‘Samvidhaan’ or the ‘Constitution’ in other words, has been named as the Hindi Word of the Year 2019 by Oxford Dictionary.
As 2019 saw values of democracy, secularism, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity being tested on the grounds of the Constitution, this word was selected by the Oxford University as the word of the year.
This word received widespread attention for the first time in August 2019 after the abrogation of two key constitutional provisions – Article 370 and Article 35(A) of the Indian Constitution, which removed the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.
There were other major decisions made by the Supreme Court that contributed to the popularity of this word in 2019 like the verdict of Sabrimala, the Ayodhya Temple-Babri Mosque dispute and the floor test in Maharashtra, all of which happened last year.
As per the Oxford Dictionary, ‘Samvidhaan’ means a “body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organisation is acknowledged to be governed”.
According to NDTV, Kritika Agarwal, Hindi Language Champion for Oxford Languages said:
The Hindi Word of the Year for 2019 is a fitting choice reflecting the mood of the masses as also the focus of the decision makers. In 2019, the Constitution moved from being an academic concept to a movement in real time.
This Hindi word was chosen by the Oxford Dictionaries team in Hindi, along with the help of an advisory panel of language experts. ‘Nari Shakti’ was the Oxford Hindi Word of 2018.