Language

The Berkeley Bangla Initiative

Bangla is simply more than a language. It is the essence and pride of all Bengalis, no matter where they reside and for however many years they have been away from West Bengal (India) or Bangladesh, the two places where it is spoken as a native language. While India has about 67,200,000 Bangla speakers, its neighbor Bangladesh has approximately 100,000,000 speakers. These figures do not indicate the entire population of Bengalis as many others reside in various other countries. For instance, U. A. E. has about 70,000 Bengalis and the US. has a far greater number. The extensive...

The Berkeley Tamil Initiative

Tamil language and literature has been taught at Berkeley for almost fifty years now. Between 1973 and 2011, the Tamil Studies Program was carefully stewarded by Professor (Emeritus) George L. Hart III and Professor Kausalya Hart. The former is best known for such well known books as ...

The Berkeley Punjabi Initiative

Punjabi, the language of the land of five rivers, is the official language of the state of Punjab in northwestern India and is spoken in various parts of Pakistan. The Gurmukhi was organized by Baba Nanak and Sikhs consider it to be their sacred script. It has a total of thirty-five letters.

Punjabi has been taught at Cal since the early nineties. We offer courses at two different levels, beginning and intermediate. These courses are designed not only to create a strong foundation for the beginning Punjabi student and sharpen the skills of the intermediate Punjabi student, but also...

The Berkeley Hindi Initiative

Hindi Yesterday – कल

Headshot of AgyeyaThe extraordinary legacy of Hindi at UC Berkeley begins in the 1950s, when renowned linguist, Prof. John J. Gumperz introduced Hindi instruction at Berkeley. Gumperz wrote extensively on South Asian sociolinguistics and also...

The Berkeley Sanskrit Initiative

Sanskrit Studies logo Sanskrit is the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. The oldest stage of the language is that of the Veda, the fundamental scriptures of Hinduism which date back to some twelve centuries BCE. The classical stage of the language, from some five centuries BCE onward, is the vehicle of a vast and varied literature from epics and poetry to Hindu, Buddhist, and...

The Berkeley Telugu Initiative

Telugu Studies imageThe Institute for South Asia Studies (ISAS) at the University of California, Berkeley is one of the world’s foremost centers for research and programs on South Asia. ISAS works with faculty members, graduate students, community members, private institutions, and non-profit organizations to deepen understanding of the region and to create new generations of scholars of South...

The Berkeley Urdu Initiative

Urdu Initiative logo The Berkeley Urdu Initiative was officially launched in September 2011 to sustain, enrich, and expand the Urdu Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a global leader in the study of South Asia, and one of very few institutions in the United States to offer both undergraduate and graduate degree programs focusing on numerous aspects of this...