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DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2011-042
The Hajong of Bangladesh:A Sociolinguistic Survey
Amy KimSayed AhmadSeung KimMridul Sangma
The Hajong of Bangladesh:
A Sociolinguistic Survey
Amy Kim, Sayed Ahmad,
Seung Kim, and Mridul Sangma
SIL International®
2011
SIL Electronic Survey Report 2011-042, October 2011
Copyright © 2011 Amy Kim, Sayed Ahmad, Seung Kim, Mridul Sangma, and SIL International®
All rights reserved
2
Contents
Abstract
Preface
1. Introduction 1.1. Purposes and goals
1.1.1. Study of the dialects of the language
1.1.2. Language use and bilingualism study
1.1.3. Language attitudes and vitality study
1.2. History
1.3. Geography
1.4. People
1.5. Language
2. Summary of findings 2.1. Study of the dialects of the language
2.1.1. Lexical similarity study
2.1.2. Intelligibility study
2.2. Language use and bilingualism study
2.3. Language attitudes and vitality study
3. Study of the dialects of the language 3.1. Lexical similarity study
3.1.1. Procedures
3.1.2. Discussion of sample
3.1.3. Results
3.2. Intelligibility study
3.2.1. Procedures
3.2.2. Discussion of sample
3.2.3. Results
4. Language use and bilingualism study 4.1. Procedures
4.2. Discussion of sample
4.3. Results
4.3.1. Language use – in spoken domains
4.3.2. Language use – in written domains
4.3.3. Bilingualism
5. Language attitudes and vitality study 5.1. Procedures
5.2. Discussion of sample
5.3. Results
5.3.1. Language attitudes – regarding oral and written use
5.3.2. Language attitudes – toward language classes
5.3.3. Language vitality
6. Recommendations
Bangla translations of section 1.1, section 2, and section 6
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Appendices A. International Phonetic Alphabet (revised 1993)
B. Wordlists from Hajong villages
B.1 Standard procedures for counting lexical similarity
B.2. Wordlist notes
B.3 Wordlists
C. Recorded story
C.1 Codes used in the transcription of the story
C.2 Story transcription
D. Questionnaires
D.1 Sociolinguistic questionnaire
D.2 Post-story questionnaire
D.3 Subject biodata questionnaire
D.4 Community information questionnaire
E. Sociolinguistic questionnaire responses
E.1 Language-use responses
E.2 Bilingualism and language attitudes regarding oral and written-use responses
E.3 Language attitudes toward language classes responses
E.4 Language-vitality responses
E.5 Language-dialect responses
F. Post-story questionnaire responses
G. Subject biodata
G.1 Wordlist and CIQ informant biodata
G.2 Recorded story subject biodata
G.3 Sociolinguistic questionnaire subject biodata
H. Hajong community information
H.1 Bhalukapara
H.2 Gopalbari
H.3 Gopalpur
H.4 Nokshi
References
4
Abstract
This survey report focuses on sociolinguistic research conducted among the Hajong community
living in northern Bangladesh. The research was conducted in March 2005; its overriding
purpose was to gather information that could tie into recent and ongoing language-development
efforts among the Hajong in India. To meet this purpose, linguistic variation among the Hajong
people living in Bangladesh and India was investigated, the long-term vitality of the Hajong
language in Bangladesh was assessed, and issues regarding language attitudes, script, and current
Hajong language and culture development efforts were studied.
5
Preface
We researched the Hajong language community as part of SIL Bangladesh’s ongoing research
into the minority languages of Bangladesh. This report is the result of the field research
conducted over two weeks in March 2005.
We acknowledge the work of Elina Kinny and Isapdaile Zeliang, two young Indian language
surveyors who collected wordlists and recorded a story from the Hajong living in India. In
assessing lexical similarity and intelligibility between the Hajong in India and the Hajong in
Bangladesh, their work was an invaluable, time-saving contribution.
Thanks to Sayed Ahmad and Mridul Sangma for their hard work and good spirit as they
contributed much to the fieldwork by conducting sociolinguistic questionnaires and eliciting
responses to the Hajong story from India. Also helpful were Liza Guts, an SIL colleague, and
Abhijit Barman, a young Hajong man living in India, who traveled with us to get their
impression of the language situation among the Bangladeshi Hajong; we thank them for their
valuable insights.
We thank the staff of the YMCA in Birisiri and the Fathers and Sisters at the Bhalukapara
Mission who provided a comfortable place for us to stay on short notice. Our work would not be
possible without the ministry and hospitality of such good people.
We also thank all the people and leaders of the Hajong community; particularly those in
Bhalukapara, Durgapur, Gopalbari, Gopalpur, Langorjora, and Nokshi. We thank them for
giving their time, making themselves available to be interviewed, and for accepting us as
researchers and friends. Meeting such people reminds us that what we do is a privilege and an
honor.
Seung and Amy Kim
Language Survey Specialists
SIL Bangladesh
March 2005
Dhaka, Bangladesh
6
1. Introduction
1.1. Purposes and goals
The main purpose of this sociolinguistic survey was to gather information that could tie into
recent and ongoing language-development efforts among the Hajong in India. We wanted to
know if Hajong speakers in Bangladesh could adequately use literature developed by Hajong
speakers in India and if they might be interested in using such literature. We also wanted to learn
about current language, culture, and literature-development efforts among the Hajong in
Bangladesh. To meet these purposes, the following goals were established:
1. To investigate linguistic variation among the Hajong living in Bangladesh and India.
2. To determine Hajong speakers’ attitudes toward varieties of their own language and
toward Bangla.
3. To assess the long-term vitality of Hajong in Bangladesh.
4. To understand initiatives among the Hajong in Bangladesh to develop and/or preserve
their language and culture.
5. To ascertain which script would be most accepted and of most use to Hajong speakers
living in Bangladesh.
To accomplish these goals, this sociolinguistic survey of the Hajong in Bangladesh was carried
out in three interrelated parts: 1) a study of the dialects of the language, 2) a language use and
bilingualism study, and 3) a language attitude and vitality study. Table 1 gives a summary of the
sociolinguistic methods used in this survey.
7
Table 1. Overview of methods
Study Method Brief
description Focus Sample size
Study of the
dialects of
the language
Lexical
similarity
comparison
307-item
wordlist
• Lexical variation
among Hajong
language varieties
• Lexical similarity with
related languages
• Perceived intelligibility
of Indian Hajong
• Perceived differences
among Hajong
language varieties
• 10 Hajong
villages,
including 6
from India
Intelligibility
study
Recorded story
and 8 follow-up
questions
• 18 subjects
from 2
villages
Sociolinguistic
questionnaire
A 6-item
questionnaire
• 45 subjects
from 4
villages
Language
use and
bilingualism
study
Sociolinguistic
questionnaire
A 13-item
questionnaire
• Domains of language
use
• Perceived ability in
any second language
• 45 subjects
from 4
villages
Language
attitudes and
vitality study
Sociolinguistic
questionnaire
A 13-item
questionnaire
• Language preferences
• Attitudes towards
script and language use
• Long-term viability of
Hajong in Bangladesh
• Current development
efforts
• Vision for language
development
• 45 subjects
from 4
villages
Informal
interviews
Questions about
language
development
initiatives
• Approx. 10
people
1.1.1. Study of the dialects of the language
The first method, or tool, used to study the dialects of the language was a 307-item wordlist
taken at a total of ten Hajong villages, four in Bangladesh and six in India. These villages were
chosen to give a wide geographical representation of the Hajong community. In addition to these
10 wordlists, a wordlist in Bangla (dictionary pronunciation) is included for comparison. These
lists were compared in order to determine the lexical similarity among these varieties. See
appendix B.1 for standard procedures for counting lexical similarity.
A story recorded by a Hajong speaker in India was also used to study the dialects of Hajong.
Each time, after the story was played, the listener was asked several questions. The answers give
an indication of the extent to which Hajongs in Bangladesh feel their speech variety is different
when compared to that spoken in India. They also shed light on how much of the Indian variety
people think they can understand. The post-story questionnaire is in appendix D.2.
Six questions, which were part of a sociolinguistic questionnaire, were used to assess Hajong
speakers’ perceptions of variation within their language. The questions asked about language
variety in general and also about language variation specifically between India and Bangladesh.
The sociolinguistic questionnaire is in appendix D.1.
8
1.1.2. Language use and bilingualism study
This sociolinguistic questionnaire was also used to determine the situations in which Hajong
speakers use various language varieties. As part of the sociolinguistic questionnaire process,
subjects were also asked questions about their abilities in Hajong, as well as other languages.
The Community Information Questionnaire (CIQ) was used to gather information about the
depth and breadth of bilingualism. See appendix D.4 for the CIQ and appendix H for the
community information.
1.1.3. Language attitudes and vitality study
One set of questions on the sociolinguistic questionnaire was used to assess Hajong speakers’
attitudes toward their own language and other languages and the long-term vitality of Hajong as
a spoken language in Bangladesh. This information gives an indication as to whether the Hajong
community in Bangladesh would accept and use materials translated into their own language
variety or into another variety which is highly intelligible with their own.
To gain an understanding of language and culture development efforts that have already taken
place among the Hajong, informal interviews were conducted with a number of leaders in the
Hajong community. During these meetings, leaders also often shared their vision for various
aspects of the Hajong community. These development efforts and visions give a further
indication of people’s attitudes towards Hajong and the long-term viability of Hajong in
Bangladesh.
1.2. History
Scholars and even the Hajong themselves do not agree on their history. Some say the Hajong
originated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and then migrated to the northern areas of
Bangladesh and into India (Hajang of Bangladesh n.d.). Another account is that the Hajong came
from Tibet as descendents of the Kachhari people and settled in the Kamrup area of Assam state
for many years (The Bangladesh Observer: Culture of the Hajong Tribe).
Current-day Kamrup district, Assam, is adjacent to Nalbari district, which is what one Hajong
author refers to when he writes “The Hajongs claim their ancestral home was in Hajo area of
present Nalbari district of Assam” (Hajong 3). He goes on to explain that some Mongoloid tribes
came to power in that area in the mid-1400s. They were under 12 Koch chiefs, the most powerful
of whom was Hajo. A grandson of Hajo founded the Koch kingdom, converted to Hinduism, and
took the name Rajbongshi. Many people of the area apparently did the same, while others
became Muslim. Those remaining faithful to Hajo began to call themselves “Hajbongsis,” which,
in time, became “Hajong” (Hajong 4).
From the Kamrup and Nalbari areas of Assasm, the Hajong spread to surrounding areas; it is not
clear when or why they moved. It may have been in the early 1600s when Raghudev and his son
controlled a large area or may have been during the Man invasion when people of the area were
torturned (Hajong 4). It may have been due to a major natural disaster that forced people to
relocate (The Bangladesh Observer: Culture of the Hajong Tribe). Whatever the cause, it seems
9
clear that some event or series of events compelled the Hajong to move to other areas of Assam
and to Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and northern Bangladesh.
1.3. Geography
Although there are a few (unconfirmed) reports of some Hajong living in Chittagong division, it
is certain that northern Dhaka division constitutes the land of the Hajong in Bangladesh. In fact,
the narrow strip of borderland that stretches from close to Rangpur district in the west as far as
Sunamganj district in the east (see figures 1 and 2) can be considered the southern outpost of the
greater Hajong community, who also live in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, go north into Assam,
and even further north as far as Arunachal Pradesh of India (see figure 3, taken from the report
by Kinny and Zeliang, for locations of researched villages in India).
Figure 1. General location of the Hajong (oval shaded in black) in Bangladesh.
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Figure 2. Location of the four Hajong villages researched in Dhaka division, Bangladesh.
Figure 3. Location of the six Hajong villages researched in Assam and Meghalaya, India.
11
1.4. People
Similar to many other indigenous communities of Bangladesh, the Hajong are primarily a
farming community; many work as day laborers in the fields near their villages, while others
farm their own land. Some Hajong in Bangladesh are also involved in collecting and selling
wood from the hills along the border. As we rode rickshaws and walked along the dusty trails
that connected Hajong villages along the border, on several occasions we met brawny Hajong
men pulling heavy carts of wood, traveling in this way for long distances from the forested hills
to the markets where the wood could be sold.
Population figures for the total number of Hajong in both Bangladesh and India vary from
70,000 to 135,000 (Hajang of Bangladesh; Hajong 9). Whatever the population, it seems clear
that the majority of Hajongs now reside on the Indian side of the border, “as a majority of the
tribe migrated to India after partition of the Indian sub-continent” (The Bangladesh Observer:
Culture of the Hajong Tribe).
This migration took place largely because the Hajong follow a religion similar to Hinduism.
Ahmad Rafiq writes the following:
In terms of religious belief Hajongs are close to Hindus. Hajongs worship Durga
and other Hindu gods and goddesses. But Shiva is their chief deity. They observe
a number of bratas (vows) including the Kartik brata performed in the month of
Kartik (October-November). Girls and women dance and sing in brata ceremonies.
Hajongs also worship the Brahmaputra river. Like Hindu Brahmans, Hajongs
wear paita (the holy thread) on their bodies. Hajongs are believers in
reincarnation too (Rafiq 490).
Today, the Hajong in Bangladesh continue to live primarily in Hajong villages with only a small
number living in regional towns, such as Durgapur and Sherpur. Bengalis and also members of
indigenous communities, such as Garo and Koch, live near and sometimes in the same villages
as the Hajong. Hajong village homes are simple but clean; the walls are generally made of mud
and the roofs are usually thatched, although a few are corrugated metal. Women do the family
cooking in a separate thatched hut near the house, making rice as their staple food.
Homes in Hajong villages are fairly close together; people move freely among their neighbors as
they socialize and as children play together around the village. Our experience among the
Hajong is that they are a very friendly people with a bent toward hospitality, even though they
are relatively poor.
The Hajong follow a patriarchal system in their society. “After the death of the father, sons
inherit his property. Daughters however, are given dowry and ornaments at the time of their
marriage” (Rafiq 490). After marrying, a woman wears vermillion in the part of her hair; many
married women also wear white, carved bracelets on their wrists. Although they live near
Bengalis and Garos, even today it is reportedly uncommon for a young Hajong man or woman to
marry somebody who is not Hajong.
12
1.5. Language
Hajong is the language of the Hajong people. Hajong used to be a Tibeto-Burman language but,
interestingly, it has now shifted to being much more closely related to Bangla and to Assamese
(Breton 1997, as cited in Grimes 440); therefore, it has been categorized as “Indo-Aryan, Eastern
zone, Bengali-Assamese” (Grimes 2000).
In Bangladesh, Hajong is primarily an oral language; Hajong people use it within the Hajong
community for everyday communication. However, it is very influenced by Bangla, which
surrounds the Hajong when they go to the market, attend school, or talk with their non-Hajong
neighbors and employers. Today, the Hajong of Bangladesh recognize that the “pure” form of
Hajong is being lost and in some places is still spoken only by those in the older generation.
Among those in the younger generation, the pure form is being replaced by a mixture of Hajong
and colloquial Bangla.
Various educated Hajong people and language and social committees have made attempts to
reduce their language to writing. Within Bangladesh, these people have used the Bangla script to
write Hajong, adapting the script slightly to account for the back, unrounded, close vowel sound
that does not appear in Bangla. These efforts appear to be in their infancy and have not resulted
in the publishing of books or regular periodicals.
There have also been some efforts made in India to write Hajong. According to Biren Hajong,
some periodicals, books of poems, and short stories have been published and the Assamese script
has been used (Hajong 16 to 17). Using a modified Roman script to write Hajong is also being
given serious consideration in India (Barman, personal communication).
It seems that the Hajong language is more recognized in India, where Hajong is a Scheduled
Tribe. In India, “there are radio programmes in the Hajong language, broadcast on alternate days.
There are also short TV programmes consisting of Hajong songs, dances, and cultural
presentations, all in the Hajong language” (Kinny 3). There are no such radio or TV programs in
Bangladesh.
13
2. Summary of findings
2.1. Study of the dialects of the language
2.1.1. Lexical similarity study
A comparison of the six wordlists taken in India with the four wordlists taken in Bangladesh
shows a similarity that ranges from 74 to 85 percent, with a mean and median of about 79 to 80
percent. Given that there have undoubtedly been linguistic changes caused by the separation
across political boundaries and by the influence of different national/regional languages (Garo
and Assamese in India and regional Bengali dialects in Bangladesh), these fairly high lexical-
similarity percentages indicate that there may be just one Hajong language with the usual local
differences.
An internal comparison of the wordlists taken in Bangladesh shows that there is an even higher
degree of similarity (92 to 96 percent) within the country.
