Below, I first present the distinguished linguist Banikanta Kakati's
classification and then modify a little bit to fit my perception of
dialectical variation in Assam.
Banikanta Kakati's classification
-----------------------------------------
According to Banikanta Kakati (BK), in his "Assamese, Its Formation
and Development" (LBS Publications, GNB Road, Guwahati, Fifth edition,
1995), there are two main dialects of Assamese, Eastern and Western.
According to BK, "33. Assamese may be divided dialectically into
Eastern Assamese and Western Assamese. The language from Sadiya, the
easternmost frontier down to Gauhati exhibits a certain homogeneity and
hardly presents any notable point of difference from the spoken dialect
of Sibsagar, the capital of the late Ahom kings. And for purposes of
literature this dialect is generally regarded as the standard language."
I would say, there are some minor differences between the language
spoken in Sonitpur and Nagaon (old district) and Golaghat district and
the eastern regions. Some of the most pronounced are uses of
"kahanikoi", etc., in the eastern regions and not in the
Nagaon/Sonitpur region, possibly even in Lakhimpur region further to
the east (I know several people from Uttar Lakhimpur, but hardly hear
them say words like "kahanikoi" or "pase"), but on the North Bank of
the Brahmaputra. So, I think BK is right in the geographical
demarcation and not Rajen Barua. I have repeatedly heard, primarily, in
All-Assam sports meets in Colleges and High Schools when youngsters
make fun of Guwahati and western regions as "Dhekeri". This has
happened in Nagaon town. So, it seems Nagaon doesn't include itself in
the "Western" or "Dhekeri" region.
BK continues: "34. The two Western dialects of Kamrup and Goalpara
possess several local dialects which betray sharp points of difference
from one another and the standard colloquial of eastern Assam. The
spoken dialects of Goalpara district seems to have been greatly
contaminated with admixtures of the Rajabamsi dialect--the dialect that
was evolved under the domination of the Koch kings of Koch-Bihar, whose
descendants ruled over Goalpara and contiguous portions of Kamrup. In
between the standard colloquial of Sibsagar in the east and the mixed
dialects of Goalpara in the West stand the dialect of Kamrup district".
Thus, BK sets the Kamrup dialect, which I suppose is called "Dhekeri"
by some, as the one between the eastern boundary of Guwahati city and
Goalpara district (old). I doubt if people in the Eastern areas call
the Goalpara dialect "Dhekeri". I think it's simply called "Goalporia"
or by some even "Bengali".
BK continues to the description of the Kamrupi dialect "35. The Kamrup
district is not a homogeneous dialectical area. There are different
dialects in different localities." BK adds a little later, "It will be
noticed, however, that the points of difference amongst the dialects of
Kamrup are mostly confined to the details of phonetics and hardly
spread over to morphology and vocabulary. The differences, however,
between the Eastern and Western Assamese are wide and range over the
whole fields of phonology, morphology and not infrequently vocabulary."
My classification:
-----------------------
I will venture to add the following based on my observations and
knowledge. I am sure linguists have done this already, but I don't have
any references sitting in my office. So, I am not going to claim any
credit.
This may be a way to classify the dialects:
1. Eastern (non-Dhekeri) dialect: Ranges from Sadiya to almost Guwahati:
There are at least two sub-dvisions within this dialect.
1.1. The Jorhotiya or Sibsagoriya dialect spoken in Jorhat,
Sibsagar Dibrugarh, and Golaghat. These were the initial and primary
domains of the Ahom kings.
1.2 The Central dialect spoken in Nagon, Marigaon, Sonitpur, and
even in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. The Central dialect is spoken in Central
Assam and the
North Bank Districts to the east of Tezpur. The Ahom influence spread
to these regions slowly, but it was not the initial and primary Ahom
domain. Also, these regions were not influenced by the Western
dialectical region politically when the Assamese language emerged as a
distinct language.
The main difference between these two dialects is the use of words
such as
"kahanikoi", "kahaniba", "pase", "mithoi" instead of "gur", etc. In
additon, there is a marked tendency in the Nagoya dialect to not
pronounce the ra-sound
in informal situations. So, you would hear someone say "loa-sOwali"
instead of "lora-sOwali" (boys and girls), "Ghooloi jao~" instead of
"Ghoroloi jao~" (I am going home), etc.
2. The Kamrupi dialect: Ranges in the old Kamrup district from
immediately east of Guwahati to the boundary of old Goalpara district.
This area also includes probably Mangaldoi and all of Darrang (new)
district. However, this area doesn't seem to include the area called
"Uttor Guwahati" where there is a pronounced "Eastern" dialectical
influence in some families. The Kamrupi dialect is also called
"Dhekeri" by some in informal terms.
3. The Goalporia dialect: It seems to be quite distinct from the
various Kamrupi dialects in my observation.
Jugal Kalita
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