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Acculturation of Folk-lingua Cultures : Relations between Tribal andNon-tribal Speaking people in West Bengal

Dr. Shyamal Ch. DasAssistant Professor, Dept. of Bengali, University of Burdwan

Tribe means -adiv-asi (aborigines), janaj-ati in the Bangla language. The tribal folkloristic study is adistinctive discourse in India now. In eastern and north-east India there are so many tribal and non-triballanguages which are spoken. Tribal folk-linguistics is a living culture-based and researchable study. Forthe protection of the folk-linguistic minorities the Indian Constitution arranges some Article nos. 29, 30,347, 350, 350A, 350B.12 etc.

In West Bengal Bangla is the dominant language, but Santali, Coda, Ho, Mundari, Shabar, Birhar,Kurukh, Bhumij, Lepcha, Bhutia, Kharia, Mech, Rabha, Dhimal, Limbu, Khasi, Dukpa, Bodo, Nepali,Sardi, Malto and such other languages are dominated, although some communities of tribal languagesare revolting at present. Indeed, in West Bengal some of the languages are spoken by some 'tea-tribal'groups. These communities have distinctive folklore and bi-/tri-lingual complex communication systemsand acculturation.

At present a major portion of the tribal population of the communities in West Bengal is not actualspeaker of L1. Some of the tribal speakers are trying to accept Bangla as L1 i.e. creolized Bangla, butsome of them speak tribal language as L1. Some of these communities utter deviated pronunciation(phoneme), morpheme, syntax and pragmatics of Bangla language. The Tribal communities compel ofteach standard Bangla, sub-dialect such as Rajbangsi, Nepali and such other lingual varieties. As a resultdeviation and distortion of such language are created by them naturally. Example of syntax : 'b-abu udikej-as, n-a, gu -achen' etc. This sentence will be explained later on. However, this is an instance of semi-lingualism.

In Dhatridevata (The Goddess of Nursing), Bengali novel by Tarasankar Bandyapadhaya a Santal orMajhi interacts in broken Bangla with Purna and Shibnath Bandyapadhaya like 'ke botis tur-a' Who areyou?), 'Jal kene kh-abi (Why do you drink water?)' 'j-abi kuth-a tur-a (Where will you go?). He assumes thedistance from the jungle place to rail station as 'ei tur aek krosh du krosh ki tin krosh habe' [The distancewill be one krosh (about 2 miles/3.2 km) or two krosh or three krosh probably] [Chapter 22].

According to a few rural Bengali discussion of Jharkhand-adjacent Murshidabad and Birbhum Districtin West Bengal some of the folk syntaxes are considered as a proverb, such as '-am kene p-alli?' or 'chol-akene tulli?' [In Malda it is 'begun kene tulli?', in Murarai-adjacent areas of Birbhum 'jodi pore jetom'], 'utoito gorur rog, uri lege tur goru molche', hujume b-ang chil-a k-an-a' (Original pronunciation in Santali languagesis ' hizume b-ang ch-ala k-an-a'), '-ami -ar ki 'iee' (iee is replacing word of call the names here) -ache, -am-ar d -ad -a -ache -aro 'iee'' etc. These sentences will be explained later on.

The Bangla speaking rural and young cultivators living in Jharkhand-adjacent villages of Birbhumand Murshidabad utter hujume b -ang chil -a k-an-a while they follow rat running here and there in the drypaddy field. Actually the word hizume means 'come', b-ang means 'no', the phrase ch-al-a k-an-a means'continuously going'. This syntax is pronounced without any disrupt, but it is not a correct and meaningfulsyntax. The correct and meaningful syntax may be made if it is constructed with three full pauses :huizme / b-ang / chil -a k-an-a. This is a deviation of folksyntax and suprasegments uttered by rural Banglaspeakers.

In Dalla and Habibpur areas of Malda proverb goes that begun kene tulli (Why do you collect abrinjal)? In Jharkhand-adjacent Sonarpara and Kahinagar areas rural Bengali peoples says, 'chol-a kenetulli' (Why do you pluck some gram)? According to the story of these rural villagers a stubborn-mindedSantali speaker says repeatedly 't-a to bujhl-am, kintu...(That is all right, but why do you...)'. In somevillages of R-ar-Mushidabad folk-speeh is used like -am kene p-alli (Why do you bring down the mango)?In East part of Malda district proverb goes that 'm-aph to korlaem, kintu dh-an kaeno khow-ali?' (I haveforgiven you, but why have you fed our paddy by your cow?). A Bengali man has a cow, domestic animalwhich chewed some paddy from the field of a tribe. To feel angry tribal man put it into his goshala i.e.cow-shed. The master of cow says, it is my unjust action, please pardon me. Then the tribal man uttersthe above sentence. In Murarai and Jajigram-adjacent areas of Birbhum some rural Bengali speakers use

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'jodi pore jetom (If felf down)'. Such Bangla speakers convey 'pinchan thelechi bate, kintu pore to j-as ni'.Someone pushed back the Santal who did not fall into well. The Santal speaker understands it easily. Buthe utters the same 'if' repeatedly. At present this syntax is used in the contexts of Bangla sub-dialects toindicate any type of obstinacies. It is a discourse of socio-folk linguistics in Bangla.

