Shape of the Design Worldview: Does Language Inform the Design Sense?

This article explores the possibility of interpreting the Banarasi design worldview of play and toys, as expressed in the Banarasi language in a community of toy designers in India. The author explored the Banarasi concept of play and toy design from the analysis of vernacular vocabulary and etymology from dictionaries, encyclopedias, and oral transcriptions of formal and informal interviews of toy designers, patrons, and shopkeepers. Besides Banarasi, Hindi (a dialect spoken in Banaras), Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language), and English (a language influencing Banarasi) vocabularies were also analyzed. The timeline of various words used to denote toys or their use revealed a pattern of change in the conception of a toy and its physical manifestation. This culture-specific meaning of toys as extended to rituals and ceremonies, their seasonality, and craftsmanship of local materials, broadens the definition of Banarasi khilona (toys) from ludic experience to a cultural representation.