Bihari Hindi

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Bihari Hindi is a variety of Hindustani, spoken in Bihar, particularly in the urban areas of Bihar. It is heavily influenced by the Bihari languages Magahi, Maithili and Bhojpuri. It shares more vocabulary with Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri than Standard Hindi.

Contents

Phonology

Vowels

Hindi natively possesses a symmetrical ten-vowel system. Instead of [ɛː] and [ɔː], Bihari Hindi has diphthongs [əi/əe] and [əu/əo]. The vowels [ə], [ɪ], [ʊ] are always short in length, while the vowels [ɑː], [iː], [uː], [eː], [oː] are always considered long.

Vowels in Bihari Hindi
FrontCentralBack
longshortshortlong
IPARom.scriptIPARom.scriptIPARom.scriptIPARom.scriptIPARom.script
Close iː īई ɪ iइ ʊ uउ uː ūऊ
Close-mid eː eए oː oओ
Open-mid ə / ɐ / ʌ aअ
Open ɑː āआ
Diphthongs
FrontBack
IPARom.scriptIPARom.script
əi/əeaiऐəu/əoauऔ

Consonants

Hindi has four classes of stops, one class of affricate, which is generally treated as a stop series, related nasals, fricatives and approximant.

Labial Dental/
Alveolar 		Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨म⟩ n ⟨न⟩ ɳ ⟨ण⟩( ɲ ) ⟨ञ⟩ ŋ ⟨ङ⟩
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless unaspirated p ⟨प⟩ t ⟨त⟩ ʈ ⟨ट⟩ tɕ ⟨च⟩ k ⟨क⟩
aspirated pʰ⟨फ⟩tʰ⟨थ⟩ʈʰ⟨ठ⟩tɕʰ⟨छ⟩kʰ⟨ख⟩
voiced unaspirated b ⟨ब⟩ d ⟨द⟩ ɖ ⟨ड⟩ dʑ ⟨ज⟩ ɡ ⟨ग⟩
aspirated bʱ⟨भ⟩dʱ⟨ध⟩ɖʱ⟨ढ⟩dʑʱ⟨झ⟩ɡʱ⟨घ⟩
Fricative voiceless s ⟨स⟩( ʂ ) [1] [2] ⟨ष⟩( ɕ ) [1] ⟨श⟩-( h ) [3] ⟨ः⟩
voiced ɦ ⟨ह⟩
Rhotic unaspirated ɾ ~ r ⟨र⟩( ɽ ) [4] ⟨ड़⟩
aspirated(ɽʱ) [4] ⟨ढ़⟩
Lateral l ⟨ल⟩
Approximant ( ʋ ~ w ) [5] ⟨व⟩( j ) [5] ⟨य⟩

Morphology

Nouns

Standard Hindi distinguishes two genders (masculine and feminine), two noun types (count and non-count), two numbers (singular and plural), and three cases (direct, oblique, and vocative). But in Bihari Hindi, the direct case is most commonly used. Other cases are dormant. The inflectional plural is also not used, the periphrastic plural is used. However, a weak inflected plural is used in Bihari Hindi, borrowed from eastern Hindi and Bhojpuri (-an), though it is declined here only for animates. Nouns are divided into two classes- marked and unmarked, which have no differences except that the marked form is used for declinable adjectives. There is a peculiar long form in Bihari Hindi, for most tadbhava and marked nouns, a feature also prevalent in Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri. This form denotes several meanings-

  1. It denotes diminutive or often low honour meaning.
  2. It also denotes definite nature of the noun.
  3. For proper nouns, apart from the diminutive meaning, it also signifies familiarity, especially for personal names.

Weak plurals can also be formed from these long form of the nouns.

Gender system is usually the same as Standard Hindi, but differs in that only animates and real gender is marked in Bihari Hindi, all unmarked inanimates are treated masculine. Therefore, the gender system can be defined as- masculine-neuter and feminine.

The table below displays the suffix paradigms. -Ø denotes that no suffix is added to the noun stem.