2.1.2. Intelligibility study
The intelligibility study was limited to post-story questions asked of subjects who listened to a
Hajong story recorded in India and to reported intelligibility questions asked as part of a
questionnaire. All 18 people who listened to the Hajong story from India said that the language
was Hajong; a vast majority of them said that they understood everything. Furthermore, most
people who said they had ever spoken with a Hajong speaker from India said they could
understand all of their speech. These results, when coupled with that of the lexical similarity
study, suggest that there is good intelligiblity between the Indian and Bangladeshi Hajong, at
least in routine domains of communication.
2.2. Language use and bilingualism study
Hajong speakers consistently reported that Hajong is widely used in Hajong villages today and
that there appears to be widespread mother-tongue fluency among Hajong speakers. At the same
time, nearly all Hajong in Bangladesh speak at least some Bangla, as this is the language of
wider communication (LWC) that they use in the market, in finding work as day laborers, and in
attending school.
Among the sociolinguistic questionnaire respondents, a majority said they use Hajong most of
the time, but a significant number said they use Bangla more. In general, as the Hajong become
more educated in Bangla-medium schools and as the younger generation replaces the older
generation, it is likely that Bangla will become increasingly dominant as the language of choice
among the Hajong in Bangladesh.
2.3. Language attitudes and vitality study
Mother-tongue Hajong speakers appear to have a positive attitude toward their language and
think it will continue to be used for years to come. They think mothers should use Hajong with
their children, and they show interest in children’s Hajong literacy classes.
14
It seems that Hajong, in at least some form, is a vital language: Hajong children reportedly learn
it as their first language and speak it well. “Pure” Hajong, however, is at risk of being replaced
by “mixed” Hajong, as Hajong children are becoming more and more educated in Bangla-
medium schools. The Hajong they speak is, therefore, increasingly influenced by Bangla, and it
is this form of “mixed” Hajong that will likely be vital for years to come.
Because Hajong literature is being developed in India, the script that is used to write Hajong was
an important issue to ascertain attitudes about. A significant portion of the Hajong in Bangladesh
are unfamiliar with the issues regarding script, but the opinion of the informed is that Bangla
script should be used to write Hajong. They are not opposed to having Hajong developed in
Roman script, but they say this would not be practical for Hajong speakers in Bangladesh, as
most education is in Bangla medium.
15
3. Study of the dialects of the language
3.1. Lexical similarity study
3.1.1. Procedures
Comparing the vocabulary of language varieties is one way to measure the lexical similarity
among them. During the survey of the Hajong language, lexical similarities among the wordlists
taken at various Hajong villages were calculated as a percentage of words from a 307-item list
which resemble each other in sound and meaning (Blair 28–29). In order to compare the Hajong
spoken in Bangladesh with that spoken in India, fellow Indian language surveyors elicited six
wordlists using the same 307-item list.
All the researchers transcribed the wordlists using the International Phonetic Alphabet given in
appendix A. They then compared the wordlists by following the established procedures outlined
in appendix B.1. The WordSurv© computer program designed by SIL (Wimbish) was used to do
the final lexical-similarity calculations.
3.1.2. Discussion of sample
Wordlists were taken in four Hajong villages in Dhaka division. Going from west to east, they
were Nokshi, Bhalukapara, Gopalpur, and Gopalbari. These four villages were chosen mainly for
geographical distribution; that is, we wanted to test villages that weren’t too close to one another
and would represent the various population centers of the Hajong in Bangladesh. We could have
gone further east into Sunamganj district but, due to difficulties in transportation and time
limitations, it was decided that Gopalbari would be the easternmost village. However, we heard
from several people in Gopalbari that those in Sunamganj speak “the same.”
The wordlists from the four Hajong villages in Bangladesh were compared to the wordlists from
the six Hajong villages in India: Balachanda, Chilapara, Dalugau, Dhamor, Nirghini, and
Nugapara. Refer to figure 3 for the location of these villages. These 10 Hajong wordlists were
also compared to a standard Bangla (dictionary pronunciation) wordlist.
All those from whom we elicited a wordlist, at least in Bangladesh, happened to be men (see
appendix G.1 for their biodata), but this is due more to the sex of the researchers than to any
linguistic bias. Because all the Hajong—men or women, young or old—seemed to be quite
bilingual, we could have probably chosen anyone. The male researchers simply found it easier to
approach the men to ask for their time, as the ones in the village did not seem to be overly busy.
3.1.3. Results
Table 2 shows the results from analyzing the eleven wordlists previously mentioned. The letter
in parentheses is that village’s code letter for the wordlists given in appendix B.3.
� The first set of villages (a-f) represents Hajong villages in India.
� The second set of villages (B-E) represents Hajong villages in Bangladesh.
� Finally, the Bangla wordlist represents standard dictionary pronunciation.
16
Table 2. Lexical similarity chart
Nugapara /W.Garo Hills (a)
81 Chilapara/W.Garo Hills (b)
80 80 Nirghini/W.Garo Hills (c)
88 84 82 Dalugau/W.Garo Hills (d)
78 85 77 82 Balachanda/W.Garo Hills (e)
83 83 79 87 79 Dhamor/Goalpara/Assam (f)
80 79 74 83 74 78 Gopalbari (B)
81 80 77 84 75 79 95 Gopalpur (C)
82 80 78 85 75 80 94 96 Bhalukapara (D)
83 80 78 85 75 81 92 93 95 Nokshi (E)
55 60 60 60 61 60 59 58 60 60 Bangla (0)
Perhaps the most striking numbers are the 92 to 96 percent similarity among the four Bangladesh
villages, which means that the Hajong spoken in Bangladesh is highly uniform. From the west to
the east, the numbers are very consistent and there is very little difference among the four. This
suggests that, in spite of the pervasiveness of Bangla in their community, what they know as
Hajong has remained largely unchanged. This does not necessarily mean that Hajong is
extremely vital; on many occasions, the informants would first give a Bangla word and, only
after being prompted would they remember or recognize the Hajong word. Thus, it could be
argued that in reality the actual Hajong being used in Bangladesh has a higher similarity with
Bangla than the 58 to 60 percent shown above. The fact that the Hajong wordlists from India
show a comparably high similarity with Bangla (55 to 61 percent) points not only to the
similarity between Assamese (one of the LWCs in Meghalaya and Assam) and Bangla, but also
to the possibility that our fellow Indian researchers may have simply accepted the first response.
This kind of difference in elicitation style is one of the inherent weaknesses of comparing
wordlists taken by different researchers.
When the Hajong wordlists from India and Bangladesh are compared, the lexical similarity drops
to an average of 79 percent, with Balachanda noticeably lower than average (74 to 75 percent)
and Dalugau noticeably higher than average (83 to 85 percent). Distance seems to be an
explanatory factor here as the highest similarity is between the Bangladesh villages and Dalugau
(which is located in southern Meghalaya, just across the border from Bangladesh), while the
lowest percentages are found with Balachanda (which is found in the extreme north of
Meghalaya). The overriding impression, however, is that the Hajong is largely similar in both
countries, even when we take into account the fact that both varieties are under severe pressure
from more dominant national/official languages. It is most likely the case that the differences are
the result of forgetting the original Hajong or borrowed words replacing Hajong, rather than the
existence of a different variety of Hajong. Again, differences in elicitation styles probably
emphasized the difference even more.
Hajong villages in India
Hajong villages in Bangladesh
17
3.2. Intelligibility study
3.2.1. Procedures
For this study of reported intelligibility, a simple personal narrative was first recorded on a
minidisc recorder in India by a mother-tongue Hajong speaker. Then the story was brought to
Bangladesh and played individually on headphones to Hajong speakers in two villages: Gopalpur
and Nokshi. It was our original intention to test actual intelligibility through the use of
comprehension questions about the story. After becoming familiar with the story, however, we
felt the story was too easy to be discriminating enough as a test of intelligibility. Therefore, the
story was simply played for subjects one at a time. Following the playing of the story, several
post-story questions were asked regarding intelligibility (see appendix D.3 for the questions).
In addition, six items on the sociolinguistic questionnaire asked people about their experience in
communicating with Hajong speakers from other locations. The procedures used in
administering this questionnaire are explained in section 4.1, regarding the language use and
bilingualism study.
3.2.2. Discussion of sample
A total of 18 people heard the recorded story from India and responded to the post-story
questions: ten in Gopalpur and eight in Nokshi. We felt that these two villages could represent
the eastern and western parts of the greater-Hajong community in Bangladesh. We attempted to
get good representation of men and women, of the younger (younger than 35) and the older, and
the more-educated (having passed at least class 8) and the less-educated. See appendix G.2 for
the biodata of these subjects). We ended up with nine men and nine women, 11 older and seven
younger, nine more educated and nine less educated.
The demographic profile for the 45 subjects who answered the sociolinguistic questionnaire is
given in section 4.2 regarding the language use and bilingualism study sample.
3.2.3. Results
The results from the post-story questionnaire are very clear: there is an overwhelming high
degree of reported intelligibility of the Hajong spoken in India. All 18 subjects recognized the
language as being Hajong and everyone said that it was pure Hajong, except for one person who
thought there was some Bangla mixed in. Beyond the question of mere recognition, tables 3
through 8 show details of their reported intelligibility.
Table 3. Summary of responses to the question, “How much of the story did you
understand?”
Location Response
Little Most All
Gopalpur 10% 10% 80%
Nokshi - - 100%
Total 6% 6% 89%
18
Table 3 shows that almost everyone said they understood all of the recorded story. The one
person who said she could understand only a little also said that the speech of the story was not
different from her own. Even a confusing answer like that doesn’t dilute the fact that the reported
intelligibility is very high.
Table 4. Summary of responses to the question, “Where do you think the storyteller is
from?”
Location Response
India Bangladesh Don’t know
Gopalpur 40% 30% 30%
Nokshi 12% 75% 12%
Total 28% 50% 22%
Table 4 lends support to the idea that the Hajong varieties spoken in India and Bangladesh are
probably quite similar, since only five of the 18 subjects (28 percent) could correctly identify the
storyteller as being from India. It could be that there hasn’t been much contact with those in
India lately, so the Bangladeshi Hajong aren’t familiar with any differences; whatever the reason,
it is clear that most Bangladeshi Hajong are not aware of the traits found in the speech of the
Indian Hajong. It is unclear why so many more Nokshi subjects misidentified the origin of the
story as being Bangladeshi (75 percent versus 30 percent for Golpalpur subjects), but it could be
due to their isolation from the main Hajong community in Bangladesh. Therefore, not being very
familiar with how the Hajongs of eastern Dhaka division speak, they may have guessed that the
Indian story was from there. In contrast, some Gopalpur subjects would have had more contact
with other Hajong villages (including occasional visits to/from India) to know that the story
probably was not of Bangladeshi origin.
Subjects were almost twice as likely to say that the storyteller was from another area of
Bangladesh than they were to say that he was from India. This suggests that the differences
found in the Indian Hajong are probably no more telling or special than the differences found
among the Hajong in Bangladesh. Therefore, perhaps the “Don’t know” response is the most
“correct” since there don’t seem to be enough distinctives in the Indian Hajong speech to make it
recognizable or most Bangladeshi Hajong don’t have enough awareness of the distinctives to
recognize them.
Table 5. Summary of responses to the question, “Is the storyteller’s speech different from
yours?”
Location Response
No Yes, a little
Gopalpur 70% 30%
Nokshi 75% 25%
Total 72% 28%
Table 5 shows that only five of the 18 (28 percent) subjects thought that the storyteller’s speech
was different from their own, and only a little different at that. What is interesting is that, of
these five, four of them had identified the storyteller as being from India; only one of the five
had previously said that the storyteller was from Bangladesh. That is, eight of the nine who had
19
said that the storyteller was from another village in Bangladesh then went on to say that the
storyteller’s speech was not different from their own.
This suggests a couple of things: 1) the subjects, in general, consider the Hajong spoken
throughout Bangladesh as being the same as their own speech; they admit to slight differences
(mostly in pronunciation), but not enough to be considered different; 2) those who had identified
the storyteller as being from India, however, were perhaps linguistically aware enough to
recognize that the speech in India is different from their own, albeit only a little. Unfortunately,
the post-story questionnaire doesn’t account for the degree of linguistic awareness of the subjects
or for the amount of contact with Indian Hajong they may have had. Ultimately, this study of
reported intelligibility has limited powers of elucidation. Still, it does paint a rough picture in
broad strokes which suggests that the story from India was not so different or difficult to
understand so as to elicit strong negative responses.
The results from the preceding post-story questionnaire are very much in line with the responses
to questions 7a–c and 8a–c of the sociolinguistic questionnaire (see appendix D.1). These
questions sought to gauge reported speech differences and intelligiblity (see appendix E.5 for
responses to these questions). When the 45 sociolinguistic questionnaire subjects were asked if
they had ever talked with a Hajong person from India, 30 of them said that they had actually met
Hajongs from India. These 30 subjects were then asked how much of the Indian Hajong’s speech
they could understand. Results to this question are shown in table 6.
Table 6. Summary of responses to the question about how much of an Indian Hajong’s
speech could be understood
Location Response
Little Most All
Gopalbari - - 100%
Gopalpur - - 100%
Bhalukapara 33% 33% 33%
Nokshi - - 100%
Total 10% 10% 80%
Of the 30 subjects who said they had talked with a Hajong person from India, 80 percent said
that they could understand all, ten percent said they could understand most, and ten percent said
they could understand little. These numbers, shown in table 6, are similar to those found in table
3, and strengthen the Hajongs’ claims for high reported intelligibility of Indian Hajong.
When the results are divided by village, as in table 6, the obviously interesting finding is that
only residents of Bhalukapara reported less than complete intelligibility. However, we cannot
find even a dubious explanation—sociolinguistic, geographic, demographic, or otherwise—for
this. Instead, we want to reiterate the general fact: there is high reported intelligiblity of Indian
Hajong. This is supported by the experiences of Abhijit Barman, a young Hajong man from India,
who traveled with us during part of our fieldwork. Mr. Barman reported that he could converse
easily in Hajong with the Hajong people living in both Gopalpur and Nokshi.
20
The subjects were also asked about differences in speech among the Hajong community within
Bangladesh. Twenty-five (56 percent) of the sociolinguistic questionnaire subjects said they were
aware of differences. These 25 people were then asked a follow-up question about intelligibility.
The results are given in table 7.
Table 7. Summary of responses to the question about how much is understood when
speaking with a Hajong person from the area(s) where Hajong is spoken differently
Location Response
NA Little Half Most All
Gopalbari - - 25% - 75%
Gopalpur - - - - 100%
Bhalukapara - 25% - 25% 50%
Nokshi 12% - - 12% 75%
Total 4% 8% 4% 12% 72%
At first glance, the data in the sociolinguistic questionnaire may seem contrary to the results of
the lexical similarity study. While there was 92 to 96 percent lexical similarity among the four
Hajong villages in Bangladesh, 56 percent (25 out of 45 people) of the respondents said that
there are Hajongs in Bangladesh who speak differently than themselves. Keep in mind, however,
that comparing wordlists merely gives a measure of how similar or dissimilar the vocabularies of
language varieties are. Wordlists do not consider differences in speaker intonation, nor do they
generally capture grammatical differences; therefore, people using the same words could still
speak a language differently. This limited information does suggest, however, that even those
Hajong who speak differently are still understood by other Hajongs. This becomes clear when
we consider that, of the 25 people who said some Hajongs in Bangladesh speak differently, 84
percent (21 people) said that they could understand most or all of the speech of the different-
speaking Hajongs. Therefore, we conclude that the differences are probably minor matters of
pronunciation or grammatical changes that do not have much bearing on intelligibility. In light of
the findings covered in table 6, we can further conclude that this is a realistic description of the
overall Hajong community covering both India and Bangladesh.
21
4. Language use and bilingualism study
4.1. Procedures
A language-use study is a method used to examine language choice. This is done by asking
subjects which language(s) they use in various domains. Domains are everyday situations in
which one language variety is considered more appropriate than another (Fasold 183).
Bilingualism refers to the ability of an individual or an entire speech community to handle
communication in a language other than their mother tongue. Bilingualism can be studied in
many ways, but during this survey it was studied by asking people about their ability in various
languages.
A sociolinguistic questionnaire was used to ask people language use and bilingualism questions.
The questions were generally asked in Bangla. If a given subject did not seem able to handle the
questions in Bangla, the questions were asked in Hajong, through the help of a translator. The
questionnaire is found in appendix D.1, while subject responses are given in appendix E.
4.2. Discussion of sample
The sociolinguistic questionnaire was administered to a total of 45 Hajong people in four villages.
