Deori-Tiwa-Assamese: A Morpho-Phonemic...
Transcript of Deori-Tiwa-Assamese: A Morpho-Phonemic...
Deori-Tiwa-Assamese: A Morpho-Phonemic Study
3.0. Introduction
Comparative lexicon refers to the study of the relationship between the lexicon of two or
more languages to find out the similarities at phonetic and morphological level. This
kind of comparative study is also conducted to find out the ancestor language of the
studied languages. Under the purview of comparative study we can always bring two
sounds, two words, two symbols, two sentences or two paradigms of two languages for
comparison. But this phenomenon can never be a random selection. There has to be
some rationale for bringing. out two sounds or two words for comparisons. It may be
either the excessive similarities found in those two languages or else they show some
patterned resemblances between them. The present chapter deals with the systematic
study of similarities and syntactic structures of Tiwa and Deori languages at lexical level
to trace out their genealogical relationship and their present state of viability for
surviving for a long time at the pretext of convergence happening because of the
influences of dominant languages. The chapter will have the following order according
to the convenience of analysis.
I. Lexical semantics
2. Comparative lexicon
3. Comparison ofTiwa and Deori Lexicon
a) Lexical categorization
i) Noun
ii) Pronominal
iii) Pronominals with genitive/possessive case
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iv) Interrogative Pro-form
v) Demonstrative pro-form
vi) Adjective
vii) Verbal Morphology
viii) Adverb, Conditional, Negative particle and Conjunction
ix) Spatial Deixis
x) Quantifiers /determiner
xi) Words with Phonetic and Morphological similarities
xii) Borrowed and Loan words from Assamese and other languages
b) Conclusion
3.1. Lexical Semantics
The word lexeme means a pairing of particular form ( orthographical or phonological)
with its meaning. But the word lexicon is referred to a set of finite list of lexemes. In the
study of lexical semantics, especially in the making of dictionaries and thesaurus, a
lexeme is represented by a lemma. In other words, lemma or citation form denotes the
grammatical form which represents a lexeme. For example, the lemma or citation form
for the words walk, walks, walked, Tt-alking is walk. The words other than the lemma are
known as word Jonns. In some languages like Spanish, the infinitive form is used as the
lemma for a verb. Lemmatization is the process of mapping from a word form to a
lemma. Lemmatization is a difficult process in lexical semantics, since it involves lot of
deterministic methods such as figuring them out from the grammatical words, from
tense, aspects and mood structures, from different lexical category and number forms.
The meaning associated with a word simply doesn't get changed, as word doesn't
acquire a new meaning or lose older meaning. It is the speakers who simply end up using
them in a specific way. Nerlich and Clarke (1988) made a useful distinction between
micro dynamic or short term semantic change, related to the actual speech event, and
macro-dynamic semantic change with long term semantic change. The long term
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semantic change is the subject matter of historical semantics. As Jules Gillieron53 has
rightly remarked 'Each word has its own history' which was originally targeted as a
response to the Neogrammarian rules of sound laws, but eventually remained applicable
to the diachronic semantic shift.
3.2. Comparative Lexicon
When the lexicon of two languages have lots of phonetic and morphological similarities,
it can be assumed that the two languages might be genealogically related to each other. If
those similarities follow certain pattern, the assumption would become more appropriate.
It is because the pattern similarities are not accidental. Many a time similarities exist by
chance in-many languages. If the similarities are found enormously, after ruling out the
chance factor, there might be three possibilities: they may have mutual influence, there
might be parallel development from a similar base and thirdly, they may share a common
ancestor. In comparative study the techniques such as Lexicostatistics, reconstruction,
internal reconstruction, loan analysis, linguistic geography, cultural reconstruction etc.
can be taken into account for analyses. It is not necessary that all these tools and
techniques usually used in ordered way as it is mentioned above. Patrick R, Bennett
( 1998) states that, "Many linguists prefer not to practice lexicostatistics; some will never
make formal reconstruction. In many cases, a spiral approach is useful: one may begin
with a lexicostatistical analysis for rough determination of internal groupings, reconstruct
major features of the proto language, map the distribution of diagnostic innovations, carry
out internal reconstructions of major systems in several languages, refine ones
reconstructions and base a new lexicostatistical count on the insights gained."54
The present research would eye on the substantial corpus of Tiwa and Deori languages
with quantitative analyses to investigate the relationship between the lexicon ofTiwa and
Deori.
5' Minkova, Donka et.aL Studies in the historv of English language: a millennia! perspective. P.84.
5 ~ Bennett, Patrick R, Comparative Semitic linguistics: a manual, P.25.
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In comparative linguistics vocabulary lists supply the raw materials for data elicitation.
By using the vocabulary lists one can compare the phonological system, morphological
system such as inflectional markers, or may be the syntactic pattern of the two
languages. Vocabulary will always remain the focal point of comparative study because,
it can provide the larger number of items available and they are manageable in nature.
For phonetic or syntactic comparison, usually the system is a closed ended system. It is
because they follow the limited number of linguistic rules. But for Lexicon, as Patrick R,
Bennett says, "on the other hand, is open ended and has the added advantage of being
one of the first types of information collected when a new language is described. The
units are long enough and varied enough to give a good basis for comparison, and their
shapes are specific enough and constant enough to allow confident reconstruction even
over greater periods oftime."55
In our study for the purpose of comparative analysis the word lists and sentence lists
have been taken from the basic word lists prepared by Abbi (200 I )56. The reason for
taking those lists as means to collect the data is that, this book has provided extensive
impetus in the study of Indian languages across the language families exist in India.
After delving into all the issues of Indian languages, she has meticulously prepared the
basic word and sentence lists, which can easily be used in d_ata elicitation not only in
Indian context even it could be used as model questionnaire for other non-Indian
languages as well.
3.3. Comparison of Tiwa and Deori Lexicon
Tiwa and Deori are two languages of the Bodo sub-group of Tibeto-Burman language
family. These two languages are spoken in two geographically different areas of the state
of Assam. Both the languages are nowhere surrounded or juxtaposed by each other.
Deori is spoken in the eastern part of Assam, while Tiwa is spoken in the middle part of
Assam. They do not even share the same cultural values, norms and societal structure.
55 Bennett Patrick R, Comparative Semitic linguistics: a manual, P.26. 56 J\bbi. Anvita A Manual of Linguistic Fieldwork and Structures of Indian Languages. Apendix.
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The Tiwa concentration is basically located in the hill areas along with some population
who have recently migrated to the plain areas of Morigaon district of Assam. But Deori
people have been residing in plain areas since time immemorial. Although these two
languages are mutually unintelligible, there are enough phonetic and morphological
similarities between the lexicon of these two languages. They use Assamese language
even if they have come into contact, since both the communities are societal bilinguals
with excellent proficiency in Assamese as it is the dominant language of the region. The
present study wiH take up all the issues of comparative lexical study in the subsequent
pages.
3.4. Lexical categorization
For the convemence of analysis, the entire collected lexicon have been categorized
according to their grammatical categories. Nouns were compared with nouns; Pronouns
were with pronouns and the like. This gave us a systematic approach for comparison
between Tiwa and Deori lexicon.
