Grammaticalization of Spatial Terms and Directional
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Introduction
INTRODUCTION Hindi, an Indo-European language, is the official language of India, spoken by about 40% of the more than one billion citizens of India. It is also the official language in certain of the territories where a sizeable diaspora settled such as the Republic of Mauritius1. But the label ‘Hindi’ covers considerably distinct speeches, as evidenced by the number of regional varieties covered by the category Hindi in the various Censuses of India: 91 mother tongues in the 1961 Census, up to 331 languages or speeches according to Srivastava 1994, totalizing to six hundred millions speakers (Bhatia 1987: 9). On the other end, the notion that Standard Hindi, more or less corresponding to the variety used in written literature and media, does not exist as a mother tongue, has gained currency during the seventies and eighties: according to Gumperz & Naim (1960), modern standard Hindi is a second or third speech for most of its speakers, being a native language for a small section of the urban population, which until recently was itself a small minority of the global Indian population. However, due to the rapid increase in this urban population, Hindi native speakers can no longer be considered as a non-significant minority, as noticed by Ohala (1983) and Singh & Agnihotri (1997). Many scholars still consider that the modern colloquial language, used for instance in popular movies, does not differ from modern colloquial Urdu. Similarly, many consider that the higher registers of both languages are still only two styles of one and the same language. According to Abdul Haq (1961), “the language we speak and write and call by the name Urdu today is derived from Hindi and constituted of Hindi”. -
Pre-Proto-Iranians of Afghanistan As Initiators of Sakta Tantrism: on the Scythian/Saka Affiliation of the Dasas, Nuristanis and Magadhans
Iranica Antiqua, vol. XXXVII, 2002 PRE-PROTO-IRANIANS OF AFGHANISTAN AS INITIATORS OF SAKTA TANTRISM: ON THE SCYTHIAN/SAKA AFFILIATION OF THE DASAS, NURISTANIS AND MAGADHANS BY Asko PARPOLA (Helsinki) 1. Introduction 1.1 Preliminary notice Professor C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky is a scholar striving at integrated understanding of wide-ranging historical processes, extending from Mesopotamia and Elam to Central Asia and the Indus Valley (cf. Lamberg- Karlovsky 1985; 1996) and even further, to the Altai. The present study has similar ambitions and deals with much the same area, although the approach is from the opposite direction, north to south. I am grateful to Dan Potts for the opportunity to present the paper in Karl's Festschrift. It extends and complements another recent essay of mine, ‘From the dialects of Old Indo-Aryan to Proto-Indo-Aryan and Proto-Iranian', to appear in a volume in the memory of Sir Harold Bailey (Parpola in press a). To com- pensate for that wider framework which otherwise would be missing here, the main conclusions are summarized (with some further elaboration) below in section 1.2. Some fundamental ideas elaborated here were presented for the first time in 1988 in a paper entitled ‘The coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the cultural and ethnic identity of the Dasas’ (Parpola 1988). Briefly stated, I suggested that the fortresses of the inimical Dasas raided by ¤gvedic Aryans in the Indo-Iranian borderlands have an archaeological counterpart in the Bronze Age ‘temple-fort’ of Dashly-3 in northern Afghanistan, and that those fortresses were the venue of the autumnal festival of the protoform of Durga, the feline-escorted Hindu goddess of war and victory, who appears to be of ancient Near Eastern origin. -
Interference of Bhojpuri Language in Learning English As a Second Language
ELT VOICES – INDIA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH FEBRUARY 2014 | VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 | ISSN 2230-9136 (PRINT) 2321-7170 (ONLINE) Interference of Bhojpuri Language in Learning English as a Second Language V. RADHIKA1 ABSTRACT Studying the special features of any language is interesting for exploring many unrevealed facts about that language. The purpose of this paper is to create interest in the mind of readers to identify the special features of Bhojpuri language, which is gaining importance in India in the recent years among the spoken languages and make the readers to get rid of the problem of interference of this language in learning English as a second language. 1. Assistant Professor in English, AVIT, VMU, Paiyanoor, India. ELT VOICES – INDIA February 2014 | Volume 4, Issue 1 1. Introduction The paper proposes to make an in-depth study of Bhojpuri language to enable learners to compare and contrast between two languages, Bhojpuri and English by which communicative skill in English can be properly perceived. Bhojpuri language has its own phonological and morphological pattern. The present study is concerned with tracing the difference between two languages (i.e.) English and Bhojpuri, with reference to their grammatical structure and its relevant information. Aim of the Paper Create interest in the mind of scholars to make the detailed study about the Bhojpuri language with reference to their grammar pattern and to find out possible solution to eliminate the problem of mother tongue interference. 2. Origin of Bhojpuri Language Bhojpuri language gets its name from a place called ‘Bhojpur’ in Bihar. It is believed that Ujjain Rajputs claimed their descent from Raja Bhoj of Malwa in the sixteenth century. -
