Studying the Anglo-Indian Contribution to Lexicography in Pre-Partition India

Abstract

Language studiesin India are reported to be associated withAnglo-Indians and particularly to
those who under the aegis of the Fort William College (FWC) Calcutta, sought to document
the indigenous languages. Their contribution helped overcome the communication barrier
between the ruler and the ruled. The present study isdescriptive. Employing a documentary
analysis approach, it seeks to evaluate the lexicographic works and provides an estimate of
the language studies by Englishmen in general and the Fort William College Calcutta
(FWCC)in particular. The college under reference thus made remarkable contribution in
preservation, documentation and learning of Indianvernacular languages and more
specifically the Urdu language is worthy of note. The compilation of reference works and
books on grammar at FMCC provided such a formidable basis for the later generation of
linguists and lexicographers. The study reveals that lexicographic works carried out by the
men of letters served great purposes namely the abridgement of their communicative gap with
local, administrative ease and setting up lexicographic conventions still seeming to be
governing dictionaries in this part of the world.The study is significant in its critical approach
to sketch the dictionary design and linguistic data therein to highlight how and why the
contribution of FWC cannot be overlooked with reference to lexicography in India