The subjects were chosen based on age, sex, and education levels in order to get a wide variety
of subjects. Among the 45 subjects, 24 were male and 21 were female. Similarly, 21 were
educated (defined as having completed 8th
standard) and 24 subjects had not completed 8th
standard and, therefore, were categorized at “uneducated.” Furthermore, 22 subjects were
younger (defined as less than 35 years old), and 23 were 35 years old or older. The mother
tongue of each of the 45 subjects was Hajong, and the mother tongue of each of the subjects’
fathers and mothers was also Hajong. Biographical data for each sociolinguistic questionnaire
subject is given in appendix G.3.
The four locations where the questionnaire was administered were chosen to represent the areas
where the Hajong live within Bangladesh. These locations were chosen based on factors such as
remoteness of the village and location of the village in relation to other Hajong villages visited.
In order to get a wide geographical spread, one village was visited in each of Sherpur and
Mymensingh districts and two villages were visited in Netrokona district.
4.3. Results
For all items on the questionnaire, the following data is presented for all 45 subjects combined.
In addition, when responses are notably different according to a particular demographic factor,
that is mentioned.
4.3.1. Language use – in spoken domains
The questionnaire contained five questions that asked subjects which language they speak most
in a given situation. There was also a question that asked subjects which language they speak
most in a typical week. The aggregate of subjects’ answers is given in table 8, according to one
22
of three categories: Hajong, Bangla, and Other. The results are given as a percentage of subjects
who responded with the answer for each category. Because some subjects said they use more
than one language in some situations, the percentages are greater than 100 percent.
Table 8. Language use among the Hajong
Question Response
What language do you use most of the time… Hajong Bangla Other
…at home? 93% 11% -
…with Hajong friends in your village? 98% 7% -
…for puja/worship? 67% 42% 2%
…in your village with non-Hajong friends? 4% 98% 2%
…with shopkeepers in the market? 7% 98% -
…in a typical week? 67% 38% -
Results from the language-use questions indicate that the Hajong language is widely used in
Hajong villages in Bangladesh, especially for everyday conversations that take place in the home
and with Hajong neighbors. There were, however, five subjects (11 percent) who said they speak
Bangla in their homes most of the time. Four of these five subjects were educated males; two of
these men also said they speak Bangla with their Hajong friends.
Hajong is apparently also commonly used for doing Hindu worship; 67 percent of the subjects
said they use their mother tongue in such a setting. A full 42 percent, however, said they use
Bangla for worship; one subject (2 percent) said he uses Sanskrit most of the time for worship.
Some of these answers are likely a reflection of the language that Hindu priests use when they
perform the worship ceremonies, as opposed to the language the Hajong subjects actually speak
when attending such ceremonies.
While the Hajong appear to use their mother tongue most of the time at home and with their
Hajong friends, they use Bangla most of the time in other domains. Not surprisingly, nearly all of
the subjects (98 percent) said they speak Bangla with non-Hajong friends in their village and also
with shopkeepers in the market. In these situations, they use Bangla out of necessity, since these
people generally do not speak Hajong or understand it well.
An interesting set of responses arose from the question about what language people use most in a
typical week. A majority of the subjects (30 subjects; 67 percent) said they use Hajong most of
the time, but 38 percent said they use Bangla most of the time. These numbers include two
subjects who said they use Hajong and Bangla equally. Looking at these responses according to
education level and age shows an interesting pattern, which is presented in table 9.
23
Table 9. Language used most in a typical week according to education and age
Question Response
Hajong Bangla
Language use most: Overall 67% 38%
Educated 52% 48%
Uneducated 79% 29%
Younger 41% 59%
Older 74% 35%
The numbers in table 9 show that, among the educated subjects, about one-half use Hajong most
of the time, while the other one-half use Bangla most of the time. Seventy-nine percent of the
uneducated subjects, however, said they use Hajong most of the time. Even more striking is that
only 41 percent of the younger subjects said they use Hajong most of the time and 59 percent
said they use Bangla most of the time. This suggests there is considerably less Hajong use among
the younger generation than among the older generation.
All of these language-use numbers indicate that Hajong is still widely used in Hajong villages
today. As the Hajong become more educated and as the younger generation replaces the older
generation, however, it is likely that Bangla will become more and more dominant, slowly
replacing Hajong as the language of choice.
4.3.2. Language use – in written domains
Sociolinguistic questionnaire subjects were also asked about their use of Hajong in written form.
First, they were asked if they are able to read and write in Hajong. Of the 45 questionnaire
subjects, 21 (47 percent) said they are able to read and write letters and notices written in Hajong.
An additional two subjects (4 percent) said could do so only with difficulty. The remaining 22
people (49 percent) said they are not literate in Hajong.
Educated people were sought out for the sampling of this questionnaire in order to get a broad
range of opinions. With 21 of the 45 subjects’ being educated, it is clear that the sample is not
representative of the Hajong population as a whole but is, instead, more educated than the
population. Even so, only about one-half of the subjects said they are literate in Hajong. The
mother tongue literacy rate for the population as a whole would be considerably lower.
The 23 people who said they can read and write at least some Hajong were then asked which
script they use to do so. All 23 (100 percent) said they use Bangla script. For many of these
people, this is the only script they know. Also, several mentioned that, with a couple of
exceptions, Bangla script works well for writing Hajong since Hajong is similar to Bangla.
Whatever the reasons, it seems that, within Bangladesh, the accepted script for Hajong is Bangla.
4.3.3. Bilingualism
The most basic question about bilingual ability simply asked subjects what languages they speak.
They were then asked which language they speak best and which language they speak second-
best. A summary of the responses to these questions is given in table 10.
24
Table 10. Summary of responses to questions about what languages people speak
Question key:
Languages spoken = “Other than Hajong, what languages do you speak?”
Best language = “What language do you speak best?”
2nd
-best language = “What language do you speak second best?”
Response key:
NA = not applicable
Question Response
Hajong Bangla Garo Other NA
Languages spoken NA 100% 29% 16% -
Best language 91% 20% - - -
2nd
-best language 9% 80% - - 11%
Subjects’ responses in table 10 indicate that nearly all Hajong speakers in Bangladesh feel they
can speak Bangla, as 100 percent of the sociolinguistic questionnaire subjects responded in this
way. The second most common language that Hajong speakers reportedly are able to speak is
Garo. Thirteen subjects (29 percent) said they are able to speak this language, while several
subjects (16 percent) also named some other languages, namely Hindi (four subjects), English
(two subjects), and Koch (one subject). Therefore, Hajong speakers in Bangladesh feel they are
very bilingual, even multilingual, as nearly all speak some Bangla as some speak other languages,
too.
Although they live in a bilingual situation, the Hajong, as a community, apparently continue to
speak their mother tongue as their best language. Forty-one of the subjects (91 percent) said
Hajong is their best language; this could mean that they are most fluent in speaking Hajong or
that they are most comfortable using Hajong.
While most subjects said Hajong is their best language, nine (20 percent) said Bangla is their
best language. These numbers include five people who said their Hajong and Bangla are equally
good and that they could not name their best language. Seven of these nine subjects have been
educated at least through eighth grade; six of them were under 35 years old. This data supports
the conclusion drawn from table 9 that, as the Hajong become more educated and as the younger
generation replaces the older generation, Bangla will probably become more dominant in the
lives of the Hajong.
Table 10 also shows that, of the four people (9 percent) who said Hajong is not their best
language, all four said Hajong is their second-best language. All the others (80 percent) said
Bangla is their second-best language. This question was not applicable for the five subjects (11
percent) who said they speak both Hajong and Bangla as their “best” language.
After subjects named a second-best language, they were asked if they can always say what they
want to say in that language. A summary of their answers is in table 11.
25
Table 11. Summary of responses to the question, “Can you always say what you want to
say in your second-best language?”
Response
Yes No
84% 16%
The numbers in table 11 show that 38 subjects (84 percent) said they can always say what they
want in their second-best language. This does not necessarily mean that they are fluent in that
second language but, rather, that they are sufficiently proficient in the domains they use that
language for. The other seven subjects (16 percent) said they cannot always say what they want
in their second-best language. For each of these subjects, their second-best language was Bangla.
In other words, even those subjects who said Hajong is not their best language (see table 10) said
they can always say what they want to say in Hajong.
It is also worth noting that each of the seven subjects (16 percent; see table 11) who said they
cannot always say what they want to say in Bangla was uneducated. This shows the influence of
education on one’s Bangla ability, which is not surprising, since most education in Bangladesh
takes place in the Bangla medium.
One last bilingualism question asked people how well they could speak the languages they
reported being able to speak. Close to one-half of the subjects (42 percent) said they can speak
Bangla well; an equal number said they speak it with average ability. The rest (18 percent) said
they speak it poorly. Of those who said they speak Garo, a small majority (54 percent) said they
speak it poorly; most of the others (31%) said their Garo ability is “average.” These numbers
support people’s responses that their second-best language is Bangla.
All of these language-use and bilingualism responses together indicate that Hajong speakers in
Bangladesh live in a world where the Hajong language and the Bangla language live side-by-side.
They speak Hajong at home and with Hajong friends, but they use Bangla in the bazaar and with
non-Hajong friends. While many use Hajong most of the time, a significant number use Bangla
more, although they all say they are still fluent in Hajong.
The responses discussed in this section demonstrate widespread mother-tongue fluency among
the Hajong in Bangladesh, but the responses also indicate that the Hajong live in a bilingual
situation, with all respondents’ saying they speak at least some Bangla. Therefore, it is likely that
Hajong is becoming more and more influenced by Bangla, which is a related language. While
most Hajong people still consider Hajong to be their best language today, it is possible that this is
changing, too. While they, as a group, become increasingly educated in Bangla-medium schools
and as the younger generation grows up and replaces the older generation, more people will
consider Bangla to be their best language and Hajong to be their second-best language, unless
something is done to influence this trend.
26
5. Language attitudes and vitality study
5.1. Procedures
A study of language attitudes is generally carried out in an effort to ascertain people’s
perceptions of the different speech varieties with which they have contact. By studying how
various languages are perceived, it is possible to determine how positive or negative people are
toward their own language and, possibly, how receptive they would be toward a language-
development program.
A study of language vitality is designed to assess the probability of whether a language will be
used by mother-tongue speakers in the future. Such an assessment is an important part of the
recommendations of a sociolinguistic report because any recommendations regarding language
and literature development are dependent upon the projected long-term vitality of the language.
The sociolinguistic questionnaire previously mentioned was also administered as a way of
gathering language attitudes and vitality information. The procedures used in administering the
questionnaire are explained in section 4.1, regarding the language use and bilingualism study.
Information gathered during informal interviews and meetings also shed light on the vitality of
Hajong and on the value that prominent Hajong speakers place on their own and other languages.
5.2. Discussion of sample
The questions that deal with subjects’ language attitudes and with the vitality of Hajong were
part of the sociolinguistic questionnaire discussed in section 4; therefore, the demographic
profile for these 45 subjects is the same as given in section 4.2, regarding the language use and
bilingualism study sample.
The informal interviews and meetings took place primarily with people who have been involved
in some way with developing and preserving Hajong language and/or culture. These people
included writers, researchers, singers, translators, teachers, community leaders, and heads of
various Hajong committees. In total, we met with about ten such people, although there were
often others present who were able to give us useful information of their own.
5.3. Results
The results in this section, which come from data from the sociolinguistic questionnaire
responses, are presented for all 45 subjects combined. When responses are notably different
according to a particular demographic factor, that is mentioned, too.
5.3.1. Language attitudes – regarding oral and written use
As discussed in section 4, sociolinguistic-questionnaire subjects were asked what language they
use in various situations. They were also asked one question about what language they think
should be used by a Hajong mother when speaking with her children. Forty-one (91 percent) of
the subjects said they think a mother should speak Hajong; eight subjects (18 percent) said they
27
should speak Bangla. These numbers include four people who said a mother should use both
Hajong and Bangla with her children.
The fact that most people think a Hajong mother should speak Hajong with her children shows
that they have pride in their language and want it to be used. It could also be true that some of the
respondents could not imagine any situation other than a mother using Hajong with her children,
since Hajong is apparently used widely in Hajong homes even today. (See table 8, which shows
that 93 percent of the respondents said they use Hajong in their homes.) It is important to note,
however, that nearly one-fifth of the subjects said a mother should speak Bangla. Some went on
to explain that it is good for Hajong children to know Bangla well, as this will help them with
education and in finding good jobs.
Because of the Hajong language-development work that may take place in India, the
sociolinguistic questionnaire also had several questions about people’s attitudes towards script.
First, they were simply asked their opinion about which script should be used; a summary of
their responses is given in table 12.
Table 12. Summary of responses to the question, “What script should be used to write
Hajong?”
Response
Bangla Roman Don’t know
78% 4% 18%
The responses in table 12 indicate that most Hajong speakers in Bangladesh think Hajong should
be written in Bangla script. Thirty-five (78 percent) of the subjects gave this response, while only
two people, both of whom were uneducated men from Gopalbari, said Roman script should be
used to write Hajong. The rest of the subjects (18 percent) said they could not say which script
should be used; most of these subjects were uneducated and said they were unfamiliar with
scripts.
In the course of informal conversations with people who read Hajong fairly regularly or who
have tried to write in Hajong, it became clear that, when some said they use and prefer Bangla
script, they were actually referring to Assamese script. Several people that we talked with
mentioned that they occasionally read the “Rao” magazine, which is published in Tura,
Meghalaya. This magazine is published in the Hajong language, using Assamese script. During
the course of at least two separate conversations in Bangladesh, however, people told us that the
magazine is written in Bangla script, with the exception of one or two characters. They did not
seem bothered by these characters and said they were easily able to discern their pronunciation.
It should be noted, then, that some of those who said Hajong should be written in Bangla script
may actually have been referring to Assamese script.
Although Bangla script appears to be the script of choice among Hajongs living in Bangladesh,
questionnaire respondents were asked two questions which were specific to Roman script. This is
because using Roman script to write Hajong in India is being given serious consideration. Table
13 gives a summary of responses to these questions.
28
Table 13. Summary of responses to questions about Roman script
Question key:
Read Roman script = “If Hajong were written in Roman script, would you be
able to read it?”
Try to learn = “If not, although it would be difficult, would you try to learn?”
Response key:
NA = not applicable
Question Response
Yes No Little Don’t know NA
Read Roman script 29% 67% 4% - -
Try to learn 40% 29% - 3% 29%
As table 13 shows, 29 percent of the subjects (13 people) said they would be able to read Hajong
if it were written in Roman script. Two other subjects (4 percent) said they would be able to read
a little. The majority (30 subjects; 67 percent) said they would not be able to read Hajong, if it
were written in Roman script.
It is not surprising that a majority of the subjects said they would not be able to read Hajong in
Roman script, as most education in Bangladesh – and nearly all education outside of urban
settings – is in Bangla medium. English is a subject in school, however, and it is those subjects
who have completed at least 8th
standard who tended to say they would be able to read Hajong in
Roman script. In fact, 12 of the 13 people who said this were educated at least through 8th
grade.
Therefore, as more and more Hajong youth become educated, it is likely that they would be able
read their mother tongue, at least to some extent, using Roman script.
It should be noted that, of the 13 subjects who said they would be able to read Hajong in Roman
script, three of them had previously said they are not able to read and write in Hajong (see
section 4.3.2). This indicates that people’s responses about their ability to read Hajong in Roman
script is hypothetical and is, for the most part, untested.
Although using Roman script for reading and writing their language would be difficult for the
Hajong in Bangladesh, they do not seem opposed to it. Those who said they would not be able to
read Hajong in Roman script were asked if they would try to learn to do so, even though it would
be difficult. The numbers in table 13 show that a majority of those who said they would not be
able to read Hajong in Roman script said they would at least try to learn. This by no means
indicates that they would be able to learn to read in Roman script, but it shows an interest in
seeing their language developed and a lack of opposition toward Roman script. It still seems
obvious, from the responses shown in table 12, that they would prefer that Hajong be developed
using Bangla or Assamese script.
Conversations with Hajong authors in Bangladesh support the general public’s preference for
Bangla script; all those we talked with have used Bangla script to write Hajong, explaining the
creative ways in which they have tried to account for Hajong sounds that are not found in Bangla.
29
5.3.2. Language attitudes – toward language classes
Another set of language-attitude questions focused on mother-tongue literacy classes for Hajong
children. Subjects were asked if they would send their children (or children from their village) to
a class designed to teach children how to read and write in Hajong. Their responses show
positive attitudes toward Hajong children’s learning to read and write in their mother tongue: 43
(96 percent) of the subjects said they would send their children to such a class, while only two
subjects said they would not.
The subjects were then asked why they would or would not send children to a Hajong literacy
class. Their reasons varied but can be grouped according to the responses shown in table 14.