3.4.1. Noun
. Abbi (2001) states 'noun morphology contains various kinds of information, which may
be represented differently in different languages, as not all types of information show
overt marking.' All the nouns found in a language could be classified in various
categories according to the various properties they carry with. Human beings
systematically classify all the words on the basis of semanticity and can use them in
different domains. Berlin (1973) has rightly remarked human as a truly 'classifying
man'. The way a society classifies all the words in a systematic way has been very rich
and remained a matter of research forever. Levi-Straus (1962) once noted "any
classification is superior to chaos ... and even a classification at the level of sensible
properties is a step towards rational ordering." Nouns in a particular language can be
categorized on the basis of following semantic properties:
• +/-abstract
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• +/-count
• +/- animate
• +/-human
• +/-plural
The following table will give us a clear picture of nouns found in Tiwa and Deori
languages which were collected with the h~lp of basic word list Prepared by Abbi
(200 1 ). In the table along with the Tiwa and Deori nouns, their Assamese counterparts
are also enlisted. The motive behind the inclusion of Assamese nouns is that, with the
help of those lexicon one can easily figure out the level of borrowing which has taken
place in these two languages. Since these are all basic nouns, if they provide a large
amount of noun replacement by Assamese lexicon then it will also prove the influence of
Assamese language on their entire lexical system.
English Gloss Assamese' Tiwa:-:-. Deort9 Observation
I. Animal j::mtu marath musumi No borrowing.
mimusu
2. Ashes sai t•abla sapuru, No borrowing
tepekari
3. Belly pel kumda. utii No borrowing
pus a
4. Bird sxai tu dua No borrowing
5. Blood tez t•i si No borrowing
6. Breast st::m. piah c•:>. dudu p•upu No borrowing
7. Child xixu brkhia, mousa. No borrowing
thegela(kid) mJisa
8. Cloud megh meg•. bbpa, Borrowing occurs in both
gumal meg• Tiwa and Deori
9. Dog kukur khukuri si Borrowing occurs in Tiwa
10. Ear kan khanjur akuiJ Borrowing occurs in Tiwa
with classifier 'jur'
57 Nath, Arup Kumar/Age 27/Pursuing PhD/ 15-01-2009 58 Deori, Guren (informant) I Age 43/ BA pass/18-01-2009 59 Deori. Chandra Singh (informant) /Age 81/ Matriculate/25-01-2009
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II. Father deuta. li1. fagara. b:>ba Borrowing occurs in both the
pita papa languages
12. Feather pak"i krmJ bao No bon·owing
13. Fire jui XJf iy£ No borrowing
14. Fish mas 1)3 sia No borrowing
15. Flower p"ul k"um iba No borrowing
16. Foot bh:>ri lat"Jt} apasu No bmTOwing
17. Fruit p"Jl p"Jl-p"Jbr citiji Tiwa shows bonowing
18. Green xeujia k"etatJS:>r pijJ No bon·owing
19. Hand hat ]a utii No bon·owing
20. Heart hridJi k"a hrid:>y Deori bmTows trom
Assamese
21. Husband giriek. sui mukagu No bon·owing
swami
22. Leaf pat lai pJp:>sia No bon·owing
23. man/male manuh libitJ I mukagu-misigu No borrowing
me\\"3 Jibit}
24. Moon jon jonai iya Tiwa borrows it from
Assamcse
25. Mother ma. ai ma iy:>i Tiwa shows bonowing
26. Mountain pahar n1akha asingiri No bonowing
27. Mouth muk" k"u dumju No bonowing
28. Neck dit}i. g:>] kmb ditJ No bonowing
29. Night rati XJf siri No bon·owing
30. Person lok. bekti libit_lja sanna No bon·owing
31. River mdi nJdi I tibaru jim a Tiwa shows bmTOwing
32. Road rasta lama sag:~ No bonowing
33. Root xipa sia arutJ No bonowing
34. Rope r:>si, j:>ri juri citul) Tiwa shows bonowing
35. Hom Xi I) krJI} XiiJ Deori shows bonowing
36. Skin sal kur sikJD No BmTowing
37. Stick lat"i. tatJOil, bru brubari tukutJ Bonowing occurs
38. Stone xil Jbl) atiri No Bonowing
39. Tail nej leiljai simi No Bonowing
40. Tooth dat xah bali No Bonowing
41. Tree g:>s p11 a~1 p:>pJ No Bonowing
42. Wind bJtah par benuma No Bon·owing
43. Wing pak"i krat.J bou No Bonowing
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44_ Clothing kapor kani rekana il)-p"UIJU13 No Bon-owing
45. Banana bl t"eb tiri No Borrowing
46. Bangles k"aru k"aru USUIJ Borrowing-'loan occurs
47. Blouse blauz blauz blauz Loan word
48. Chili j:Jbkia saluk pansu No Borrowing
49. Comb p":Jni k"ojolJ gisa No Borrowing
50. Cough kah k"ojo dusuruba No Borrowing
51. Crow kauri k"aura duka Borrowing seen io Tiwa
52. Dog kukur k"ul.:uri si Borrowing seen in Tiwa
53. Drizzle kinkinia sui sui sisiria mub No Borrowing
mk"a xuduruba
54. Earring kanp"uli kanp"uli gutuiJ Borrowing occurs in Tiwa
55. Elephant hati hati mi:J Borrowing occurs in Tiwa
56. eye-brow b"rukuli nnt"Dm badu No Borrowing
57. Fever j:Jr lija s:J ninuma No Borrowing
58. Finger al)uli lasi :JSli No Borrowing
59. Fish mas 1)3 sia No Borrowing
60. Garlic mh:Jru rosun n:Jh:Jru Borrowing seen in Deori
61. God b":Jg:Jban mindai kundimama No Borrowing
62. Goddess devi bsai mindai ligirasi No Borrowing
63. Gold xon sona p"uji Borrowing found in Tiwa
64. green xak pas:Jli k"etaiJ saga pij:JI) No Borrowing
vegetable
65. House g":Jr nu iya No Borrowing
66. house fly mak"i t"amju sit ami No Borrowing
67. language b"axa mat k"ata c"u The Tiwa words are also
Assamese words although
used in different context.
