Khandeshi Languages - Derivation of Substantives in Ahirani Dialect

Derivation of Substantives in Ahirani Dialect

This section is based on a research paper by Ramesh S. Suryawanshi. Ahirani a dialect as spoken in Jalgaon and Dhule districts of Khandesh. It is also spoken in kalvean’Malegaon and Satana Tahsil of Nasik district and in some villages of Kannad and Soegaon Tahsils of Aurangabad district. It is almost a uniformed dialect except as spoken in Baglan Tahsil. Ahirani is a term based on the name of the community of speakers called Ahirs. It is also referred as Khandeshi, the language of Khandesh. There are a few caste dialects spoken in this region by the people of various communities, such as Wanis, Pardeshis, Dhangars, Bhills, Thakuras, Gujars, Hatakara, Pardhis, Tadvis and Muslims. All these people speak their own dialect at home but use Khandeshi for their daily communication outside their communities. According to the 1971 census of India, the number of people who declared Ahirani as their mother tongue was 363,780. The Standard Marathi (SM) and Ahirani (Ah) show considerable difference at various levels of structures. This indicates that the source and development of these two dialects are independent. Some of the peculiarities of Ahirani show closeness to Rajashthani and Gujarati. The following is a modest attempt at explaining the derivation substantives in this dialect. The stem in Ahirani dialect can be divided into two classes on the basis of their Structural peculiarities such as :- -Simple Stems.

-Complex Stems.

The simple stems are unanalysable roots; while complex stems are analysable and involve one of the processes of derivation composition and reduplication.

The derivation of complex stems in this dialect involves three processes such as :

q Prefixation. q Suffixation. q Change in the shape of the base morpheme.

Accordingly the structure of a derivative stem may be represented as :- Prefix + base base + suffix base + internal change.

Both prefixes and suffixes are particles which have no independent existence as stem, even though they possess some semantic value. Thus, the prefixes are a class of bound morphemes occurring only as stem –initial; while the suffixes are a class of bound morphemes occurring as stem-final. Ina suffixial derivative, the suffix is the grammatically dominant part; while in a prefixial derivative the root is grammatically dominant. In Ahirani, the occurrence of prefixial derivatives is very limited and confined to borrowed words from standard Marathi. The suffixial derivatives are numerous and display a variety of structural peculiarities. The occurrence of derivatives obtained through internal change in the shape of base morpheme is extremely limited.

The following examples illustrate in detail the various patterns of derivative constructions of substantives

(A) PREFIXIAL DERIVATION OF SUBSTANTIVIES.

1) Pref. + Subst.m. -----à Subst.m.

aap + ghat -------- aapghaat “accident” par + des ------- pardes “foreign country. app + maan -------- aapmaan “ insult”

2) Pre. + Subst.f. -------à Subst.f.

aaD + kaaThii -------- aaDkaathii “Hinderance” paD + Saayaa -------- paDsaayaa “shadow”

3) Pre. + Subst.n. ---à Subst.n.

aap + yas ------ aapyas “failure” par + ghar ------- parghar “ other’s home” bad + nasiib ------ badnnsib “ misfortune”

(B) SUFFIXIAL DERIVATION OF SUBSTANTIVE:

1) Verb + Suffix---à Subst.m. dekh + aavaa --- dekhaavaa “scene” per + aa ---- peraa “sowing” ziir + aa ---- ziraa “stream” puj + aarii --- pujaarii “priest”

2) Verb + Suf. -à Subst.f.

ban + aavat --- banaavat “structure” khod + aai --- khodaai “work of dgging” uuD + ii ---- uuDii “ Jump” vaaDh + ii ---- vaaDhii “ small pot for ghee”

3) Verb + Suf. ---à Subst.n.

aathar + un ----- aathrun “bed” haas + uu ------ haasuu “smile” kuuT + aar ---- kuTaar “cattle food”

4) Subst.m. + Suf. ---à Subst.m.

sejaar + ii ---- sejaarii “ neighbour” daanD + uu --- daanDuu “short stick” Dhiig + aaraa ---Dhigaaraa “heap”

5)Subst.f. + Suf. --à Subst.m.

jaadu + gaar --- jaadugaar “magician phauj + daar -- phaujdaar “Police Sub Inspector” bhiik + aari—bhikaari “beggar” aakkal + vaan --- aakkalvaan “ wise”

6)Subs.n. + Suf. --à Subst.m.

uun + haayaa ---uunhaayaa “Summar” pakh + oTi ----- pakhoTi “Young hen” saaL + daar ----- saaLdaar “servent who is appointed as yearly basis.