Table 14. Reasons subjects gave for why they responded as they did to the question about
sending children to Hajong literacy class
Abbreviation key: n = sample size
Reason
Response
Yes
n = 43
No
n = 2
To learn Hajong (better) 35% -
For education/development 30% -
Such a class would be good. 16% -
To learn to read and write Hajong 12% -
To give the Hajong more identity and pride 9% -
Other 14% -
There are other schools. - 100%
Table 14 shows that, of the 43 subjects who said they would send their children to a Hajong
literacy class, the most common reason for answering this way was because they thought their
children could learn Hajong better through such a class. Fifteen subjects (35 percent) gave this
reason; another 13 subjects (30 percent) simply said they wanted their children to attend such a
class “for education” or “for development.” Other common answers given were that such a class
would be good (either for the children or for the community), that the class would help children
learn to read and write Hajong, and that such a class would give the Hajong, as a people group,
more identity and pride. A few respondents also said a literacy class would help preserve Hajong
or would serve to establish a Hajong script.
Each of the two subjects who said she would not send her children to a Hajong literacy class said
that there are already schools available to the children and that another class is not necessary;
both of these subjects were uneducated women from Nokshi.
The 43 subjects who said they would send their children to a Hajong literacy class were asked
how they could help with such a class. The most common answer was that, although they
couldn’t say exactly how they would help, they would help as much as possible. Twelve of the
43 subjects (28 percent) said this; another 21 percent said they would help by encouraging
cooperation in the community and/or by encouraging children to faithfully attend class. Six
people (14 percent) said they could help by working, five people (12 percent) said they could
30
volunteer their time, and four people (9 percent) said they could assist with the actual teaching of
the class. Six people said they didn’t know how they could help; three people said they would
not help.
All of these language-attitude questions combined indicate that the Hajong have a positive
attitude toward their language. Most people think mothers should use Hajong with their children;
most said they would send their children to a class where literacy in Hajong is taught. A
significant portion of the population seems to be unfamiliar with the issues regarding script, but
the general opinion is that Bangla script should be used to write Hajong. People are not opposed
to having Hajong developed in Roman script, but they say this would not be practical for Hajong
speakers in Bangladesh, since most education is in Bangla medium.
5.3.3. Language vitality
In an effort to assess whether Hajong will be used as a mother tongue in future generations,
questionnaire subjects were asked several language-vitality questions. One question asked about
the existence of adult Hajong people who do not speak Hajong well; all of the other questions
asked about children’s speech patterns. Responses to three of these questions are shown in table
15.
Table 15. Summary of responses to three language vitality questions
Question key:
Not speak well = “Besides young children, is there any Hajong person in this
village who does not speak Hajong well?”
Kids speak well = “Do young people (age 10) in your village speak your
language well, the way it ought to be spoken?”
Other better = “Do young people (age 10) in your village speak another
language better than your language?”
Question Response
Yes No
Not speak well 13% 87%
Kids speak well 98% 2%
Other better 20% 80%
The first question presented in table 15 is an attempt to assess the current strength of the Hajong
language in Bangladesh. Six of the 45 subjects (13 percent) said there are Hajong people in their
village who do not speak Hajong well; of these six subjects, five were older and uneducated.
Because their language has been least influenced by Bangla, it is likely the older and uneducated
Hajong are the ones who are best able to assess how well people speak Hajong. Even though
only a small percentage of subjects said there are Hajong people in their village who do not
speak Hajong well, these responses should be taken seriously, for they are an indication that
Hajong, as a language, is undergoing shift, becoming more and more mixed with Bangla. In fact,
on several occasions, leaders and common villagers alike mentioned that young Hajong people
do not speak pure Hajong.
31
Responses to the other two questions in table 15, however, indicate that even Hajong children
speak Hajong well, although nine subjects (20 percent) said children speak another language
better. These answers suggest that people have accepted that Hajong is becoming increasingly
mixed with Bangla and that it is acceptable for that form of Hajong to be spoken these days.
The nine subjects who said children speak another language better than Hajong were then asked
which language that is. Their responses along with subjects’ responses to two other questions
about children’s speech are in table 16.
Table 16. Summary of responses to three questions about children’s speech patterns
Question key:
Which one better = “If children speak another language better, which one?”
Kids speak first = “What language do children in your village speak first?”
Future language = “In about 30 years, when the children in this village grow
up and have children of their own, what language do you think those
children will speak?”
Response key:
NA = not applicable
Question Response
Hajong Bangla NA
Which one better - 20% 80%
Kids speak first 96% 4% -
Future language 93% 16% -
Not surprisingly, of the nine people who said Hajong children speak another language better than
Hajong (see table 15), all said this language is Bangla. This is another indication that Hajong,
which is in the same language family as Bangla, is being more and more influenced by Bangla.
The answers to each of the other questions in table 16 suggest that Hajong children are still using
Hajong and that they will continue to do so in the future. Forty-three subjects (96 percent) said
Hajong children speak Hajong as their first language; 42 subjects (93 percent) said they think
children will speak Hajong in the future, too. Again, it seems some people think Hajong may
become increasingly mixed with Bangla as seven subjects (16 percent) said children will use
Bangla in the future. Four of the people said children will use both Hajong and Bangla, an
acknowledgement by a small percentage that the two languages may be used side-by-side.
Another indication that children will use both languages in the future and that Hajong will be
increasingly influenced by Bangla is what three village school teachers told us during separate
conversations and in different settings. Each of the teachers said that, when Hajong children first
start school, their Bangla is not as good as that of Bengali children but that, within a short time
(one said two months and one said by the end of the first year), the children understand Bangla
well and do well in school.
According to the community information presented in appendix H, most Hajong children are
presently completing at least class five in school. Given the difficulty we had in finding educated
people who were at least 35 years old, the rate of education today is much higher than it was a
32
generation ago. As the education level of Hajong youth increases, they are likely to learn more
and more Bangla. As they grow up, these children will probably continue to speak Hajong in
their villages, but this form of Hajong will undoubtedly become increasingly mixed with Bangla.
Although Hajong is reportedly spoken well by children today and, although it will likely be used
by children of the next generation, it is very possible that these children will also be more fluent
in Bangla. As a result, perhaps they will be less apt to use Hajong widely. It seems, then, that
“pure” Hajong is seriously threatened and, instead, that a more mixed form of Hajong will carry
on into the future.
33
6. Recommendations
The sociolinguistic factors that most strongly influence our recommendations for the Hajong in
Bangladesh are 1) the pride in and positive attitude they have toward their mother tongue and 2)
the uncertain vitality of Hajong, due to the influence of Bangla. Like many other minority
language communities, the Hajong have high internal motivation for using their mother tongue.
Also like many other minority-language communities in Bangladesh, their mother tongue cannot
help but be threatened by the dominance of Bangla in all extra-community matters, including
education and work. In the case of Hajong, the influence of Bangla is especially strong because
of the inherent linguistic similarities.
Our recommendation takes advantage of the first factor to temper the effects of the second. In
response to their overwhelming positive response, a multilingual education program,
particularly for children, that begins with the mother tongue and transitions into the national
language, would lay a solid foundation, not only for literacy in Hajong but also for further
education in Bangla-medium schools. In addition, a mother tongue literature-development
program would be a great help for preserving and promoting the use of Hajong, particularly in
reading and writing. These new materials, which could possibly include children’s stories,
histories, poems, and a dictionary, would also be a wonderful resource for the multilingual
education program.
We also recommend cooperation and coordination with the mother-tongue movement that has
been gathering momentum among the Hajong in India. The activities in India, particularly in the
area of literature development and publishing, could be a vital catalyst for what happens in
Bangladesh. One issue that needs to be resolved, however, is the script. While the debate in India
is over the choice between Roman and Assamese scripts, the preference in Bangladesh is clearly
for Hajong materials to be developed in Bangla or Assamese script. The need for Bangladeshi
Hajongs to first learn the Roman script could be a serious hindrance to both the multi-language
education program and the mother tongue literature-development program. Materials in
Assamese script, on the other hand, would pose very little hindrance, as this script is nearly
identical to the Bangla script. Given this, we recommend that materials developed in Bangladesh
be written using Bangla or Assamese script. For materials written in Roman script in India, it
would be good to start developing a quick and easy method to do a script transfer from Roman to
Bangla/Assamese. In this age of computers and Unicode fonts, such a method seems quite
feasible.
Recommending programs is easy; carrying them out is not. It takes a united community, the wise
counsel and planning of community leaders, a willingness to commit human and material
resources and, perhaps most of all, a desire that perseveres despite setbacks. SIL Bangladesh is
willing to be a partner in an endeavor that includes all these elements. We are able to help,
particularly, in the area of consulting and training. As individuals and as an organization, we see
value in every language and believe that a more-vibrant Hajong language means a richer
Bangladesh.
34
Bangla translations of section 1.1, section 2, and section 6
1. m~Pbv
1.1. D‡Ïk¨ Ges j¶¨
