introduction

Studies in Bilingualism

INTRODUCTION(KANNADA - HINDI)

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THE PRESENT STUDY is based on the original Hindi writings of authors like Ganapati Bhatta and Dakshina Murthy iin the form of Ph.D. thesis and translations of Kannada works into Hindi by Hiranmaya, Nagappa, Srinivasamurthy and others. It may be mentioned here that not much work has been done in Hindi by Kannada speakers. A sample study of spoken Hindi of some Kannada speakers of Mysore was made and the tentative findings relating to the phonemic pattern are given under the title 'Phonemic Patterns".
It is understood that some original works in Hindi (written by Kannada speakers) are in the manuscript form. Attempt is being made to acquire such works for a more intensive study which may result in a more detailed description of Kannada-Hindi regarding its style and differences as opposed to those of standard Hindi. This may enable to us make some more generalizations about the characteristics of Kannada-Hindi.
Bilingualism may be defined as 'the demonstrated ability to engage in the prolonged discussions concerning activities of daily life in more than one language or its standard variety' (Fishman 1966, p.122). This kind of bilingualism is so common in India that a sizable number of people living in different parts know at least two languages, thus falling into the category of 'bilinguals'. Mackey says that as long as there are different monolingual communities, there is a likelihood of contact between them resulting in bilingualism (Mackey 1968; p.555 in Readings in the Sociology of Language : ed. Joshua A. Fishman). Such a familiarity with more than one language, i.e., the language contact resulting in the transfer of elements from one language to another. This phenomenon is known to linguists as 'interference phenomenon' or 'phenomenon of transfer' (Weinreich, 1967, p.1).
Contact and the resultant convergence between two or more languages or cultures result in socio-cultural situations wherein the same individual learns the elements from the other linguistic system with which he comes in contact. Linguists call this learning situation as 'Language Contact' and this particular learning process, 'Bilingualization'. The individual so involved is a 'bilinguals'.
Mackey suggests that if we are to study the phenomenon of bilingualism, we are forced to consider it to be something entirely relative (Mackey 1956, p.8. FCLA 2, Towards a Redefinition of Bilingualism). He further indicates that we must include the use of not only two languages but also of any number of languages and says that we should, therefore, consider bilingualism as an alternate use of two or more languages by the same individual (Mackey 1968, p. 555 in The Readings in the Sociology of Language, ed. Jashua A. Fishman).
The 'Interference Phenomena' could be studied under two headings: 9i) Cultural Patterns and Social Settings and (ii) Language Structure. The latter covers all the levels - phonic, grammatical, lexical and semantic - of a language.
The aim of the present paper is to describe the ways in which Kannada-Hindi (hereafter referred to as KH) is 'deviant' from standard Hindi (hereafter referred to as SH) as used by the native speakers of Hindi and to state specific areas where the interference occurs owing to either mother-tongue influence or the regional culture of Kannada speakers.
According to 1961 census, the total population of Mysore State is 2,35,86,722 from among which the number of Kannada speakers is 1,53,61,051. The total number of bilinguals in the State is 14,03,269 and that of Kannada-Hindi bilinguals is 2,20,569. in other words, there are about 17 per cent KH bilinguals in Mysore State out of the total number of bilinguals and, 93 per cent of the total population.
Since bilingualism is a relative concept, it involves in the first instance the question of 'Degree', i.e., the degree of competence in the languages concerned and the extent to which it is used. Secondly, it involves the question of 'function', i.e., the purposes for which the languages are used. That is, the role that their languages play in the total pattern of behaviour. Thirdly, involves the question of 'Alternation', i.e., the extent to which they alternate between the languages in contact. How to they change from one language to the other, and under what condition? Fourthly, it involves the question of 'Interference." To what extent do they fuse them together? How does one of the languages influence the use of the other? Thus bilingualism is a behavioural pattern of mutually modifying linguistic practices varying in degree, function, alternation and interference. It is in terms of these four characteristics that bilingualism may be described. The first three aspects could be studied only by the administration of a questionnaire and by studying the spoken form of KH bilinguals' Hindi. In this paper we study mainly the phenomenon of interference and its results.
Interference Phenomena:
As has been mentioned above, the Interference phenomena could be studied under two main headings:

