1.0.
Introduction
Dakkhini is
the form of speech current in
Delhi
since 1300 A.D. It is the
descendant of New-Indo-Aryan dialects spoken in and around
Delhi
and is considered as the earliest ancestral predecessor of what is known as the
contemporary `Hindi-Urdu'.
The
dialect moved to
Deccan
along with the troops of `Alau'd dī
Khiljī in the year 1295 A.D. However,
its proper development took place after shifting the capital from
Delhi
to Dēvgiri (now Daulatabad) by
MoHammad Bin Tughlaq in the year 1327 A.D. It
is in
Deccan
that the dialect received, among
others, the name `Dakkhini'1. here
it flourished and developed independently. It
was patronized by a number of Kings (Bahmani, `Adil Shahi and QutbShahi).
It was accorded the office status. It
was also cultivated as a literary vehicle and during 14th to 17th
centuries it produced a great deal of literature.
A few important works of this period are: M'rāju'l `Āshiqīn
by Hazrat Khawāja Bandā Nawāz (1322-1423 A.D.), Padam Rao Kadam
Rao (1460-1462 A.D.) by Nizāmī Bīdarī, Sabras (1635 A.D.) by
Mullā Wajhī, Kalimātu' 1 Haqāiq (1582 A.D.) by Shāh
Burhānu'd dīn Jānam (1479-1583 A.D.), Gulshan-e `Ishq (1657 A.D.)
by Mullā NuSrati (d. 1674 A.D.), Nauras (1596 A.D.)
By Ibrāhīm `Ādil Shāh II, Kulliyāt-e MoHammed
Qulī QuTb Shāh (1616 A.D.) by MoHammed Qulī QuTb Shāh etc.
However, with the annexation of
Deccan
by Aurangazeb in the last quarter of
the 17th century, Dakkhini lost its status and ceased to be a literay
vehicle. In subsequent years, it
remained only as a spoken dialect in
Deccan
which it continues even to-day.
As
is evident from the above statement, Dakkhini has been in vogue in
Deccan
since several centuries.
It has spread to far off places and ramified into almost all the regions
of the native languages of
Deccan
viz., Tamil, Telugu and Kannada,
giving rise to a contact situation in the linguistic areas of each of these
languages. Consequently, Dakkhini
acquired a number of features of these languages and also diffused (or
transferred) many of its traits to these languages.
These features, on either side, became `habitualized and established' and
produced `different structural types'. Thus,
Dakkhini is a source as well as a recipient of interference; so too the
afore-mentioned Dravidian languages.
Owing
to its contact with different Dravidian languages in different areas, the
current form of Dakkhini has ceased to be a homogeneous variety.
To-day, we may recognize at least three different varieties such as
Andhra Dakkhini, Kannada Dakkhini, and Tamil Dakkhini based upon the area of the
Dravidian language in which it is spoken. Within
Andhra Dakkhini a cleavage is noticed between the dialect spoken in Rayalseema
and that spoken in Telengana (especially
Hyderabad
dialect) due to some historical and
cultural reasons. The present paper
takes note of a few features (on phonological and grammatical levels) of
Dakkhini (spoken in Rayalseema area) which it has acquired from Telugu.
These features amply serve as an evidence of convergence of one system
towards the other. Whatever
necessary a comparison is drawn from standard Urdu.
The
phenomenon of convergence is governed by the internal as well as external
factors. Internal factors are
strictly based on the structure of the languages and may be designated otherwise
as structural factors. In other
words, here the interference is interpreted only in terms of linguistic data.
On the other hand, external factors are non-structural and `include
individual traits of bilingual speakers, circumstances in the speech situation
(the bilinguality of interlocutors, emotional involvement of the speakers etc.,)
and the socio-cultural context of the language contact in which social value,
purism and similar considerations are operative.
The elemet of time, the length of contact may also be at play' (Weinreich
1968, p. 66-67). However, our aim in
the present paper is to consider neither of these factors but to set forth the
existing convergence manifested in the form of certain features.
The
present paper is both interesting and important in the sense that it brings to
light a few findings which to a long way to show how two genetically divergent
systems tend to converge towards each other when they get closer.