GB †MvwôMZ fvlvZvwË¡K Rwi‡ci cÖv_wgK D‡Ïk¨B wQj Z_¨ msMÖn Kiv hvi Øviv AvR Kv‡ji Ges cÖPwjZ fviZxq nvRs m¤cÖ v‡qi fvlvi Dbœqb Kg©m~Pxi mv‡_ wgj ivLv hv‡e| Avgiv Rvb‡Z †Póv Kijvg †h, evsjv‡`‡k emevmKvix nvRsiv fviZevmx nvRs‡`i ‡jLv mvwnZ¨-iPbv ch©vßfv‡e e¨envi Ki‡Z cvi‡e wKbv ev Zv‡`i G ai‡bi mvwnZ¨ e¨env‡i KZUzKz AvMªn i†q‡Q| Avgiv evsjv‡`‡ki nvRs‡`i eZ©gvb fvlv, ms¯‹…wZ Ges mvwnZ¨ Dbœqb cÖwµqv mg~n m¤ú‡K©I Rvb‡Z †Póv K‡iwQ| G mKj D‡Ïk¨ c~i‡Y Avgiv wb‡Pi j¶¨¸‡jv wVK K‡iwQ:
1. evsjv‡`k Ges fvi‡Zi nvRs‡`i g‡a¨ fvlvZvwË¡K cv_©‡K¨i AbymÜvb 2. nvRs fvlvfvlx‡`i wb‡R‡`i fvlvi wewfbœ AvÂwjK i~c¸‡jvi cÖwZ I GKB mv‡_ evsjvi cÖwZ
g‡bvfv‡ei we‡k−lY 3. evsjv‡`‡k nvRs fvlvi `xN© mgqe¨vcx ’vqx‡Z¡i cwigvc Kiv 4. evsjv‡`‡ki nvRs‡`i g‡a¨ Zv‡`i wb‡R‡`i fvlv I ms¯‹…wZi Dbœqb Ges i¶bv‡e¶‡b `vwqZ¡
‡bqvi AvMÖn hvPvB Kiv 5. Avi evsjv‡`‡k †Kvb eY©gvjv nvRs fvlvfvlxi Kv‡Q me‡P‡q †ekx MÖnb‡hvM¨ I Dc‡hvMx n‡e Zv
wVK Kiv
GB me j‡¶¨ ‡cuŠQvi R‡b¨, ci¯úi m¤úwK©Z wZbwU As‡ki Dci wbf©i K‡i evsjv‡`‡ki nvRs‡`i g‡a¨ fvlvZvwË¡K Rwic cwiPvjbv Kiv n‡q‡Q: 1) fvlvi AvÂwjK i~c¸‡jvi ch©‡e¶b, 2) fvlvi e¨envi Ges wØfvwl‡Z¡i cwigvc Ges 3) fvlvi cÖwZ g‡bvfve Ges ’vwq‡Z¡i ch©v‡jvPbv |
2. cÖvß Z‡_¨i mvivsk
2.1. fvlvi AvÂwjK i~c¸‡jvi ch©‡e¶b
2.1.1. AvwfavwbK wgj-Gi ch©v‡jvPbv
fviZ †_‡K cvIqv QqwU k‡ãi ZvwjKvi mv‡_ evsjv‡`‡ki PviwU‡K Zzjbv Ki‡j †ek wgj j¶¨ Kiv hvq (hv 74% †_‡K 85%) Avi G‡`i Mo Ges ga¨gvI cÖvq 79 †_‡K 80 kZvs‡k i‡q‡Q| ZvB ivR‰bwZK mxgv†iLvi gva¨‡g wew”QbœZv Ges RvZxq I AvÂwjK fvlv¸‡jvi (fvi‡Zi Mv‡iv I Avmv‡gi fvlv, Ges evsjv‡`‡ki wewfbœ AvÂwjK evsjv fvlv) cÖfv‡ei Kvi‡Y †h me cwieZ©b G‡m‡Q Zv wnmve K‡i ïay GKwUB nvRs fvlv cvIqv hvq hv‡Z ¯vfvweKfv‡eB AvÂwjK ZviZg¨ we`¨gvb|
evsjv‡`‡k ‡_‡K †bqv kã ZvwjKv¸‡jv Zzjbv Ki‡j Zv‡`i g‡a¨ Av‡iv †ekx cvi¯úwiK wgj cvIqv hvq (92- 96%)| 2.1.2. fvlv-†evaMg¨Zv Gi ch©v‡jvPbv
35
fvlvi †evaMg¨Zvi cix¶vq Ask MÖnbKvix‡`i‡K fvi‡Z avibK…Z nvRs fvlvi Mí ïbv‡bv nq Ges Zvi c‡i Mí m¤§Üxq cÖkœ Kiv nq| AvVv‡iv Rb †jvK hviv G Mí ï‡bwQj Zv‡`i cÖ‡Z¨‡KB Rvwb‡q‡Q †h MíUv nvRs fvlvq wQj, Ges Zv‡`i ga¨ †_‡K †ekxifvMB e‡j‡Qb †h Zviv M‡íi meUzKzB eyS‡Z †c‡i‡Qb| G me djvdj Ges AvwfavwbK wg‡ji wbix¶‡bi gva¨‡g Avgiv GB wm×v‡š—B Avm‡Z cvwi †h, fviZ Ges evsjv‡`‡ki nvRs fvlvi g‡a¨ A‡bK fvlv-‡evaMg¨Zv i‡q‡Q| 2.2. fvlvi e¨envi Ges wØfvwl‡Z¡i cwigvc
nvRs fvlvfvlx †jv‡Kiv eiveiB D‡j−L K‡i Avm‡Qb †h Zviv Zv‡`i MÖv‡g nvRs fvlv e¨envi K‡i _v‡Kb, Avi nvRs‡`i g‡a¨ me©ÎB fvjfv‡e gvZ…fvlv ej‡Z cvivi ¶gZvi cÖgvb cvIqv hvq| Aci w`‡K evsjv‡`‡ki cÖvq me nvRs †jv‡KivB wKQz bv wKQz evsjv ej‡Z cv‡ib KviY Zviv evsjv‡KB e„nËi †hvMv‡hv‡Mi fvlv wn‡m‡e nvU-evRv‡i, w`b gRyi wn‡m‡e KvR †c‡Z Ges we`¨vj‡q †jLvcov wkL‡Z e¨envi K‡ib|
hw`I ‡MvwôMZ fvlvZvwË¡K cÖkœc‡Îi DËi`vZv‡`i AwaKvskB gZ w`‡q‡Qb †h ‡ekxifvM mgq Zviv nvRs fvlv‡KB e¨envi K‡i _v‡Kb, wKš‘ DËi`vZv‡`i g‡a¨ D‡j−L‡hvM¨ msL¨K †jvK evsjv‡KB †ekx e¨envi K‡i _v‡Kb e‡jI Rvwb‡q‡Qb| ZvB nvRs †jv‡Kiv Gfv‡e evsjv gva¨‡gi we`¨vjq¸‡jv‡Z Av‡iv wkw¶Z n‡Z _vK‡j Ges be cÖRb¥ hLb Av‡ — Av‡ — eq¯‹‡`i hvqMv wb‡e ZLb g‡b nq evsjv‡`‡ki nvRs †jv‡Kiv evsjv‡KB Zv‡`i g~j fvlvq cwiYZ Ki‡e| 2.3. fvlvi cÖwZ g‡bvfve Ges ¯’vwq‡Z¡i ch©v‡jvPbv
nvRs gvZ…fvlvfvlx‡`i g‡a¨ Zv‡`i gvZ…fvlvi cÖwZ GKwU BwZevPK g‡bvfve j¶¨ Kiv hvq Ges G fvlvi e¨envi AvMvgx eQi¸‡jv‡ZI we`¨gvb _vK‡e| Zviv Av‡iv gZ cÖKvk K‡i‡Qb †h gv‡qiv Zv‡`i mš—vb‡`i mv‡_ nvRs fvlvqB K_v ejv DwPr Ges wkï‡`i Rb¨ nvRs fvlv wk¶vi K¬v‡mi e¨vcv‡iI Zviv AvMÖn cÖKvk K‡i‡Qb|
Av‡iv ejv hvq ‡h, nvRs fvlvi Aš—Z c‡¶ wKQzUv n‡jI ’vqxZ¡ i‡q‡Q, ‡Kbbv, nvRs †Q‡j‡g‡qiv G fvlv‡KB Zv‡`i cÖ_g fvlv wn‡m‡e wk‡L _v‡K Ges fvj fv‡e e‡jI _v‡K| Z_vwc ÒLuvwUÓ nvRs fvlv AvR‡Ki w`‡bi ÒwgwkªZÓ nvRs fvlvi Øviv cªwZwbqZ cwiewZ©Z nIqvi ûgwKi m¤§yLxb n‡”Q KviY nvRs †Q‡j‡g‡qiv µgvMZ evsjv gva¨‡gi we`¨vjq¸‡jv‡Z wk¶v MÖnb K‡i Avm‡Q| Avi ZvB Zv‡`i nvRs fvlv µ‡g µ‡gB evsjvi Øviv cÖfvweZ n‡”Q hvi d‡j nvRs fvlvi G eZ©gvb i~cB m¤¢eZ AvMvgx w`b¸‡jv‡Z GKwU ’vqx i~c wb‡e|
Avi †h‡nZy nvRs fvlvi iPbvejx fvi‡Z iPbv Kiv n‡”Q ZvB G †¶‡Î †Kvb eY©gvjvUv e¨envi Kiv n‡e ev Zvi cÖwZ Zv‡`i g‡bvfve ‡Kgb Zv hvPvB KivUv GKwU ¸i“Z¡c~Y© e¨vcvi wQj| hw`I Zv‡`i GKwU weivU AskB eY©gvjv e¨envi m¤ú©‡K AÁZv cÖKvk K‡i‡Q, wKš—y G e¨vcv‡i m‡PZb e¨w³‡`i g‡Z nvRs fvlvq †jLvi Rb¨ evsjv eY©gvjv‡KB e¨envi Kiv DwPr| Zviv †ivgvb A¶‡i nvRs fvlvi Dbœq‡bi we‡ivax bb wKš‘ ZeyI Zviv g‡b K‡ib †h evsjv‡`‡ki †¶‡Î Zv ev —e m¤§Z bq KviY Zv‡`i AwaKvskB evsjv gva¨‡gi we`¨vjq¸‡jv‡Z wk¶v MÖnb K‡i G‡m‡Qb hvi d‡j †ivgvb A¶i¸‡jvi mv‡_ Zviv evsjv eY©gvjvi gZ GZUv cwiwPZ bb|
36
6. mycvwik
‡h mg — ‡MvwôMZ fvlvZ‡Ë¡i Ae ’v¸‡jv evsjv‡`‡k nvRs‡`i Rb¨ Avgv‡`i mycvwik‡K Lye †Rvov‡jvfv‡e cÖfvweZ K‡i‡Q †m¸‡jv n‡”Q 1) gvZ„fvlvi cÖwZ Zv‡`i Me©‡eva I BwZevPK g‡bvfve Ges 2) evsjvi cÖfv‡e nvRs fvlvi AwbwðZ fwel¨r| Ab¨vb¨ ¶z ª fvlv‡Mvôxi gZ Zv‡`iI gvZ…fvlv e¨env‡i Mfxi AvMÖn i‡q‡Q| wKš‘ evsjv‡`‡ki Ab¨b¨ ¶z ª fvlv‡Mvôxi gZB Zv‡`i gvZ…fvlvI wk¶v Ges Kg©mn wewfbœ †¶‡Î evsjvi cÖfv‡e ûgwKi m¤§ywLb n‡”Q| Avi we‡kl K‡i fvlvZvwË¡K ¯vfvweK wg‡ji Kvi‡Y nvRs-Gi †¶‡Î evsjvi cÖfveUv †ek ‡Rvov‡jv|
Avgv‡`i mycvwi‡k Avgiv wØZxq wel‡qi Kvi‡Y m„ó mgm¨v‡K cÖ_gwUi Øviv cÖvß myweav w`‡q †iva Kivi Avkv KiwQ| Zv‡`i cªvq mevi BwZevPK cÖwZwµqvi Dˇi, GKwU eûfvlv wk¶v Kvh©µg - hv we‡kl K‡i wkï‡`i‡K cÖ_‡g gvZ…fvlvq wk¶v w`‡e I cieZ©x‡Z RvZxq fvlvq Pj‡e - Gi gva¨‡g ïay nvRs fvlvq ¯v¶iZvB bq eis evsjv gva¨‡gi we`¨vjq¸‡jv‡ZI D”P wk¶vi †¶‡Î GKUv k³ fxZ M‡o Zzj‡e| G QvovI, GKwU gvZ…fvlvi mvwnZ¨ Dbœqb Kvh©µg nvRs fvlv msi¶Y Ges e¨env‡i Drmvn w`‡e, we‡kl K‡i †jLv I covi †¶‡Î | ZvB GB bZzb mvwn‡Z¨i wewfbœ iPbvi g‡a¨ †hgb wkï‡`i Dc‡hvMx Mí, BwZnvm, KweZv Awfav‡b eûfvlv wk¶v Kvh©µ‡gi PgrKvi Drm¨ n‡Z cv‡i|
Avgiv Av‡iv civgk© †`B †hb evsjv‡`‡ki nvRsiv wb‡R‡`i gvZ„fvlv Dbœq‡bi Rb¨ fvi‡Zi gvZ„fvlv Dbœqb Kg©m~wPi mv‡_ mn‡hvMxZv Ges mgšq mva‡b GwM‡q Av‡mb| fvi‡Zi Kvh©µ‡gi g‡a¨ we‡klfv‡e mvwnZ¨ Dbœqb Ges cÖKvkbv evsjv‡`‡ki eZ©gvb Ae ’vi cwieZ©‡b mnvqZv Ki‡Z cv‡i| Z‡e †h welqwUi cÖ_g mgavb Kiv `iKvi Zv n‡jv nvRs fvlvi A¶i wba©viY Kiv| G‡¶‡Î hLb fvi‡Z †ivgvb A¶i Ges Anwgqv (Assamese) eY©gvjv e¨envi Kivi e¨vcv‡i Avjvc Pj‡Q ZLb evsjv‡`‡kx nvRsiv evsjv eY©gvjv e¨env‡i AvMÖn cÖKvk K‡i‡Qb| Avi evsjv‡`‡k †ivgvb A¶i e¨envi Ki‡j Zv cÖ_‡g Zv‡`i wkL‡Z n‡e hv evsjv‡`kx nvRs‡`i eûfvlv wk¶v Kvh©µg Ges gvZ…fvlvi mvwnZ¨ Dbœqb Kvh©µ‡gi †¶‡Î GKUv euvav n‡Z cv‡i; Anwgqv Ges evsjv eY©gvjv cÖvq GKB iKg nIqvq Anwgqv eY©gvjvq ‡jLv mvwnZ¨ Zzjbvg~jKfv‡e Kg KwVb n‡Z cv‡i| Gi cwi‡cÖw¶‡Z Avgv‡`i mycvwik GB‡h, mwnZ¨ Dbœq‡b evsjv‡`‡k evsjv A_ev Anwgqv eY©gvjvq wjLv †h‡Z cv‡i| †ivgvb A¶‡i wjwLZ mwnZ¨¸‡jv‡K mn‡RB evsjv ev Anwgqvq iƒcvš—i Kivi Rb¨ GKUv mnR c×wZ wVK Ki‡Z cvi‡j fvjB n‡e| eZ©gvb Kw¤úDUvi I BDwb‡KvW A¶i Gi hy‡M Gai‡Yi KvR LyeB mnR nIqvi K_v|
civgk© ‡`qv mnR| cvjb Kiv KwVb| Gi R‡b¨ cÖ‡qvRb i‡q‡Q GKwU HK¨e× m¤cÖ v‡qi, mwVK wm×vš— †bqvi, m¤cÖ v‡qi †bZv‡`i cwiKíbv †bqvi, Rbkw³ I m¤ú‡`i e¨env‡i mwZ¨Kv‡ii B”Qv _vKvi, Avi me †_‡K ¸i“Z¡c~Y© n‡”Q wewfbœ mgm¨vi †¶‡ÎI G RvZxq KvR Pvwj‡q hvIqvi B”Qvi| Av‡M D‡j−wLZ Hme welq Dcw ’Z _vK‡j SIL Bangladesh GB D‡`¨v‡Mi - we‡klK‡i Awf‡Ái gZvgZ `v‡b Ges cÖwk¶‡Y mnvqZvi †¶‡Î - Askx`vi n‡Z cÖ ‘Z| e¨w³MZfv‡e Ges ms ’v wn‡m‡eI Avgiv g‡b Kwi ‡h cÖ‡Z¨KwU fvlvi h‡_ó ¸i“Z¡ i‡q‡Q Ges Avgiv Av‡iv wek¦vm Kwi ‡h, nvRs fvlvi mg„w×i gva¨‡g Av‡iv mg„× evsjv‡`k Mov m¤¢e|
37
Appendices
A. International Phonetic Alphabet (revised 1993)
38
B. Wordlists from Hajong villages
B.1 Standard procedures for counting lexical similarity A standard list of 307 vocabulary items was collected from speakers at geographically
representative Hajong villages in Bangladesh. This list is presented in appendix B.3. A phonetic
chart presenting the transcription conventions used in this report is given in appendix A.
In standard procedure for lexical similarity comparison (Blair 26-33), the 307 words are elicited
from a person who has grown up in the target locality. The list is then checked with a second
speaker, unless the wordlist is elicited from a group of people to start with. Any differences in
responses are examined in order to identify (1) incorrect responses due to misunderstanding of
the elicitation cue, (2) loanwords offered in response to the language of elicitation when
indigenous terms are actually still in use, and (3) terms which are simply at different places along
the generic-specific lexical scale. Normally, a single term is recorded for each item of the
wordlist. However, more than one term is recorded for a single item when synonymous terms are
apparently in general use or when more than one specific term occupies the semantic area of a
more generic item on the wordlist.
The wordlists are compared to determine the extent to which the vocabulary of each pair of
speech forms is similar. No attempt is made to identify genuine cognates based on a network of
sound correspondences; rather, two items are judged to be phonetically similar if at least half of
the segments compared are the same (category 1) and of the remaining segments at least half are
rather similar (category 2). For example, if two items of eight segments in length are compared,
these words are judged to be similar if at least four segments are virtually the same and at least
two more are rather similar. The criteria applied are as follows:
Category 1 a. Contoid (consonant-like) segments which match exactly
b. Vocoid (vowel-like) segments which match exactly or differ by only
one articulatory feature
c. Phonetically similar segments (often found as allophones) which are
seen to correspond in at least three pairs of words
Category 2 All other phonetically similar pairs of segments which are not,
however, supported by at least three pairs of words
Category 3 a. Pairs of segments which are not phonetically similar
b. A segment which is matched by no segment in the
corresponding item
After pairs of items on two wordlists had been determined to be phonetically similar or not,
according to the previously stated criteria, the percentage of items judged similar was calculated.
The procedure was repeated for each pair of language varieties. The pair-by-pair counting
procedure was greatly facilitated by the use of WordSurv©, a computer program written by SIL
for this purpose.
39
B.2 Wordlist notes
In addition to using the standard procedures, the following conventions were followed when
grouping the words: 1) non-syllabic vowels were sometimes counted as separate segments and
sometimes counted as non-segments, whichever choice would maximize similarity between
words; 2) nasalized vowels were treated as being equal to their non-nasalized counterparts; 3)
dental consonants were counted as being equal to their alveolar counterparts; 4) and, most
significantly, affixes were ignored in favor of the word root when it was clear that the affixes
were not crucial components of the desired word (this occurred most often for verbs). The main
reason for these conventions was to eliminate the unnecessary differentiation caused by the
different ears and transcription habits of two different researchers. Thus, it can be said that we
erred on the side of under-differentiating, rather than over-differentiating.
Occasionally, one or more of the standard 307 lexical items were found to be so problematic that
consistent elicitation was impossible or evaluation of similarity became anomalous. In those few
cases, the problematic lexical items were excluded from the lexical similarity counts.
Each elicitation is preceded by a number. For each gloss, all elicitations which have the same
preceding number are considered to be phonetically similar and are grouped together. Following
each elicitation is a list of one or more letters/number in brackets. These letters/number represent
the wordlist site of that particular elicitation. The codes for these wordlist sites are as follows:
Code: Wordlist site:
a Nugapara /W.Garo Hills
b Chilapara/W.Garo Hills
c Nirghini/W.Garo Hills
d Dalugau/W.Garo Hills
e Balachanda/W.Garo Hills
f Dhamor/Goalpara/Assam
B Gopalbari/Bangladesh
C Gopalpur/Bangladesh
D Bhalukapara/Bangladesh
E Nokshi/Bangladesh
0 Standard dictionary pronunciation (Bangla)
The wordlist data and transcribed texts, as included in the subsequent appendices, are field
transcriptions and have not undergone thorough phonological or grammatical analysis.
