When speaking of the English language Lounsbury means both the standard spoken and the literary language. But Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu understands him to mean “literary language” only.
From the end of the fourteenth century our tongue has pursued an orderly development. It suffers changes, both in grammar and in vocabulary; if it did not, it would no longer be a living speech. But these changes take place within well-defined limits; they require the consent of vast numbers, sometimes of generations; they are spread over great spaces of time “. The Italics are mine. Does Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu believe that all this applies to an archaic poetic dialect like Telugu?
212. The next dictum of Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu is that “Every literary language must fulfil two conditions — it must be uniform and fixed (g g)”. That is, it must not vary from place to place or from time to time except, of course, ‘within well- defined limits.’
Does Lounsbury’s description apply to literary Telugu in support of whose fixity Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu quotes a standard grammarian whose dictum he, however, modifies slightly, but without any authority?
213. Uniformity is no virtue unless it is accompanied by ease in acquisition. Sanskrit is uniform in the whole of India, but like literary Telugu it has to be acquired with great effort. The vernacular on the other hand, is acquired naturally.
214. Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu opines that if Modern Telugu is cultivated, it will acquire fixity and deviate from speech. He quotes Lounsbury to show that the changes in English during the last five hundred years were ‘insignificant’. Why should then the language of a conversative oriental people like the Telugus change more?
