The Nimadi-Speaking People of Madhya Pradesh a Sociolinguistic Profile

DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2012-002 ® The Nimadi-speaking people of Madhya Pradesh A sociolinguistic profile Kishore Kumar Vunnamatla Mathews John Nelson Samuvel The Nimadi-speaking people of Madhya Pradesh A sociolinguistic profile Kishore Kumar Vunnamatla Mathews John Nelson Samuvel SIL International ® 2012 SIL Electronic Survey Report 2012-002, January 2012 © 2012 Kishore Kumar Vunnamatla, Mathews John, Nelson Samuvel, and SIL International ® All rights reserved Contents ABSTRACT PREFACE 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Geography 1.2 People 1.3 Language 1.4 Purpose and goals 2 DIALECT AREAS 2.1 Lexical similarity 2.1.1 Procedures 2.1.2 Site selection 2.1.3 Results and analysis 2.1.4 Conclusions 2.2 Dialect intelligibility 2.2.1 Procedures 2.2.2 Site Selection 2.2.3 Results And Analysis 2.2.4 Conclusions 3 BILINGUALISM 3.1 Sentence Repetition Testing 3.1.1 Procedures 3.1.2 Demographic details of the area 3.1.3 Results and Analysis 3.2 Questionnaires and observation 4 LANGUAGE USE, ATTITUDES, AND VITALITY 4.1 Procedures 4.2 Results 4.2.1 Language use 4.2.2 Language attitudes 4.2.3 Language vitality 5 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 5.1 Dialect area study 5.2 Bilingualism study 5.3 Language use, attitudes, and vitality 6 RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 For a Nimadi language development programme 6.2 For a Nimadi literacy programme APPENDICES Appendix A: Lexical Similarity Lexical Similarity Counting Procedures Wordlist Information and Informant Biodata International Phonetic Alphabet Wordlist Data Appendix B: Recorded Text Testing Introduction Snake Story Leopard Story Accident Story Recorded Text Testing in Awlia Recorded Text Testing in Sonipura Recorded Text Testing in Bhorwada Recorded Text Testing in Bhilkheda Recorded Text Testing in Jajamkhedi Recorded Text Testing in Sirpur Appendix C: Sentence Repetition Testing Hindi Sentence Repetition Test Sentences Hindi SRT Scoring Key Sentence Repetition Testing in Awlia 2 Sentence Repetition Testing in Sonipura Appendix D: Questionnaires Language Use, Attitudes, and Vitality Questionnaire Questionnaires in Awlia Questionnaires in Sonipura Questionnaires in Bhilkheda Questionnaires in Jajamkhedi REFERENCES 3 Abstract The purpose of this sociolinguistic survey among the Nimadi-speaking people was to assess the need for mother tongue literature development and literacy work. Wordlist comparisons showed a relatively high degree of lexical similarity among the Nimadi varieties compared. Recorded Text Testing (RTT) revealed adequate comprehension of the selected Nimadi varieties in test points across the Nimad region. Responses of Nimadi speakers to sociolinguistic questionnaires indicated strong vitality of the language. Nimadi speakers have positive attitudes towards their language, but no central or prestige variety was identified. Attitudes towards Hindi are slightly positive; Hindi is seen as the language of education. Although questionnaire subjects felt they can handle basic tasks in Hindi, there are indications from Sentence Repetition Testing (SRT) that the Nimadi-speaking population as a whole is probably not adequately bilingual in Hindi to use available materials effectively. Preface This sociolinguistic survey of the Nimadi-speaking people was sponsored and carried out by the Indian Institute for Cross Cultural Communication (IICCC), which has an interest in developing mother tongue literature and promoting literacy among the language groups of India. The project fieldwork started the last week of May 1999 and continued through the first half of September 1999. We took a break of three weeks in August to review our goals as well as do data entry and some preliminary analysis. We began our work with no contacts in the area, but whenever we needed help, we met new friends in a timely way. Many people helped us, but it is not possible to thank them all. Almost all of them were strangers initially. We would like to thank our main language helper who took care of us during the research; the different block development officers and village leaders of the area who assisted us in selecting appropriate sites; and the Catholic priests who helped us complete our tasks, sometimes by providing accommodation and sometimes by introducing us to people who could assist us. We are grateful to all of the survey subjects, the experts on the 4 Nimadi language, who enabled us to achieve our goals by accepting us in their villages, patiently listening to the stories, and answering many questions. Many people contributed to different aspects of this survey such as background research, project coordination, data entry, and report writing. Every effort has been made to collect accurate information and present it clearly. The authors take responsibility for any errors. Corrections to this end would be welcome. The survey team trusts that this report reflects our brief research in the Nimadi language accurately and hopes that this work will benefit the Nimadi-speaking people and contribute to continued Nimadi language development. 