A Sociolinguistic Study of Dotyali
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DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2019-004 A Sociolinguistic Study of Dotyali Stephanie R. Eichentopf and Katharina Tupper A Sociolinguistic Study of Dotyali Stephanie R. Eichentopf and Katharina Tupper SIL International® 2019 SIL Electronic Survey Report 2019-004, May 2019 © 2019 SIL International® All rights reserved Data and materials collected by researchers in an era before documentation of permission was standardized may be included in this publication. SIL makes diligent efforts to identify and acknowledge sources and to obtain appropriate permissions wherever possible, acting in good faith and on the best information available at the time of publication. Abstract This report presents the results of sociolinguistic research conducted among Dotyali communities in west Nepal. Because of the recent ISO designation of Dotyali as an independent language, the presence of various development organizations in the region, and the overall goals of the Linguistic Survey of Nepal (LinSuN),1 basic sociolinguistic information was sought. The primary goal of this research was to gain a better understanding of the dialects of Dotyali and the level of comprehension between those dialects. Specifically, this research sought to clarify the level of comprehension of the Dotyali spoken in Doti district among speakers in other districts in order to determine their ability to share language-based materials. Language attitudes, ethnolinguistic identity, and language vitality were also addressed in this study in order to ensure a holistic picture of the sociolinguistic situation. This research identified four potential dialects of Dotyali and established that comprehension between these dialects is high. Attitudes expressed towards the Doti variety of Dotyali by speakers from other districts were positive. The findings of this research indicate strong language vitality. The conclusion is that all dialects of Dotyali are able to share language-based materials. 1 LinSuN Proposal 2008 Contents Tables Maps Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1.1 Geography 1.2 History and religion 1.3 Language 1.4 Neighboring languages and speech varieties 1.5 Previous research and resources 2 Purpose and goals 3 Methodology 3.1 Instruments 3.1.1 Wordlist comparisons 3.1.2 Recorded text test (RTT) 3.1.3 Knowledgeable insider interview 3.1.4 Questionnaires 3.1.5 Dialect mapping 3.2 Site selection 3.3 Subject selection 3.3.1 Wordlists and RTT story elicitation subject selection 3.3.2 RTT testing subject selection 3.3.3 Knowledgeable insider interviews 3.3.4 Dialect mapping participants 4 Dialects of Dotyali identified 4.1 The four dialects of Dotyali 4.1.1 Dotyali dialect 4.1.2 Baitadeli dialect 4.1.3 Darchuli dialect 4.1.4 Bajhangi Nepali dialect 4.1.5 Dialectal differences 4.2 Lexical similarity 4.3 Comprehension of Doti Dotyali 4.4 Summary of the four dialects of Dotyali 5 Language attitude assessment 6 Ethnolinguistic identity 6.1 Linguistic identity 6.2 Ethnic identity 6.3 Ethnolinguistic identity summary 7 Language vitality 7.1 Domains of language use 7.1.1 Home domain 7.1.2 Other domains 7.2 Intergenerational transfer 7.3 Reading and writing in Dotyali 7.4 Language vitality summary 8 Summary of findings and implications for language-based development Appendix A: Wordlists Appendix B: Recorded Text Testing Appendix C: Questionnaires iii iv Appendix D: Knowledgeable Insider Interview Appendix E: Dialect Mapping Appendix F: Expanded Graded Disruption Scale References Tables Table 1. Terms used for language name by district Table 2. Lexical similarities between varieties of Bajhangi Table 3. Sample size for questionnaires in each site, stratified by age and gender Table 4. Gender and education in the overall sample Table 5. Lexical similarity comparison percentages Table 6. RTT results Table 7. Relationship between test averages and standard deviation Table 8. How much of the story did you understand? Table 9. Preferred location for language development Table 10. Languages used most often in the home Table 11. Reported mother tongue use by test site Table 12. Languages used most often at the market Table 13. Word length and lexical similarity Table 14. Relationship between test averages and standard deviation Table 15. EGIDS assessment grid Maps Map 1. Research area Map 2. Dotyali and languages of western Nepal Map 3. Major potential dialects of Dotyali Map 4. Doti Map 5. Baitadi Map 6. Darchula Map 7. Bajhang v Acknowledgements This sociolinguistic survey of Dotyali was conducted in partnership with the Linguistic Survey of Nepal (LinSuN), Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal. One of the goals of LinSuN is to produce “a sociolinguistic profile for each of the languages of Nepal.” The data collection portion of this survey was carried out during two field trips. The first trip was in February 2014 in Doti district and was conducted with fellow researcher Sara A. Boon. We had the invaluable assistance of two community members. The second fieldwork