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Home , Angika, Bajjika, Bhojpuri region, Kurmali language, Languages of Bihar, Languages of India

LINGUISTIC SURVEY OF

2020 DIVISION OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR , INDIA

CONTENTS Pages

Foreword iii-iv

Preface v-vii

Acknowledgements viii

List of Abbreviations ix-xi

List of Phonetic Symbols xii-xiii

List of Maps xiv

Introduction R. Nakkeerar 1-61

Languages

Hindi S.P. 62-143

Maithili S. Boopathy & 144-222 Sibasis Mukherjee

Urdu S.S. Bhattacharya 223-292

Mother

Bhojpuri . Rajathi & 293-407 P. Perumalsamy

Kurmali Thar Tapati Ghosh 408-476

Magadhi/ Magahi Balaram Prasad & 477-575 Sibasis Mukherjee

Surjapuri S.P. Srivastava & 576-649 P. Perumalsamy

Comparative Lexicon of 3 & 650-674 4 Mother Tongues

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FOREWORD Since Linguistic Survey of India was published in 1930, a lot of changes have taken place with respect to the language situation in India. Though individual language wise surveys have been done in large number, however state wise survey of has not taken place. The main reason is that such a survey project requires large manpower and financial support. Linguistic Survey of India opens up new avenues for language studies and adds successfully to the linguistic profile of the state. In view of its relevance in academic life, the Office of the Registrar General, India, Language Division, has taken up the Linguistic Survey of India as an ongoing project of .

It gives me immense pleasure in presenting LSI- Bihar volume. The present volume devoted to the state of Bihar has the description of three languages namely , Maithili, along with four Mother Tongues namely Bhojpuri, Kurmali Thar, Magadhi/ Magahi, Surjapuri. The volume is organised into three parts: Part I: , Part II: Mother Tongues of Bihar, and Part III: Comparative Lexicon.

Bihar is an important state in respect of population, history, religion, geographical position, economy, and politics. The state is bordered by in the north, by West in the east, by in the west and by in the south. The state of Bihar finds mention in the Vedas, many Puranas, and ancient Buddhist and Jaina literature. Places in Bihar such as Gaya are associated with Gautama Buddha and the birth and spread of throughout the world. It is a sacred place to the Jaina Tirthankaras. In Indian history throughout the ages, Bihar played a very crucial role. Both Bihar and Jharkhand formed part of the till 1911, when on 12 December 1911, a separate of Bihar and Orissa was created. In 1936, Bihar was made a separate province.

Bihar has a rich linguistic heritage where different languages like Hindi, Urdu, , , Magahi, Maithili and Bhojpuri are predominantly spoken. On the basis of language- cum-cultural landscape, the present-day Bihar can be divided into three distinct categories of sub-regional identities – Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Magadhi. Grierson has described the languages of Bihar as Bihari, which in his scheme of classification belongs to the Eastern group of Hindi, covering an area of 90,000 square miles and is spoken by the 36,000,000 people from the on the north to Singhbhum on the South, and from Manbhum on the South-east to Basti on the north-west. Bihari is bounded on the North by the Tibeto- Burman languages of the Himalayas, on the East by Bengali, on the south by Odia, and on the West by the Chhattisgarhi, Bagheli and Awadhi dialects of Eastern Hindi. It is most western of the languages which form the Eastern Group of the Indo- Vernacular. Grierson further observes that "it is a direct descendant, perhaps the most direct of the descendants, of the old form of speech known as Magadhi ". In terms of phonology, grammatical structure and the selection of vocabulary, the Bihari occupies the middle place between Bengali and Eastern Hindi. Further, it has closer ethnic affinities with Uttar Pradesh than with Bengal. The term Bihari refers to a group of related dialects- Maithili or Tirhutia, Magahi, and Bhojpuri. Grierson