68. Lips ot" k"ujuru dumjupar No Borrowing
69. Mango am t"ikju am Borrowiog seen io Deori
70. Milk gak"ir gakbir musumiji Borrowiog seen in Tiwa
71. Money t:>ka t"aga dirbu Borrowing seen in Tiwa
72. Mosquito nuh k":Jt:J nei No Borrowing
73. Mouse endur musui Cfkf No Borrowing
74. Nails n:>k" I ask oro :>sigi No Borrowing
75. Pain bikb c"awa sam pare No Borrowing
76. Pond puk"uri p"ug"uri I dumju Borrowing found in Tiwa
d:>p
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77. Rice b"at mai mub No Bon·owing
(cooked)
78. rice (raw) saul DIJ miru No Bonowing
79. Road bat lama sagu No Bonowing
80. Shawl ora kapur phaskai isa No Bonowing
81. Shi1t sola, shari k"etaiJ jim a No Bon·owing
82. Spectacles SJSllla SJS1113 JIJS:J Bonowing seen in Tiwa
83. Thumb burha mJuli lasi ban demase :Jste No Bonowing
84. Turme1ic habd"·i haldi siriiJ Bonowing seen in Tiwa
85. Village gao krai atigu No Bonowing
86. Air bayu par brnuma No Bonowing
87. Ant p:Jrua p"uruwa snnesi Borrowing seen in Tiwa
88. bald t:Jpa. t:lbla k"apal salam t:Jbla Bonowing seen in Deori
89. Blind :Jnd":J miwawa xigaba No Bonowing
90. Brave xah:Jxi sas dehm:Jn No Bonowing
91. Bull b:Jbdh g:Jru xar masJ deh musu No Bonowing
92. Butterfly p:Jkhila suburi p:Jkila Bonowing seen in Deori
93. Corpse mrit:Jdeh t"iwa libi1], siruba No Bonowing
thiwa
94. Fanner k"etiy:Jk hal bauba nJJya No Bonowing
95. Flood banpani tiban ban dehji No Bonowing
96. Goat sag:Jli purun lrprduru No Bon·owing
97. gold smith xonari sunari phuji Bon·owing seen in Tiwa
xajia
98. Honey mou p:Jria gia No Bonowing
99. Rain b:Jnxun n:Jkha muku No Bonowing
100. Hunger b"ok maihamuwa isigaruba No Bonowing
101. king,' chief r:Jja raja I gime Bonowing found in Tiwa
pisaimul
102. Landlord malik mat"ini iyaio-m:Jsi No Bonowing
kiri
103. Love prem, kumun mana, sar laorJ No BOITOwing
bhal powa e\va
104. Mad pag:Jl khabal ip:Jm No Bon·owing
kerawa
105. Maize makoi k"UlJHI miJma No Bonowing
106. Memory smriti k"Js:limana mugadmJma No Bonowing
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107. Monkey bandx mak"ere ikur No Borrowing
108. Priest bamun. s<la b:lrJ pJmiya No Borrowing
deoria
109. Sheep b"rra b"rrapurun lrprdur Borrowing seen in Tiwa
110. Silver rup rup"a dibu Borrowing seen in Tiwa
Ill. sugar cane kuhiar k"usar SJI) Borrowing seen in Tiwa
112. sweet mit"a alu kolalaru t"ai)Jdia No Borrowing
potato
113. War jud";, k"Jroma sujuruba No Borrowing
114. Weaver xipini tawant"i i!Jp"uiasi No Borrowing
115. Fear b":li k"ena xim;,ma No Borrowing
116. Abuse gali T3IJIUra diginuma No Borrowing
117. End xex adairuwa jabasaruba No Borrowing
118. Drought k";,ralJ ran a nanuma No Borrowing
119. Smoke d"owa d"UIJO ekul) Borrowing seen in Tiwa
The table showcases one fact clearly that in the noun system of these two languages the
borrowed lexicon from Assamese are very much prevalent. The Tiwa language is more
adoptive in terms of borrowing from other languages, especially from Assamese than
Deori. In Tiwa the nouns such as meg", gumal, khukuri, k"anjur, ph:Jlp":Jkar,
jonai, n:Jdi, brubari which are representing for words such as cloud, cloudy, dog, ear,
fruits, moon, river, stick etc. respectively are borrowings from Assamese language. In the
same way in Deori language also, lexicon such as hrid:Jy, n:Jh:Jru, am, t:Jbla, p:Jkila
etc. are borrowed from Assamese language which stand for the meaning heart, garlic,
mango, bald, butte1jly etc. respectively. These are just some representative lexicon; the
list will provide many such borrowings.
Apart from borrowing, some of the noun lexicon also show phonetic similarities between
Tiwa and Deori. The pairs such as mai (Tiwa)- mub (Deori), mas:J (Tiwa)- musu
(Deori) also give the evidences for phonetic similarities. In the later part of this chapter
an extensive analysis of phonetic similarities is given.
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Moreover, smce classifiers are the signii}cant characteristics of the Tibeto-Burman
languages, these two languages are also no exception. Noun Classifiers have been widely
used in these two languages. As Mahapatra ( 1997:221) has rightly commented "It reveals
that the classificatory system is not merely an arbitrary or ad hoc collection of
phenomena, but the result of sustained intellectual preoccupation with the environment
towards formulating a conception of reality and beyond it, a natural philosophy of ethno
metaphysical speculation."60 Like most of the Tibeto-Burman languages, in Tiwa and
Deori languages also the plural forms are made by adding classifiers. Tiwa uses
classifiers to denote singularity such as b, k":;nja, sa, saj:J etc. and plurality through the
classifiers such as rau, jur etc. with various nouns. Similarly, Deori language also has
singular and plural classifier system such as na, sia, guja, wa, a (denoting singularity)
and kani, (denoting plurality) etc. The plural classifier bur which is borrowed from
Assamese is found in both Tiwa and Deori languages.
3.4.2. Pronominal
The pronoun morphology gives us the information regarding Gender, Number and
Person, (GNP) Animacy etc. This universal characteristic of languages plays an
important role at the syntactic level. Different languages show different system of
pronouns such as personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, reflexive, reciprocal etc.
In the current study, we have taken into a~count the personal pronouns of Tiwa and
Deori languages.
Following are the pronominal lexicon found in Tiwa and Deori:
First Person
English Gloss Number Assamese Tiwa Deori
120. I Singular ffi;)l aiJ a
60 Quoted in Abbi' s (200 I) A Manual o{ Linguistic Field work and structure of Indian Languages. P.J23.
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t-~We Plural ami JIIJ jou
Second Person
English Gloss Number Assamese Tiwa Deori
122. You Singular tJi/ tumi na nJ
123. You Plural tJhJt/tuma]ok na-bur m-bur
Third Person
English Gloss Number Assamese Tiwa Deori
124. He/ She Singular xi/teo/tai P£ ba
125. They Plural xihJt pi-bur I bou
hi-bur
The pronominal systems of Tiwa and Deori languages have aptly provided the insight
that these two languages are closely related to each other. There are remarkable phonetic
similarities between the same pronouns of these two languages such as for the pronouns
of I, we, you etc. The only influence of Assamese language here is the plural
pronominals which are made with the help of Assamese classifier bur in both Tiwa and
Deori.
3.4.3. Pronominals with genitive/possessive case
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
126. His tar pe-ne ba-b
12T-Her tair pe-ne ba-iJ
128. Mine mor aiJ-e ai-J
129. Yours tomalobr nabur-e nJr-J
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The genitive and possessive case markers are overtly marked in both Tiwa and Deori
languages. This shows that these languages have still retained the case markings in their
system.
3.4.4. Interrogative Pro-form
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
130. What ki nu dam
131. When ketia pakhala dum::>
132. Where bt pasu b::>r::>h::>
133. How ken eke numahke daikim
134. Who kon sar sa
The interrogative pro-forms in Tiwa and Deori languages are not affected by any
dominant language including Assamese. The only distinctive similarity between the
lexicon of this category is the lexicon which represent 'who'.
