Mal Paharia language

Mal Paharia
Mal Paharia
माल पहाड़िया, মাল পাহাড়িয়া
Native to	India
Region	Jharkhand; West Bengal
Ethnicity	Mal Paharia
Native speakers	50,000 (2006)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Odia–Bengali–Assamese Bengali–Assamese Mal Paharia; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mkb
Glottolog	malp1246 Mar Paharia of Dumka
ELP	Mal Paharia

Mal Paharia is a language variety spoken by 51,000 of 110,000 ethnic Mal Paharia in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal in India, and regions of Bangladesh. The language is also known as Mal Pahoria, Malto, Malti, Paharia, Parsi, and Mal Pahariya. It has been variously regarded as a Bengali–Assamese language. According to linguists, Mal Paharia is a creole of Bengali and Malto or a transitional variety between Bengali and Bihari languages. There is a generally positive attitude among speakers of the language towards it, but it is considered vulnerable as some speakers have shifted to Bengali.^{[citation needed]}

History

Mal Paharias formerly spoke the Malto language, which later mixed with Bengali and turned into a Bengali-Malto Creole. It is also variously considered a transitional language variety between Bengali and Bihari languages or a variety of Western Bengali spoken by the Mal Pahararia people. The speakers of this language originated in Jharkhand as early as 1881, and since then it has declined in popularity. According to the 1921 census, the town had Indo-European 500 speakers at that time. Industrialization and urbanization were factors in the fragmentation of the Bengali language into dialects because of the making of dams, mines, homes, and more.^{[citation needed]} This caused a displacement in the population of the Indo-European speakers, which led to the emergence of Mal Paharia.

Mal Paharia phonology

The Mal Paharia language uses the Devanagari script for writing and speaking. These tables represent the Devanagari language's phonology.

Mal Paharia Devanagari Consonants

	Labial	Labio-dental	Labio-Velar	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m			n̪	n	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	p pʰ b bʰ			t̪ t̪ʰ d̪ d̪ʰ		ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɖʰ		k kʰ g gʰ	(q)
Affricate					ʧ ʧʰ ʤ ʤʰ
Fricative		f		s z	ʃ ʒ	ʂ		x ɣ		ɦ
Flap				(ɾ)		ɽ
Trill				(r)
Approximant			w ~ v	(ɹ)			j
Lateral Approximant				(l)

/z/ and /ʤ/ are often used interchangeably and are somewhat allophonic. /v/ and /w/ are true allophones of each other.

The rhotic of this language is a retroflex flap. The alveolar trill, tap, and approximant are all marginal phonemes.

Mal Paharia Devanagari Vowels

	Front	Center	Back
High	i iː ɪ		u uː ʊ
Mid	e eː ɛ	ə ʌ	o oː
Low			a aː aʰ

Mal Paharia Devanagari has 11 distinguished vowels. Of these vowels, a, e, i, o and u can be short or long. There is also an additional aspirated /a/ vowel. Nasal forms of the vowels also exist. /r/ (ऋ and ॠ) and /l/ (ऌ and ॡ) have "syllabic forms".

Diphthongs

Mal Paharia has the diphthongs /ai/, /aʊ/ and /oʊ/.

Script

Mal Paharia uses the Devangari script.

References

↑ Mal Paharia at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
↑ Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PhD). The Australian National University. p. 305.
1 2 Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 27.
↑ KAKALI MUKHERJEE (2021). "MALPAHARIA". Linguistic Survey of India-Jharkhand. Language Division, Office of the Registrar General, Government of India. pp. 870–939.
↑ VIDYARTHI, L.P. (1972). "Problems and Prospects of Tribal Development in India". Indian Anthropologist. 2 (2): 80–93. JSTOR 41919217.
↑ Ekka, Alexius (2000). "Jharkhand Tribals: Are They Really a Minority?". Economic and Political Weekly. 35 (52/53): 4610–4612. JSTOR 4410103.
↑ Saktinanda, Guddi. "ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN JHARKHAND – A MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS". http://oaji.net/. The Scholarly Research Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)

External links

[e25-1] Mal Paharia at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[OGK-2] Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PhD). The Australian National University. p. 305.

[Masica-3] 1 2 Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 27.

[4] KAKALI MUKHERJEE (2021). "MALPAHARIA". Linguistic Survey of India-Jharkhand. Language Division, Office of the Registrar General, Government of India. pp. 870–939.

[5] VIDYARTHI, L.P. (1972). "Problems and Prospects of Tribal Development in India". Indian Anthropologist. 2 (2): 80–93. JSTOR 41919217.

[6] Ekka, Alexius (2000). "Jharkhand Tribals: Are They Really a Minority?". Economic and Political Weekly. 35 (52/53): 4610–4612. JSTOR 4410103.

[7] Saktinanda, Guddi. "ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN JHARKHAND – A MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS". http://oaji.net/. The Scholarly Research Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)