Sunday, May 20, 2007

OuR LaNgAuGe------

Gujari Language

Some people (specially who live in plains of Haryana and UP) think that the language which they speak, which is more like Marwari language, is actually Gujari.

Thats wrong as the original Gujari language is much closer to Punjabi or kangari. Here we will compare the original Gujari with gujari of Plains.

Table 1

Sanskrit Gujari Rajasthani

Gujari of Plains

Hindi Gloss
karma kamm kaam kaum kaam work
karna kann kaan kaunn kaan ear
masta mattho matho mottho maathaa forehead
tapta tatto taatoZ tato taataa hot
aksi akkhã ãkhy ãunkh ãkh eye
misTha miTTho miiTo meeTho miiThaa sweet
sapta satt saat saatt saat seven

Consonant Change

In Gujari, as in most of the Indo-Aryan languages w of OIA changes to b in the initial position. This, however, has been retained in Panjabi. The examples in Table 2 are illustrative of this phenomenon.

Table 2

Sanskrit Gujari Rajasthani Gujari of Plains Hindi Gloss
vimsat ibi ãibiiã bees ãbiis twenty
vrhad baRo baRo baDo baRaa big
vair bEr vEr bair bEr/vEr enmity
vatsa baccho vach baccha bachaa calf
vasati basNo basNo basNau basnaa live/stay

Vowel Nasalisation

Another feature that Gujari and Panjabi share along with some other Eastern languages is that OIA long vowels followed by a nasal are realized as nasalized vowel in the final position with the subsequent loss of the OIA word final vowel. In Hindi, Rajasthani, etc. either the nasal is retained or the vowel is nasalized and followed by v.

The examples in Table 3 illustrate this point.

Table 3

Sanskrit Gujari Rajasthani Gujari of Plains Hindi Gloss
graam agraã gaam/gaã gaum gaam/gaw village
naam anaã naam nãum naam name
sthaan athã thaan thaur / Jigah sthaan place

Consonant Voicing

In a sequence of vowel-nasal-consonant (VNC) the voiceless consonant following the nasal has changed to voiced consonants, i.e., OIA VNC (vl.) > VNC (vd.) in Gujari along with Panjabi, Kangri and other Western Pahari dialects whereas in other Indo- Aryan dialects such as Rajasthani and Hindi it has remained voiceless. The examples in Table 4 are illustrative.

Table 4

Sanskrit Gujari Rajasthani Gujari of Plains Hindi Gloss
pancha panj paãc paunch paãc five
danta dand daãt daunt daãt tooth
kaNTka kaNDo kaNTo seeng kaãTaat horn
manca manjo maaco manjo / Khat maacaa stage/bed

Tone

Both in Gujari and Panjabi along with some related dialects the OIA and intermediate stage h in the medial and final position has been mostly changed to some tone and usually to high tone if follows a vowel. The examples in Table 5 are illustrative.

Table 5

Sanskrit Gujari Rajasthani Gujari of Plains Hindi Gloss
baah uhbaã baãh bãunh baã arm
bahira baãr baahr baãhre baahar outside
lauha lo lo lohyo lohaa iron
swasa sa aãhaa husaas saãs breath
prathama pElo pElo pEhllo pahlaa first

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