5 6 1 Introduction 1 Introduction 1.1 Geography One of the biggest states located in the heart of India is Madhya Pradesh. The state ranges from the Chambal River in the north to the Godavari River in the south. The landscape of the state changes quite often and includes jungles, ravines, hilly regions, rocky regions, a highland plateau, and great arid plains. Madhya Pradesh is politically divided into districts, tahsils, blocks, and panchayats. This sociolinguistic survey was conducted in the Nimad region (Map 1), the uttermost south-western part of Madhya Pradesh. According to Ramnarayan Upadhyay (1977:52), Nimad is the joint place for north and south India where Aryans and non-Aryans were mingled with one another. ‘Nim’ means ‘half’ and perhaps ‘Ary’ refers to Aryans, which may be why the people were called ‘Nim-ary.’ Secondly, the Nimad region is further south and at a lower elevation than the Malwa region, so it was called ‘Nimnagami,’ which may mean ‘lower parts.’ Some other sources report that Nimad is derived from ‘Neem ki Ad,’ which means ‘Shade of Neem,’ since there are many neem trees in the area. Map 1. The Nimad RAJASTHAN UTTAR PRADESH BIHAR INDIA GUJARAT ORISSA Key MAHARASHT State boundary Nimad region GUJARAT Neighbouring states ANDHRA PRADESH 1.2 People 7 The Nimad region is located roughly from 21.50 to 22.40 degrees north latitude and 74.50 to 77.00 degrees east longitude, and is spread between the mountain ranges Vindhya and Satpura and the rivers Narmada and Tapi or Tapti to the north and south respectively. The regions that border Nimad are Malwa in the north, Khandesh in the south, Gujarat in the west, and Hoshangabad in the east. The Nimad is politically divided into Khandwa, Khargone, Barwani, and the southern part of Dhar districts. These four districts (Map 2) were traversed during this survey and are listed along with tahsils visited in Table 1. The present Khandwa district was formerly called East Nimad and the present Khargone and Barwani districts were formerly called West Nimad. Although the names have officially changed, these former names are still in common use. Table 1. The Nimad and its political divisions State Districts Tahsils Madhya Pradesh Khandwa Khandwa Pandhana Burhanpur Harsud Khargone Khargone Kasrawad Maheshwar Badwah Sanawad Bikhangaon Barwani Barwani Sendhwa Rajpur Dhar Kukshi Manawar Dhar Nimad is a part of the larger region called Bhilanchal or Bhil country, as some scholars refer to the tribal area of western India. A good part of this survey was in areas that are not very hilly. The medical and transport facilities are minimal in the rural areas. 1.2 People People in Nimad are of different caste groups and tribes and thus do not have a general people group name, but the Nimadi language binds them together. The Bhilala, Korku, Gond Ramcha, and Barela are Scheduled Tribes (ST). Balai is a 8 1 Introduction Scheduled Caste (SC). Other Backward Class (OBC) and General Caste (GC) 1 groups are also common. Singh and Manoharan (1993:324) mention that the following people groups reportedly speak Nimadi: Nahal (ST); Dhed Bawa and Zamral (SC); and Jangada Porwal, Mavi, Newa Jain, Salvi, and Srimali Vaishya Baniya (OC). However, during this survey, the researchers could not locate Nimadi speakers from any of these groups except the Srimali Vaishya Baniya. The people in Nimad have their own traditional identity, but in recent times, because of modernisation and the influence of the media, these people are slowly adopting changes and joining the mainstream. Nimadi speakers celebrate all major Hindu festivals, but they also have their own festival called ‘Gannagoria.’ Many people are animists; some of them believe in sacrifices and still practice them. Because of the caste hierarchy, untouchability is also present among them. Illiteracy and poverty prevail among the Scheduled Castes (Singh 1993) and Scheduled Tribes (Singh 1994). The Madhya Pradesh government has introduced several development programmes to help uplift these people. The estimated literacy rate is fairly low among Nimadi speakers; it could be less than 45 per cent overall. Nevertheless, because of their better opportunities for education, the literacy rate among Nimadi speakers is generally higher than that of the other tribals in the region. Though some publications and audio-cassettes have helped Nimadi language development to some extent, it is not widely publicised. Devanagari script is used to write the language. The state government has started schools all over the region, but children face much difficulty; in the fourth and fifth standards, they often give up studies. The reason could be that the teaching is in Hindi and the teachers are often outsiders. On the other hand, those who get good education speak Hindi, the state language, fairly well. Men generally have higher literacy levels than women. 1The terms Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Class, and General Caste are official designations made by the government. These designations qualify members of the groups for certain types of economic and social development.

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