Page:Gurujadalu English.djvu/337

 they all have something in common in almost every sound they utter.’ (page 8)

53. In some countries of Europe conditions of standard speech prevail, compared to which, the conditions of Telugu in respect of uniformity may be considered ideal. Darmester says in his Historical French Grammar, “and yet in spite of the triumph of the absolute monarchy and of three centuries of general and local administration in which the language of Paris alone was used and in spite of the rise of the marvellous literature which has given to French an unrivalled position in the eyes of the world, the language has not yet achieved the conquest of the whole land. At the present day, Provencal in the cities of the south and local Patois in the greater part of the country districts belonging to the Langue d’oui, are still spoken side by side with French; in the country districts of the south the peasants hardly know any other speech but their Patois; the Basque region and lower Britanny have been hardly affected at all by French.” (page 36)

STANDARD SPOKEN TELUGU

54. What the Sub-Committee condemns as unsound in principle, the imposition of the dialect of one part of a country on the other parts as the standard language, is exactly the process which occurred in the formation of standard speech at every turn in linguistic history. Everywhere the speech of courts and of centres of learning displaced its neighbours less favourably situated and developed into a standard language.

55. There is little doubt that the same process occurred also in the Telugu country in the distant past. Whatever the old school may say to the contrary, eminent scholars and the people of the Telugu country are agreed that there is a dialect which is acknowledged as the standard. It is no other than the Telugu of the Krishna and the Godavari Districts.