40
B.3 Wordlists
1 sky 1 d i n [BEaf]
2 a k a s [Bbcde]
2 a k a � [0CD]
2 sun 1 b e l a [CEabcdef]
1 b i l a [a]
1 b � l a [BD]
2 � u � d � o [0]
2 s u � d � o [e]
3 moon 1 t � a �d [0]
1 t � a n [BCDEabcdef]
4 star 1 t a � a [0BCDEabcdef]
5 cloud 1 k a u l a [Da]
2 m � � h [0]
2 m e k [BEbdef]
3 a p [cf]
4 h a s [C]
6 rain 1 m e k [BCDEacd]
1 m e k p a n i [bf]
2 m e k p a n i [bf]
2 p a n i [e]
3 b r � � � i [0]
7 rainbow 1 � a m d h e n u [bf]
1 � a m d h u n u [acde]
1 � o � d h u n i [DE]
1 r � � d h � n u [0]
2 b a � d h u n u [BC]
8 wind 1 b a t a s [abcdef]
1 b a t a � [0BCDE]
9 lightning 1 d i n t � i l k a i [BD]
1 d i n t � i l k a i [abcf]
1 d i n t � i l k a w a [d]
1 t � i l k � i [CE]
1 t � i l k a n i [e]
2 b � d d u t t � � m k a n o [0]
10 thunder 1 d i n d h u k � i w a [d]
1 d i n d o k � e [DEacf]
1 d o k r e [C]
2 t � o � o k [be]
3 h a p d o [c]
4 m � � h � � � d � o n [0]
5 � h a � a [B]
11 sea 1 � a � o r [BCDE]
1 s a � o r [abcdef]
2 � � m u d � o [0]
3 p a n i d a � o r [a]
12 mountain 1 p a h a � [0]
1 p a h a � [BCDEacdef]
2 p o � b u t [b]
3 d a h a [BCDE]
13 water 1 p a n i [0BCDEabcdef]
14 river 1 � a � [BCDEacdf]
2 n o d i [0abde]
3 n a l a [a]
15 soil/ground 1 m a � i [0]
1 m a t i [BCDEabcdef]
41
16 mud 1 k a d a [0]
1 k a d o [e]
1 k a d o � [BCDEabcdf]
17 dust 1 d h u l a [0abcdef]
1 d h u l � [BCDE]
18 stone 1 p a t h a � [ef]
1 p a t h o r [0BCDE]
1 p a t h u r [acd]
2 h i l [BCDEb]
3 s i l [e]
19 sand 1 b a l i [0]
1 b a l u [Dabcef]
1 b a l u m a t i [d]
1 b � l o [B]
1 b � l � [E]
1 b � l u a [C]
20 gold 1 � o n a [0BCDE]
1 � u n a [b]
1 s o n a [acdef]
21 silver 1 � u p a [bcdf]
1 � u p ! [ae]
1 � u p � [BCDE]
1 r u p a [0]
22 today 1 a s k a [a]
1 a s k ! [d]
2 a " � i k � [CDE]
2 a d � [0B]
2 a d � i [bcf]
2 a d � i k ! [e]
23 yesterday 1 d � a w a k a l k a [acde]
1 k a l k a [bf]
1 k a l k e [0]
1 k � l k � [BCDE]
2 p u h a n i n e [a]
3 � � t o k a l [0]
24 tomorrow 1 a h a k a l k a [bce]
1 k a l k a [ad]
1 k � l k � [BCDE]
2 u i d #i n ! [f]
3 a � a m i k a l [0]
25 week 1 h a p t a [cef]
1 � � p t a [0BCDE]
1 s e p t a [a]
1 s o p t a [bef]
1 s o p t o h o [d]
26 month 1 m a s [CDEabcdef]
1 m a � [0B]
27 year 1 b � � o r [BCDE]
1 b � t � h o r [0]
1 b o s o � [abcdef]
28 day 1 d � n [0BCDE]
1 d i n [abcdef]
29 morning 1 b � n [BDE]
1 b h e n [ac]
1 b i ! n [C]
2 b i ! n [C]
2 b h i j a n [be]
3 � � k a l [0]
3 s o k a l [d]
3 s o k a l e [f]
3 s u k a l [c]
42
30 noon 1 d i p h u r [BCDE]
1 d i p h u � [abcf]
1 d u p u r [0]
1 d u p u � [de]
31 evening 1 b e l a b h a t i [bce]
1 b e l a f a t i [f]
1 b i l a b u t h i [a]
2 b i k a l [cd]
3 � o n d h a [0]
3 � u n d � [BCDE]
32 night 1 � a t i [BCDEabcdef]
1 r a t [0]
33 paddy rice 1 d h a n [0BCDEabcdef]
34 uncooked rice 1 t � a l [0f]
1 t � a u l [abcde]
1 t � � l [BCDE]
35 cooked rice 1 b a t [B]
1 b h a t [0CDEabcdef]
36 wheat 1 � � m [0BCDE]
1 � o m [abdef]
2 � i h u [c]
37 corn 1 m a k h o i [e]
1 m a k h u [BCDEadf]
2 t � o d � o [b]
3 m u k d a l [c]
4 b h u � � a [0]
38 potato 1 a l u [0BCDEabcdef]
39 cauliflower 1 p h u l k o b i [BCDEabcdef]
1 p h u l k o p i [0]
40 cabbage 1 b a d h a k o p i [0]
1 b a n d #a k o b i [BCDEabcdef]
41 eggplant 1 b a � o n [f]
1 b a i � o n [BCDEabcde]
1 b � � u n [0]
42 peanut 1 b a d a m [0BCDEabcdef]
43 tree 1 � a s [BCDabcdef]
2 � a t � h [0E]
44 branch 1 " a l [0]
1 d a l a [BCabdf]
1 d � l � [DE]
1 d #a l [ce]
45 leaf 1 p a t [e]
1 p a t a [0BCDEabcdf]
46 thorn 1 k a � a [0]
1 k a t a [BCDEabcde]
1 k a t a h a n t � [f]
47 root 1 h i k h � � [C]
1 i k h � � [BDE]
1 i k � a [acdf]
2 s i p a [b]
2 s i p ! [e]
3 m u l [0]
43
48 bamboo 1 b a s [BDabcdef]
1 b a �� [0CE]
49 fruit 1 p h � l [0DE]
1 p h o l [BCabcdef]
50 jackfruit 1 k a h o l [BCDEacf]
1 k a h o l p h o l [d]
1 k a � h a l [0]
1 k a t h o l [be]
51 coconut (ripe) 1 n a � i k � l [0]
1 n a � i k o l [bcdf]
1 n a � k o l [ae]
1 n � r k o l [BCD]
1 n � r k � l [E]
52 banana 1 k � l a [0]
1 k o l a [BCDEabcdef]
53 mango 1 a m [0BCDEabcdef]
54 flower 1 p h u l [0BCDEabcdef]
55 seed 1 b i d � [0]
1 b i � i [BDE]
2 b i � i [BDE]
2 b i � u n [C]
3 b i � i [BDE]
3 b i s i [abcdef]
56 sugarcane 1 k u h � r [BCD]
1 k u h i � [abcdf]
1 k u h � r [E]
1 k u � i � [e]
2 a k h [0]
57 betelnut 1 � u a [abcdef]
1 � u ! [BCDE]
2 � u p a � i [0]
58 lime (for betelnut) 1 t � u n [0BCDEabcdef]
59 liquor 1 m � d [0]
1 m � t [BCDE]
1 m o d [f]
1 m o d h u [c]
1 m o t # [abde]
60 milk 1 d u d h [0]
1 d u t [BCDEbcdef]
1 d #u t # [a]
61 oil 1 t � l [0BCDE]
1 t #e l [abcdef]
62 meat 1 m a � � o [0]
1 m a � s o [adef]
2 m a s [c]
3 s a k t i [e]
4 m a � a � [BCDE]
4 m a s a � [b]
63 salt 1 n u n [0abcef]
2 l � b o n [0BCDE]
2 l o b o n [cd]
64 onion 1 p � a d � [0]
1 p e i s [B]
1 p i a s [abcdef]
1 p i � s [CDE]
44
65 garlic 1 � o s u n [e]
1 � u h u n [DEbdf]
1 � u s u n [ac]
1 r � � u n [0]
2 d o l a p e i s [B]
2 d o l a p i � s [CD]
66 red pepper; chili 1 m o � i s [B]
1 m o � i t � [0CDE]
1 m u � i s [abcdef]
67 elephant 1 a t i [B]
1 h a t i [0CDE]
1 h a t #i [abcdef]
68 tiger 1 b a � h [0CE]
1 b a k [BDabcdef]
69 bear 1 b a l u [B]
1 b h a l u [ad]
1 b h a l u k [0CDEbcef]
70 deer 1 h o � � n [0CD]
1 h o � i � [abcdef]
1 h u � � � [E]
1 u � � n [B]
71 monkey 1 b a n d o r [BCDEabcdef]
1 b a n o r [0]
72 rabbit 1 k h � r � o � [0]
1 k h u � � o s [adf]
1 k h u r � u s [DE]
2 h i d � a b a � i [f]
2 h i d � a b i r i [a]
3 t h o s a h i � i n [e]
4 h e b e � e [bc]
5 h o r s a u � � n [BC]
73 snake 1 � a p [0]
1 s a p [ce]
2 h a p [BCDEabdf]
74 crocodile 1 k u m b i � [e]
1 k u m i r [0BCDE]
1 k u m i � [abcdf]
75 house lizard (gecko) 1 d � i t i b a � i [e]
2 t � i l a b � � i [BCD]
2 t � i l a b � � � [E]
2 t � i l a b a � i [abcdf]
3 � i k � � k k i [0]
76 turtle 1 k a t � ! [f]
1 k a t � u a [acde]
2 k a t � ! [f]
2 k � t � h � [DE]
3 k � t t � h o p [0]
3 k � t � h � [DE]
3 k � t � h u � [BC]
4 k a u � ! [f]
4 k � t � h � [DE]
5 d h u � a [b]
77 frog 1 b æ � [0]
1 b e � [BCDEabcdef]
45
78 dog 1 k u k u l [BCDEdf]
1 k u k u r [0abce]
79 cat 1 b i l a i [abcde]
1 b i l e i [f]
1 b i l � i [BCDE]
2 b i l a i [abcde]
2 b i l e i [f]
2 b i � a l [0]
80 cow 1 � o � u [0b]
1 � u � u [BCDEacdef]
81 buffalo 1 b h o i s [ae]
1 b h o s [bf]
2 m o h i s [c]
2 m o h i � [0]
2 m o i � [CDE]
3 b h o i s [ae]
3 m o i � [CDE]
4 m o i � [CDE]
4 m o s [B]
4 m u s [d]
82 horn (of buffalo) 1 � i � [0]
1 s i � [bce]
2 h i � [BCDEadf]
83 tail 1 l i � k u � [BC]
1 n i � k u � [DEabdef]
1 n i � u � [c]
2 l � d � [0]
84 goat 1 h a � o l [BCDEabcdf]
1 s a � o � [e]
1 t � h a � o l [0]
85 pig 1 h u w a � [ad]
1 h u w � r [CDE]
1 s u w a � [bce]
2 h o � [f]
2 h u r [B]
3 � u k o r [0]
86 rat 1 i d u r [0]
1 i n d u � [BCDEabcde]
2 s u w a [f]
87 chicken 1 t � o � e k [BC]
1 t � o � e [DEabcdef]
2 m u � � i [e]
2 m u r � i [0]
88 egg 1 " i m [0]
1 d i m [c]
1 d i m a [abd]
1 d i m ! [ef]
1 d i m � [BCDE]
89 fish 1 m a s [Babcdef]
1 m a � [C]
2 m a � [C]
2 m a t � h [0DE]
90 duck 1 a � o s [BC]
1 h a � o s [DEabdef]
2 h a s [c]
2 h a � [0]
91 bird 1 p a k h i [0]
1 p u k h i [BCDEabdef]
2 t � a l t � u � a [c]
46
92 insect 1 p o k a [0BCDEabcef]
2 p o k a m o k a � [d]
93 cockroach 1 k a l a p o k a [Eabcdf]
1 t � l a p o k a [0]
2 t e l t � o � a [BCDe]
94 bee 1 m a u [abcde]
1 m a u p o k a [f]
1 m o u p o k a [DE]
1 m � u [C]
2 m o u m a t � h i [0B]
95 fly 1 m a � i p o k a [DE]
1 m a s i p o k a [BCabcdef]
1 m a t � h i [0]
96 spider 1 m a k o r � a [0]
2 m a k � a [BCDEabcdef]
97 ant 1 k e k e n [BCDEaf]
1 k e k n a [c]
2 p i p � a [0]
2 p i p � a [bde]
98 mosquito 1 m � � a [0DE]
1 m o � o r p o k a [BC]
1 m o s a [def]
1 m o t � a [c]
1 m o t � a � p o k a [ab]
99 head 1 m a t h a [0BCDEabcdef]
100 face 1 m u k [BCDEbcef]
1 m u k h [0]
1 m u k p a t [ad]
101 neck 1 � a l a [BCDEabcdef]
1 � � l a [0]
102 hair 1 t � u l [0BCDEabcdf]
1 t � u l i [e]
103 eye 1 t � o k [0]
1 t � u k [BCDEabcdef]
104 nose 1 n a k [0BCDEabcdef]
105 ear 1 k a n [0BCDEabcdef]
106 cheek 1 t � a p a [BCDEabcdef]
2 � a l [0]
107 chin 1 d a d i [BCDEbcde]
1 d #a d #i [af]
2 t � i b u k [0]
108 mouth 1 m u k [0BCDEabcdef]
109 tongue 1 " � i b � [BCDE]
1 d � � b [0]
1 d � i b a [acf]
1 d � i b ! [de]
1 d � i b h a [b]
110 tooth 1 d a t [BCDEbcde]
1 d a �t [0]
1 d #a t # [af]
111 elbow 1 k o n u i [0]
2 t i l k u n i [BCDEabcdef]
47
112 hand 1 h a t [0BCDE]
1 h a t # [abcdef]
113 palm 1 h a t #p a t #a [BEadf]
2 a t t a l [C]
2 h a t t a l a [Dbce]
3 h a t � r t � l a [0]
114 finger 1 a � � u n [f]
1 a � � u r [0]
2 n o � u l [e]
2 a � u l [BCDEabcde]
115 fingernail 1 n � k [0E]
1 n o k [bd]
1 n u k [BCDacf]
1 n u k p a t h o � [e]
116 knee 1 a � u [D]
1 a t h u [BCEbcdf]
1 a t h u � [a]
2 a � u [D]
2 a t h u [BCEbcdf]
2 h a � u [0]
2 h a t u [e]
117 foot 1 t h e � [BCDEabde]
1 t h e � p a t a [cf]
2 p � d [0]
118 bone 1 h a � [0]
2 a � a � [BCD]
2 h a � a � [Eabcdef]
119 fat 1 t e l [BCDEabcde]
2 h i � [f]
3 t � o r b i [0]
120 skin 1 t � a m � a [0BCDEabcdef]
121 blood 1 � o k t o [abcdef]
1 r � k t o [0BCDE]
122 sweat 1 � h a m [0abcdef]
1 � h � m [BCDE]
123 belly 1 p � � [0BCDE]
1 p e t # [abcdef]
124 heart (organ) 1 b u k [ad]
2 k u l d � a [b]
3 m o n [ce]
4 d � e o [BCDEf]
5 � i d � i [0]
125 back 1 p i � h [0]
1 p i t h i [BCDEabcdf]
2 p a s p h a l e [e]
126 body 1 � a [0]
2 d e h a [b]
3 � a u [BCDEabdef]
4 s u � i [c]
4 s u � i l [e]
127 person 1 m a n � i l a [d]
2 b j a k t i [f]
3 l o k / m a n u � [0]
4 m a n [abce]
4 m � n [BCDE]
48
128 man 1 m o � o t [BCDEabd]
2 p u � u s [c]
2 p u � u � [0]
3 m a n [ef]
129 woman 1 m o h � l a [0]
2 m a j a [bc]
2 m a j a m a n [e]
3 t i m a t [abdf]
3 t i m � t [BCDE]
130 father 1 b a b [abf]
1 b a b a [0BCDEcde]
131 mother 1 m a [0cd]
1 m a u [abf]
2 a i [c]
3 a j a � [e]
4 m � j � [BCDE]
132 husband 1 b a t a r [BC]
1 b a t h a � [ac]
1 b h a t a � [DEbdef]
2 � a m i [0]
133 wife 1 m a � u [BCDEabcdef]
2 s t � i / b o u [0]
134 son 1 b e t a [be]
2 p u l a [f]
3 m o � o t s a w a [cd]
3 m o � o t t � h a w a [BCDE]
3 s a w a [a]
4 t � h � l � [0]
135 daughter 1 m a j a s a w a [c]
2 b e t i [e]
3 m � j � [0]
4 t i m a t s a w a [ad]
4 t i m � t t � h a w a [BCDE]
5 d � i u [bef]
136 elder brother (gen) 0 n o e n t r y [0]
1 d a d a [BCDEabcdef]
2 d a � � o � b a i [df]
2 d a � o r b a i [C]
137 elder sister (gen) 0 n o e n t r y [0]
1 b a i [abcde]
1 b � i [BCDE]
2 b o i n i [C]
2 b u n i [f]
138 younger brother (gen) 0 n o e n t r y [0]
1 n u n u [Eae]
2 b h a i [bc]
2 h u � u b h a i [f]
2 h u t u b a i [d]
2 h u t u b � i [BCDE]
2 s o t o b a i [a]
139 younger sister (gen) 0 n o e n t r y [0]
1 h o � u b o n i [f]
1 h u t u b o i n i [BCDEad]
1 s u t o b o n [c]
2 b o i n i [b]
2 h o � u b o n i [f]
2 h u t u b o i n i [ad]
3 n u n u [e]
140 friend (male) 1 l o k [ade]
2 b o n d #h u [0BCDEbc]
3 h o m a s [CDadf]
49
141 name 1 n a m [0BCDEabcdef]
142 village 1 p a � a [Ca]
2 � a u [BCDEbcdef]
3 � � a m [0BCDE]
143 house 1 � h o � [Babcdef]
1 � h � r [0CDE]
144 door 1 d u ! r [DE]
1 d u w a � [acde]
2 d � r d � a [0]
2 d u � d � a [f]
3 d o r [B]
3 d u ! r [DE]
3 d u � [Cbf]
145 window 1 k h i � k i [Babdef]
2 d � a n a l a [0BCDEc]
2 d � a n l a [e]
3 k h u k i d o r [BCDE]
146 roof 1 t � h a d [0]
2 t � a l [BCDEabcdef]
147 wall of house 1 b e � a [Cabcde]