2.0.
Phonological
level :
2.1.
Presence of phonemes /N/ and /L/ :
Many
retroflex sounds such as /T Th D Dh R/
are accommodated in the phonemic inventory of Urdu, barring of course, the
phonemes /N and L/ (the unaspirated retroflex nasal and retroflex lateral
respectively). Further, homorganic
clusters such as /NT NTH ND NDH/ are all absent in Urdu owing to the absence of
phonemic /N/ (though it may occur as an allophone phonetically).
But these sounds (with others) show their presence in the phonemic
inventory of both Dakkhini and Telugu. Further
all the homorganic clusters with these sounds are also possible.
Dakkhini
/raN/
`widow'
/lƏNNa/
`to quarrel'
/sUND/ `truck of an elephant'
/ƏNT/
`a transplantable wing of a plant'
/L/
occurs geminated inter-vocalically. It
may also form a cluster with /N/:
/kəLla/
`roasted (sg.ml.)
/UNLa/
`cause to pour'
/dhƏNLa/
`search'
Telugu
:
/N/
: / naNemu/
`coin'
/raNi/
`queen'
/eNDa/
`sun-shine'
/tINDi/
`food'
/L/
: / khaLi/
`empty'
/niLLu/
`water'
/oLLu/
`body'
2.2.
/c/ changing into /s/ : In
Telugu, stem final –c in verbal stems such as /pIlUc-/ `to call' /nIlUc-/ `to
stop or stand' /gelUc-/ `to win' /kƏrUc-/ `to bite' etc., change into /s/
with the verbal suffixes beginning with –t, such as /-tu/ `present participle
suffix', /-t-/ `tense-mode-suffix', /-te/ `conditional suffix'.
The phenomenon may be illustrated as follows:
/pIlUc-t-anu/
=
/pIlustanu/ `I (habituall) call/
I shall call'
/pIlUc-t-aru/
=
pIlUstaru/ `they (m.f.pl.)
(habitually)
call/they (m.f.pl.) will call'
/pIlUc-tu/
=
pIlUstu/ `calling'
/pilUc-te/
=
pIlIste/
`If [I {m.f.), you (m.f.sg.),
we (m.f.), you (m.f.pl.), they
(m.f.) call or
`If (he, she, it) calls'
A
corresponding situation is noticed in Dakkhini Urdu.
Thus, before the verbal suffixes beginning with /-t/, the final /-c/ of
verbal stems changes into /-s/:
/puc-/
`to ask'
/puc-t-a/
=
/pusta/
`I
(sg.ml.), you (sg.ml.) or he would have asked
/bec-/
`to sell' /bee-t-i/ = /besti/
`I
(sg.fl.), you (sg.fl.) or she would have sold'
/muc-/
`to close' /muc-t-e/ = /muste/
`we
(m.f.), you (m.f.pl.), they (m.f.) would have closed'
In
standard Urdu, however, the stem final /-c/ does not change into /-s/ before the
imperfect participle suffix /-t-/:
/khĩc-/
`to pull' /khic-t-a/
=
/khicta/ `pulling'
/bec-/
`to sell' /bec-t-i/
=
/becti/ `selling (sg.fl)'
/noc-/
`to prick'/noc-t-e/
=
nocte/ `pricking (pl.ml.)'
2.3.
Diphthongization : Telugu and Dakkhini are parallel to each other
with respect to the quality of vowel sequences which may be transcribed as /Əi/
and /Əu/.
In both of them, these sounds possess the same articulatory features and
distinctly diphthongal in nature. Thus,
in the case of /Əi/, the
tongue commences with a fairly mid-central, unrounded position (a variety of
Ə) and
moves rapidly forward to a closed position (a variety of I): similarly, in the
case of /Əu/
the tongue starts in the same position and moves backwards to a closed position
(a variety of u) in both Telugu and Dakkhini.
