Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Language Loss and Marginalisation in India: Migration, Caste, and the Waddar Speech Community

Language Loss and Marginalisation in India: Migration, Caste, and the Waddar Speech Community

Ghodke, Digambar M.

Hardcover

Foreign Language GeneralLinguisticsAnthropology

ISBN10: 3032353351
ISBN13: 9783032353351
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: Sep 29 2026
Pages: 307
Language: English

This book examines how caste, poverty, migration, and education contribute to language loss in India through the case of the Waddar community, a semi-nomadic De-notified Tribe whose ancestral Dravidian language, Waddari, is endangered. It combines sociolinguistics, ethnography, and political economy to explain why marginalized communities experience rapid language shift. Across its chapters, the book traces the historical legacy of colonial criminalisation, caste-based exclusion, labour migration, and state language and education policies that weaken intergenerational language transmission. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with Waddar speakers across generations, it explores changing language use, bilingualism, identity, and aspirations for social mobility. Situating the Waddar experience within broader debates on language endangerment, linguistic justice, and multilingual education, the book offers insights relevant to India and the Global South. It will appeal to researchers and students of sociolinguistics, anthropology, education, caste studies, and language policy.

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