INDO-ABYAN VERNACULARS (Continued.) by Sir GEORGE GRIERSON, K.C.I.E
INDO-ABYAN VERNACULARS (Continued.) By Sir GEORGE GRIERSON, K.C.I.E. CHAPTER II: HISTORICAL 47. We have completed our geographical survey of the Indo- Aryan Vernacular and their dialects. It has been seen that they have been divided into three families, a Midland, an Intermediate, and an Outer. We shall now consider the mutual relationship of these families, and it will be more convenient to consider their growth downwards from the source than to folloAv their course upstream. The treatment must necessarily be historical, but the portion dealing with those stages which preceded that of the Indo-Aryan Vernacular lies outside the frame of the present work, and my account of them will be as brief as is consistent with gaining a clear idea of the whole subject.1 48. The. earliest documents illustrating the language of the Indo-Aryans that we possess are the hj'mns of the Rg Veda. These hymns were composed at widely different times and in widely different localities, some in Arachosia and some in the country near the Jamna, but, owing to their having undergone a process of editing by those that compiled them into their present arrangement, they now show few easily recognizable traces of dialectic differences.2 On the other hand, it is certain that even at that early period " there must have existed a popular language which already differed widely in its phonetic aspect from the literary dialect ",s and that this folk-language varied so 1 It is necessary to explain that this chapter was originally drafted in the year 1898. -
The Indo-Aryan Languages: a Tour of the Hindi Belt: Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili
1.2 East of the Hindi Belt The following languages are quite closely related: 24.956 ¯ Assamese (Assam) Topics in the Syntax of the Modern Indo-Aryan Languages February 7, 2003 ¯ Bengali (West Bengal, Tripura, Bangladesh) ¯ Or.iya (Orissa) ¯ Bishnupriya Manipuri This group of languages is also quite closely related to the ‘Bihari’ languages that are part 1 The Indo-Aryan Languages: a tour of the Hindi belt: Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili. ¯ sub-branch of the Indo-European family, spoken mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldive Islands by at least 640 million people (according to the 1.3 Central Indo-Aryan 1981 census). (Masica (1991)). ¯ Eastern Punjabi ¯ Together with the Iranian languages to the west (Persian, Kurdish, Dari, Pashto, Baluchi, Ormuri etc.) , the Indo-Aryan languages form the Indo-Iranian subgroup of the Indo- ¯ ‘Rajasthani’: Marwar.i, Mewar.i, Har.auti, Malvi etc. European family. ¯ ¯ Most of the subcontinent can be looked at as a dialect continuum. There seem to be no Bhil Languages: Bhili, Garasia, Rathawi, Wagdi etc. major geographical barriers to the movement of people in the subcontinent. ¯ Gujarati, Saurashtra 1.1 The Hindi Belt The Bhil languages occupy an area that abuts ‘Rajasthani’, Gujarati, and Marathi. They have several properties in common with the surrounding languages. According to the Ethnologue, in 1999, there were 491 million people who reported Hindi Central Indo-Aryan is also where Modern Standard Hindi fits in. as their first language, and 58 million people who reported Urdu as their first language. Some central Indo-Aryan languages are spoken far from the subcontinent. -
Magahi and Magadh: Language and People
G.J.I.S.S.,Vol.3(2):52-59 (March-April, 2014) ISSN: 2319-8834 MAGAHI AND MAGADH: LANGUAGE AND PEOPLE Lata Atreya1 , Smriti Singh2, & Rajesh Kumar3 1Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihar, India 2Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihar, India 3Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract Magahi is an Indo-Aryan language, spoken in Eastern part of India. It is genealogically related to Magadhi Apbhransha, once having the status of rajbhasha, during the reign of Emperor Ashoka. The paper outlines the Magahi language in historical context along with its present status. The paper is also a small endeavor to capture the history of Magadh. The paper discusses that once a history of Magadh constituted the history of India. The paper also attempts to discuss the people and culture of present Magadh. Keywords: Magahi, Magadhi Apbhransha, Emperor Ashoka. 1 Introduction The history of ancient India is predominated by the history of Magadh. Magadh was once an empire which expanded almost till present day Indian peninsula excluding Southern India. Presently the name ‘Magadh’ is confined to Magadh pramandal of Bihar state of India. The prominent language spoken in Magadh pramandal and its neighboring areas is Magahi. This paper talks about Magahi as a language, its history, geography, script and its classification. The paper is also a small endeavor towards the study of the history of ancient Magadh. The association of history of Magadh with the history and culture of ancient India is outlined. -
Dakshinatya Sarasvats, Divided Between Religious Mathas and Religious Practices