The following examples illustrate the point:
Dakkhini
Telugu
/Əi/
: /Əisa/
`like this' /Əidu/
`five'
/pƏise/
`money (pl.) /rƏitu/
`peasant' `agriculturist'
/bUlƏi/
`called (sg.fl.)' /pƏi/
`above,
on'
/Əu/:
/Əulad/
`progeny'
/ƏušƏdhƏmu/
`medicine'
/cƏuda/
`forteen'
/cƏuka/
`cheap'
/sƏu/
`hundred'
A corresponding situation, however, is not noticed in standard Urdu with
respect to the quality of /Əi/
and /Əu/.
Here these diphthongized vowel sequences tend to be monophthongized into
/e/
(a fairly open, lower-mid, front, unrounded phonetically long vowel)
respectively. The following
comparison of the same items of standard Urdu and Dakkhini will clarify the
point.
Urdu
Dakkhini
/e/
:
/esa/
/Əisa/
`like this'
/pesa/
/pƏisa/
`money'
/kesa/
/kƏisa/
`how, in which manner'
/Ə/
:
/Əlad/
/Əulad/
`progeny'
/cƏda/
/cƏuda/
`forteen'
/sƏ/
/sƏu/
`hundred'
3.0.
Grammatical level :
3.1.
Absence of /ne/ construction : Telugu and Dakkhini go parallel to each
other with the virtual absence of constructions with /ne/.
As a consequence, the transitive verb (past) always agrees with the
subject.
Telugu
:
/waDu
mamIDi kayi
tInna-Du
`he ate mango'
/ame mamIDi kayi tInIn-di/ `she ate mango'
Dakkhini: /Une am khaya/ `he ate mango'
/Une am khƏi/ `she ate mango'
Urdu, on the other hand, always makes use of constructions with the
agentive particle /ne/. Consequently,
the finite verb always concords with the gender of the subject:
/lƏrke
ne am khaya/
`the boy ate the mango'
/lƏrki
ne am khaya/
`the girl ate the mango'
3.2.
Echo-word formation : Echo-word formation is a very common and productive
phenomenon in Telugu as well as Dakkhini. In
both of them the echo syllable is generally /gi-/.
Quantitatively, the vowel of the echo-syllable is long, if the radicle
vowel of a word is long and it is short, if the latter is short.
A few illustrative examples are given below:
Telugu
: /Illu
gllu/ `house etc.'
/uru giru/ `village etc.'
/cenu ginu/ 'field etc.'
Dakkhini: /sadi
gidi/ `marriage etc.'
/gali gili/
`abuse etc.'
/gUnad gInad/
`foundation etc.'
The
echo syllable in Urdu is by /w-/:
/khana wana/
`food etc.'
/qƏlƏm wƏlƏm/
`pen etc.'
/kam
wam/ `work etc.'
From
the above examples, it is clear that there is no parallelism between Dakkhini
and Urdu in echo-formation.
3.3.
Lexicon : The vocabulary of a language, considerably more loosely
structured than its phonemics and grammar is beyond question, the domain of
borrowing par excellence (Weinreich 1968, p.56.). Dakkhini exhibits the
phenomenon of convergence more evidently with respect to the lexicon.
Numerous items of Dakkhini have to be traced back to the borrowings from
Telugu. A majority of the forms have
undergone phonetic adoptation while a few are used intact. They
are dealt with briefly as follows:
3.3.1.
Onomatopoeia:
Onomatopes may be defined as the set of words in a language which may
have some relation with the sounds etc., that they represent.
They are used to imitate certain sounds, mental and physical feelings
etc., (Bhaskaran 1967, pp. 12,22).
The study of an
onomatopoeia in Dakkhini shows that most of the forms have been borrowed from
Telugu. To illustrate the point, a
few of them are given below:
Telugu
Dakkhini
/u/
/u/
`yes'
/bhƏg/
/bhƏg/
`noise of something catching fire'
/bhUs/
/bhUs/
`hissing noise of a snake'
/gUsagUsa/
/gUzgUz/
`talk in whisper'
/kIl
kIla/
/khIlkhIl/
`to laugh with the noise
/kIl kIla/'
/sƏlƏsƏla/
/sƏlsƏl/ `noise
of boiling water'
3.3.2.
