Thanjavur Marathi dialect
Thanjavur Marathi | |
---|---|
Native to | India |
Region | Tamil Nadu |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 100,000[citation needed]) |
Indo-European
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Thanjavur Marathi (
History
The history of
The language spoken by this community, also known as "Thanjavur Marathi", is a scholarly dialect far removed from the present-day Marathi – it is stuck in the 17th century and is old Marathi. There are an estimated 100,000 people who speak the dialect. The various dialects of the language since its establishment are Kumbakonam and Namdev, each mutually intelligible with the other. There is some admixture of Tamil and almost all Thanjavur Marathi speakers are fluent in Tamil. Recent mass migration of people to major cities has diluted the language and it is now mostly spoken exclusively at home or with older generations.[4]
Vocabulary and Dravidian influence
Tanjāvuri Marathi (TM) as spoken today can at best be described as a dialect of Marathi.
It has a considerably smaller vocabulary. A quick estimate indicates that TM has around 40,000 words, as compared to over 400,000 words in Marathi.[
Though it is believed by many that TM is influenced by Tamil, it is actually an early form of Marathi that was spoken in Maharashtra three centuries ago. In Tamil Nadu, it has remained insulated from the influence of 'related' languages and has therefore to a larger degree retained its original form. If the pure form of TM, as spoken by a few traditional families is taken into consideration, there are no Tamil words in it at all. Certain words such as kavāD for door, are used in Maharashtra not directly for door but in phrases like dnyānachi kawāDe ughaDi dzhāli (meaning 'The doors of knowledge opened.'), while kavāD is commonly used in Tanjore Marathi for 'door'.
The community which probably started the migration towards the South around the early 1600s with the movement of the Maratha armies towards the South, had managed to keep the language alive but is now fighting a losing battle. The grammar is remarkably like English where most objects are referred to in the neutral gender. For example, kutra āla meaning 'the dog came' is used for both male and female dogs. Colloquial Marathi however refers to the masculine dog as kutrā ālā and to the feminine as kutri āli. In the modern age, Shri. Ananda Rao Vashisht has been writing about TM language and has made great contributions in preserving the TM language. His works on Tanjore Marathi are available in www.vishnughar.blogspot.com and www.vishnugharforum.blogspot.com. Also, Smt. Kamal Sridhar professor at Stonybrook univ New York has written papers to preserve the same - she has been active on the Facebook Tanjavur Marathi Group.[citation needed]
Scripts
Historically Modi, Devanagari, Telugu and Tamil scripts have been used to write this dialect as found in old historical documents.[citation needed]
Speakers
The community or the social group which speaks this dialect is now spread over most of Southern India and elsewhere. Tanjavur District in Tamil Nadu can no longer lay claim to having the largest number of the community with it. It is estimated that less than 35% of the TM speaking population now lives in Tanjavur. The vast majority of TM speakers who live elsewhere have no connection with Tanjavur.
Its deceptive similarity to the
Illustration
Tanjore Marathi | Standard Marathi(colloquial) | Translation |
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namaśkāra | namaskār | hello/greetings |
kaśa āyēnta/āhēsa/hāysa? | kase/kasa ahāt/āhēs/āhāt? | How are you? |
mī bēś hāy | mī ṭhīk āhē | I am fine |
lai (pronounced as 'lie') bēś (pronounced as 'base') hāy (pronounced as 'haai') | khoop chhān āhē | (It) is very nice/beautiful. |
wōy ki nai? | hō kā nāhi? | yes or no? |
tumchya gharānt kewda pōri hāyt? | tumchya ghari kiti mulee āhēt? | How many girls are there in your house (at the moment)? |
ghaṇṭā kewda jhālāy/hōlēy? | kitī wājalē? | What is the time? |
yejā/hecha mōl kewda/kaya ? | hyāchaa bhaav kaay? | How much is this for? |
dāwa/ujwa pāṭīs | ḍāwyā/ujwyā bājū lā | toward left/right |
kemma/kevva panā | kadhihī | always,whenever |
rāndhthēghar / sampakkholi | swayampāk ghar | kitchen |
bāsna | bhāndee | vessels |
ruppēcha | chāndīcha | made of silver |
kānkna | bāngdyaa | bangles |
dhādu? | pāthavu? | should i send? |
Nankaar | NankhBhar | a little bit,small amount,a pinch |
Vijana | Pankha | Handfan |
Dhonda | Dagad | Large Stone |
See also
Native Tanjore Marathi speakers have begun to revive the language. Such efforts can be studied at a few websites mentioned herein-below.
Link | Contents |
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http://tanjavurmarathi.podomatic.com/ | A project to record the Tanjore Marathi language by the local speakers |
http://vishnughar.blogspot.in/ | A project to collect the words from South Indian Marathi language and compile a dictionary |
http://vishnugharforum.blogspot.in/ | A project to write in Tanjore Marathi dialect |
References
- ^ "Marathi". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Marathi identity, with Tamil flavour". The Indian Express. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- YouTube
- YouTube