Kurmali language

Geographical distribution

Kurmali language is mainly spoken in three eastern states of India, that is, in southeastern district Seraikela Kharswan, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Bokaro and Ranchi districts of Jharkhand; in northern district Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Kendujhar, Jajpur and Sundargarh of Odisha; and in south western district Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia and northern districts Maldah, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakhin Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri of West Bengal. Apart from the core area of the language, the language is also spoken in Udalguri and a few speakers are also found in Cachar, Santipur, Nagaon of Assam; the eastern districts of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. Apart from this, a few speakers are also found in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and in neighbour country Bangladesh and Nepal.{{cite book|title= POPULATION MONOGRAPH OF NEPAL |volume=II |id=(Social Demography); census 2011 |page=60, 166 |year=2014

During the British Raj, the Kurmali language was known as Panchpargania (means "language of five regions") for present-day Bundu, Barenda, Sonahatu (split into Sonahatu and Rahe), Silli, Tamar blocks of Ranchi district of Jharkhand state as a trade language between four linguistic region. Now the Sonahatu and Rahe make the core region of Panchpargania.

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As per the Census of 2011, there are 311,175 Kurmali Thar speakers in India (hailing mostly from West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Maharashtra) and 244,914 Panch Pargania speakers (mostly from Jharkhand), making a total of 556,089 Kurmali speakers in India. They are grouped under the umbrella of "Hindi languages". Note that both, Kurmali Thar and Panch Pargania are dialects of the Kurmali language. In Nepal, there are 227 Kurmali speakers. However, it is claimed that the actual number of Kurmali speakers is far higher than the number cited in the census.

Language variation

The speakers of Kurmali are spread over a vast region of East India, especially in fringe areas of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. These states are mostly dominated by Bengali, Nagpuri and Odia speakers. Local dialectal change and language shift can be noticed in these areas. The Kurmi of West Bengal identify themselves as speakers of Kurmali, considering it part of their ethnic identity. But due to age-long settlement in the Bengali region their language is shifting towards the Manbhumi dialect of Bengali, as similarly occurred in northern Odisha with Bengali and Odia admixture. In the 1903 Linguistic survey of India, the shift was explained this way: Similarly, in the 1911 census, according to the Linguistic Survey of India and Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi the Panchpargania was noted as:

The Kurmali language was initially recorded, notably by G.A. Grierson in the early 20th century, as the language of the Kuṛmi community, who were in a transitional phase to Bengali after settling in Bengali-speaking regions, bordering Hindi and Odia-speaking areas. Thus, it was commonly regarded as a variety of Bengali in the region, but classified Kurmali Thar (Thar means "style", i.e., the style of Kuṛmi vocabulary) and Panch Pargania within the Bihari group of languages as Eastern Magahi, based on its distinct structural features and vocabulary, which were shaped by substratal language, diverging from Bengali. On the basis of this categorization, Kurmali Thar and Panch Pargania was officially classified as a variety of Hindi (or Hindustani) in the 1911 census, a classification that continued in subsequent censuses. However, while the speaker remained in a transitional phase, Kurmali gained increasing recognition as a separate linguistic identity after the 1961 census, largely driven by growing sociopolitical consciousness among its speakers.

The Kurmali language bears between 61 and 86 per cent lexical similarity with Panchpargania; with Khortha; with Nagpuri (Sadri); with Odia; with Bengali; and with Hindi. Hence the Panchpargania is usually considered a major variety of the Kurmali language, although sometimes it is classified as a distinct language. Similarly, due to the great influence of the Bengali language on Kurmali (as the speakers of this language are in the process of shifting to dominant or prestige languages of the region), many linguists label it as Jharkhandi Bangla and sometimes it is clustered as a Manbhumi dialect. Kurmali also closely resembles the Khortha language and has a good number of loanwords from the Munda language family, specifically from the Santali language, although not as much as Khortha language.