7)Cl(clitic form of) Subst. + Suf.-----Subst.m.

navar + aa ---- navaraa “bridegroom” senD + aa ---- senDaa “head of tree” peT + araa – petaraa “big box”

8) Stem bd.(bound) base + Suf. --à Subst.m.

saav + kaar ----- saavkaar “landlord” kaar + bhaarii ----kaabhaarii “ manager” kaar + khaanaa ----kaarkhaanaa “ factory”

9) Stem.bd.root + Suf. --àSubst.m. caT + kaa—caTkaa “glow” phat + kaa—phaTkaa “stroke” phan + kaaraa—phankaaraa “with anger.”

10)Adj. + Suf. ----à Subst.m. gaar + Thaa ---- gaarThaa “cold” Yaahir + naamaa—Jaahirnaamaa “ notification”

11)Subst.m. + Suf. à Subst. f. majur + ii --- majurii “wages” naag + in --- naagin “female cobra” dhol + kii --- DhoLkii “small drum”

12)Subst.f. + Suf. ----à Subst.f. sep + Tii ------ sepTii “tail”

aag + tii ------ aagtii “fire”

thaap + Di ----- thapDi “slap”

13) Subst.n. + Suf. ---à Subst.f. nisaan + ii ----- nisaanii “ mark” piiTh + orii --- piThorii “a festival”

biij + vaai ---- bijvaai “seeds”

14)Clitic form of Subst. + Suf. --à Subst.f. senD + ii ------ senDii “pigtail” porag + ii ----- poragii “girl” kuttra + ii ------ kuttrii “femal dog”

15) Stem bound root + Suf. ---à subst.f. Tic + kii --- Ticakii “ click”

Piic + kii ----- pickii “ spitting”

16) Adj. + Suf. ---à Subst.f. band + ii—bandii “ prevention” LabaaD + ii ---- LabaaDi “falshood” Khus + ii --- khusii “concient”

17) Nu. + Suf. ---à Subst.f.

paac + ii ----paacii “ ceremony performed on the fifth day after birth.”

dahaa + vva ---- dahaavva “a ceremony performed

on the tenth day after death”

paac + otri --- paacotri “ group of five things.”

18) Cl. Form of Nu. + Suf. ----à Subst.f.

Ter + vii ----- Tervii “a ceremony performed on the 13th day after death”

19) Adjunct. + Suf. -à Subst.f. saabaas + kii saabaaskii “praise”

20) Subst.m. + Suf. -à Subst.n. jiiv + an—jiivan “life” dev + ui ---devui “temple”

21) Subst.f. + Suf. -à Subst.n. raanD + ov --- raanDov “widow’’

22) Subst.n. + Suf. -à Subst.n. HaaD + uuk ---- haaDuuk “ bone” khaanD + uuk --- khaanDuuk “ piece” maap + aD --- maapaD “measure” sen + faDa ---- senfaDa “dung carrier”

23)Adj + Suf. -à Subst.n. Tanak + panaa—Tanakpanaa “ hardness” Var + Lyaang~ ----- varLyaang~ ‘ West” Khal + Lyaang~ ----KhaLLyaang~ “East”

24)Cl.form of Adj. + Suf.-à Subst.n. thoT + uuk—thoTuuk “short bit.”

25)Adj + Suf. -à Subst.n.

Dhaa + kala -------dhakala "younger" De + dor ---------Dedor "Frog" ye + daa -------- yedaa "mad" gad + ay ---------- Gaday "watch"

(C) DERIVATION THROUGH INTERNAL CHANGE:

1) Verb ------à internal change. ukar ------ukir “dust or earth near mouse hole” utar -------utaaru “ passenger”

It will be seen from the above, the patterns of derivations in Khandeshi are not very different from the patterns observed in Standard Marathi. Since both the dialects belong to the same family of language i.e. Indo-Aryan. Derivational patterns show much identity. This study can extended to the other dialects of Marathi, that might produce extensive material for comparison of derivational process.

Abbreviations:- Adj. = Adjective bd. = bound. Cl.= clitic form. m. = masculine. Nu. = numerals. n.=neuter pre. = Prefix .. Subst. = Substantives suf. = suffix

Educated Khandeshis speak standard Marathi as well as Ahirani. Ahirani is losing its popularity among such people to standard Marathi but in rural areas, Ahirani dominates. 90 percent of the people staying in rural areas speak Ahirani.

The language is widely used among the farmers and villagers. It is also known for its secret words used by goldsmiths, cattle sellers,fruit-purchasers, known only to the members of that community.