3.4.5. Demonstrative pro-form
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
135. That xouto beija xoubasi
136. This eito eija, ebe xelesi
Although, the lexicon for this grammatical category look independent from each other,
the lexicon for Deori that is seemed to be influenced by the Assamese lexeme.
3.4.6. Adjective
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Adjectives are universal properties of all the languages. In a language, adjectives can be
elicited on the basis of some semantic properties such as shape, size, color, taste, quality,
equative, etc. Many a language, especially in the subcontinent, does not show clear cut
distinction between the adjective and the noun morphology. To express the scenario of
language variety in India, D.N.S. Bhat (1994) had aptly remarked, "The study of
adjectives has been rather fascinating in this respect because the four major language
families that are prevalent in India have turned out to be representing four distinct
language types that need to be postulated in order to describe the categorial
characteristics of adjectives. That is, it has turned out that the category of adjectives is
distinct from that of nouns and verbs in Dravidian, whereas in Indo-Aryan it is generally
indistinguishable from that of nouns, in Tibeto-Burman it is indistinguishable from that
ofboth (nouns as well as verbsf61
Adjectives are basically used to modify the head nouns; hence they are always dependent
on the noun class either explicitly or implicitly. Dixon (1991) has initially established ten
semantic types of adjectives mostly based on English language. But later on Abbi ( 1992)
has added two more categories in this list62 keeping in mind the need and the better
explanation of adjectives of Indian languages. Following is the list of semantic
prototypes of Adjectives given by Dixon and Abbi63•
Semantic type Examples
a) Dimension big, great, short, thin
b) Physical Property hard, strong, clean, sick
c) Speed quick, fast, slow, sudden
d) Age new, young, old, modem
e) Color white, black, red, blue
f) Value good, bad, strange, odd
g) Difficulty easy, difficult, tough, simple
h) Qualification definite, possible, normal
61 Quoted in Abbi' s (200 I) A Manual of Linguistic Field work and stmcture of Indian Languages, P .113. 6' . - Ib1d. P. 131. 63 Ibid. P.l31.
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I
i) Human propensity angry, happy, eager, clever
j) Similarity like, unlike, similar, different
k) Taste sweet, sour, bitter, hot
I) Quantifiers two, twice, both, some
Following are some adjectives in Tiwa and Deori along with their Assamese
representations. They are classified according to their semantic properties.
3.4.6.I.ln terms of Dimension:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
137. Big dmpr dJra, phuiJa (fat) deh
138. Long dighJJ I udal) lu
139. Narrow thek sepa bJyama
140. Round ghurJnia ghurJnia, perem I gurJnia
phedem
141. Short suti khara sutuka
142. Small XJrU sJkha /jukha suru
143. Thick dath rauk giza
144. Thin patJI ramjeiJ patJl
145. Fat XJbt tJra mejiba
146. Wide bJbl keb bJ
3.4.6.2.Jn terms of physical proper(y:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
147. Hard tan raw a ge
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148. Sharp soka, tikhnJ sewa /lumawa jad3eruba
149. Smooth sJman, mJsrin s;,man misinuma
150. Full bhJra bh;,rewa, p;,reiwa siaiJma
151. Cold thanda sig;,m, chJna sepe
152. Hot gJrJm g;,r;,m kama
153. Dry xukan ran a nanuma
154. Wet tita JUIJga disiruba
155. Warm gJrJm philu iyul)
3.4.6.3.ln terms ofvalue:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
156. Bad bEy a kiria saba
157. Dull murkhJ, ekhusiwawa simar
am::miday;,k
1s8. Dirty let era kheria, muruwa saba
(dirty water)
usumatur
(dirty person)
s:>ba (dirty home)
159. Good bhal kumun sui
160. Heavy g;,dhur erlewa liba
161. right/correct xudh;, thJI)J XJi, SU
I 162. Rotten p;,sa ph;,jewa sarJruba
163. Lazy elehua uthiwa, mijawa elehua
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3.4.6.4. In terms of age:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
164. New n::>tun kodal s1ma
165. Old pur::>na p::>r::>i g1ra
3.4.6.5. In terms of color:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
166. Black k::>la kh::>j::>IJ k::>lia
167. Red r::>IJa tao saiJgia
168. White b::>ga ph::>b phuru
3.4.6.6. In terms of taste:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
169. Tasty jutiday::>k thaiJda hasuba
3.4.6.7. In terms of comparison:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
170. Cheap x::>sta s::>sta p::>yama
171. Costly dami dam taiJa p:)dam I
3.4.6.8. In terms of situation and condition:
I English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
! m. Lonely :)k::>lx::>ria s::>jab s::>saya
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m. Danger
However, Dixon (1991) and Abbi (1992) have not included the semantic properties of
comparison and situation and condition in their list, Tiwa and Deori have shown some
adjectives in their lexicon possessing these properties which have already been given.
Apart from the semanticity, at phonetic level very few adjective lexicon have shown
phonetic similarities between them. Moreover, both the languages have borrowed a few
numbers of adjectives from Assamese language.
3.4.7. Verbal Morphology
In the syntactic analysis of any language, the verb has always been the focal point. Abbi
(2001) has rightly commented "The verb is for a sentence what the heart is for the human
body. It governs all other grammatical elements in the sentence. It determines how many
nouns there are in a sentence, which in tum determines what kinds of modifiers
accompany these nouns. In other words, the valency of the verb determines the semantic
and syntactic nature of the sentence."64 Verb morphology precisely indicates whether it
marks the Tense, Aspect and Mood in the sentence. Tense refers to the temporal location
of the action whether it occurs in the present, past, future or any other. And this is being
tested when a speaker utters a sentence. The verb morphology would distinguish whether·
the action happens in the present, past or in the future. The Aspect indicates the status of
progression, non-progression, finish, unfinished state of an action, event or incident. It
also indicates the property of perfectiveness, non-perfectiveness, imperfect, habitual
action etc. The Mood is explained in terms of the properties such as necessary,
permissible, desirable etc. The following examples from Tiwa and Deori will explicate
all these issues.
In Tiwa:
174. k::>rkhia sa kisa thib jai-r::>m
64 Abbi. Am' ita (2001) A Manual of Linguistic Field work and structure of Indian Languages. P.l39.
79
Child- boy eat banana aux-PST
The boy ate a banana.
boy CL play aux-Progressive
The boy is playing.
176. brkhia siwan-b saial) sana rai -al).
Child food-CM fast eat can-NEG.
The food cannot be eaten fast by the child.
In Deori:
m. m:)isa sia guJa xar- umne
Boy CL one (CL) banana eat -PST
The boy ate a banana.
178. m:Hsa sm JjJl] na- dui
Boy CL play aux- Progressive
The boy is playing.
179. phikati phikati mJisa- kani- e xunkale xa l)a- ia
Small small child -Plu CL- CM fast eat can- NEG
The food cannot be eaten fast by the child.
