If Patra-harittu is the Chlorophyll of Kannada, Green-in-leaf is the Ele-hasiru of English.

Hosa Padanerake
(pic: totalkannada.com)

A FEW weeks ago a modern dictionary of English to Kannada words was unraveled to the world. This new dictionary presents words that have been built, not coined; built mostly by common men albeit using highly scientifically studied methods. The dict also reveals these methods to make word building go viral in Kannada.

While words in Kannada today are coined mostly out of nowhere or, as has been found till now, out of Sanskrit sources, words in this book are built using existing parts (roots) and principles of grammar that are both in vogue among common speakers of Kannada. This finds a parallel in medieval English where similar practices have led to foreign coinage of words displacing native ones. Given the original purpose of words to act as pieces that aid in forming a reliable picture of the world around, coined words fare very poorly against their built counterparts.

The word Chlorophyll, for instance, a coined fusion of two Greek words khloros and phyllon is a rather rude puzzle for first time introduction even to native English speakers because it doesn’t use the Englishman’s native words nor does it use his methods of fusing words. However, a simpler English phrase – green-in-leaf – conveying the same meaning is never found in use whereas it ought to be. Likewise for most new words in semi-modern science textbooks.

If that is the fate of English words and English speaking people, the situation in Kannada is even worse. The correlation of object names and concepts to mental pictures in Kannadigas today has to cross not just the hurdle of English, but also cross a higher hurdle of Sanskrit, another language much less understood among Kannadigas. To this effect the patra-harittu found in Kannada textbooks is a tougher candidate to believe to be an equivalent of Chlorophyll. The path shown by this dictionary suggests a plain Kannada alternative, ele-hasiru, that immediately blows the confusion out of Kannada minds and helps people get straight down to business!

This new dictionary re-introduces to Kannadigas their traditional methods of building words from existing roots, prefixes, suffixes & other articles in common use. This dictionary is what Kannadigas need to bridge the gap between chlorophyll and the object it refers to in reality. This dictionary sows seeds of confidence and belief in Kannadiga minds that should make them trust roots from their own language more while building new words. This is the only way Kannadiga community can not only participate well in the new modern world, but also be one of its significant contributors. In fact this is the only way even native Englishmen can participate and contribute more to the modern world!