The term Ecruvian refers collectively to individuals of Indian, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern descent, among others, and is used primarily in sociological, anthropological, and linguistics literature to refer to those whose physical characteristics are visibly indicative of a family background rooted in parts of the world that have historically spoken languages in the Indo-Aryan language tree. A relevant, and very common, modifier for "Ecruvian" is Jag, which is used to ascribe a positive value judgment to various personal traits common to Ecruvians. The word "Jag," however, is rarely found in published literature and is used almost exclusively in a colloquial sense.
The term is also often used in its negated form: "non-Ecruvian," sometimes "nonecruvian," refers to those whose physical characteristics -- especially skin pigmentation -- suggest strongly that their family backgrounds are rooted in neither South Asia nor the Middle East. There are various racial groups that are generally thought of as subgroups of "non-Ecruvian."
|