The sentence no. 174 provides us the tense aspect in Tiwa. Here the auxiliary jai-r:Jm
shows that -r:Jm has been used to indicate past tense in Tiwa. Similarly in the sentence
177 the verbal suffix -umne is used to indicate the past tense in Deori language. Again to
refer to the progressive a.<.,pect in Tiwa the suffix -t:J is used (see 17 5) with the auxiliary
verb- and for the same purpose Deori uses -dui aspectual marker (see 178}. In case of
80
mood Tiwa and Deori both have marked morphologies. The examples 176 (for Tiwa)
and 179 (for Deori) would show the morphemes rai and va in Tiwa and Deori to
exemplify the mood in these two languages. In both examples they are incorporated with
the respective negative particles.
Another important aspect of verb morphology is verb agreement between the subject and
the speech act participant on the basis_ of gender differences. Both of these languages do
not show any agreement of GNP on the verb. For example:
In Tiwa:
180. ram
Ram mango eat aux-Progressive
Ram is eating a mango.
181. sita
Sita mango eat aux-Progressive
Sita is eating a mango.
182. aiJ thiksu chai thai-b
I mango eat aux-Progressive
I am eating a mango.
183. jiiJ thiksu chai thai-t~
We mango eat aux-Progressive
We are eating a mango.
184. fa thiksu chai thai-t~
Father mango eat aux-Progressive
Father is eating a mango.
81
1ss. ma
Mother mango eat aux-Progressive
Mother is eating a mango.
In Deori:
186. ram- a g.uja am xaiJ- na dui
Ram CM CL-one mango eat aux- Progressive
Ram is eating a mango.
187. sita- a guja am xaiJ- na dui
Sita CM CL-one mango eat aux- Progressive
Sita is eating a mango.
188. a guja am xaiJ- na dui
I CL-one mango eat aux- Progressive
I am eating a mango.
189. jou guja am XaiJ- na dui
We CL-one mango eat aux- Progressive
We are eating a mango.
190. baba- a guja am xaiJ- na dui
Father CM CL-one mango eat aux- Progressive
Father is eating a mango.
191. Y'JY'J- a guja am XaiJ- na dui
Mother CM CL-one mango eat aux- Progressive
Mother is eating a mango.
If we consider the above sentences ( 180 to 191 ), they clearly indicate that in terms of
gender, number and persons there is no marked distinction in any of these two languages.
The same form of auxiliary verb is used with all the Subjects irrespective of their
Gender, Number and Person properties; hence Tiwa and Deori show unmarked GNP
agreement. Although Assamese language has clear GNP agreement with the verb, the
82
conspicuous fact is that Tiwa and Deori have still retained the property of unmarked
GNP system unaffected.
3.4.7.1. Morphological causative:
Causativization is the result of derivational process of morphology. Almost all the Indian
languages share this morphological feature. In other words 'causative constructions refer
to predicates formed by the combination of a causative event with an underlying
predicate. The addition of the causative verbal element also adds a new participant (a
causer), which initiates or controls the event or underlying predicate.' 65 Payne (1997:
176) has defined causatives as 'a linguistic expression that contains in semantic/logical
structure a predicate of cause, one argument of which is a predicate expressing an effect.'
Causative expression may have different implications in the form of lexical,
morphological, and analytical but each has common parts:
a) Causer- agent of predicate of cause
b) Causee- agent of caused event
c) Caused event- resultative action, i.e. the effect.
"A lexical causative is an expression in which the caused event is part of the semantics
of the verb such as 'kill' meaning 'cause to die'. In these expressions, the causer and the
causee will be the same entity. A morphological causative is an expression with a
productive change in verb form, such as an inflection that changes 'go' to 'send'. This is
a valence increasing operation so that an intransitive verb becomes transitive and a
transitive verb becomes di-transitive. Thus an additional party a causee or a causer, is
added to the expression. An analytical causative is one in which there is a separate
causative verb and which is not de facto valence increasing operations."66 The present
6) Megerdoomian. Karine. Transitili~v alternation \·erbs and causative constructions in Eastern Armenian.
7.1 66 Mathieu-Reeves. Danielle Direct and Indirect causation in Sinhala: Examining the complexity continuum. P.l
83
study will confine only the morphological causatives of Tiwa and Deori languages. Let
us consider the following examples:
In Tiwa:
192. rna brkhia- b khu- uai- ::>st::>m
Mother baby-CM eat caus - aux-PST
Mother fed the baby.
sare- u- ga
Small- girl servant-CM veranda- CM clean -Caus-aux
The girl is getting the veranda cleaned by the maid.
In Deori:
194. sima- wa m::>Isa- na xare- r- umdE
Mother- CM child- CM eat-caus-aux-PST
Mother fed the baby.
195. misigu- wa sak::>rini- ::> utus::>IJ baranda- na safa nunu- r- umdE.
Girl-CM maid-CM by veranda- CL clean Caus-Aux.
The girl is getting the veranda cleaned by the maid.
In the Tiwa example 192 the verb khu- uai- ::>st::>m has been made by the adding the
causative -uai- in between the root verb and the auxiliary verb and similarly in example
193 the Causativization is made by adding causative in between the verb morphology
sare- u- ga. In Deori language too, the causativizer occurs in between the main verb
and the auxiliary verb.
3.4.7.2. Verbal affixation:
84
Doeri shows a kind of affixation with the root verb which can bring different meanings
to indicate the manner of the verbal actions. This affixation is added to the V 1 in the
syntactic structure of the sentence where V2 i.e. the auxiliary follows it. The following
sentence explicates this phenomenon in relation to the action of 'killing'.
In Deori:
19&. hint sil)- a indira gandhi- ~ b~-tEi bErn
Beant Singh- CM Indira Gandhi-CM kill aux-PST
Beant Singh killed Indira Gandhi.
Here, the morpheme 'b~' suggests the action of killing by someone. When the affix tei is
added it gives the shape of VI in the verb serialization process. But Deori sh~ws a -
distinct character of manner of action of the verb and the instrumentation by "changing
the root with the addition of lei suffixes. The following examples will explain the
process.
a) y;;-tEi denotes ki1ling by cutting
b) ku-tei denotes killing by shooting
c) b:J-tei denotes killing by beating
d) ju-tei denotes killing by stabbing or piercing
e) li-tEi denotes killing by slitting throat
f) ja-tei denotes killing by throwing something on
g) ce-tci denotes killing by squeezing
3.4.8. Adverb, Conditional, Negative particle and Conjunction
Tiwa and Deori also show the distinct morphological sets of adverbial system,
conditional, negative particle and conjunction. In the following examples temporal
85
adverbials have been taken into consideration. The adverb for 'daily' is a borrowed word
from Assamese in both the languages and the words for 'sometimes' have got the
reduplicated fonns in the same way like Assamese.
3.4.8.1. Adverb
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
197. Daily X;)dai S;)daib X;)daye
198. Sometimes ketiaba ketiaba pakhalba-pakhalba brom;, brom:J
3.4.8.2. Conditional
Conditional or causality refers to the relationship between an action or event and a
second event which is effect in nature. The situation can also be said as the direct
consequences of the first event. Like many languages, 'if is most frequently used
conditional in Tiwa and Deori languages too. Again, here also, the Assamese borrowing
word j:Jdi has replaced their original lexemes.
