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.

65

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


122. You Singular tJi/ tumi na nJ

123. You Plural tJhJt/tuma]ok na-bur m-bur

Third Person


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


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


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:


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:


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:


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:


164. New n::>tun kodal s1ma

165. Old pur::>na p::>r::>i g1ra

3.4.6.5. In terms of color:


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:


169. Tasty jutiday::>k thaiJda hasuba

3.4.6.7. In terms of comparison:


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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:


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


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


280. peacock m::lyur, m::lra m::liratu m::lra


281. bazaar hat, b::lzar xat b::lzar


282. enemy X;)t;)ru, X::ltru s::ltur X;)t:)fll


283. heels goroha giruwa goroa

284. iron smith k:)mar k"amar kJmar


285. shop dokan dok"an dokan


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


293. read p::lr"a p;)r"a p:)riruba


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


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:

99

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

deori-tiwa-assamese: a morpho-phonemic...

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