This article is part of Dialectical, a Himal series that explores Southasia’s languages, their connections and shared histories.
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A lot has changed since the onset of COVID-19 more than a year ago. The pandemic has altered our lives in many ways. It has led to economic and social disruption but one of the lesser-discussed aspects of this disruption is the pandemic's lexical impact on our languages.
Southasia is home to one-fourth of the world's population. As the pandemic unfolded in this linguistically diverse region, many languages spoken here had to adapt to the sudden influx of neologisms and scientific terminology. This new language of COVID-19 turned out to be necessary to convey essential advice to the public in a timely and effective manner.