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
199. If j;)di jJdi, jeti jJdi
3.4.8.3. Negative Particle
Negation is an obvious language universal, presumably fulfilling a basic need to negate
as well as to affirm statements in the course of human communication. The dependence
of negative expressions on affirmative ones is evident in sentence types in languages
where a simple negative particle inserted in the affirmation sentence renders the
expression negative. Although the negative particles in Tiwa and Deori are hia and h.Jya,
they also get incorporated with the main verbs in both the languages. The examples 197
and 198 will explicate this fact.
86
English Gloss Assamese
200. Not n;,h::~i
In Tiwa:
201. kh::>nana jiiJ j::>ipur-a 1-ia.
Tomorrow we Jaipur CM go- NEG
We will not go to Jaipur tomorrow.
In Deori:
202. jou dipumai j::>ipur- mai kh-ia
We tomorrow Jaipur-CM go-NEG
We will not go to Jaipur tomorrow.
Tiwa Deori
hi a h::~ya
The above sentences have shown that the negative particles -ia and -ia in Tiwa and Deori
have been incorporated with the main verbs. In Tiwa when it is incorporated with the
main verb the lh/ sound gets deleted. In the similar way, in Deori also when the negative
particle is added with the root of the verb, the first sound of the particle gets deleted. It
works as the rule of incorporation which occurs because of the single morpheme of the
root verb.
3.4.8.4. Conjunction
A conjunction is an invariable grammatical particle; it conjoins two nouns, two events or
two statements. Not necessarily it will always present in the sentence, sometimes in some
languages, it occurs implicitly as well. 'And' and 'because' are two most common
conjunctions in terms of frequency in all languages. Tiwa and Deori speakers have also
started using the Assamese conjunctions in their languages like many other grammatical
words. But for the conjunction 'because', apart from using the Assamese counterpart,
some speakers have still retained their O\Vn lexemes.
87
English Gloss
203. And
204. Because
In Tiwa:
2os. phuti-b
Book-CL
Assamese Tiwa
aru aD, axJ
kar:m peisi, panda, kar:m
Ia arJ tEbuiE sau tJntJn
take and table-CM Loc keep
Pick up the book and keep it on the table.
In Deori:
206. kitap na
Book- CL
labE arke tebul-J pisJhJ ladume
take and table-CM Loc keep
Pick up the book and keep it on the table.
Deori
areke
khar:mE, xu
The above sentences have clearly shown that like all other languages, Tiwa and Deori
conjunctions also show the universal characteristics of being placed in the middle of the
clauses or nouns.
3.4.9. Spatial Deixis
Deixis in Linguistics refers to a particular category of words: which can be termed as the
shifters. They are instrumental in changing reference in a given position in time and
space of the speaker. They are the words that cannot be understood without knowing the
particular context which is being referred to. Deictic words acknowledge differences
between and among people, situations, temporalities,-places etc. One has to have the
social understanding to understand the deictic words properly. They can also be grasped
by understanding intimate, particularized, historical and local sites and situation. SIL has
defined 'Deixis is reference by means of an expression whose interpretation is relative to
the (usually) extralinguistic context of the utterance.' 67
88
Spatial deixis is also known as place deixis. SIL has defined Place deixis ... 'is deictic
reference to a location relative to the location of a participant in the speech event,
typically the speaker. ' 68 Tiwa and Deori languages are also rich in spatial deictic lexicon.
The information which are closely associated or located in the very nearby position of
the speakers may be referred by proximal forms. The words for 'back', 'here', 'left-side',
'right-side', 'near' etc. from the following list w?uld give us the proximal form of deixis
in Tiwa and Deori context. The concept of distance has also been conceptualized through
the deictic words jala and asa in Tiwa and Deori respectively. Here, the presupposition
is that, one cannot measure out the distance being referred by these two words. This is
totally situation and context dependent. They will vary in statement to statement.
Moreover, when the speaker wants to refer something which is within the range of
speaker's reach, or which can be achieved without any distinctive bifurcation could be
sensed by meaning the deictic words straight or in front of Again, in order to indicate
an object which is not proximal to the speaker, the deictic such as there is used.
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
201. Back pisphale phas, khelaiJjiiJ, yal)gul simipe
208. Far dur jala a sa
209. Here iyat heo yJhJ
210. left side baopha] I laskijiiJ Jsipi I
211. near OSJrJt JSJrJ hadJI)J
212. right side xophal lakijiiJ,maijawala, Jja
laiJara
213. straight pone pone phon phone xuluiJa
214. behind pispha]e khelaiJjeiJ simipile
89
215. front of x::mmukh ::>s::>r::> dug::>ju
216. there tat pisu b::>h::>
217. Down t::>bt nil)::> kum::>h::>
2!8. Up up::>r sao pis::>h::>
2!9. Upside down utha n::>ma jugla-jugli khajaruba doma
In the deictic category some postpositional words can also be included. Postpositions are
the important grammatical aspect of Indian languages. They are assigned with the ten
types of case relations (Abbi: 2001). In Tiwa and Deori some of the cases are marked
and some are unmarked. Nominative case is unmarked while locative, instrumental etc.
are marked in both the languages. Following are examples of locative and instrumental
postpositions ofTiwa and Deori.
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
220. Locative ::>t s::>h s::>h::>
221. Instrumental x::>ite, bg::>t bg::> bas::>IJ
3.4.1 0. Quantifiers /determiners
Quantifiers are also determiners which express definite or indefinite number or amount.
The quantifiers perform adverbial functions in Indian languages. As Abbi (200 1) has
rightly pointed out 'quantifiers in Indian languages behave very much like any other
nominal modifiers'. Sapir and Swiggers have defined "quantifier is a tenn which-
expresses any quantitative judgment. It measures or counts or grades a quantifiable. It
answers to the question 'how much or how many or to what degree so and so?' A term
which cannot answer one of these questions is not a quantifier."69 In Tiwa and Deori
69 Sapir. Edward and Swiggers Pierre, The collected works of Edward Sapir, P.303.
90
languages also quantifiers place in the modifiers position like Assamese and many other
Indian languages.
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
222. All X:)blo S:)k:)}bJ bagr:)ne
223. Few Jbpman saiman misig:), misaga
224. Many bJhut paiJal :)msare
22s. Some kisuhbpman ad:)p misiga
3.4.11. Words with Phonetic and Morphological similarities
Cognate identification with the help of Phonetic and Morphological similarities is the
most common practice in comparative study of language. In the study of historical
linguistics, cognates are words in related languages which are assumed to share the same
ancestor or mother language. This asserts that the words from two or more given
languages are similar in form and meaning. In historical linguistics, the identification of
cognates is required for two goals: first, establishing the related features of languages
and secondly, to reconstruct the language families. In the traditional study of cognate
identification, words with similar meaning and having certain amount of phonetic
similarities are kept together to find out the systematic correspondence of sounds. This
correspondence will again pave the way to distinguishing the pure cognate and the
borrowed similarities among the languages. In many languages there are chance
resembling words too. This might happen when two languages are completely differ in
terms of language family. Hence, it does not assert any connection between the two
languages.
