Thread by @shrikanth_krish

Valid point

South Indians often pride themselves on preserving Tatsama words and resisting "schwa deletion"

But most urban Southerners heavily engage in schwa-deletion while naming kids!

When was the last time you came across a rAma, or arjuna?
Usually it is Ram/Arjun

https://twitter.com/vinaytaken/status/1212770354810064896

This is indicative of the cultural influence of the North on the South in our own times (late 20th / 21st century)

In part driven by Bollywood, Hindi instruction, Hindi mass media

Schwa deletion has picked up in the way people name kids, though not in common speech

Common nouns - schwa-deletion is still resisted by southerners

E.g. Kannadigas still prefer "abhiprAya" and "vichitra" over "abhipray" or "vichitr"

But the same Kannadigas have stopped naming their kids "Ganesha" or "Lakshmana"

Invariably it is Ganesh/Lakshman

In Tamil Nadu, you had distinctive corruptions in the past, and less strong adherence to Tatsama forms unlike in Karnataka.

So while traditional Kannadigas used to name their kids "Ganesha", "Krishna", Tamils preferred "Ganesan", "Krishnan"

But very recently, even Tamilians have moved from "Ganeshan" to simply "Ganesh" (northie style!)