Top 12 linguistic tweets by @avtansa in 2023

Mārwārī bāsā मारवाड़ी बासा
In many Indian cities, you are likely to find a Mārwārī bāsā where you can opt for a vegetarian meal and in some places one can even stay over! The history of these lodgings cum eateries is quite fascinating.1/n pic.twitter.com/tdmMBLHFWd

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) January 26, 2023

Language of the Mail-runners
In the early 19th century, the British East India Company established a network of relay mail-runners who would cover a distance of approx. 6 to 8 miles carrying letters, money and documents. In Deccan (India) and Ceylon, (1/12) pic.twitter.com/4XX6xrgI1V

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) February 19, 2023

TIL
That Ganja (Cannabis) smoking culture was brought to Jamaica by indentured laborers from Indian subcontinent who were brought to work there between 1845 & 1917. These Indian people not only brought words like Ganja गांजा, Chillum, Kali etc. but also the method of preparation. pic.twitter.com/mqj0QchPTK

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) March 28, 2023

A very good example of linguistics extremism in this text – Urdu and Hindi pic.twitter.com/fBZRH0MZYA

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) April 23, 2023

New pinch
An old British folk practice which survives in India and Nepal (and possibly in Pak, SL and Bangladesh too) is new pinch. In early 19th century Britain, it was considered a good omen to pinch the person wearing something new for the first time.1/3 pic.twitter.com/1KIswiBI3N

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) May 26, 2023

Dunki डंकी [ḍaṅkī] a 🧵
In Pakistan and India, the term Dunki is used for a practice of illegal migration to Europe and other western countries. The word is used in following phrases :
डंकी लगाना ḍaṅkī lagānā = to dunki
डंकी पे जाना ḍaṅkī pe jānā = to go on dunki 1/n pic.twitter.com/51C1L1cota

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) June 20, 2023

A secret language of the revolutionaries – a 🧵
In 1927 at Deoghar (Jharkhand, India), Indian revolutionaries led by S.N. Bhattacharji, were planning to overthrow the British Government of India by force & establish a people’s government. Deoghar was the headquarter of this…1/n pic.twitter.com/Jwb23PxJAq

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) July 25, 2023

A washerman in Sanskrit is रञ्जकः rañjakaḥ or रजक rajaka which also doubles as a dyer, derived from the verb root रञ्ज् √rañj (to color). This has reflexes in Telugu రజకుడు rajakuḍu, Hindi /Marathi रजक rajak and Bengali রজক rôjôk.
Persian has given us rangrez रंगरेज़ = dyer. pic.twitter.com/HQfWA7yVxO

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) August 27, 2023

Marathi word for bucket 🪣 बादली bādli is a very interesting case, where Marathi borrowed a Portuguese word 'balde' (bucket) as bāldi as in Konkani bāldi बाल्दि / बाल्दी and Kannada Bāldi ಬಾಲ್ದಿ but then Marathi metathesized it into बादली bādli. Hindi changed d to ṭ > बाल्टी 🪣 pic.twitter.com/lb1qMXKYOJ

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) September 24, 2023

Marriage song from Bhojpuri speaking region pic.twitter.com/DxxZdCJE6U

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) October 25, 2023

Chapri छपरी…a 🧵
I have been deliberating since last month on the Indian language term chapri छपरी which is used for "street side loafers" who follow deviant style of fashion, language and culture.
1/n pic.twitter.com/sYYnAFCiVM

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) November 5, 2023

Honda Sherni
Honda Sherni is a demeaning neologism on Indian social media coined by right-wing influencers and it is used against Hindu women who portray themselves as deeply religious, spiritual, regular visitors of temples, and even subtly islamophobic on one hand, and…1/n pic.twitter.com/AeYDmmXSmL

— Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐 (@avtansa) December 16, 2023