trip was in March 2014 in Baitadi, Darchula, and Bajhang districts. Kimberly D. Benedict assisted with this field trip, in addition to the help of our guides and community members. Without the assistance of each of them, this research would not have been possible. Likewise, Katharina Tupper added helpful research and editing comments after the report was written, to the extent that she is named co-author. My colleagues Holly Hilty and Klaas de Vries provided extensive guidance in the analysis and writing of this report, for which I am extremely thankful. Loren Maggard offered his expertise in the analysis and editing of the report as well. I also thank Matt Benjamin, SIL cartographer, for his dedication in creating the maps used in this report. I am indebted to the many people who graciously opened their homes to me and my team during fieldwork, as well as the Dotyali people with whom we worked and interacted during our research. It is my hope that this report will be useful for the Dotyali communities as well as any organizations working with Dotyali communities in pursuit of language development. August 2014 Stephanie R. Eichentopf Kathmandu, Nepal vi Abbreviations AD anno domini, year after Christ BC before Christ DM dialect mapping (participatory tool) EGIDS Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale FM frequency modulation, local radio HTT hometown test IPA International Phonetic Alphabet ISO International Standardisation Organisation LinSuN Linguistic Survey of Nepal LWC language of wider communication (trade, or regional language) n number of test takers or research subjects N. P. nagar palika (administrative unit similar to a municipality) p.c. personal communication RTT recorded text test T. U. Tribhuvan University VDC village development committee vii 1 Introduction Dotyali has recently been recognized by the Ethnologue as a language of Nepal. It was previously classified as a “dialect” of Nepali, the national language. In the far west, the district name often affects what speakers call their language. The names used by speakers from the research area to describe their language variety were often found to be derived from the name of the district. Table 1 lists the various terms used for the language in each district. Table 1. Terms used for the language name by district District Terms used for the language name Doti Dotyali, Doteli Dadeldhura Dotyali, Dadeldhuri Baitadi Baitadi, Baitadeli, Dotyali Darchula Darchuleli, Dotyali Bajhang Bajhangi,a Bajhangi Nepali, Nepali a There are several sub-dialects of Bajhangi that are not listed in table 1. Nepali is listed as one of the language names in table 1; however, this refers to village Nepali and not the national language. This is further clarified in section 6.1. For the purposes of this report, Dotyali will refer to the varieties of Dotyali in Doti, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, Darchula, Bajhang, Kailali, and Kanchanpur districts. When referring to a specific variety within Dotyali, that variety will be identified accordingly. 1.1 Geography Nepal is divided into 14 administrative zones and subdivided into 75 districts. Dotyali speakers are reported to reside in Baitadi, Dadeldhura, Doti, the southern parts of Bajhang and Darchula, and the northern parts of Kailali and Kanchanpur districts. This research encompassed most of these districts except Kailali and Kanchanpur (map 1, Research area). 1 2 Map 1. Research area2 1.2 History and religion This section describes the origins and history of the population of western Nepal in order to clarify the linguistic relationship between Dotyali and Nepali. The Indo-Aryan groups of the hill districts of western Nepal are descendants of the Khas ethnic group. The Khas arrived in the area from western Eurasia around 1000 BC (Whelpton 2005:8–11). Between the 11th and 15th centuries AD, they established an empire with its centre in the Karnali basin; the empire extended in the east to the Kali Gandaki basin, in the west to Kumaon (present day Uttarakhand state, India) and parts of Kashmir, in the north to Mustang and western Tibet and in the south to the Chure foothills (Whelpton 2005:22–23; Gurung 2006:7; Bista 2011:25). The Khas language (khas kura) eventually became the language of wider communication (LWC) throughout western Nepal (Masica 1991:439; van Driem 2001:1107). In the early 15th century, the Khas empire disintegrated into many small kingdoms. The kingdoms in the Gandaki river basin (e.g., Gorkha) are known as the twenty-four chaubise, the ones in the Karnali river basin are known as the twenty-two baise (Whelpton 2005:23). Among the latter were Doti, Bajhang, and Bajura. Baitadi was at this time under the control of the Chand dynasty of Kumaon. Between 1787 and 1790, the Gorkhali regent Bahadur Shah conquered Doti and the other kingdoms in the Karnali basin (Whelpton 2005:39). When the Khas empire broke up, the emerging small principalities probably developed their own ethnic identities and speech varieties. Modern Nepali was standardized from the speech variety spoken in Gorkha (Masica 1991:438–439).