(i) Cultural Patterns and Social Settings and
(ii) Language Structure.
Before proceeding to the study of interference, it may be desirable to categorise KH bilinguals. Kachru had adopted a scale which he calls "Cline of Bilingualism" (Kachru : 1965, Word, vol. XVIII). We propose to use a similar scale. He divides this cline into three measuring points - the zero point, the central point and the ambilingual point. For our convenience, we may categorise the KH bilinguals into the following three categories:
(i) non-proficient,
(ii) semi-proficient and
(iii) proficient.
These categories correspond to the measuring points of Kachru.
Non-Proficient KH Bilinguals :
In Mysore, one finds a good number of people with some competence in Hindi but at the same time, the overall ability of such people to use the language is extremely insufficient for proper communication in Hindi. We may categorise such people as non-proficient bilinguals. For example, the Hindi used by tongawalas, vegetable/meat vender, many other shopkeeper, tailors, etc. This may also be called 'tongawala Hindi' or 'bazaru Hindi'. Further, they use unacceptable forms. For instance, in the case of numbers above 20, the KH bilinguals of this category use the terms : { BE = 21,  { n = 22 and so on. They also use the expressions like  E +i  = I will take and come, Sir', i  E Ex  = 'Please do this work Sir', etc., instead of E +>M, +{  E EVB, respectively.
Semi-proficient KH Bilinguals:
Bilinguals under this category possess some knowledge of written and /or spoken media of Hindi, but their proficiency in Hindi is not up to the mark. Clerks in post offices, railways stations, school students learning Hindi and other come under this category.
Proficient KH Bilinguals :
A proficient KH bilingual is one whose Hindi is intelligible not only to other KH bilinguals but also to the educated SH speakers. In other words, this type of bilingualism is what Bloomfield thought constituted bilingualism when he defined it as 'native-like control of two languages' (Bloomfield : Language, 1933, p.56). The teachers of Hindi in Mysore State form this category.

Deviations in Kannada-Hindi :
The deviations in KH could be understood well by the SH speakers if the linguistic and cultural settings of Mysore State are taken into consideration. Deviations of KH can be understood by interrelating the socio-cultural and linguistic factors of Karnataka. The linguistic factors on the basis of which the Kannadaness of KH is determined are the same as those in any other language contact situation.
Cultural Patterns and Social Settings:
At the level of cultural patterns and social settings, we may have (i) completely new situations and (ii) partially similar but deviant situations. Each of these needs some explanation with regard to KH.
(i) completely new situations:

Completely new situations are those situations which are found in Kannada but not available in Hindi. The Kannada forms are transferred to KH writings in such cases. For example,
1. V |lx E  v {i <, il vnE Mi +, i Mx x RMj UE, n, EE ME v+ E +"n n* --- "xi, {. 121
(When the arrangements for the worship are over, and the Dharodak ceremony was performed, the ladies whose husbands are alive, touched the sacred thread, applied turmeric and kumkum to it and blessed the brides).
Dharodak ceremony is typically Mysorean and is not known to Hindi speakers at all.

2. +V E  Mi Px  "n E  MM Ex E |l  --- ij V E "I {ri, {. 8
(Even now-a-days, the custom of performing 'gulgul' at the time of marriages in the houses of Lingayats is prevalent).
Gulgul is a custom observed at the time of marriages in a number of families in Karnataka in memory of the deity 'Virabhadra'. No such custom exists in Hindi area and as such the use of such phrases would be meaningless for a SH reader it is explained.
(ii) Partially similar but deviant situations:
In the case of partial similarity, the forms get blended and quite often the forms used are either not found in SH or have different connotations in KH. For example,
2. +V E  Mi Px  "n E  MM Ex E |l  --- ij V E "I {ri, {. 8
'As it was the day of 'Mahadev', the King was observing fast'.
The term ' n E nx ' simply means that it is some ceremony but its special significance in Karnataka is not understood by SH speakers as they do not have any such ceremony.
2. Vxh E J V +Jhb n{ V  l, = +{x l   + = i E +M` E {" E + {x: Mx E { J* ---- "xi {. 183
'He has taken akhan?d?a di"p that was burning in front of Vijayanarayan and then he made it touch the hand of Mala and put it back near the deity'.
+M` E {" Ex simply means that the thumb was made to touch but its special significance existing in Karnataka is not understandable to SH speakers.
3. < |E nv   Pb UE |iE { x |iY E* --- "xi, {. 175
'In this way, every soldier took vow by touching the pot full of milk'.
nv   Pb Ux is a custom found in Karnataka which is not found in the Hindi area. As in the cases given above, the special significance of this item is not understood by SH speakers without being explained. However, they get the literal meaning of the item.
4. inxxi | x "i + I --nx E +J { Jc E + xxJi +l xj E {` E* ---- "xi, {. 121-22
'After that, the king made Shantala and Lakshmi" stand on the pestle and made them repeat the mantras meaning the following'.
As in the above cases, the significance of +J { Jc Ex is not clear to SH speakers, as this is a custom of Karnataka region and is not found in the Hindi area.