It is believed that the early form of the Kurmali language was spoken by Kudmi Mahato, a group that was one of the original homesteaders of erstwhile Manbhum region of Bihar. Although the language is now Indo-Aryan in nature, it has some distinctive features like lexical items, grammatical markers and categories that are neither available in Indo-Aryan nor Dravidian, nor even in Munda languages. The language has its own traditional precedence, and Magahi is not generally regarded as its linguistic source by some authors. Thus it is believed that the language was once a separate, unrelated language. However, because of its long settlement in the Aryan belt, the native speakers gradually abandoned the original structure and switched to an Aryan form of the language, while retaining the substrate of the old. The language currently falls in 6b (threatened) and 7 (language shifting) level of the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), which correspond to the UNESCO language endangerment category level "Vulnerable" and "Definitely Endangered". However, Ethnologue place Kurmali at 6a (vigorous) level and its variety Panchpargania (widely used in Jharkhand) at level 3 (trade) of EGIDS, both of which correspond to "Safe" status of UNESCO language endangerment category level.

Variety

The language is transferred orally from generation to generation and the Kurmali language remains unstandardised due to influence of other Indo Aryan languages. Thus its speakers use different varieties and accents. However, the language can be classified on the basis of the speakers' territorial region, viz., Singhbhum Kudmali, Dhalbhum Kudmali, Ranchi Kudmali (Panchpargania), Manbhum Kudmali, Mayurbhanj Kudmali are the major regional varieties. All those varieties bear between 58 and 89 per cent lexical similarity with each other.

Numbers

The basic Kurmali cardinal numbers are:

Language use

The language Kurmali (Kudmali) is spoken by 555,465 people as a native language in India. The Kudmi (Kudmi Mahato), the native speakers of the language, are the main users.{{efn|"Kurmali is a corrupt form of Magahi, which, as the name implies, is the tongue of the aboriginal Kurmis of Chota Nagpur (not the Bihari cultivating caste of the same name). It was returned as the language of 211,411 persons in Manbhum, where the Kurmis number 291,729. It is not confined to them, however, but is spoken by many other castes. This patois is also known as Khotta or Khotta Bengali, and is written in the Bengali character. Locally it is regarded as a corrupt form of Bengali. It is reported that even in Ranchi, though Bihari words are used, the terminations are often Bengali. In Mayurbhanj it is usually called Kurmi Bengali or Kurumali Bengali, as well as simply Kurmi. With regard to its character, the late Maharaja of Mayurbhanj wrote as follows :— The mother-tongue of the Kurmis of Mayurbhanj is Bengali, with the peculiar intonation belonging to them. These Kurmis have, as a rule, come from Midnapore and settled permanently in Mayurbhanj. Their dialect shows traces of Hindi and Oriya as well but it can not be called either." Quoted}} As per The People of India (1992), the language is spoken by ten communities as a mother tongue, including two Scheduled Tribe and three Scheduled Caste communities. Those ten communities include Bedia, Bagal, Dharua, Dom, Jolha, Kamar, Kumhar, Tanti, Nai, Ghasi, Karga, and Rautia. In addition, bilingual tribals like Bhumij, Ho, Kharia, Lohara (or Lohar), Mahli, Munda, Oraon, Santal, Savar and Bathudi communities speak the language as a second or subsequent language.

The language contributes to community identity in festivals like Bandna, Tusu, Karam and Jhumair, in which the songs are formatted in Kurmali. An example of this is the Jhumar song.

Education

There are some institutions, where the Kurmali language is a higher education core subject.

• Ranchi University, Ranchi
• Kolhan University, Chaibasa
• Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, Dhanbad
• Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, Ranchi
• Sidho Kanho Birsha University, Purulia
• Jhargram University, Jhargram
• Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag
• Panch Pargana Kisan College Bundu, Jharkhand
• Acchruram Memorial College, Purulia
• Arsha College, Purulia
• Ramananda Centenary College, Purulia
• Chitta Mahato Memorial College, Purulia
• Bandwan Mahavidyalaya, Purulia
• Kotshila Mahavidyalaya, Purulia

Notes

References

Bibliography

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References

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