Desi vs marga as well as farengi

[Guest guest]

>From especially the writings of Prof. Ganesh N. Devy, my understanding of

'desi'-- as opposed to 'farengi' (an adjective which I must accept for myself

in India, even though among some users it IS clearly meant nastily or at

least critically, but not strictly as a racist slur, since probably other

"people of color" could also be so denominated, e.g., from Africa or East

Asia-- say, Malaysians, Indonesians, Fijis?)-- is that, outside popular

usage, it is more often contrasted with, defined in opposition to, marga--

the supposed general WAY in use throughout India, notably classical Sanskrit

conceived as a pan-Indian language -- among a smaller and smaller group these

days!

 

I would like to be further informed about the continuum (continua?) of usages

of these 3 terms.

 

John Oliver Perry

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[Guest guest]

>Joperry2@a... wrote:

>From especially the writings of Prof. Ganesh N. Devy, my

>understanding of 'desi'-- as opposed to 'farengi' (an adjective

>which I must accept for myself in India, even though among some

>users it IS clearly meant nastily or at least critically, but not

>strictly as a racist slur,

 

Some times even 'desi' is used in a nasty sense by Indians. It all

depends on situation, and how individuals are affected. When people

see corruption in locals they denounce desis and talk well about

firangs. When they feel nostalgic of ancient culture, they talk ill

of firangs.

 

I believe firangi may be an attribute and firang is a noun. People in

north and west who are exposed to firangs may know the word

correctly, but people living in south may know the word only in terms

of the cannons or the new strains of STD they may have brought in.

 

I have a question: if firang is a corruption of foreign, it must be

known only after the colonials entered. Was this word known before

that time? Or did the incoming arabs already knew Europeans as

firangs? I mean did the arabs do the translation for us in which it

must be known earlier?

 

Regards

Bhadraiah