Meanings of communication: Comparative terminological studies of a cultural concept and its variations in the multilingual society of India

Abstract

Contrary to recent claims arguing that specific social categories for communication exist, terms from a variety of languages of Indian societies and Western terms are reviewed. Both major families of languages are discussed as sets of terms for communication along with the problem of interpreting absence of evidence of lexemes and multiple meanings of lexems. We will show that among the Indian cultures the concept of communication has developed a variety of expressions with fine nuances. A specific situation for communication in general and terminology derived from it have to be considered for India with its rural and urban areas and multicultural diversity. The concepts communication and rhetoric are not genuinely Indian, but the contributions from Indian cultures show similarities to European ones; in particular, the aspect of oral communication and spirituality has developed a rich local vocabulary, and recent technologies find their expressions in English terminology (Thussu, Journal of Communication 48: 164–169, 1998). Examining the local concepts of communication in India, we will argue that the communicative facilities of the country can be separated into different channels that are divided by the classical distinction between orality and literacy, but also by the different languages that incorporate diverse cultural and religious concepts.