SingularSingular Long FormWeak PluralPlural
Masculine-neuterMarked-ā-avā-an/avan-ā sab
Unmarked-Ø-ā (yā if i/ī-ending, vā if ∅/a/ā-ending)-an (-iyan if i/ī-ending, van if ∅/a/ā-ending)-Ø sab
FeminineMarked-ī/i

-iyā

iyā

aiyā

-in/iyan

-iyan/aiyan

-ī/i sab

-iyā sab

Unmarked-Ø-ā

(yā if i/ī-ending, iyā if ∅/a/ā-ending)

-an

-iyan

-Ø sab

Plural is not mandatory, it can be dropped when inanimate or indefinite. The next table of noun declensions, shows the above suffix paradigms in action. Words: laṛkā ('boy'), kū̃ā ('well'), seb ('apple'), balid ('father'), cākū (chūrī is more common, but cākū is a more apt example) ('penknife'), admī ('man'), mitr ('friend'), laṛkī ('girl'), ciṛiyā ('finch'), kitāb ('book'), bhāsā ('language'), and aurat ('woman').

SingularSingular Long FormWeak PluralPlural
Masculine-neuterMarkedlaṛkā

kuā̃

larkavā

kuãvā

laṛkan

(inanimate) (non-tadbhava)

laṛkā sab

kuā̃ sab

Unmarkedseb

cākū admī mitr balid

sebvā→sebbā

cakuā admiyā (tatsama) (non-tadbhava)

(inanimate)

(inanimate) ādmiyan (tatsama) (non-tadbhava)

seb (sab)

cāqū sab ādmī sab mitr sab balid sab

Unmarked, Feminine in Standard Hindikitāb

bhāsā

kitabvā→kitabba

bhasvā

(inanimate)

(inanimate and tatsama)

kitāb sab

bhāsā sab

FeminineMarkedlaṛkī

ciṛiyā

laṛkiyā

ciṛaiyā

laṛkin/laṛkiyan

(inanimate)

laṛkī sab

ciṛiyā sab

Unmarkedauratauratiyāauratan/ auratiyanaurat sab

Sometimes, weak plural is also combined with plural marker sab, such as laṛkan sab, laṛkiyan sab, and so on. Also long form can also be combined with plural marker sab, such as laṛkavā sab, laṛkiyā sab.

Notes for noun declension:

Adjectives

Adjectives may be divided into declinable, and indeclinable categories. [11] [12] Declinables of Standard Hindi are marked, through termination, for the gender of the nouns they qualify, and in Bihari Hindi, indeclinable adjectives are also declined, for forming long forms, thus they can be properly said unmarked. Instead of number, adjectives are qualified for honour, a characteristic feature of Bihari languages. For forming long forms, suffix -kā and -kī is used for masculine-neuter and feminine respectively.

Plurals can be made of weak plurals, but not as an adjective. They are rather used as adverbs.

The set of declinable adjective terminations is similar but greatly simplified in comparison to that of noun terminations —

Non-honoroficLong FormHonorific
MarkedIMasc.-Neu.-ā-kā-e
Fem.-ī-kī-ī
IIMasc.-Neu.-yā-yakā/ikkā-ye
Fem.-yā-yakkī-yā
IIIMasc.-Neu.-yā̃-ẽka-yẽ
Fem.-yī̃-ẽkī-yī̃
UnmarkedMasc.-Neu.-Ø-kā/kkā-Ø
Fem.-kī

Indeclinable adjectives are completely invariable, and can end in either consonants or vowels (including ā and ī). A number of declinables display nasalisation of all terminations. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 Fricative sounds [ʂ,ɕ] only occur marginally, and are typically pronounced as a dental fricative /s/.
  2. ↑ ष is also pronounced sometimes as [kʰ].
  3. ↑ [h] ः is always added after a vowel.
  4. 1 2 [ɽ] ड़ and [ɽʱ] ढ is intervocalic [ɖ] ड and [ɖʱ] ढ respectively, but contrast is not as strict as in Standard Hindi, and is often interchangeable with [r] र and [rʱ] respectively.
  5. 1 2 य and व are mostly [dʑ] ज and [b] ब initially in tatsama words, and [i/e] (written य) and [u/o]/[b] (written व)/ब in the rest.
  6. ↑ Shapiro (2003 :262)
  7. 1 2 3 Snell & Weightman (1989 :24)
  8. ↑ Snell & Weightman (1989 :43)
  9. ↑ Shapiro (2003 :263)
  10. ↑ Schmidt (2003 :313)
  11. 1 2 Shapiro (2003 :264)
  12. ↑ Kachru, Yamuna (2006). Hindi. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 65. ISBN   90 272 3812 X.

Bibliography

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