Protect language from puritans!
It must be last week or the week before when I spotted a poster. It
was about a seminar graced by four Sinhala scholars. The fact that I
speak Sinhala as my mother tongue unfortunately doesn't grant me an
authoritative knowledge on its grammar and literature. In all honesty I
am Lilliputian to comment on whatever Sinhala scholars must have had
gone into. But Lilliputs should have their chance too, I believe. Or at
least I guess so.
Headline in the poster was catchy. Very, I mean, since it read:
Sahitya Bera Ganiv (rescue the literature - I sense there's something
wrong with my translation, though). It brought me a smile at first. It
reminded me of some university or trade union slogan often ending with
Bera Ganiv. From whom should we rescue the literature, there was no
telling.
Seeing one name in the list, I remembered a book condemned by him.
The book is Liyanage Amarakeerthi's Atawaka Puttu. That scholar who
condemned the book remarks the work ignores standards and norms. I don't
want to testify against this scholar, because he is truly a scholar. But
even so I think he goes too far when he says Amarakeerthi ignores
standards and norms.
 I
am all cheers if someone is to ignore standards and norms, but on
conditions. To ignore standards and norms, you have to know them first.
If you don't know your driving properly, you will end up skidding off
highway. When you know your wheel good and proper then you can act out
any stunt you fancy. I know such drivers haven't got a single accident
in their lives.
Driving and literature are poles apart, but still I cannot help
seeing some resemblance for this matter.
Since I haven't read Liyanage Amarakeerthi's Atavaka Puttu (only
thumbed through the pages), I can't say if he has done a superb job. But
I didn't see anything horrible like I have seen in some works seemingly
authored by semi-literates.
Siri Gunasinghe dropped Mahaprana, because he felt it was not
necessary.
Ajith Tilakasena dropped those vowel-like symbols in Sinhala.
Parakrama Kodituwakku played naughty with grammar at times. e. e.
cummings got rid of caps because he enjoyed the beauty of simplicity
more (daya dissanayaka follows it in his Sri Lankan English). And mind
you they all knew their English or Sinhala well, and what they did
stemmed from the disenchantment with the proper standards and norms.
Language lovers cannot perform this miracle. I say to them alone.
If you love your language, that means you are a puritan. Not to say
that puritans are a useless bunch of idiots. If not for them, our issue
would never catch up basics. Remember I mentioned just above a few
lines, basics should be learnt before breaking ranks.
Love of language is necessary, but not essential. But puritans should
not intervene in manipulating the language. Language should be cut and
chopped, if we need to witness the glamour of literature's evolution.
I remember two people so concerned about language: Professor Larry
Trask on English and D. F. Kariyakarawana on Sinhala. Prof Trask has
written numerous books including 'Mind your Gaffe' sort of a zero
tolerance attitude to grammar violations. Kariyakaravana continues his
mission in newspapers. They do a tremendously valuable task. Whenever we
don't know what's right or what's wrong, we prefer them to those drab
grammar books.
That leaves me comparing English with Sinhala. I have a slight
feeling that English has gone far ahead. Firstly it is widely used
across the globe - there are so many to ignore puritans. Secondly it is
nourished by so many other languages and the standards trail off very
fast.
When it comes to Sinhala, I dare think it's somewhat different. Only
Sri Lankans speak and write Sinhala. And of course we are a nation that
brags about our kids raised in foreign lands when they stammer in mother
tongue - this clan houses expats too. So hardly any way if we speak or
write in Sinhala abroad.
English and Sinhala: if put on sale, the former is competitively
priced for sure. So puritans can easily barbwire the evolution of
literature.
If someone new tries out language, he will be knifed down by a
puritan never to rise again. It's so easy since we Sinhalese still roam
in a dark enclave - puritans paint our worlds with bleak shadows. And it
affects language in the long run. That's why maybe I have dropped
reading Sinhala novels for sometime.
Literature is not just loving the language. It's seducing,
manipulating, manhandling - or anything you name - the language. In our
literature lesson I remember my Sinhala teacher picked up every single
grammar point. So in the end we became pretty much good at grammar. Even
in some Mass Media schools, masters give prominence to grammar. But
journalism is not only grammar - neither does literature - any Tom (or
may be Dick or Harry) will know that. We end up trying to think along
grammar. What is it other than becoming a slave of language, when we
should actually let our thoughts float and steer on the language.
Let emotions leap out. Let words roll through. But puritans don't let
us.
Pity us! Did I ever tell you that?
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