One _________________ Source Material. On the west coast of India lies a long strip of land, hundred yojanas long and three yojanas wide, bound by sea on the west and the Sahya mountains on the east, reclaimed by Bhargava Parashurama when he was banished by Kashyap Muni to settle in the extreme end of Aryavarta. A historian should neither be intimidated by legends in ancient texts nor be bewildered by the deterioration of the ideals enshrined in classification of the society, based on attributes and performance of actions, nor be shocked by perverse norms paraded as Yuga Dharma, because of his firm conviction that the fundamental essence of Dharma is ever inviolable, only the external form changing with period, places and persons. Though Sarasvats, like many others claim to be Brahmins, it is hazardous to expect in Kali Yuga that functions assigned to Brahmins like ‘Worship of the Luminous ones, of Teachers, of the men of wisdom, purity, uprightness, self-restraint, austerity, learning, serenity of mind, speech, action, performance of action without expectation of any rewards . .’ would be fulfilled by them in entirety. But this should not prevent them from reflecting about their attributes and whether the functions performed by them are commensurate to them. During the efflux of Time, some may need to be re-appraised and compromised temporarily in times of distress, as contemplated by Dharmashastras, while propounding the principle of apaddharma. But complete unconcern or disregard or unconcern can neither be justified nor be condoned for Sarasvats, if they claim to be Brahmins. This book is, therefore, addressed to those bold ones who can reflect and question the brahminhood foisted on them, when they are known and recognized more for their commercial enterprise than for their wisdom. -
In Most but Not All BIA Languages Personal As
Pronominals: A Comparative Study of the Languages of Bihar and West Bengal Sweta Sinha, Ph.D. =============================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 13:5 May 2013 =============================================================== 1 Focus of This Paper Pronominals as we know are of various types being classified as: personal pronouns, inclusive/exclusive pronominals, honorifics, deictics, interrogative pronouns, indefinite pronouns and enclitic pronominals or pronominal suffixes. Some languages have pronominals in all the above categories while some lack such a distribution. The present paper is a study in this area. Focusing on the regions of Bihar and West Bengal this paper is an attempt to highlight the occurrence of pronominals in seven prominent dialects of Bangla as well as three of the major Bihari languages. This paper is an investigation into these ten languages bringing out the similarities and dissimilarities with respect to the occurrence and use of the pronominals. 1.1 Sources for the Study The various types of classifications that have been discussed in this paper have been derived from three major sources on the Indo- Aryan languages: Grierson (1903- 27), Masica (1991) and Cardona (2003). Dialectology of modern Indo- Aryan/ New Indo- Aryan (NIA) provides evidence for an early division between the Inner and the Outer groupsi (Grierson 1917- 20 a, b, 1927), the former including what is now the Punjabi, western Hindi and Rajasthani areas of North India, the latter including most of the remainder – i.e., eastern Indo-Aryan (Bihar, Bengal, Assam and Orissa), south-western India, and perhaps Sindh and Kashmir. Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:5 May 2013 Sweta Sinha, Ph.D. -
Chittagonian Variety: Dialect, Language, Or Semi-Language?
IIUC STUDIES ISSN 1813-7733 Vol.-12 December 2015 (P. 41-62) Chittagonian Variety: Dialect, Language, or Semi-Language? Muhammad Azizul Hoque1 Abstract: The main concern of this paper is to explore the status of Chittagonian variety- a language spoken by the people of Chittagong in Bangladesh-with a view to considering whether it is a dialect of Bangla or a language or a semi-language. Though it is closely related to Bangla, its distinctive features like a different sound system, mutual unintelligibility with Bangla, etc. give it a separate entity and encourage the researcher of this paper to rethink about the existing idea of its being a dialect of Bangla and to try to present some supportive argumants in favor of its separate entity as a language. In the article the researcher has provided an introduction to the Chittagonian variety; language and dialect; previous literature, and used methodology consisting of random sampling based on the collection of newspaper articles, books, and internet sources, and the like. And some findings from that research and recommendations have been discussed. 1.0. Introduction The history of sociolinguistics reveals that some languages like Sanskrit and Latin are dead for the lack of proper maintenance and some others like English, French, and Italian have got the status of standard languages. Likewise, the spoken language of Chittagong Chittagonian has also got such characteristics as to be a distinct language. So it is not difficult for Chatgaya to be developed into a full-fledged language. But the Chittagonian variety, as the researcher observes, is losing its speakers day by day. -