A 1st learner Santali speaker speaks to an elite Bangla listener as b-abu udike j-aben n-a, gu -ache [Babu(gentle man), you should not go that side for stool is there']. This problem is aroused for the partial lackof LAD (Language Acquisition Development). indeed Santali is a language of Austric family1, but Banglais a member of Aryan family. Linguistic similarities between Santali and Bangla are quite noticed. Forthe result Santali speakers cannot learn Bangla at ease in the beginning stage and Bangla speakers alsocannot learn the Santali easily. In addition, rural basilect speakers cannot use such suffixes of StandardColloquil Bengali correctly, because they are habitual speakers of a special type of Bangla basilects orsub-dialects. According to the experience of essayist a lower class student who lived at Rexinagar(Mursidabad) asked his teacher, 'm-ast-ar s-ar boi dibaen? ae aey dibae' (Sir, Will you give me books? Reallydo?). This type of deviated utterance is written in the 'Chinnapatra' (in the last of 1st paragraph of letterno. 9) by Rabibdranath Tagore. These are the folk-linguistic similarities between the speaking patterns ofBangla by the Santal and uneducated lower class Bengali people.

Semantic deviation of Bangla words or language which is pronouced by semi-learned Santali andsuch other tribal people is normal factor. They try to interact with Bengali people via pidginized Bangla.A tribal man does not understand sometimes the real meaning of the word, such as 'damn' when a sahibutters it.He responses, 'daem jodi bh-alo kath-a hay, th-ale -ami daem, -am-ar b-ab-a, th-akurd-a sab-ai daem, -ar jodi kh-ar-ap kath-a hay th-ale daem, tom-ar b-ab-a daem, tom-ar choddo gusti daem daem-a daem daem daem-a daem daemdaem-a daem' (I am a damn, my father and grandfather are also damns if the 'damn' is a word which pointsto the good quality of men. But you and your ancetors are damns if the same word is points to the badquality of men). They also do not understand sometimes the real meaning of the word which means callthe name, like -ami -ar ki iee (iee2 : replaced word of call the names here) -ache, -am-ar d-ad-a -ache -aro iee. ASantali man is carrying a heavy-weight burden on his shoulder. To observe it a rural Bengali man talks toother rural Bengali listener that 'uff! ki iee (replaced word of call the names), myri'. After listening itSantali utters the said syntax, because he understood the meaning of that word as 'healthy and powerful'and like this. Such funny folk-semantics of misunderstanding is run on in the rural areas of R-ar-Mushidabadand Birbhum. In the novel mah-ak-aler rather ghor-a (The Chariot-horses of the Eternity) by SamareshMajumdar the hero Ruhitan kurmi did not realize the meaning of the word 'otih- -asik' (historical) whichwas used by the elite Bengali politicians like Dibababu, Binod Roy, Khelu Choudhury and others. In theBaidyapur areas of Malda a tribal woman was sitting to sell some palms in the rural market i.e. h-at. ABengali buyer asked her, how many paisas? She replied '-ath -an-a'. Bengali buyer requested to reduce thevalue but she did not agree. Then Bengali buyer asked, should you take 50 paisas? She replied, No, -ath -an-a. This is a communicational gap of tribal realization of meaning of Bangla numerals.

Word-based similarity between tribal i.e. Santali and Bangla is created forcefully by some Banglaspeakers to make fun or to irritate someone. Once upon a time some students of Paikar High School usedto talk to each other ektu saren, saren...' when the teacher named Bhagaban Soren (sip-ahi) is present infront of them. Santali word Soren (army-man) is a title, but transformed Bengali word 'saren' means'move aside please'. This is an analyzing point of folk-based transformational generative semantics.

In the cattle h-at of W.B. numeral code which is based on Santali or tribal language is used by theBengali middle men i.e. p-aiker or d-al-al. The middle men i.e. baep-ari or p -ak -ar or d-al-al use the code languagewhich is called 'f-arsi v-aki' in Durlavpur areas of Bankura. This code language or words are partly formedon the basis of tribal language such as Santali, Kurukh etc. The Bengali middle men use 'mit or sik sha'(means Rs. 100/-), 'b-ari-a sha' (means 200/-), 'piy-a sha' (means 300/-), 'puni-a sha' (means 400/-) 'more sha'(means 500/-), turi / turu (6) sha, rushi (20) sha etc. These words are formed on the basis of Santali andsuch other tribal language, such as mit < mit (Santiali word) of Bhutia 'chik / Dukpa 'chi-chik' > sik'bar(Santili) > b-ari-a, pe (Santili) > piy-a, pon / pun (Santali) > punia, m~ore (Santali) > more respectively.