iii divides them into two groups viz., Maithili and Magahi on the one hand, and Bhojpuri on the other. records local variations in each dialect and on the basis of pronunciation and grammatical forms has indicated three sub-dialects of each. The three dialects are spoken in three geographical regions of Bihar, and they differ from each other on the phonetic, phonemic and grammatical level. In terms of ethnic similarities and dissimilarities, the three linguistic regions refer to three distinct cultural zones of Bihar. While in , the Brahmanical cultural tradition, based on religious conservatism, dominated the cultural spectrum of social life, the Magadh is connected with the growth, emergence and spread of Buddhism, which rejected the Brahmanical tradition. The medieval period witnessed the infusion of Muslim culture in the Magahi culture and tradition. On the other hand, has been referred by Grierson as 'fighting nation of ’.

Suniti Kumar Chatterji holds the opinion that modern languages like Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Magahi, Maithili and Bhojpuri are the representative languages of Magadhi Apabhransa. He classifies the Magadhan speeches into the following three groups:

1. Eastern Magadhan: Bengali, Assamese, Oriya. 2. Central Magadhan: Maithili, Magahi. 3. Western Magadhan: Bhojpuri with Nagpuriya or Sadanji.

Grierson calls languages of group 2 and 3 as the Bihari language". Even at the existential level of language perception of the people of Bihar, there does not exist any language like Bihari. People either identify with standardized and sanskritized Hindi or with their mother or local dialects. Moreover, socio-linguistically, it is not important that a language or dialect belongs to a particular , but what is important is that such dialect should help people to imagine and cultivate a linguistic kinship in forming a separate and distinct linguistic community. Linguistic variations also connote the variation and change in tradition and culture. Each dialect of the region, besides having some linguistic affinities with each other, forms a separate language group at the social, cultural and political level.

It is believed the LSI – Bihar volume which presents a comprehensive picture of the language situation of Bihar will fulfil a longstanding gap in the sphere of language science and will occupy an important position in the dialectal and linguistic studies namely language pedagogy, , language ethnicity, language and politics.

December, 2020 Ali.R.Fatihi Professor Department of Linguistics Muslim University, Aligarh.

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PREFACE With the objective to present updated linguistic scenario, taking account of the changes in our society and territorial boundary as well as in our language resources, the “Linguistic Survey of India” project of the Office of the Registrar General, India, Language Division is under operation state by state since the end of the last century. “Linguistic Survey of India – Bihar” is a work in descriptive linguistics comprising of descriptions of three Languages and four Mother Tongues surveyed in short spells during a long-time of 1980 – 2000, before the division of erstwhile Bihar into Bihar and Jharkhand states on November 15, 2000. Considering the present scenario of 2 separate states of Bihar and Jharkhand, 3 Languages and 4 Mother Tongues are being presented in this Bihar Volume based on their regional importance, their speakers’ strength, as well as the location where the Survey was conducted in undivided Bihar. The present project is, in all respect, a supplementation and complementation of the ‘Linguistic Survey of India’ by Sir in the pre-Independence India as well as in the first few years of the twentieth century when in the Indian Sub-continent, the present states of , Bihar, Jharkhand, and present-day was part of the same Province called The Bengal Presidency. In the past, this Division had produced successfully the Volumes on Survey Reports of the states of Odisha (former Orissa), Dadra Haveli, (Part 1 & 2), (Part 1) and West Bengal. The result of the present survey under “Linguistic Survey of India – Bihar” has been presented under following Chapters. 1. Introduction being the first Chapter has discussed a. Bihar as a State, its History, Demography and Administrative Units (Maps related to Administrative Divisions as per latest 2011 Census have been included). b. Festivals, Population Density (District- wise Tables included), Male-Female Ratio (District-wise table included) and Rural Urban Division (Maps related to Rural-Urban Distribution of Languages and Mother Tongues have been provided). c. Educational and the present educational scenario (List of Colleges related to Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Law and others have been included). d. Linguistic Profile of Bihar (Distribution of Scheduled Languages and Non-Scheduled Languages as per 2001 and 2011 Censuses and also District-wise division of both Scheduled Languages and Non-Scheduled Languages as per both the Censuses) . Status of Bilingualism and Trilingualism of Surveyed Languages f. A Brief Introduction of all the 3 Languages namely Hindi, Maithili, Urdu and 4 Mother Tongues namely Bhojpuri, Kurmali Thar, Magadhi/Magahi and Surjapuri surveyed under the Volume.