Other Lexicon:
A
number of items of Telugu pertaining to the daily life have also crept into the
vocabulary of Dakkhini. Below are
given a few examples:
Telugu
Dakkhini
/wƏdDi/ /wƏDdi/ `interest (on money)'
/kUpPa/
/kUppa/ `a pile (N) (as that of paddy etc.)
/gUTTa/
/gUTTa/ `a
hillock, moun'
/biDu/
/biR/ `barren land'
/bUTTi/
/bUTTi/ `basket'
Verbs
:
/pogƏDu/
/pogƏr-/ `to
praise'
/vodƏru-/
/vƏdƏr-/ `to
prattle (to make an idle talk)
These
items cannot be etymologically traced to Urdu.
3.4.
Gender distinction in plural :
In Urdu, the plural form of
verb maintains a distinction between masculine and feminine with the addition of
different suffixes.
/lƏRke
gIr-e/
`the boys fell'
/lƏRkI-yã
gIr-i/
`the girls fell'
In
both, Telugu and Dakkhi, thoug a distinction is maintained in singular form of
verb, there is no contrast in the plural:
Telugu
:
/Əbbayi pƏDda-Du/
`the boy fell'
/Əmmayi pƏDin-di/
`the girl fell'
/ƏbbayIlu pƏDda-ru/
`the boys fell'
/ƏmmayIlu pƏDda-ru/
`the girls fell'
Dakkhini: /bƏcca gIr-ya/
`the boy fell'
/bƏcci gIr-i/
`the girl fell'
/bƏcce gIr-e/
`the boys fell'
/bƏccã gIr-e/
`the girls fell'
3.5.
Habitual present-cum-future :
In Telugu and Dakkhini, a
single tense form is used to express an action taking place habitually or in
future. In other words, a single
construction denotes both habitual present and future actions:
Telugu
Dakkhini
/nenu
pota-nu
/mƏi
ja-t-u/
`I (sg.ml.) (habitually)
go/ I will go'
/waDu/
pota-Du/
/Une ja-t-Əe/
`he (rem.) (habitually)
goes/ he will go'
/ame pot-Un-di/
/Une ja-t-ye/
`she (rem.) (habitually)
goes/ she will go'
In Urdu, a parallel
situation is not noticed. The
habitual and future actions are expressed by two different constructions:
Habitual present
Future
/mƐ
ja-ta-hu `I (sg.ml/) /mƐ
ja-u-ga/
habitually go' `I (sg. ml.) will go'
/wo ja-t-a-hƐ
/
`he (rem.) /wo ja-e-gA/ `he (rem.)
habitually goes'
will go'
/wo ja-t-i hƐ/
`she (rem.),
/wo ja-e-gi `she (rem.)
habitually goes'
will go'
3.6.
Cardinals:
The most interesting
example of convergence is, perhaps, offered by the cardinals which Dakkhini
uses. Barring the numerals from one
to twenty and the multiples of ten (which are almost similar to those of
Hindi-Urdu), others are formed by the summation of units and are thus
analytical. A linking affix /po/
(which, in fact, a post-position meaning `on, upon') is, however, infixed
between the preceding and the following member.
e.g.
/bis po car/
`twenty four'
/saT po aT/ `sixty eight' etc.
Telugu has approximately
the same system except for the linking affix:
/IrƏwƏI nalUgu/
`twenty four'
/ƏrƏwƏI
enImIdi/
`sixty eight' etc.
In Urdu, the system tends
to be synthetic with the units and the multiples of ten fused together:
/cƏ bis/
`twenty four'
/ƏRsƏT/
`sixty
eight' etc.
3.7.Particle
/le/ :
In Telugu /le/ (sg.) and (leNDi)
(pl.), which are similar in meaning to English phrase `of course' are added to a
declarative sentence or sentence with oddu.
They indicate a sort of assurance given by the speaker to the hearer (Subramanyam
1974, p.173).
/waDu
repu potaDu le/
`of course, he will go tomorrow
(non-hon. or sg.)'
/rastan
leNDi/
`of course, [I (shall write
(hon. or pl.].
