Names of Puducherry in its official languages

The union territory of Puducherry has five official names, expressing its linguistic diversity, past-French heritage and legacy of British India.[1] French, Tamil, English, Telugu and Malayalam are five official languages of Puducherry.[2][3][4] The later two are official only in Yanam and Mahe respectively.[3]

## History[edit]

French continued to remain as the official language even after the de facto cession of French establishments of India in November 1954.[2] This status quo was maintained after de jure transfer in August 1962 by the Puducherry assembly resolution in 1963 that intended to keep the official status of French albeit include other native languages that are spoken in Puducherry (i.e. Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam) along with Hindi.[4] Owing to anti-Hindi agitations in South India in the subsequent years removed the scenario to include Hindi into the list of official languages and paved way for inclusion of English instead. These agitations had profound impact on the Official language policy of India which guaranteed indefinite use of English along with Hindi.[5] As of today, all the southern states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala) and Puducherry correspond with the Union government and vice versa solely in English.

## Names of Puducherry[edit]

Puducherry in French is known as Territoire de Pondichéry and the name in the three native languages that are official in the Union territory of Puduchery are given below:

Language  | Official short name for Puducherry | Official full name for The Union Territory of Puducherry  | Details  | "Union Territory (of)"

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Official Name  | Script Name [A] | Indian script [B] | Transliteration  | Indian script  | Transliteration or IPA | Transliteration system shown  | Indian script  | Transliteration or IPA
Tamil | Tamil | புதுச்சேரி | Putuccēri  | புதுச்சேரி ஒன்றியப் பகுதி[6] | Putuccēri Onṟiyap Pakuti  | ISO 15919  | ஒன்றியப் பகுதி | Onṟiyap Pakuti
Telugu | Telugu | పుదుచ్చేరి | Puduccēri  | పుదుచ్చేరి కేంద్రపాలిత ప్రాంతము[7] | Puduccēri Kēndrapālita Prāntamu  | కేంద్రపాలిత ప్రాంతము | Kēndrapālita Prāntamu
Malayalam | Malayalam | പുതുച്ചേരി | Puduccēri  | പുതുച്ചേരി കേന്ദ്രഭരണപ്രദേശം [8] | Puduccēri Kēndrabharaṇapradēśam  | കേന്ദ്രഭരണപ്രദേശം | Kēndrabharaṇapradēśam

## See also[edit]

* Official languages of Puducherry

## References[edit]

1. ^ India. Parliament. Rajya Sabha (2006). "Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, Volume 208, Issues 18-19". www.gstcouncil.gov.in. Council of States Secretariat. p. 263. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
2. ^ a b "Traité de cession des Établissements français de Pondichéry, Karikal, Mahé et Yanaon" (in French). 1956. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
3. ^ a b "THE PUDUCHERRY OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT, 1965" (PDF). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
4. ^ a b Animesh Rai (2020). The Legacy of French Rule in India (1674-1954): An investigation of a process of Creolization. Institut français de Pondichéry. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9791036549892.
5. ^ "The Official Languages Act 1963 (As amended on 1967)". Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
6. ^ Parvathi, Ko (1 December 2018). "கருவூலம்: பாண்டிச்சே-யூனியன் பிரதேசம்". தினமணி (Dinamani) (in Tamil). Retrieved 21 April 2023.தினமணிCategory:Articles+containing+Tamil-language+text+(Dinamani)&rft.atitle=கருவூலம்:+பாண்டிச்சே-யூனியன்+பிரதேசம்&rft.date=2018-12-01&rft.aulast=Parvathi&rft.aufirst=Ko&rft_id=https://www.dinamani.com/weekly-supplements/siruvarmani/2018/dec/01/கருவூலம்-பாண்டிச்சே--யூனியன்-பிரதேசம்-3049726.html&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Names+of+Puducherry+in+its+official+languages" class="Z3988">
7. ^ Ambadipudi Syamsundara Rao (2020). "దక్షిణ భారతము గురించి కొన్ని విశేషాలు". www.acchamgatelugu.com (in Telugu). Retrieved 24 August 2022.
8. ^ Dinesan, P. (4 February 2021). "പുതുച്ചേരിയിൽ സംഭവിക്കുന്നത്‌". ദേശാഭിമാനി (Dēśābhimani) (in Malayalam). Retrieved 21 April 2023.ദേശാഭിമാനിCategory:Articles+containing+Malayalam-language+text+(Dēśābhimani)&rft.atitle=പുതുച്ചേരിയിൽ+സംഭവിക്കുന്നത്‌&rft.date=2021-02-04&rft.aulast=Dinesan&rft.aufirst=P.&rft_id=https://www.deshabhimani.com/articles/puducherry-politics/922873&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Names+of+Puducherry+in+its+official+languages" class="Z3988">

Footnotes:

1. ^ Official writing system(s) or script(s) are shown first for each language. (If they don't display on your device, most are available for Windows in the Microsoft font family Nirmala UI, or for all systems in the free fonts from Google's Noto fonts.)
2. ^ The short names link to the Wikipedia page about Union Territory of Puducherry in that language if available.