2. Following the Introduction, seven consecutive Chapters are presented. Chapters two to eight of the Volume present the grammatical description of three Languages (chapters two to four) and four Mother Tongues (chapters five to eight). The presentation of the Language/Mother Tongue chapters have followed the alphabetic order (Languages- Hindi, Maithili, Urdu and Mother Tongues- Bhojpuri, Kurmali Thar, Magadhi/Magahi, Surjapuri). The information on bibliographical references has been presented separately at the end of each chapter so there has been no general Bibliography for the Volume.

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3. At the end of the grammatical descriptions, a Comparative Lexicon containing 500 selected lexical items of all the Languages / Mother tongues described have been appended.

The Language/Mother Tongue descriptions in general under Introduction Chapter and in specific under respective Reports give a glimpse of the dynamics of the linguistic situation, information about the origin of the Language/Mother tongue and also its status and family affiliation.

Regarding the distribution of Languages / Mother tongues, two sets of data have been presented, where required, one for ‘Language’ and other for ‘Mother tongue’. ‘Language’ and ‘Mother tongue’ are co-terminus in Census as the Mother tongue data indicates the exclusive data and the Language data includes the variants / Mother tongues grouped under it. The Bilingualism and Trilingualism table based on 2011 Census returns, presented for the relevant Languages/Mother tongues, throws light on the attitude towards language use of the linguistic communities inhabiting Bihar.

For the field surveys, one common questionnaire containing the exhaustive word list, sentence list and story specifically developed by Language Division, Office of the Registrar General, India for the post-Independence Linguistic Survey of India, was canvassed in Bihar.

Coordination of the Reports under Linguistic Survey of India, Bihar was first started by Shri S.P. Ahirwal, Ex-Senior Research Officer (Language) in the year 2012. The field-surveys in respect of all the Languages / Mother tongues had been completed by 2001. Following his superannuation of Dr. S.P. Ahirwal, Ex- Senior Research Officer (Language) supervised the submission and preliminary scrutiny of Reports, being assisted by Dr P. Perumalsamy, Ex- Research Officer (Language) and Ms Sucharita Chakraborty, Investigator (L). Dr P Perumalsamy, Ex- Research Officer (Language) and Dr. Sibasis Mukherjee, Research Officer (Language) revisited the field to update certain information in the reports of Bhojpuri, Surjapuri Mother Tongue and , Magadhi/ Magahi Mother Tongue respectively. Dr. Kakali Mukherjee, Ex- Assistant Registrar General (Language) contributed in editing of the Report of Kurmali Thar Mother Tongue. The finalization of the volume under Linguistic Survey of India, Bihar scheme was entrusted to Dr. R Nakkeerar , Research Officer (Language) and Head of Office who carried out the finalization of the present Volume being cooperated by Dr. Sibasis Mukherjee, Research Officer (Language), Shri P. Edward Vedamanickam, Research Officer (Language), Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan, Research Officer (Language) and being assisted by Ms Sucharita Chakraborty, Research Officer (Language), Ms Sarita Panda, Statistical Investigator, Grade I, Ms Aparajita Sen, Investigator (Language), Ms Dipshikha Bose, Investigator (Language), Ms. Soumi Banerjee, Investigator (Language), Ms. Jhuma Ghosh, Investigator (Language), and Deepak Kumar, Investigator (Language).

The Field Surveys under the Volume have been completed under the directions of Dr. C. Chandramouli, Ex-Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. He has been the regular source of inspiration in completion of the present Volume.

The inspiration and encouragement received from Shri Janardan , Additional Registrar General, India deserve due acknowledgement.

Acknowledgement is due to Shri Manoj Kumar, Deputy Registrar General (Language) for his constant inspiration in finalization and publication of the Volume.