The most widely accepted method for cognate identification is Phonetic Similarity
between the lexicon of two or more given languages. Simard et al. (1992) advocated
'two words to be cognates if their first four characters are identical (the 'truncation'
91
method)'. The usual assumption is that, according to Roger Lass, "any two items in two
languages can be fruitfully compared just in case they are in some sense both
'phonetically similar' and 'semantically equivalent' ..... There are however many cases
where there is both phonetic similarity and semantic equivalence, and comparison fails;
and once where there is almost no similarity of either kinds, yet where comparison is
legitimate and fruitful. This means that, the process of comparison itself, rigorously
defined, can tell us ultimately what is comparable, hence what is cognate; it is possible to
prove by comparison that two forms are not comparable." 70
Another way of figuring out the cognate in two g1ven languages is to find out the
phonetic similarities at syllable level. If the meaning of the words matches and there are
similarities between the syllables, the chance of becoming cognate is high. There may be
one pair syllable similarity or more than that.
Tiwa and Deori languages have shown ample evidences of being phonetically similar to
each other and semantically equivalent words in their lexicon on the basis of which we
can safely come to the assumption that these two languages are very much closer to each
other and near sister languages put under the Bodo sub group of Tibeto-Burman
language family. Following are lists for phonetic similarity of sounds in terms of number
of sounds and syllabic similarities and semantic equivalence.
3.4.11.1. Words having four sound similarities:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori Observation
226. Vomit b:)miuwa kubawa ibawa The syllable similarities of CV-
CV---CV-CV are also evident
3.4.11.2. Words having three sound similarities:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori Observation
70 Lass, Roger, Historical Linguistic and Language change. P.l27
92
221. Hair suli khiniu kiu ve-ve syllable similarity is
evident
228. Nose nak guu,kuu gutiiu ve-ve syllable similarity is
evident
229. Snake xap subu, jubu dubu V-eV-V-eV syllable similarity
is evident
230. Brother's bou paUJI buji V-eV-V-eV syllable similarity
wife is evident
231. Cow g::>ru masu musu ev-ev syllable similarity is
evident
232. rice (crushed) pithaguri khudi khusi eV-C'V syllable similarity is
evident
233. at ::>t SJb pisJh::> eve-ev-e syllable similarity
is evident
234. wtpe m::>si diya musiwa, p muj::>ruba ev-ev syllable similarity is
r· evident
' hijia
235. buy kina pereba jiruba eV-C'V syllable similarity is
evident
236. Hear '.· khanawa khinanima ev-ev syllable similarity is .·:xuna evident
,,
3.4.11.3. Words·h'aving two sound similarities: -.. .
. I i ··
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori Observation .~ --~-
237. Day din sal sah ev-ev syllable similarity is
evident ' ..
238. Egg bni, dima dudi duja ev-ev syllable similarity is
evident
239. Eye s::>ku mu::> mukuti ev-ev syllable similarity is
evident
240. Name nam IDUIJ mu ev-C'V syllable similarity is
evident
241. Seed guti, biz guthi I citi
kh::>tia
242. Sun beli, xurj::> sal sa CV-CV syllable similarity is
evident
243. Wife gh::>ini margi IDISI
244. Cat mekuri miau midiiJe ev-CV syllable similarity is
evident
93
245. Cold s::>rdi k::>ga guga CV-CV syllable similarity is
evident
(ailment)
246. Liquor m::>d ju SUJe
247. Oil tel thau tu
248. Potato alu thakuti ta
249. I m::>i ag a
250. They xih::>t pibur I bou
bibur
251. High okhJ UChJ sau sui '
252. Here iyat heo y::>h;)
253. Not mh::>i hi a h::>ya
254. Who kon sar sa CV-CV syllable similarity is
evident
255. Woman tirota, mJhila margi misigu
256. Ill bE mar cawa I bErn saruba
ar
257. Fall p::>ra kuwa kuruba
258. Tum ghuruwa kuriwa guriruba, CV-CV syllable similarity is
evident
kekora
259. Sing gowa roJawa sajeba
260. Bark bhuka SUIJd::> suruba CV-CV syllable similarity is
evident
3.4.11.4. Words having one sound similarity:
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
261. Salt nim::>kh som SiiJ
94
262. Water pani ti ji
263. Necklace har b li
264. We ami jiiJ JOU
265. You t:Ji/ tumi na n:J
266. Mine mor aiJe ab
Although, it is a distant possibility of getting cognates while there is just one sound
similarity of the compared words from both the languages, yet, if there is systematic
difference among other sounds, it can still provide the cognate forms of the words. For
example, in the pairs such as 'sam' and 'siv ', 'b' and 'li ·, and 'na' and 'n:J · in both
the pairs, the variations are with the nasal to nasal sounds and vowel to vowel sounds,
hence the correspondence has been maintained. Therefore, there is a chance of these
words of sharing same cognates. The syllable similarities between the lexicon of these
two languages are also found which can further explicate the cognate relationship of
these two languages. Moreover, the semanticity also further supports the correspondence
between Tiwa and Deori.
3.4.11.5. Limitation of this Method:
Having found so many lexical and phonetic similarities between these two languages,
one would come to the conclusion that these languages belong to the same sub group of
Bodo under Tibeto Burman family. But following the norms of the social science of
being non-absolute science, it would be worth to say that these evidences might not be
the ultimate evidences for getting them categorized in the same sub group. Even linguists
are wary about such absolute categorization. There would not be absolute techniques
where we can rely solely on inspectional similarities for proving relationship. As
Goddard (1974: 254-255) had rightly commented against the method of multilateral
comparison of languages as "It is widely believed that when accompanied by lists of
corresponding sounds, a moderate number of lexical similarities is sufficient to
95
demonstrate a linguistic relationship ... However, ... the criteria which have usually been
considered necessary for a good etymology are strict, even though there may seem to be
a high priori probability of relationship when similar words in languages known to be
related are compared. In the case of lexical comparisons it is necessary to account for the
whole word in the descendent languages, not just an arbitrarily segmented 'root', and
reconstructed ancestral form must be a complete word .... The greater the number of
descendant languages attesting a form, and the greater the number of comparable
phonemes in it, the more likely it is that the etymology is a sound one and the
resemblances not merely the result of chance. A lexical similarity between only two
languages is generally considered insufficiently supported, unless the match is very exact
both phonologically and semantically, and it is rare that a match of only one or two
phonemes is persuasive. If the meanings of the forms compared differ, then there must
be an explicit hypothesis about how the meanipgs have changed in the various cases.
Now, if these strict criteria have been found necessary for etymologies within known
linguistic families, it is obvious that much stricter criteria must be applied to word
comparisons between languages whose relationship is in question.''71 But even after the
skepticism sounded by Campbell et.al in the above statement, after examining the Tiwa
and Deori lexicon with such an ample number of phonetic and semantic similarities, it
would be apt to say that the sub grouping of these two languages inside the Bodo group
is justified and apt.
