration in our multilingual country. Therefore, isn’t the Census required to capture this reality? It can, given the data on the language of second preference, but it does not for reasons that need no spelling out. So the Census informs us that a total of 2,59,678 Indians speak English as their “mother tongue” — numerically accurate and semantically disastrous.
The language Census may not attract as much attention as news about fuel prices. But in the community of nations, the Indian census is bound to be discussed. A body such as UNESCO will look at it with interest. From the 1940s, when its General Council decided to establish a Translation Bureau to years later, in 2008, when its Executive Board debated “Multilingualism in the Context of Education for All”, UNESCO has progressively developed its vision and deepened its understanding of global linguistic diversity.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Humiliation
Meaning: The action of humiliating someone or the state of being humiliated.
Example: “They suffered the humiliation of losing in the opening round”
Synonyms: Embarrassment, Mortification
Antonyms: Honour
2) Anonymity
Meaning: Lack of outstanding, individual, or unusual features; impersonality.
Example: “The anonymity of big city life definitely has its advantages”
3) Compassion
Meaning: Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
Example: “The victims should be treated with compassion”
Synonyms: Pity, Sympathy
Antonyms: Indifference, Heartlessness
4) Mourned
Meaning: Feel regret or sadness about (the loss or disappearance of something).
Example: “Publishers mourned declining sales of hardback fiction”
Synonyms: Deplore, Bewail
Antonyms: Rejoice
5) Shrouded
Meaning: Wrap or dress (a body) in a shroud for burial.
Example: “The body was washed and shrouded”
6) Unrequited
Meaning: (Of a feeling, especially love) not returned.
Example: “He’s been pining with unrequited love”
7) Exterminated
Meaning: Destroy completely.
Example: “After exterminating the entire population, the soldiers set fire to the buildings”
Synonyms: Kill, Dispatch
8) Conflicts
Meaning: A serious incompatibility between two or more opinions, principles, or interests.
Example: “There was a conflict between his business and domestic life”
Synonyms: Clash, Incongruity
Antonyms: Harmony
9) Benign
Meaning: Gentle and kind.
Example: “His benign but firm manner”
Synonyms: Kindly, Gentle
Antonyms: Unfriendly, Hostile
10) Pegged
Meaning: Fix (a price, rate, or amount) at a particular level.
Example: “The dividend was pegged at 23.59p”
Synonyms: Fix, Control
11) Enumeration
Meaning: The action of mentioning a number of things one by one.
Example: “The complete enumeration of all possible genetic states”
12) Praise
Meaning: Express warm approval or admiration of.
Example: “We can’t praise Chris enough—he did a brilliant job”
Synonyms: Commend, Applaud
Antonyms: Criticize, Condemn
13) Linguistic
Meaning: Relating to language or linguistics.
Example: “A child’s linguistic ability”
Synonyms: Semantic, Lingual
14) Concerned
Meaning: Relate to; be about.
Example: “The story concerns a friend of mine”
Synonyms: Cover, Treat
15) Innocuous
Meaning: Not harmful or offensive.
Example: “It was an innocuous question”
Synonyms: Harmless, Safe
Antonyms: Harmful, Obnoxious
16) Yoked
Meaning: Something that connects two things or people, usually in a way that unfairly limits freedom.
Example: “Both countries had thrown off the communist yoke”
17) Inflated
Meaning: Increase (something) by a large or excessive amount.
Example: “Objectives should be clearly set out so as not to duplicate work and inflate costs”
Synonyms: Increase, Raise
Antonyms: Decrease, Depress
18) Perspective
Meaning: A particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view.
Example: “Most guidebook history is written from the editor’s perspective”
Synonyms: Outlook, View
19) Multilingual
Meaning: In or using several languages.
Example: “A multilingual dictionary”
20) Semantically
Meaning: (Of words and language) connected with meaning.
Example: “Words are semantic units that convey meaning”