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The contributions made by The Joint Director, Directorate of Census Operations, Bihar and Dr VVLN Sarma, Deputy Registrar General (Map), Dr. Kandhai , Consultant (Ex. Map Officer), Shri Ch. Rajeev, Research Officer (Map) and Smt. Subhra Talukdar, Sr. Drawing Assistant of Map Division of the Office of the Registrar General, India in drawing the maps of the Volume are sincerely acknowledged.

Acknowledgement is due to Dr Vishwanath, IAS, Controlling Officer (Language Division) and Director, Directorate of Census Operation, West Bengal for finalization of the Volume.

Collection of data on the Languages / Mother tongues surveyed in Bihar under Linguistic Survey of India, Bihar would not have been possible without kind cooperation and help of the Directorate of Census Operations, Bihar and the various District Magistrates as well as other officials of the State of Bihar.

The informants, without whose dedication and deliberation of copious data the Volume could not be compiled, are acknowledged in this Volume with sincere gratitude.

Further, acknowledgements are due to the cooperation, understanding received from the staffs of Language Division during the survey, writing of reports, computerization of the reports, plan for drawing of Maps and finalization of the Volume including the preparation of CRC for submission.

Last but not least, warm thanks are due to the contributors of the Volume who painstakingly collected the data during field investigation with restricted facilities and braving the inclement weather of the region.

I hope this Volume will serve the needs of different sector of populace according to respective purposes in socio-educational-linguistic planning.

DECEMBER, 2020 DR. VIVEK JOSHI NEW REGISTRAR GENERAL & CENSUS COMMISSIONER, INDIA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Language Division

Dr R. Nakkeerar Research Officer (L) Dr Sibasis Mukherjee Research Officer (L) Shri Edward Vedamanickam Research Officer (L) Dr N. Gopalakrishnan Research Officer (L) Dr. Nishant Lohagun Research Officer (L) Ms. Sucharita Chakraborty Research Officer (L) Ms. Sarita Panda Statistical Investigator. Gr.I Mrs. Pritha Banerjee Investigator (L) Ms. Aparajita Sen Investigator (L) Ms. Dipshikha Bose Investigator (L) Ms. Soumi Banerjee Investigator (L) Ms Jhuma Ghosh Investigator (L) Shri Umesh Chaudhury Office Superintendent Shri Naba Roy Office Superintendent Shri Sudin Kumar De Stenographer Gr.I Shri Pradip Kumar Sen Upper Division Clerk Shri Biresh Kumar Upper Division Clerk Shri Tapas Das Assistant Compiler Shri Rajesh Thapa Multi-Tasking Staff Shri Buran Chandra Murmu Multi-Tasking Staff Shri Subrata Halder Multi-Tasking Staff Shri Gariban Rabi Das Multi-Tasking Staff

Researchers who were associated with the project but have left the Language Division

Dr J. Rajathi Ex- Research Officer (L) Shri S.S. Bhattacharya Ex- Senior Research Officer (L) Late S.P. Datta Ex -Senior Research Officer (L) Late Balram Prasad Ex- Research Officer (L) Late Tapati Ghosh Ex- Research Officer (L) Dr S.P. Srivastava Ex- Research Officer (L) Dr (Mrs.) Kakali Mukherjee Ex-Assistant Registrar General (L) Dr P. Perumalsamy Ex-Research Officer (L)

Map Division, ORGI

Dr.Kandhai Singh Ex- Research Officer (Map) Shri Ch. Rajeev Research Officer (Map) Smt. Subhra Talukdar Sr. Drawing Assistant

DIRECTORATE OF CENSUS OPERATIONS, BIHAR

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations General

DCO Directorate of Census Operations F Female Govt. Government L/lg. Language LSI Linguistic Survey of India M Male MT/mt. Mother Tongue P Person T Total R Rural Urban U.Ts Union Territories co. Company i.e. That is ed. Edited