3.4.12. Borrowed and Loan words from Assamese and other languages
Borrowing refers to the reproduction of the morphemes of the foreign language by using
native morphological features of the language. But loanwords replicate the exact
phonemes of a foreign language. Borrowing and loanwords are a phenomenon which is
bound to occur in contact situation. Many a time, borrowing and loanwords enrich the
body of lexicon of a language. The classic example is English language which nativizes a
huge amount of borrowings and loan words every year from different languages. A
language cannot stay in the watertight compartment without getting influenced by other
71 Campbell, Lyle in Blake. Barry J, (ed) Historical Linguistics 2001, P.36.
96
languages. But, when it comes to endangered languages, excessive borrowing can be the
death bell for the language. If the borrowed and loan words are from the respective
dominant language, it could well be dangerous for the language, resulting lesser and
lesser domain usage of their own lexicon and finally shifting to it. Tiwa and Deori have
shown a great number of borrowings and loan words from Assamese and other
languages. The following list will provide us a clear picture of borrowing in Tiwa and
Deori from various languages. These lexicon give us only those words which are
included in the basic vocabulary list in Abbi' s (200 1) manual.
3.4.12.1. Borrowings and Loan words from Assamese
English Gloss Assamese Tiwa Deori
267. bone ha( khiri1J, xar har
268. earth prithivi, b::>xum:Jti, mati b:Jxum:Jti, mathi prithivi
269: dew niy:Jr nih:Jr, fruiJe nih:Jr nih:Jr
210. grass ghah ghas ghah
211. forehead k:Jpal khapal k::>pal
Observation: Deori has adopted the loan word
272. ICe b:Jr:Jf b:Jr:Jp b:Jr:Jp
273. sea xag:Jr sag:Jr xag:Jr
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori from Assamese.
274. snow b:Jr::>f b:Jr:Jp b:Jr::>p
275. copper tam thama tam
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori.
276. medicine oux::>dh, d::>r:Jb d::>r::>p d::>r::>p
211. mirror aina I archi aina I archi arsiiJ
Observation: Direct Loan in Tiwa
278. nose-pm nakphuli ku!Jphuli nakphuli
97
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
279. om on ptaz h .
pel)as, p eJ p1az
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
280. peacock m::lyur, m::lra m::liratu m::lra
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
281. bazaar hat, b::lzar xat b::lzar
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
282. enemy X;)t;)ru, X::ltru s::ltur X;)t:)fll
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
283. heels goroha giruwa goroa
284. iron smith k:)mar k"amar kJmar
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
285. shop dokan dok"an dokan
Observation: Direct Loan in Deori
286. teacher xik"::lk, mast;)r mastJr xikaya, mast;)r
287. wheat g"Ehu, g::lm g;)mmm g£hu
288. deaf k:)la k"ala k"ala
289. count lek"a lek"e lek"iba
290. hit k"undiwa k"undanal)a k"unda xaruba
291. hold/take d";)ra, Iowa r;)ma, lava odiba I laba
292. think b"aba b"aba babiruba
Observation: Direct Loan in Tiwa
293. read p::lr"a p;)r"a p:)riruba
Observation: Direct Loan in Tiwa
294. daily X;)dai s::ldaib X:)daye
295. and aru ar;), ax:) areke
296. knee at"u ant"u agu
98
297. tea sah sah sasia
Observation: Direct Loan in Tiwa
298. breathe uxah ugas, UIJas uxalaba
Apart from the loan words found in these two languages, both the languages follow
certain phonological rules while borrowing the words from Assamese. For example: In
Tiwa the Assamese sounds /x/~/s/, and lhl~lxl (examples 267, 273 etc.) where Deori
retains the same sound in this context. In some examples the Tiwa words are nativized
by aspirating it in their language (example 271, 275, 279 etc).
3.4.12.2. Borrowings from English
English Gloss Assamese
299. teacher xikh::>k, mast::>r
300. train, rail r£1
3.4.12.3. Borrowings from Hindi
Tiwa
mast::>r
rElgari
English Gloss Hindi Assamese
301. san sari xari
302. spices m::>sala m::>s::>la
303. dal dal dali
304. t;}W3 t;}wa taw a
Tiwa
sari
m::>s::>la
dali
tawa
Deori
xikaya, mast::>r
r£1
Deori
xari
m::>s::>la
dali,dibi
taw a
The Hindi borrowings are indirect borrowings m both Tiwa and Deori. They are
borrowed through Assamese language.
3.4.12.4. Loan words from Assamese:
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English Gloss Assamese Tiwa
305. dust dhuli, bali bali
306. sand bali bali
307. sky megh, akax megh, athaJi
308. star bra phundJra, tJra
309. tongue jibha jibha
310. woods, forest habi, jJI)ghJJ habi
311. year bJSJf bJSJf
312. book kitap phuti, kitap
313. door/entrance duar, dJrja duar
314. lion Xil)hJ Xil)bJ
315. spoon sam us sam us
316. aroma pJribex pJribex
317. coconut narikJl naribl
31S. donkey gadhJ gadhJ
319. letter cithi cithi
320. tailor dJrji dJrji
321 well nad,kua nad,kua
322. push thela thela
323. if jJdi jJdi, jeti
3.4.12.5. Loanwords from Hindi:
English Gloss
324. sugar
325. pnce
Hindi
Sinl
dam
Assamese
seni
dam
100
Tiwa
sini
dam
Deori
dhuli
bali
megh
jeti, tJra
jibha
habi
bJSJf
kitap
duar
Xil)hJ
sam us
pJribex
naribl
gadhJ
cithi
dJrji
kua
the]a
jJdi
Deori
sini
dam
Although, some of the loan words are taken from Hindi indirectly through Assamese
language, Tiwa and Deori speakers use the exact pronunciation like their source
language Hindi.
3.4.12.6. Loanwords from English:
English Gloss
326. liver
327. brass
3.5. Conclusion
Assamese
kJlija
bras
Tiwa
livar
bras
Deori
livar
bras
The entire discussion has revealed that Tiwa and Deori languages have lots of common
features. Their noun lexicon are equally affected by the lexicon from Assamese in the
form of borrowing. The evidence of phonetic similarities also found in the noun lexicon.
These two languages have also shown distinctive pronominal system from Assamese, but
they are virtually phonetically and semantically similar to each other. In addition, the
discussion has also delved into various aspects of verbal morphology, Causativization,
adverbials, quantifiers, conditional, conjunctions, determiners and various deictic
categories of these two languages in detail.
After discussing and having comparative analyses of all the grammatical categories
separately, all the lexicon which are phonetically and semantically similar to each other,
were studied separately to find out the cognate forms of the words. It was found that
there are ample numbers of evidences of cognate words in these two languages. They
were compared from three dimensions-a) On the basis of number of sound similarities
b) on the basis of syllable similarities and c) on the basis of semantic similarities. The
study has rightly explicated that these two languages share the same mother language
and they have genealogical proximity because of which so many sounds are found to be
similar along with their meanings.
101
The issue of borrowing and loan words which is prevalent in these two languages has
also been addressed with adequate examples. Borrowing has become so ubiquitous that
the speakers of these two communities cannot avoid using a good amount of borrowing
words in their conversation. Because of this reason, the threat imported in the fonn of
borrowing has become hegemonistic in nature for these two languages and in the
subsequent chapters also this issue will be discussed elaborately.
102