1 b i � a [f]
2 d � a l [0]
2 d e w a l [BDE]
148 pillow 1 b a l � � [0]
1 b a l u s [abcdef]
1 b a l u � [BCDE]
149 blanket 1 k � m b o l [0BCDE]
1 k o m b o l [abcdef]
150 ring (on finger) 1 a � t h i [BCDEabcdef]
1 a � t i [0]
151 clothing 1 k a p o r [B]
1 k a p u � [CDEabcef]
1 p i n a k a p u � [d]
2 p o � a k [0]
152 cloth 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 k a p o � [0]
1 k a p u � [abcdef]
153 medicine 1 o � u d [0]
1 u t � o t [c]
2 d a � u [BCDEabdef]
154 paper 1 k a � o d � [0C]
1 k a � o s [Babcdef]
1 k a � o � [D]
1 k a k o � [E]
155 needle 1 b i n d i [BCDEabcdef]
2 � u t � [0]
156 thread 1 h u t a [b]
1 h u t ! [adf]
1 h u t � [BCDE]
1 � u t a [0]
1 t � u t a [ce]
50
157 broom 1 h a � u n [BCDE]
1 h a s u n [abcdf]
2 b a � u n [e]
3 d � h a � u [0]
158 spoon (for eating) 1 t � a m o t � [0CDE]
1 t � a m o s [c]
1 t � a m u s [Babdf]
2 k o t � u l i [e]
159 knife (to cut meat) 1 d a u [ace]
2 t � a k u [DEbcf]
3 t � h u � i [0]
3 t � u � i [Cd]
4 d i � a r [B]
160 hammer 1 a t u r [BC]
1 h a t u � [DEabdef]
2 m a � t u l [c]
3 h a t u � [DEabdef]
3 h a t u � i [0]
161 axe 1 k u d a l [e]
1 k u � a l [abcf]
1 k u � � l [BCDE]
2 k u � h a r [0]
3 k u � a l [abcf]
3 u � ! l [d]
162 bow 1 d h � n u k [0]
1 d h o n u k [e]
1 d h u n u [BCDEcd]
1 d h u n u k [abf]
163 arrow 1 t i r [0BCDE]
1 t i � [abcdef]
164 spear 1 h a t � i w a � [a]
1 t � e w a � [BCDEd]
2 p h a l a [Eb]
3 t � a n d h a � [e]
3 t � a w a � [c]
3 t � e w a � [BCDEd]
4 t � i a � d � a � [f]
5 b � r � a [0BC]
165 fire 1 d � u i [BCDEabcdef]
2 a � u n [0]
166 ashes 1 a � � a [af]
2 t � h a i [0]
2 t � a i [bcde]
3 t � � i [BCDE]
3 t � a i [bcde]
167 smoke 1 d h o �a [0]
1 d h u � a [abcdef]
1 d h u � � [BCDE]
168 candle 1 m o m [Cbcdf]
1 m o m b a t i [0BDEae]
169 boat 1 n a u k a [d]
1 n o u k a [0]
2 n a u [BCDEabcef]
170 road 1 p � t [BCE]
1 p o t [abcf]
2 � o � o k [D]
2 t � o � o k [cd]
3 � a s t a [0e]
51
171 path 1 p � t [0BCDE]
1 p o t [abcde]
2 a l i p o t [f]
172 to go 1 d � a [ac]
1 d � a w a [0BCDEbdef]
173 to come 1 a h a [BCDbdf]
2 a i [Eac]
3 a � a [0]
3 a s a [e]
174 to stand 1 k h a � a [BCDEbcdf]
1 k h a � a h o [a]
1 k h a � a h u w a [e]
2 d a � a n o [0]
175 to sit 1 b � � a [0]
1 b o s [abc]
1 b o s a [e]
2 b � � a [0]
2 b o h a [BCDEf]
2 b o h i w a [d]
2 b o s a [e]
176 to lie down 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 d � h i � a n i [e]
1 d � h i � a u [b]
1 d � h i � a w a [d]
1 d � i � a b o [f]
1 d � i r a u [a]
2 a � a m [c]
3 � o a [0]
177 to walk 1 b e � a w a [BCDEde]
1 b i � a i [f]
1 b i � a u [ab]
2 d � a [c]
3 h a �� a [0]
178 to fly 1 o � a [0]
1 u � ! [b]
1 u � e i [f]
2 u � ! [b]
2 u � e i [f]
2 u � i [CDc]
2 u � i d � a w a [e]
2 u � i k [a]
2 u � i w a [d]
2 u � � [BE]
179 to enter 1 h a m a u [abcf]
1 h a m a w a [CDd]
2 " h o k a [0]
2 d h u k ! [e]
3 h a n d a [BDE]
180 to kick 1 � u � a b ! [Cd]
1 � u � a i [f]
1 � u � a n i [e]
1 � u � a u [abc]
1 � u � � [E]
2 l a � h i m a � a [0]
3 l � t h o [BD]
52
181 to swim 1 h a t a � k a t a [d]
1 h a t i � i k [a]
1 h a t o � a [b]
1 h a t o � i [c]
1 h a t � a [B]
1 h a t � ! [C]
1 h a t � i [DE]
1 h a t #! � e [f]
2 h a t a � k a t a [d]
2 h a t i � i k [a]
2 h a t o � a [b]
2 h a t o � i [c]
2 h a t #! � e [f]
2 s a t u � i w a [e]
3 h a t a � k a t a [d]
3 � a t a r k a � a [0]
182 to see 1 s a w a [de]
2 d � k h a [0C]
2 d e k h a [bef]
2 d e k h e [D]
2 d i k h a [B]
3 t � a [Eacf]
3 t � e i [f]
183 to hear 1 h o n e [f]
1 h u n [c]
1 h u n ! [b]
1 h u n i [CDE]
1 h u n i k [a]
1 h u n i w a [d]
2 h o n e [f]
2 h u n ! [b]
2 h u n i k [a]
2 h u n i w a [d]
2 � o n a [0B]
2 s u n a [e]
184 to wait 1 b a s n a [BCDE]
1 b a s n a u [abc]
1 b a s n a w a [d]
1 b a s n e [f]
2 t h a k [c]
3 b a � t � a w a [e]
4 � p � k k h a k � � a [0]
185 to cry 1 k a n d a [ef]
1 k a n d e [BCDc]
1 k a n d i [E]
1 k a n d i k [a]
1 k a n d i w a [d]
1 k a �d a [0]
2 d u k � a [b]
186 to cook 1 n a � a [B]
1 n a � e [CD]
1 n a � e k [af]
1 n a � i [E]
1 n a � i w a [d]
2 � a n d a [e]
2 � a n d h a [b]
2 r a n n a k � � a [0]
3 b a n a i [c]
187 to boil (water) 1 � o � o m [bc]
1 � o � o m k o � [a]
2 h a d � a w a [d]
2 h i " � a [C]
2 h i " � o [B]
2 h i " � � [DE]
2 h i d � a n i [f]
2 s i d � o w a [e]
3 � i d d h o k � � a [0]
188 to eat 1 k h a [BCDEacf]
1 k h a w a [0bde]
53
189 to drink 1 k h a [af]
1 k h a w a [e]
1 p a n i k h a [BCDEc]
1 p a n i k h a w a [0bd]
190 to sing 1 � a n � a u a u [ac]
1 � a n � a w a [0BCDde]
1 � a w a [bf]
1 � a w a w a [d]
2 � a h � n [E]
191 to bite 1 k a m � a n o [0]
1 k a m � a [BCDE]
1 k a m � a i [f]
1 k a m � a u [abc]
1 k a m � a w a [de]
192 to laugh 1 h a i [f]
2 h a � a [0]
2 h a t � a [be]
3 a h i [BCDE]
3 a h i b a � a u [a]
3 a h i b a � e w a [d]
4 h i b ! � e [f]
5 b a t � i b ! � a [c]
193 to speak 1 k o [Cac]
1 k o w a [b]
1 k u [DE]
1 k u t a k u w a [d]
1 k u w a [B]
1 � a u k o e [f]
1 � a u k o w a [e]
2 b � l a [0]
194 to tell 1 k o [ac]
1 k o t #h a k h o [f]
1 k o w a [bde]
1 k u [BCDE]
2 b � l a [0]
195 to know 1 b u d � i [a]
2 d � a n a [0be]
2 d � a n e [cf]
2 d � a n i [BCDE]
2 d � a n i w a [d]
3 t h a l p a i [CDE]
196 to forget 1 m o n o p h ! � e k [a]
1 m o n o t p a h a � a [B]
1 m o n o t p a h i [C]
1 m o n o t p a r i [E]
1 m o n o t p h a r i [D]
1 m o n o t p h a u � a [b]
2 b h u l [c]
2 b h u l � d � a w a [0]
2 b h u l i d � a [f]
2 b h u l i w a [d]
3 p a s u � i d � a w a [e]
197 to sleep 1 � h u m a [Dbc]
1 � h u m a b o [f]
1 � h u m a n i [e]
1 � h u m a n o [0]
1 � h u m a u [a]
1 � h u m u w ! [d]
1 � u m [BCE]
198 to dream 1 h o p o n [BCDEbdf]
1 h o p o n d e k h e [a]
1 s o p o n d e k h a [e]
2 � � p n o d � k h a [0]
2 s o p n a [c]
3 s o p n a [c]
3 s o p o n d e k h a [e]
54
199 to do/make 1 k � � a [0]
1 k o j e [f]
1 k o � a [BCDEde]
1 k o � e [f]
1 k u � a [bc]
2 k � � a [0]
2 k o � [a]
2 k o � a [BCDEde]
2 k o � e [f]
2 k u � a [bc]
3 b a n a [BCDE]
200 to work 1 k a m [b]
1 k a m k o � [a]
1 k a m k o � a [BCDEde]
1 k a m k o � n a [f]
1 k a m k u � a [c]
2 k a d � k � � a [0]
201 to play 1 k h � l a [0]
1 k h e l a [Dbef]
1 k h e l a u [c]
1 k h i l a [BCE]
1 k h i l a b o [a]
1 k h i l a w a [d]
202 to dance 1 n a � a [BC]
1 n a � i [DE]
1 n a � i b o [a]
1 n a � i w ! [d]
1 n a t � a [0]
1 n a t � a [bcef]
203 to throw 1 d a p h a [b]
1 d a p h a m [f]
1 d a p h a u [a]
1 d a p h e w a [d]
1 d a p h i d e w a [e]
1 d � p h � [BCDE]
2 p h e l a i d e [c]
3 t � h o � a [0]
204 to lift 1 d u l i k [a]
1 t u l e [e]
1 t u l i [DE]
2 t o l a [0]
2 t u l [c]
2 t u l a [Bbdf]
2 t u l e [e]
2 t u l i [DE]
2 t u l o [c]
2 t u l � [C]
205 to push 1 d a k h a d e w a [c]
1 d � k a [C]
1 d h a k k a d � w a [0]
1 d h i k a [DE]
2 t h e l a [bef]
2 t h i l i d i w a [e]
2 t h i l i w a [d]
3 d a k h a d e w a [c]
3 d � k a [C]
3 d h i k a [DE]
3 d i k a [B]
3 d i k h a d i k [a]
206 to pull 1 � a n a [0]
1 t a n a [Bbcef]
1 t a n e [C]
1 t a n i j a t u l [a]
1 t a n i w a [DEd]
55
207 to tie
1 b a n a [Bc]
1 b a n d a [e]
1 b a n d h a [b]
1 b a n i k [af]
1 b a n i w a [CDEd]
1 b a �d h a [0]
208 to wipe 1 m o t � h a [0]
1 m o t � a [bce]
1 m u � i w a [Cd]
1 m u � � [B]
1 m u t � h i [DE]
1 m u t � i k [a]
2 l i k a i [f]
209 to weave (on loom) 1 b a n a � u � a [b]
1 � u r a u [a]
2 b a n a [BCDEdf]
2 b a n a � u � a [b]
2 k a p u � b o n a [c]
2 t a t b a n a [e]
2 t a t � b o n a [0]
210 to sew 1 h i � a u [ac]
1 h i � a w a [d]
1 h i � � [BCDE]
1 s i � a n i [f]
2 � � l a i k � � a [0]
2 s i l a [bf]
2 s i l a i k o � a [e]
2 s i � a n i [f]
211 to wash 1 d h o i [C]
1 d h o w a [0]
1 d h o w a w a [d]
1 d h u [DE]
1 d h u w a [bcef]
1 d h u w a u [a]
2 d u [B]
212 to take bath 1 � a d h o [a]
1 � a d h o i [C]
1 � a d h u [DE]
1 � a d h u w a [bcd]
1 � a d u w a [B]
1 � a u d h u w a [ef]
2 � o s o l k � � a [0]
213 to cut something 1 k i b a k a t i k [a]
2 k a � a [0]
2 k a t a [BCbe]
2 k a t e k [cf]
2 k a t i [DE]
2 k a t i w ! [d]
214 to burn 1 d � u l a u [af]
1 d � u l a w a [d]
2 p o � a n o [0]
2 p o � a [Df]
2 p u � a [BCEbc]
2 p u � a d � a w a [e]
215 to buy 1 k e n a [0]
1 k i n a [be]
1 k i n i [CDEcf]
1 k i n i k [a]
1 k i n i w a [d]
1 k i n � [B]
216 to sell 1 b e t � a [bce]
1 b i � a [CDE]
1 b i � a w [B]
1 b i t � a b o [af]
1 b i t � a w a [d]
2 b i k � i k � � a [0]
56
217 to steal 1 t � u � i k � � a [0]
1 t � o � i [f]
1 t � o � k o � [a]
1 t � o � k o � a [BCDEde]
1 t � u � k u � a [bc]
218 to lie, fib 1 t � i k a u [a]
2 p h a t � a [Ebdef]
3 m i � � [CD]
3 m i s a [c]
3 m i s a k o t a [d]
3 m i t h � [B]
4 m � t t h a b � l a [0]
4 m i t h � [B]
219 to take 0 n o e n t r y [c]
1 n e [CD]
1 n � a [0]
1 n e w a [df]
1 n i b o [a]
1 n i w a [BEbe]
2 a n i k [f]
220 to give 1 d � a [0]
1 d e w a [Cde]
1 d i [BDEac]
1 d i w a [bf]
221 to kill 0 n o e n t r y [E]
1 m a � a [cef]
1 m a � a f � l a [0]
1 m a � e k [Ba]
1 m a � i w a [Dd]
1 m u � a [b]
2 m � r [C]
2 m u � a [b]
222 to die 1 m a � a d � a w a [0]
1 m o � a [Bbcef]
1 m u � e k [a]
1 m u � i w a [CDEd]
223 to love 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 m a j a k o � [a]
2 b h a l a p a i [f]
2 b h a l a p o w a [e]
2 b h a l a p u a [bcd]
2 b h a l o b a � a [0]
3 m o n k h a w a [f]
224 to hate 1 n i t h a d e k h e k [a]
2 k h e d a [b]
3 k h a � a p [c]
4 � h i n a [f]
4 � h i n k u � a [e]
4 � h i n p o w a [d]
4 � i n � [BCE]
5 � h i n a [f]
5 � h � i n a k � � a [0]
6 h i � t � � [D]
225 one 1 e k [0BCDEabcdef]
226 two 1 d u i [abcdef]
1 d u i [0BCDE]
227 three 1 t � n [0BCDE]
1 t i n [abcdef]
228 four 1 t � � r [BCDE]
1 t � a r [0adef]
1 t � a � i [bc]
57
229 five 1 p a s [abcdef]
2 p a t � [0BCDE]
230 six 1 t � h � i [0BCDE]
1 t � o i [abcdef]
231 seven 1 � a t [0BCDE]
1 s a t [abcdef]
232 eight 1 a t [abcdef]
1 a � [0BCDE]
233 nine 1 n � i [0BCDE]
1 n o i [abcdef]
234 ten 1 d � � [0BCDE]
1 d o s [abcdef]
235 eleven 1 æ � a � o [0]
1 e � a � o [abcdef]
1 i � a � o [BCDE]
236 twelve 1 b a � o [0]
1 b a � o [BCDEabcdef]
237 twenty 1 b i s [abcdef]
1 b i � [0BCDE]
2 k u � i [BCDEd]
238 hundred 1 � � [0BCDE]
2 s o [abcdef]
239 thousand 1 h a d � a r [0BCDE]
1 h a d � a � [bcdef]
2 h a d � a � [bcdef]
2 h a z a � i [a]
240 few 0 n o e n t r y [0BCDEabcdef]
241 some 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 o p a s a [a]
2 k � t � h u [0]
2 k i � u [f]
2 k i t � u [b]
3 o l p o [cdf]
4 k o i t a [e]
242 many 1 b a k h a � [BCDEabcd]
1 b a k h a � s a [f]
2 b i s h i [d]
3 m e l a [e]
4 b o h u t [e]
4 � n � k / b o h u [0]
243 all 1 b e k i [a]
1 b e k t i [BCDEd]
2 h o b a i [f]
2 h u b a i [bd]
2 s o b a i [e]
3 � � b [0]
4 s o p [ac]
244 big 1 d a � � o � [abcdef]
1 d a � o r [BCDE]
2 b � � o [0]
58
245 small 1 h u � u [bcf]
1 h u t u [BCDEad]
2 h u t u [BCDEad]
2 s o t o [e]
2 t � h o t o [0]
246 long 1 l a m b a [BCDEacdf]
1 l � m b a [0]
1 l o m b a [b]
2 d i � i l e [e]
247 short (length) 1 k h a � o [0]
1 k h a t a [e]
2 h u � u [f]
3 k h a t a [e]
3 k h a t a k [BCDEabcd]
248 heavy 1 b h a � [af]
1 b h a � i [0Ebcde]
2 b u " � a [BCD]
3 h u d � a i [d]
249 light (not heavy) 1 p a t a l a [a]
1 p a t l a [BCDEbcdef]
2 h a l k a [0]
250 fat 1 m o � a [0]
1 m o t #a [a]
2 t � a d � a [BCDEbcdef]
3 t � a t a � a [a]
251 thin 1 h u k a s e [a]