Language Structure
Phonemic Pattern :
Before proceeding to the phonemic pattern of KH, it may be interesting to have a look at the Phonemic charts of Kannada and Hindi given at the end of this chapter.
The following phonemic patterns are observed in the spoken form of the Hindi of KH bilinguals :
1. u substitutes both i/" of SH in forms having Sanskrit vocalic r?. This phenomenon is observed in Sanskrit borrowings only.

SH

Meaning

KH
/r?s?i/
@ñ‡¹É
'sage'
/rus?i/
/r?tu/
@ñiÉÖ
'season'
/rutu/
/kr?s?i/
EÞò‡¹É
'agriculture'
/krus?i/
/vr?tti/
´ÉÞ‡kÉ
'profession'
/'vrutti/
/tr?pti/
iÉÞÎ{iÉ
'satisfaction'
/trupti/
2. The lax mid front vowel (nasalized and non-nasalized) in SH changes into a diphthong/ai/ in KH in the initil and final positions. This may be an instance of an 'eye dialect', since Hindi script has the diphthongal form whereas spoken forms have monophthong.

SH

Meaning

KH
/?n"k/
BäxÉEò
'spectables'
/ainak/
/?ky/
BäCªÉ
'unity'
/aiky/
/h?/
½èþ
'is'
/hai/
3. /au/ substitutes // of both SH both in initial and medial positions. This is another instance of any 'eye dialect'.

SH

Meaning

KH
/r"t/
+Éè®úiÉ
'woman'
/aur"t/
/r/
+Éè®ú
'and'
/aur/
/podha:/
{ÉÉèvÉÉ
'plant'
/paudha:/
/kon/
EòÉèxÉ
'who'
/kaun/
4. /y/ occurring between /g/ and a vowel only in SH changes into /n/ in KH. This phenomenon is also observed in the case of Sanskrit borrowings only in items having Sanskrit cluster -gy-.

SH

Meaning

KH
/vigyan/
‡´ÉYÉÉxÉ
'scinece'
/vignaen/
/vygyanik/
´ÉèYÉÉ‡xÉEò
'scientific'
/vygnaenik/
/gyapn/
YÉÉ{ÉxÉ
'notice'
proclamation'
/gnaep"n/
/gy"pti/
YÉÎ{iÉ
'remembrance'
/gn"pti/
5. Aspiration in SH is generally lost in KH in the initial, medial or final positions. But proficient bilinguals are conscious of the aspiration and try to maintain it without loss.

SH

Meaning

KH
/dh"nwa:n/
vÉxÉ´ÉÉxÉ
'rich man'
/d"nwa:n/
/bha:gy/
¦ÉÉMªÉ
'fortune'
/ba:gy/
/bha:r/
¦ÉÉ®ú
' weight'
/ba:r/
/pr"b"ndh/
|É¤ÉxvÉ
'arrangement'
/pr"band/
/upa:dhi/
={ÉÉ‡vÉ
'title'
/upa:di/
6. Examples of hypercorrections, i.e., are use of aspiration where 'h' is not available in SH, are also found in KH.

SH

Meaning

KH
/j"n"ta:/
VÉxÉiÉÉ
'people'
/j"n"tha:/
7. Consonant clusters /ty/ and /dy/ in SH change to /cc/ and /jj/ respectively in KH. Many tadbhavas in Kannada are formed like this. Prakrits also show this type of change.

SH

Meaning

KH
/s"ty"ndr/
ºÉiªÉäxpù
'proper name'
/s"cce:ndr/
/g"ty"nt"r/
MÉiªÉÆiÉ®ú
'other option'
/g"cc"nt"r/
/"tya:v"y"k/
+iªÉÉ´É"ªÉEò
'most essential'
/"cca:v"sya"k/
/nity/
‡xÉiªÉ
'daily'
/nice/
/g"dy/
MÉt
'prose'
/g"jj/
/p"dy/
{Ét
'poetry'
/p"jj/