You might be wondering, what does ‘Hinglish’ mean, right? Well, Hinglish is nothing but when we talk in English language and Hindi both. When we combine both English and Hindi languages in one sentence while we speak, it is known as Hinglish. Yes, it happens to the majority of us, at times we don’t even realize that we include Hindi and English in our daily conversations. Knowingly or unknowingly, we include such types of statements in our daily lives including our professional lives at times too. It is the hybrid use of English and South Asian languages across the Indian subcontinent which involves code-switching or even translating between these languages where they are freely interchanged between sentences or within sentences.

The term Hindi+English was first recorded in 1967. The term is not entirely in Hindi but it is used I. India, with English words mixed in Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi. Hinglish is also used to refer to Hindi written in English script while mixing it with English words with phrases. Most commonly, Hinglish is used and is heard in urban and semi-urban areas of Hindi-speaking states of India. It is also spoken by the Indian diaspora.

Research shows that people are more comfortable and fluent in speaking Hindi+English rather than pure English. The number of people who speak is on the rise. David Crystal, who is a British linguist at the University of Wales, had projected in 2004 that at about 350 million, the world’s speakers speaking Hindi+English may soon outnumber native English speakers.

The fun fact states that a dictionary using the Hinglish term has already been published and it covers a number of words from Indian languages that are commonly used in urban Britain.

Nowadays, Hindi+English is a language that is used widely in social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. People feel more friendly and comfortable when they choose the Hinglish language as a medium to converse. The weird part about speaking Hindi+English happens with the people who are not so fluent while speaking pure English, or when they are not so confident that they will be able to deliver the required message, or they will not be clearly able to make the opposite person understand what they want to say. India is a country that is positioned as the second-largest population in the world who speak English while many speak multiple languages.

Being fluent in English is considered to be highly prestigious for job success and upward mobility. Acquiring fluency in English, or in any other language requires rich and consistent language exposure. Hinglish is not an official language in the census reports. Most of the Indians being bilingual or trilingual, cannot speak in their mother tongue without the help of the English language. At home, we speak In our mother tongue, at schools we speak in English and if you live in a non-Hindi speaking state learn that language to communicate in the society.

India is going through both the industrial and information revolutions at the same time. Families are migrating to urban areas for better lifestyles and job opportunities. India consists of various and multiple languages and hence it is impossible for an individual to know all the languages. Since English is a very common language, they tend to speak that language. Hinglish language is not only used out of necessity but it is also used as a proud demonstration that you are modern and locally grounded.

The major defining characteristic of Hinglish is that the speakers tend to naturally switch between two or more languages, preferably Hindi and English merging into one. Hinglish is an old phenomenon. The British rule of Raj in India was central to the genesis of Hinglish. Currently, most of the parents send their children to English convent schools where all lessons are taught in English but ironically, although officially equipped for ‘English’, the students actually emerge speaking a language that is not really Hindi or English, but between the two. And that is how Hinglish grows stronger with each generation!

Apart from this, Bollywood has taken up the trend and played a vital role in the emergence of Hinglish. Many mainstream Bollywood movies contain both actual titles and spoken dialogue in Hinglish: “Love Aaj Kal (Or Love Today Tomorrow)” and “Badmaash Company (A Company of Dishonest Undisciplined Men)” both successfully use the Hinglish language in their actual titles and exploit the growing trend towards a multi-faceted, interchangeable language base.

Hinglish has been the most exciting, evolving, and growing language in the world.

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