Correspondingly, Dakkhini
too abundantly make use of /particles /le/ (non-hon. or sg.) and lyo/ (hon. or
pl.):
/tu
jata le
sƏbã/
`of course, you (sg.ml.) may go tomorrow'
/liktu
lyo/
`of course, I shall write (hon. or pl.)'
3.8.
Relative
participle constructions:
The relative clause in Urdu
is always formed with relative pronouns like /jo, jIs, jIn/ etc., which
generally precede the clause:
/jo
admi aya/
`the man who came'
/jo kItab mƐne dekhi/
`the book which I saw'
/jIs ne ap se kƏha/ `the
person who told you'
In Dakkhini, the situation
is different with the absence of relative pronouns of Urdu.
Instead, it makes use of a relative participle marker /-so/.
The structure of the construction is as follows: /finite verb + -so/.
e.g.,
: /aya-so Ədmi/
`the man who came'
/molya-so kitab/
`the book which [sg. ml.,
you (sg. ml.) or he]
bought'
An exactly corresponding
situation is noticed in Telugu. It
uses the markers like –Ina (past relative participle), -e (present relative
participle) etc., to the verbal base:
/cepp-Ina
mƏnƏši/ `the man who told/
`the man (some one) told '
/cepp-e
mƏnƏši/ `the
man who tellS/the man
(some one) tells
3.9.
Reduplication of negative past participle :
Both Telugu and Dakkhini
correspond with each other with respect to the reduplication of negative past
participle:
Telugu
:
/tInƏka
tInƏka
roTTe tINTe,
ƏrƏgƏneƏrƏgƏledu
`having not eaten (for a
long time), when (some one ate roti, it did not digest at all'.
Dakkhini:
/khananako
khananako roTi khƏe
to, hƏzƏmic
hoi ni/
/khananako
khananako roTi khƏe
to, hƏzƏmic
hoi ni/
a similar construction does
not occur in Urdu.
3.10.
Reported speech:
The general pattern of
reported speech in Urdu is similar to that of English.
That is, the reporting and the reported sentences are conjoined by the
complimentizer /kI/ `that' with the former preceding the /kI/ while the later
following it.
/Us ne kƏ ha
kI vo
jae ga/
`he told that he would go'
In Dakkhini and Telugu the
situation is different. Dakkhini,
surprisingly, makes use of a quotative particle /kƏ–rko/' which is the
past adverbial participle of /kƏr-/ `do.
Further, the order of the reporting and the reported sentences is exactly
reverse of the pattern of Urdu with the quotative /kƏrko/
`having done' functioning as a conjunctive between the two sentences:
/Une
jatu kƏrko
bolya/ `he told that he would
go'
A closer look reveals that
the quotative /kƏrko/
of Dakkhini has its equivalence in Telugu /Əni/
(the past adverbial participle of / nu/ `tell').
This has the same functions as the Dakkhini /kƏrko/.
/waDu potan-Əni
ceppe-Du/
`he told that he would go'
3.11.
Sentences
with no copula:
Telugu
abounds in the use of equational sentences which do not have copula.
/Idi pUstƏkƏmu/
`this (is a ) book'
/na
peru
babu/ `my name (is) Babu'
/waDu ma Əbbyi/ `he (is) my son'
Dakkhini equally makes use
of such sentences:
/ye kya/
`what (is) this?'
/ye kItab/
`this (is a) book'
/Une mera bhƏ
i/ `he (is) my brother'
4.0.
Conclusion:
On account of its centuries
old contact with Telugu, Dakkhini manifests a variety of features which happen
to be the elements of convergence. A
detailed discussion of these is out of the scope of this paper.
To sum up-relativization, habitual-present-cum-future tense, cardinal
system, reduplication, pattern of reported speech, absence of constructions with
–ne are but a few important instances of convergence on grammatical level.
The present paper is based
on the data of Dakkhini spoken in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh collected
by the author himself coupled with his native-like knowledge of Telugu.
NOTES
:
1.
It
was also known as Gujri (in Gujrat), Hindi, Hindwi, Zaban-e-Hindustani,
Musalmani and Turka mata.
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