M.K Bhavnagar UniversityDepartment of English
Name:- Pandya Riva mRoll no-23Paper:-11
Topic:-Salman Rushdie’s essay Hobson jobson
Salman Rushdie He was born in 1947 in
Bombay. Then British India into a Muslim family of Kashmir descent.
His genre is magic realism, satire and post colonialism.
He is famous for his novelist and essayist
In the essay Hobson Jobson , he tells us how a dictionary with Indian words for colonizers use came into existence.
Hobson Jobson Hobson Jobson is the legendary
dictionary of British India. Or it is a historical dictionary of Anglo Indian words and terms from Indian languages which came into use during the British rule of India.
It was written by Henry Yule and Arthur coke Burnell.
A subsequent edition was edited by William Crooke in 1903.
The dictionary holds over 2000 entries.
Origin of the word ‘Hobson Jobson’ Hobson jobson is the short title of
Hobson Jobson – A Glossary of colloquial Anglo Indian words and phrases and of kindred terms etymological , historical , geographical and discursive.
The title Hobson Jobson In Anglo Indian English , the term Hobson jobson
refered to any festival or entertainment but especially ceremonies of the mourning of muharram.
In origin the term is a corruption by British soldiers of Ya Hassan Ya Husain which is repeatedly cried by Shiya Muslims as they beat their chests throughout the procession of the muharram.
This was converted to Hosseen Gosseen, Hossy Gossy, Hossein Jossen and ultimately Hobson Jobson.
The British empire many pundits now agree descendent like a juggernaut upon the barbicans of the East in search of loot. The moguls of raj went in palanquins , smoking cheroots to sip toddy or sherbet on the verandahs of the gymkhana club while the memsahib's fretted about the thugs in bandannas and dungarees who roamed the night like pariahs plotting ghoulish deeds.
Anglo Indian words
gymkhana
Palanquins
verandahs
Other words Pundit- A person who express opinion
Juggernaut- a large trucks, form of lord Krishna
Cheroots- a kind of cigar
Loot- stolen things
Mixed words Rushdie talks about Marathi, Hindi,
Guajarati and Sanskrit based in English words.
Tank •Guajarati/marathi taki
Cash •Sanskrit-karsha
Tula •weight
Shampoo •Hindi-champna
Origin of wordsmacheen
maha-cheen
Great china
Chiz cheese
British India had absorbed some Indian words
•To make understandsamjao
•Look outpuckerow
•sorcerersJadoogars
Some destroyed wordsSnow rupee authority
Poggle madman, pagal
Dam In India comes from Damri
Conclusion Rushdie seems against the distortion
of words. English and Indian languages words
mingled with each other. He gave some interesting notions
behind the word formation in English and Indian languages.
Thank you