A sociolinguistic survey on the Sansi language (Rajasthan) Nithin Saju Clinton George Praison Cherian Blesson N. Kochumon New Life Computer Institute (NLCI) September 2019 Preface This sociolinguistic survey among the Sansi was conducted by the Finish Line Project (FLP) survey team; FLP is a collaborative network between the New Life Computer Institute (NLCI) and the Last Command Initiative (LCI). The fieldwork was done from 3rd September to 19th September 2019. We would like to thank all the people who helped us before and during our planning and fieldwork. We are thankful to all our leaders of NLCI. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the people who helped the South team by giving valuable suggestions during the Fieldwork. We are so thankful to the people of the Sansi community for their warm welcome and hospitality throughout our fieldwork. With Regards FLP Survey Team, South Zone (NLCI) i Abstract This report describes a sociolinguistic survey conducted among the Sansi-speaking community of Rajasthan and Haryana (India). The main research goal was to explore the basic sociolinguistic situation and the need for Sansi language development activities in LCI South and West Zone of India. The findings indicate that Sansi is a distinct language that does not have many linguistic affinities with either Marwadi, Hindi or with Bhatu. The Sansi language seems to be very vital with the Sansi people having highly positive attitudes towards their language. ii Table of contents Preface......................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Table of contents ...................................................................................................................... iii 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4 2. Geography, people and language ....................................................................................... 4 3. Purpose and goals of the survey......................................................................................... 4 4. Previous research ............................................................................................................... 5 5. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 5 5.1. Language use, attitude and vitality questionnaires .................................................... 5 5.2. Wordlist...................................................................................................................... 5 5.3. Dialect mapping ......................................................................................................... 6 5.4. Informal questionnaires and observations on bilinguisme......................................... 6 5.5. Observation and informal interviews ......................................................................... 6 6. Results and analysis ........................................................................................................... 6 6.1. Language use, attitude and vitality ............................................................................ 6 6.1.1. Language use patterns ........................................................................................ 6 6.1.2. Language attitudes ............................................................................................. 7 6.1.3. Language vitality ............................................................................................... 8 6.2. Dialect mapping ......................................................................................................... 9 6.3. Wordlist analysis ........................................................................................................ 9 6.4. Observation and Informal Interviews ...................................................................... 10 7. EGIDS status of Sansi ...................................................................................................... 10 8. Bilingual proficiency of the Sansi community (informal) ............................................... 10 9. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 10 Consulted readings ................................................................................................................... 12 iii 1. Introduction This report describes a sociolinguistic survey conducted among the Sansi-speaking community of Rajasthan and Haryana (India); the ISO code for Sansi is [ssi]. The survey was requested by the New Life Computer Institute (NLCI), the Finish Line Project (FLP) survey team, and the Last Command Initiative (LCI). The main research goal was to explore the basic sociolinguistic situation and the need for Sansi language development activities in LCI South and West Zone of India. The survey was carried out by Clinton George, Blesson N. Kochumon, Praison Cherian, and Nithin Saju. from September 3rd-19th, 2019. The following locations were visited: Kamana, Jandwali, New Khunja, Nurpura, Ganganagar, Beawar and Sangaria in Rajasthan for the fieldwork. 2. Geography, people and language The Sansi speakers live in the western region of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But the survey team only visited Rajasthan and Haryana, because the previous survey report says that Sansi in the Punjab has already shifted to Punjabi. In Uttar Pradesh, there are a few Sansi people from Rajasthan who went to Uttar Pradesh for a job Table 1: Place of Sansi settlements Village name District name Jandawali Hanumangarh Kamana Hanumangarh New Khunja Hanumangarh Nurpura Ganaganagar Ganganagar Ganaganagar Beawar Ajmer Sangaria Sangaria The Sansi communities live in the plain areas. Most of them live in the interior villages of Rajasthan and some in town areas. These regions are known for very high temperatures during the summer and for little rainfall. The Sansi are a wandering tribe and do not have any special habitat, nor any permanent interests or connections anywhere. The Ethnologue (Eberhard et al.) classifies Sansi as Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Western Hindi, Hindustani, Sansi. Alternative names for Sansi are Bhilki and Sansiboli. 3. Purpose and goals of the survey The overall purpose of this survey was to explore the basic sociolinguistic aspects of the Sansi language community. More specifically, the study had three research goals: 1. Goal: To find out the dialectical differences in the Sansi language (if any). Research questions: Q 1: What are the different dialects of the Sansi Language? Q 2: Which is the standard dialect in the Sansi Language? Tools: Dialect Mapping, Dialectical area Questionnaire, and Wordlist 2. Goal: To investigate the language use patterns, language attitudes, language vitality, bilingualism and domains of language use of the Sansi. Research questions: 4 5 Q 1: Does this community have proper language use, a positive attitude, and enough vitality in their mother tongue? Q 2: What are the domains of language use and bilingual ability of this community? Tools: LUAV Questionnaire, Domains of Language Use (DLU), Bilingualism tool 3. Goal: Investigate the lexical similarity within Sansi varieties and its neighboring languages Research question: Q 1: What is the lexical similarity of Sansi with other neighbouring Rajasthani languages? Q 2: What is the lexical similarity within Sansi varieties? Tools: Wordlist 4. Previous research According to the sociolinguistic field study of Benson George and Symon George from February to April 2009, 80% of the Sansi people in the Punjab have completely switched over to Punjabi and they cannot speak Sansi anymore. In Rajasthan, they actively use their language called Sansiboli or Bhahadu Boli, at home and in their village for regular communication. Children continue to learn the mother tongue as a first language. Since they are a nomadic tribe and travel for business outside the village regularly, only less than 5% of their children go to school. Only 5% are literate. Researchers recommended that: Social development from slum lifestyle is a great need. Education and Literacy efforts should accompany this simultaneously. Further research is recommended to assess the language use, attitude, vitality and Standard Dialect of Sansi. 5. Methodology To achieve the purpose, the survey team used tools like LUAV Questionnaire, Wordlist, dialect mapping and observation and informal interviews. 5.1. Language use, attitude and vitality questionnaires A LUAV questionnaire is a list of questions asked of many people of the targeted linguistic survey area. LUAV is a linguistic questionnaire consisting of twenty-one questions developed with the following objectives: To determine: The use of the Sansi language. The attitudes towards the Sansi language. The people’s perspective of the Sansi language’s vitality. 5.2. Wordlist A wordlist is a sociolinguistic tool which helps to assess language variation or the dialect variations of languages. The wordlist is lists of words systematically arranged to find out the relation/difference between dialects or languages. The list can change depending on the survey but are always ordinary words found in everyday life. The wordlist