Cutting the Chai has moved to a new domain: cuttingthechai.com.
You can get in touch with Soumyadip at www.soumyadip.com.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Indian English Primer

What is the difference between an alphabet and a letter? Many people (including some editors) confuse alphabet for letter. 'Z' is a letter, not an alphabet. It isn't the alphabet Z, it is the letter Z. Alphabet is the complete character set - A to Z (or whatever, according to the script), letters are the elements within.

Here's a primer in the alphabet (with translations in Devanagri/Hindi). Note the classic drawing style, also found in calendar art and early movie posters. Reminds me of my nursery classes. Kids (and even grownups) were as a rule - chubby, reflecting the traditional Indian preferences, until anorexic models filled magazine pages and the boob tube.

Indian English Primer

Indian English Primer

Indian English Primer

Indian English Primer

Indian English Primer

Indian English Primer

2 Comments:

Admin said...

Hey Buddy.. Sorry for the off topic comment but...

Please check this post http://anthonysmirror.blogspot.com/2007/04/search-h1b-official-website-on-google.html out.

Some anti-outsourcing, hate site have google bombed the key word h1b official website.
We will just try to beat that site in their own game. Since you also a pretty popular and authoritative blog, your support will be very precious :)

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

As I struggle to master Devanagari, this is a great reminder of the tribulations of transliteration in either direction.

Plus it reminded me of a very sweet little girl I met in a school near Amritsar last summer...http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/346035927_cc8919b390.jpg