Hindu vs. Hindi: a PSA
This is a public service announcement regarding some basic terminology about India's major language and religion.
The word Hindi refers to India's most widely spoken language. Not everyone in India speaks it, but it is the language spoken or understood by the largest percentage of India's population. As with so many things India, the analogy of India to all of Europe comes in handy. Consider how you may be able to get around many places in Europe — especially the touristy places — with basic English (okay, let's ignore for a moment the disdainful looks you might get). It is quite likely that you'll come to a region within a country where English is completely unknown and English speakers may number only in the single digits. Still, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that English is the language that larger percentage of Europe's population understands than any other, including as a second or third language. The situation is similar in India with Hindi.
The word Hindu refers to someone who follows India's largest religion, Hinduism. Although India has the world's largest population of Hindus, they also live in several parts of the world where there is a significant Indian diaspora, such as the Caribbean, Mauritius, Fiji, the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Hindus don't have to be Indian by ethnicity; indeed there are many Caucasian followers of Hinduism in the U.S. A related word, Hindoo, was used in the Western world historically to refer to people of Indian descent, but is now obsolete, if not offensive.
Hindus may speak Hindi but they don't have to. Likewise, not everyone who speaks Hindi is Hindu — they could be Muslim, Sikh, Christian or even Jewish (all these religious groups exist in India or places with Indian diaspora to varying degrees)! But above all remember — Hindi is a language and Hindu is a person.
I frequently see people (U.S.-ian or otherwise) mistaking Hindu for Hindi or vice versa and thought I'd do my bit to clear the matter up. In fact, I've even made a T-shirt about it, along with a few other India-themed T-shirts. Buy them for yourself or your friends and spread the word!
Источник:
http://www.numenorean.net/blog/archives/2006/11/hindu_vs_hindi.html
