Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, is also known as Manak Hindi (Devanagri: मानक हिन्दी). It is the primary official language out of 22 official languages of the Republic of India.
The standard Hindi is based on the dialect of the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh region, known as ‘khariboli’. This vernacular acquired linguistic prestige in the 17th century during the Mughal empire when it was adopted as “the language of the court” and became known as ‘Urdu’.
However, after Independence, the Government of India set about standardizing Hindi as a separate language from Urdu. In 1954, the Government of India set up a committee to prepare a grammar for Hindi, instituting the standardization of grammar. The committee’s report was released in 1958 as “A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi”. It presented an improved shape of some Devanagari characters, and introduced diacritics to express sounds from other languages. Also, a standardization of vocabulary replaced heavy Persian loan words with new coinages from Sanskrit. The standard Hindi language, as of today, derives most of its formal vocabulary and technical setup from Sanskrit.
This book is based on the simplest elaboration of international phonetics to explicate Hindi phonetics, along with English meanings and connotations and has been written in dedication to the vast number of audience from around the world, desirous of learning Hindi.
It presents a systematic elaboration of the construction of the Hindi syntax. It begins with the introduction and usage of the basic components—consonants and vowels—and passes through the construction of words by the use of these components, to the formation of sentences, from simple to the complex.
An attempt has been made to include the basic outline of construction of Hindi language in its entirety and completeness, and in a progression which should facilitate the comprehension and imbibing of the required rules of construction of this language.
It serves as a simple user-friendly manual to grasp the basics of the modern standard Hindi.
Simret Jandu, a linguist engaged in the study of linguistics, has worked on the subjects of phonetics (French-English, and extending a comparative study to Hindi language) and translation (re-writing) of books based on Indian literature, culture and philosophy into French language and vice-versa. These books, including the previous version of this present one have caught attention at school and university levels and the preview, including that of an old version of this book is available on Amazon. Her book entitled The Basic Elements was published in Sri Lanka. It elaborated on the various aspects of universal elements of mind, philosophy and thought through the study of Ayurvedic concepts. Her articles can also be spotted now and then in the Indian popular magazines, where she tries to reach the general public to share the message of goodwill and spread the facts and facets of life and mind apprehended during her course of life and living.