Abbreviations Grammatical Descriptions abl. Ablative acc. Accusative adj. Adjective asp. Aspirated Alv. Alveolar aux./Aux. Auxiliary approx. Approximate Al Alveolar Bi/BL Bilabial Cl Clause C/Con/con/c Consonant Cont. Continuous

ix caus./cau Dent/Dt. Dative Dem./demons Demonstrative e.g. Example emp. Emphatic Fem/F/f./fem Feminine ft./f Finite fut. Future gen./gen/Gen/geni Genitive GL Glottal Hon. imp. Imperative imperf. Imperfect incl. Inclusive Loc. Locative L.D. Labio-Dental Masc./mas/Mas Masculine Mar. Marker n/N Noun neg. Negative nom. Nominative pass. Passive pcpl. pr. Present pre. Preposition pred. Predicate PL. Palatal Pl Plural Pr.t/pr/pre.ten Present Tense Pt./PT./Past ten pr.cont. Present Continuous RT/Ret Retroflex

Relat Relative reflex Reflexive SOV Subject+Object+Verb Sing Singular s./sub Subject ./obj/ob Object vb./v Verb Vel. Velar V.CL. Vowel Cluster PP/p Pages L1 L2 viz. Namely V/v Vowel etc. Etcetra Neu Neuter Vol/vol Volume Pt. Part Nf Non-Finite VL Voiceless VD Voiced

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LIST OF PHONETIC SYMBOLS

I Front J Palatal voiced stop E Open mid front unrounded Vowel / C Palatal voiceless stop Lower-mid E’ Lower front open ch/ch Palatal voiceless aspirated stop V̭ Vowel glide Jh Palatal voiced aspirated stop O Mid open back rounded vowel / K Velar voiceless stop Low-mid A Mid central unrounded vowel G Velar voiced stop e Mid front unrounded vowel kh/kh Velar voiceless aspirated stop Low front rounded vowel gh/gh Velar voiced aspirated stop a Low back Rounded Vowel M Bilabial voiced nasal o Mid Mh Bilabial voiced aspirated nasal u High back rounded vowel n/ṉ Alveolar/dental voiced nasal p Bilabial voiceless stop Nh Alveolar voiced aspirated nasal ph/ ph Bilabial voiceless aspirated stop B Bilabial voiced stop bh/ bh Bilabial voiced aspirated stop Y Palatal voiced /Semi vowel T Retroflex voiceless stop s Voiceless dental / Voiceless alveolar fricative Th Retroflex voiceless aspirated stop L Alveolar/dental voiced lateral D Retroflex voiced stop R Alveolar voiced trill Dh Retroflex voiced aspirated stop Z Voiced alveolar fricative th/ th Dental voiceless aspirated stop S’ Voiceless palatal fricative dh/dh Dental voiced aspirated stop C Voiceless alveolar t Alveolar voiceless stop J Voiced alveolar affricate d Alveolar voiced stop N Retroflex Nasal th Alveolar voiceless aspirated stop F Voiceless labial dental fricative dh Alveolar voiced aspirated stop ˊ Rising tone M Velar nasal ˋ Falling tone M’ Palatal nasal > indicates “Becomes”

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R Voiced retroflex flap < indicates “Comes from” x Voiceless velar fricative / / Phonemic representation C’ Checked consonants [ ] Phonetic representation h Voiceless glottal fricative Φ Zero morpheme ɦ Glottal voiced fricative ~ Alternation w Bilabial voiced Approximant/Semi vowel ~ Nasalised vowel V ʌ Lower mid back unrounded vowel ?/ʔ Glottal stop { } Conditions on variables ( ) Parenthesis

= Equal to + Plus : Length

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LIST OF MAPS

Bihar Administrative Divisions Rural-Urban Distribution of languages Rural-Urban Distribution of Mother Tongues District-wise Distribution of Surveyed Languages District-wise Distribution of Surveyed Mother Tongues Bilingualism and Trilingualism of Surveyed Languages Scheduled Tribes and their Languages

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