The Bengali rhymes formed sometimes on the basis of tribal rhymes, especially rhythm of Santalirhymes. According to Suhrid kr. Bhoumik 'noton noton p-ayr-a' is a tribal absorption of rhythm of 'tehengper-a t-ahen mese' [Bhoumik : 2013 : 21]. The Sanali 'gidr-ab-auli' is accepted by some Bengali rhymes. Onthe other side some place-names of West Bengal are explained to the help of some 'Kol' languages, such

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as Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Maynaguri, Dhupguri (Dravidic influence), Vagnadihi, Vajadi, Galudi (Austricinfluence), Mirik, Kalingpong, Mangpu (Tibetan-Burmese influence).

According to the societal traditions and cultures of the tribal communities names of tribal personsused to be selected from long ago, such as 'Guhiram Mandi', 'Bhadua Munda' etc. For the high-acceptancyand cultural hegemony of Bengali, majority of educated tribes of West Bengal wants to select the personalnames of his/her offspring at present, like Ratan, Bhagab-an, Shibu, Dhiren, Raghu and so on, althoughthe tribal surnames of these names remain unchanged. This is a topic of psycho-folk linguistic culture ofthe tribal societies.

Some of the Bengali men sometimes use such a kind of sentence as 'utoi to ghor-ar rog, uri lege turghor-a molche'. The Bengali men uused to transfer their domestic cows to the jungle-tribal men who wereknown to them when rainy season set in. At the hilly and jungle areas the cows were grazed under thecustody of tribal men. A Bengali man had handed over some cows to a tribal man. After rainy season heasked him to return his animals. The animals were returned but enumeration did not secure. He askedwhere his missing cows were. The tribal man presented a cranium of head of a horse in front of theoriginal owner. The owner asked with astonishment what it was for; it was a skull of the head of horse.Then the tribal man used the above syntax. Actually, the tribal man sold the cows for enjoyment. Toconvey a false statement the tribal man collected a skull of horse. It is folk-discourse of foolishness fully.

It is also true that conflicts between tribal and non-tribal people occur sometimes. A few conflicts inreality are found in the mixed society of West Bengal from the ages. Inner conflicts are raised whensome unreserved and higher educated young people consider the educated and unemployed tribal youngas son-ar tukro (the small bits of gold) i.e. ST. This abbreviation is created as per rules to form Benglishacrostic word. It is also true that unreserved (UR) category people think that SC candidated are sonarchand (the moon of gold). Such type of speaking is a dividing factor of our society based on unity indiversity. In spite of these conflicts acculturation and exchange between tribal and non-tribal folk-linguisticelements have been occurring from long ago.

In conclusion, it can be said that tribal and nontribal communities are related to acculturation of folk-linguistics due to prolonged co-existence.

Foot Notes :1. According to Suhrid Kr. Bhoumik Santali is a main language among the communities of Kol or (Austro-

Asiatic) Kherowal language, ancient language of India [1999 : 1]2. The hostellers speak the word like Japanese sometimes as 'Kael-achu + omission of syllabic syncopation

based one part of elder brother' in Bengali. The formed word is suited in the context here.

Indebted Sources :1. Bimalendu Majumdar, Uttar Banger Adivasi Shilpakala, 2007, suchans cultural centre, Kolkata2. Dhaneshwar Barman, Uttar Janajiban o lokachar, 2011, pragatishil prakashak, Kolkata3. Dibyajoyti Majumdar, Adivasi Pashukatha, 2013, Gangchil, Kolkata4. Dr. Dipak Baro Panda, Janajiban o Loksamaskriti, 2012, Ananda Prakashan, Kolkata5. Gouri Bhattacharya, Paschim Simanto Banger Adivasi, 2010, Mindscape, Howrah6. Samaresh Majumdar, Mahakaler Rather Ghora, 2010, Ananda pub. P.Ltd., Kolkata7. Suhrid Kr. Bhoumik, Adivasider bhasha o Bangla, 1999, Marang Buru Press, Mecheda8. Bangla Bhashar Gathan, 2013, Manfakira, Kolkata9. Suvash Ch. Bandyapadhaya, Jangalmahaler janajiban o loksamaskriti, 2012, Bangiya Sahitya Samsad,

Kolkata10. Tarasankar Bandyapadhaya, Dhatridevota, 1386 (Bengali year), Bengal publishers pvt.Ltd. Kolkata11. Zaharlal Sing, Munda Bhashar Baekaran, 2008, Marangburu Press, East MedinipurSome writerngs by Suhrid Kr. Bhoumik and Discussions with some persons, such as Ratan Hembram (Chanchal

College, Malda), Prof. Ajit Biswas (Chanchal College, Malda), Mantulal Oran (Chanchal College, Malda), SaktiSekher Das (Paikar, Birbhum), Jatu Das (Kahinagar, Jrarkhand-adjacent Birbhum), Kabita Das (my wife) andinformation form some websites.

I am aslo indebted to Prof. Joydip Gosh, Dept. of English, (Chanchal College to prepare this writing.

Gmail : scdbengal@gmail.com, Mo-91 9433293244

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