The first volume of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India brings to the reader the journey undertaken in 2010, by a group of visionaries led by G. N. Devy to document the languages of India as they existed then. The aim of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India was to document these languages, spoken in India’s remotest corners. India’s towns and cities too have found a voice in this survey. What this journey did was to bring a groundswell of support from people from all walks of life, leading to The Being of Bhasha.

G. N. Devy, taught at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda till 1996, before leaving to set up the Bhasha Research Centre in Baroda and the Adivasi academy at Tejgadh where he has since worked towards conserving and promoting the languages and culture of indigenous and nomadic communities. He has also been the recipient of many awards for his work in literature, tribal craft and language conservation. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014. He is the Chief Editor of the PLSI series.

Acknowledgements

Prologue

The National Editorial Collective

List of Volumes

 1. The Living Indian Languages

2. Language: Speech and Writing

3. What is the People’s Linguistic Survey?

4. The PLSI Process

5. The Being of Bhasha

 References

 Appendix 1: Some Growing Non-Scheduled Languages

Appendix 2: The UNESCO List of Languages in Danger

Appendix 3: The Unclassified ‘Mother Tongues’ in the 1961 Census

Appendix 4: Languages Known to the Country

 Index