YOUR newspaper erroneously edited the word “chatney” to read “chutney” in my letter, “Guyana should emulate South Africa in teaching Hindi”, (Chronicle, Feb 22, 2014).Editors in the Caribbean usually make this mistake because the word “chatney” is not found in the software dictionaries, so the word pops up as a spelling mistake.
Like America, Canada and other territories, the Caribbean needs to come up with its own dictionary.
Here in India, as it is in many countries, the ‘u’ sound of the letter often comes out as a short ‘a’. So, like the spelled word “chutney”, “Pundit” is really pronounced “Pandit”; in Guyana, the word for a Hindu priest should be spelled as “Pandit”, not “Pundit”.
The media in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean should recognise the need for spelling to suit our linguistic and cultural needs, and start effect the change immediately.
Written By DEVANAND BHAGWAN