2 p a t l a [bcdef]
3 k i � k � a [d]
4 h a � a � � a � [e]
5 t � i k o n [0]
6 h u k n � [DE]
7 k � � � � � � a [CDE]
8 h i � l a [B]
252 wide, broad 1 d h a p a [BCDEabcdef]
2 t � � � a [0]
253 narrow 1 t � i p � [BCDE]
1 t � i p a [bc]
1 t � i p ! [adef]
2 h u t u [c]
3 � � � u [0]
254 deep 1 t u � u � [BCa]
2 � a � a [f]
2 � a t a [df]
3 d a � o � p a n i [cde]
3 d u � � a r [D]
4 t o l [d]
5 h a t a r [E]
6 � a t a [df]
6 � a t k a [b]
7 � o b h i r [0]
255 shallow 0 n o e n t r y [B]
1 h u � u [b]
1 h u t u [CDEa]
1 h u t u p a n i [cd]
2 t � e l e l e � a [f]
3 � � o b h i r [0]
4 h u t u [CDEa]
4 h u t u p a n i [cd]
4 s o t u p a n i [e]
59
256 full 1 b h o � a [0CEbcde]
1 b h o � a i [f]
1 b h u � a [Da]
1 b h u � t i [a]
2 b h o � a [0CEbcde]
2 b h o � a i [f]
2 b h u � a [Da]
2 b o � a [B]
2 p u � a [e]
257 empty 1 k h a l i [0BCDEabcdef]
258 hungry 1 b h u k [c]
1 b h � k [E]
1 b h o k [Dabdf]
1 b h u k l a � a [e]
1 b � k [B]
1 b o k [C]
2 k h i d � l a � a [0]
259 thirsty 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 p i a s [b]
2 p a n t i [f]
3 p a n i t a n l a k s e [ad]
3 p a n i t e s l a � i s e [c]
4 p a n i k h a � k u s e [a]
5 p i a s [b]
5 t i e s [e]
6 p i p a � a p a w a [0]
260 sweet 1 m i t h a [bcef]
1 m i t h ! [ad]
1 m i t h � [BCDE]
2 m i � � i [0]
261 sour 1 t e � a [abcef]
1 t i � a [E]
2 t � u k � [BCDE]
2 t � u k a u [a]
2 t � u k ! [d]
3 � � k [0]
262 bitter 1 t i t a [0abcef]
1 t i t ! [d]
1 t i t � [BCDE]
263 spicy, hot 1 " � h a l a [DE]
1 d � a l a [BCabcdef]
1 d � h a l [0]
264 ripe 1 b i k a [B]
1 p a k a [0CDEabcde]
2 p a k a [0CDEabcde]
2 p a k i s e [f]
265 rotten (fruit) 1 p � t � a [0]
1 p o � a [BC]
1 p o t � a [e]
1 p o t � i [c]
1 p u s a [DE]
1 p u t � a [abdf]
266 fast 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 a � e [b]
2 t a � a t a � i [0]
2 t a � a t a � i [acde]
2 t a t a � i [f]
3 d � u � i d � a i [a]
267 slow 1 a s t e [DEabcdef]
1 � s t e [B]
2 d h i � � d h i � � [0]
3 � e b � e b [CD]
60
268 same 1 � k i [0]
1 e k e [bcde]
2 e � � a i [DE]
2 e k � a i [f]
3 e k s o m a n [a]
4 e k " � a t [B]
5 e k l � � � n [C]
269 different 1 a l d a [Cabcde]
1 a l � a [f]
2 b h i n n o [0]
3 a l a d a [0BDE]
3 a l d a [Cabcde]
270 dry 1 h u k a s e [cf]
1 h u k ! [a]
2 h u k n a [bd]
2 h u k n � [BCDE]
2 � u k n a [0]
3 s u k a n [e]
4 h u k ! [a]
4 h u k n a [bd]
4 h u k n � [BCDE]
271 wet 1 b h i " � � [DE]
1 b h i d � a [0b]
1 b i " � � [BC]
1 b i d � a [adef]
1 b i d � i s e [c]
272 hot 1 � � � � m [0BCDE]
1 � o � o m [abcdef]
273 cold 1 � h a n d a [0BC]
1 t h a n d a [DEabcdef]
274 good 1 b a l a [BC]
1 b h a l a [DEabcdef]
1 b h a l o [0]
275 bad 1 n e t a [a]
1 n e t h a [bdef]
1 n i t h a [BCDE]
2 k h a � a b [c]
2 k h a � a p [0]
276 new 1 n o i j a [BDabd]
1 n o j a [CEef]
2 n a u t u n [c]
2 n o t u n [0]
277 old 1 p u � a n [Babcdf]
1 p u � a n i [e]
1 p u � a n o [0]
1 p u � � n [CDE]
278 broken 1 b a � � i s e [c]
2 p h a � a [f]
2 b h a � a [BCDEabdef]
3 b h a � a [BCDEabdef]
3 b h a � � a [0]
279 above 1 u p h u � [BCDEa]
1 u p o � e [0]
1 u p o � o t [be]
1 u p u � [cf]
1 u p u � b h a i [d]
280 below 1 n a m a [ad]
1 n a m a t [c]
2 t o l [BCDEf]
2 t o l b h a i [d]
2 t o l o t [be]
3 n i t � � [0]
61
281 far 1 b a k h a d u � [ac]
1 d u � [BCDEbdf]
1 d u � � [0]
1 d u � u t [e]
282 near 1 p a s [c]
2 o t � o � [adf]
3 b a � a t e [BCD]
3 k a � a n i [d]
3 k a � a t [bc]
3 k a � a t e [Ef]
4 k a n d a t [e]
4 k a � a t [bc]
5 k a t � h � [0]
283 right 1 " a n [0]
1 d a n [cf]
2 b h a t u a [abd]
2 b � t u ! [BCDE]
3 b h a t k h a w a p h a l e [e]
284 left 1 b a i [cf]
2 d e b � a [bd]
2 d i b � a [E]
2 l e b � a [e]
2 n e b � a [Ba]
2 n i b � a [CD]
3 b a m [0]
285 black 1 k a l a [BCDEabcdef]
1 k a l o [0]
286 white 1 d h o l a [abcdef]
1 d h u l a [DE]
1 d o l a [BC]
2 � a d a [0]
2 s a d a [ae]
287 red 1 � a � a [BCDEabcdef]
2 l a l [0]
288 green 0 n o e n t r y [BCDE]
1 p a t a � o � [abcd]
2 s i m l a i [b]
2 s i � l e i [e]
3 s u � u s [f]
4 � o b u d � [0]
289 yellow 1 h i l d ! [abf]
1 h i l d i [cd]
1 h i l d i j a [e]
1 h i l d � [DE]
1 i l d � [BC]
2 h o l u d [0]
290 when (near future) 1 k u n b h u l a [a]
1 k u n d i n ! [c]
2 k u n b h u l a [a]
2 k u n s u m a i [bdef]
3 k � k h o n [0]
4 k u m a l a [B]
4 k u m b a l a [CDE]
4 k u n b h u l a [a]
291 where 1 k o t [bc]
2 k o m a i [d]
2 k o t h a i [0]
2 k u m a i [BCDEaf]
2 k u t h a i [e]
292 who 1 k a i [abcdef]
1 k � i [BCDE]
2 k � [0]
293 what 1 k i [0BCDEabcdef]
62
294 how many 1 k � i � a [0]
1 k o i t a [e]
1 k o t o [ac]
1 k o t o � i l a [bd]
1 k o t o k o l a [f]
2 k � i � a [0]
2 k o i � a [BCDE]
2 k o i t a [e]
295 this thing 1 e � a [0]
1 i d a [bc]
2 e i d � i n i s [def]
2 e j d � i n i s [a]
3 i d a [bc]
3 i d � [BCDE]
296 that thing 1 o � a [0]
1 u d ! [f]
1 u d � [BCDE]
1 u i d ! [b]
2 o i d � i n i s [de]
3 h o � d � i n i s [a]
4 h u d a [c]
297 these things 1 � � u l o [0]
1 e i d � i n i s � i l a [d]
1 e i d � i n i s � u l ! [e]
1 e i � i l a [bcf]
1 e j d � i n i s [a]
2 e i d � i n i s � i l a [d]
2 e i d � i n i s � u l ! [e]
2 e j d � i n i s [a]
3 � � u l o [0]
3 i � l � [DE]
3 i � l � [BCD]
298 those things 1 o � u l o [0]
1 o i � i l a [bcf]
2 h o � d � i n i s � e l a [a]
2 o i d � i n i s � i l a [d]
2 o i d � i n i s � u l ! [e]
3 o � u l o [0]
3 u � l � [CD]
3 u � l � [BDE]
299 1st sg. (I) 1 m o i [BCDEabcdf]
1 m u i [e]
2 a m i [0]
300 2nd sg. (familiar) 1 t o i [BCDEabcdf]
1 t u i [e]
1 t u m i [0]
301 2nd sg. (honorific) 1 t o i [abc]
1 t u i [e]
2 a p n e [BCDdf]
2 a p n i [0E]
302 3rd sg. (generic/male) 1 o / � e [0]
2 t o i [f]
3 o i [BCDEabcde]
303 3rd sg. (female) 0 n o e n t r y [0BCDEabcdef]
304 1st pl. 1 a m i [b]
2 a m � a [0acdf]
2 a m � � [DE]
2 � m � � [BC]
3 a m a � i l ! [e]
63
305 2nd pl. (familiar) 1 o � a [C]
1 t o � a [Bd]
1 t u � a [DEf]
1 u � a [c]
2 t o i [a]
3 t u k l a [b]
4 t u m ! � i l ! [e]
5 t o m � a [0]
5 t o � a [Bd]
5 t u � a [DEf]
306 2nd pl. (honorific) 1 t o � a [d]
1 u � a [c]
2 t o i [a]
2 t o � a [d]
3 t u k l a [b]
4 a p n a � a [0f]
5 t u m ! � i l ! [e]
307 3rd pl. 0 n o e n t r y [0]
1 e � a [c]
1 o � a [BCDEadf]
2 u � l a [b]
3 u m a � i l ! [e]
64
C. Recorded story
C.1 Codes used in the transcription of the story
The following story was recorded and transcribed by Elina Kinny and Isapdaile Zeliang in
late 2004. In the transcription of this story, these line codes are used:
Code Meaning \n Line number
\p Phonetic transcription
\g Word-by-word English gloss of transcribed text
\f Free (natural) English translation of the text
C.2 Story transcription
Title: My family
Location: Kharugau, West Garo Hills
Language: Hajong
\n1
\p ami hɛpi pʰɛmili amla \g we happy family our
\f We are a happy family.
\n2
\p tɔ amla mati-baɾi naj \g so our property no
\f But we don’t have property.
\n3
\p ami babala ʈʃakɾidija udaj sɔŋsaɾa ʈʃɔlɛ aɾɔ ami \g we father’s job-through with-that family run and we
\p babala ʈʃakɾila takadij amagɛ babaj bɔj pɔɾaj \g father’s job money-with we-to father book study
\f We run our family with our father’s job, and father is helping us to study with his salary.
\n4
\p ami baba ma aɾɔ mɔla ɛkɾa bɔjni asɛ \g we father mother and my one sister have
\f We are father, mother, and one sister.
\n5
\p ami duj bʰaj \g we two brother
\f We are two brothers.
65
\n6
\p ami tin ɖʒʰɔnɔ mɛtrik pas kɔɾisɛ \g we three of-us metriculation passed to-do
\f We all three passed metriculation.
\n7
\p amla ɖʒɔma-ɖʒɔmi naj tɛka-pajsa naj kʰup kɔstɔkɛ ami soŋsaɾa \g our property no money no too-much difficult we family
\p ʈʃɔlɛ aɾɔ baba uŋkakɛ amagɛ kʰup kɔstɔkɛ bɔj puɾaba laksɛ \g run and father that-way we-to much difficulty book study helping
\f We don’t have property or money and run our family with much difficulty, and like that –
with much difficulty – father is helping us to study.
\n8
\p tɔ mɔj sʌb-sɛ daŋɔɽ \g so I most big
\f I am the eldest.
\n9
\p mɔj bʰalakɛ puɾiba ʈʃɛsta kuɾbɔn \g I nicely study try did
\f I tried to study nicely.
\n10
\p pɔɾa pɔɾa to-nɛjhɔj mola bakʰaɾ \g study study not-happen my much
\f I didn’t study much.
\n11
\p kʰali tuwɛlp pas kɔɾisɛ aɾɔ kam-ɖʒam ni-paj ʈʃakɾi-bakɾi ni-paj \g just twelvth-grade passed did and work not-get job not-get
\f I just passed 12th
standard and didn’t get a job.
\n12
\p tin ʈʃaɾ baɾ disɛ bijɛ pʰasʌl puɾikʰa \g three four time gave BA first-year exam
\f Three or four times I appeared for the B.A. 1st year exam.
\n13
\p pʰɛl kɔɾisɛ \g failed did
\f I failed.
66
\n14
\p tɔ iŋkajɛ asɛ mɔj ɛla gʰɔɾɔtɛ \g so this-way stay I now house-at
\f Now I just stay at home.
\n15
\p mɔj dɛli ila gʰɔɾtɛ tʰakɛ iŋkajɛ swaglɔk tijuʃɔn pɔɾaj \g I daily now house-at staying this-way children tuition study
\p aɾɔ tuktak kam kuɾitʰakɛ aɾɔki iŋkaj \g and household-chores work doing and just-like-that \f Now I stay home each day and give tuition to children and keep on working just like that.
\n16
\p bikalɛ hɔlɛ kʰɛla-dʰula kɔɾɛ aɾɔ bazaɾ-kʰɔɾɔs gʰɔɾla igla \g evening happen play do and shopping house-for this
\p habiɖʒabi-glə kɔɾɛ kam-glə diksɔn-kɔɾɛ gʰɔɾla unkʌ kuɾɛ tʰakɛ \g this-and-that do work utensils-do house-for just-like-that do staying
\f In the evening I play and do marketing for the house, wash utensils, and live just like that.
67
D. Questionnaires
D.1 Sociolinguistic questionnaire
1. In each of the following places and activities, what language do you use most of the time?
1. wb‡gœ ewY©Z ’vb Ges Kvh©µ‡g, †ekxifvM mg‡q Avcwb †Kvb fvlvwU e¨envi K‡ib? 1a. At home
1K. evox‡Z 1b. With Hajong friends in your village
1L. Avcbvi MÖv‡gi nvRs eÜz‡`i mv‡_ 1c. In your village with your non-Hajong friends
1M. Avcbvi MÖv‡gi Ab¨vb¨ eÜz‡`i mv‡_ hviv nvRs bb 1d. For puja/worship
1N. cuyRv ev Dcvmbvi mgq 1e. With shopkeepers in the market
1O. evRvi/nv‡U wM‡q †`vKvb`vi‡`i mv‡_
2. In a typical week, which language do you use most?
2. mvaviYZt GKwU m߇n Avcwb †Kvb fvlvwU †ekx e¨envi K‡ib?
3a. Other than Hajong, what languages do you speak?
3K. nvRs fvlv Qvov Avi †Kvb fvlvq Avcwb K_v ej‡Z cv‡ib?
3b. How well do you speak each of these languages? (poorly, average, well)
3L. Gme fvlvq KZUzKz fvj K‡i K_v ej‡Z cv‡ib? (Kg, †gvUvgywU, fvjfv‡e)
4. What language do you speak best?
4. †Kvb fvlvwU Avcwb me‡P‡q fv‡jvfv‡e ej‡Z cv‡ib?
5. What language do you speak second best?
5. †Kvb fvlvwU Avcwb wØZxq fv‡jvfv‡e ej‡Z cv‡ib?
6. Can you always say what you want to say in your second-best language?
6. Avcwb wØZxq †h fvlvwU fv‡jvfv‡e ej‡Z cv‡ib †mB fvlv‡Z wK memgq hv ej‡Z Pvb Zv ej‡Z cv‡ib?
7a. Are there any Hajong people who speak differently than you?
7K. nvRs †jvK‡`i g‡a¨, †Kvb †jv‡Kiv wK Avcbvi †_‡K wfbœfv‡e K_v e‡j?
7b. If yes, where?
7L. hw` nu v, †Kv_vq?
68
7c. When you speak with someone from there, how much do you understand? (little, half,
most, all)
7M. hLb Avcwb G RvqMvi †jvK‡`i mv‡_ Avjvc K‡ib, KZUyKz eyS‡Z cv‡ib? (Aí, A‡a©K, †ekxifvM, me)
8a. [If India was not mentioned in question 7], Have you ever talked with a Hajong person
from India?
8K. [7 bs cÖ‡kœ fvi‡Zi K_v D‡j−L bv K‡i _vK‡j], Avcwb wK KL‡bv fvi‡Zi nvRs †jvK‡`i m‡½ K_v e‡j‡Qb?
8b. If yes, where was he from?
8L. hw` n¨uv, wZwb ‡Kv_v †_‡K G‡m‡Qb?
8c. How much of his speech did you understand? (little, half, most, all)
8M. Zvi K_v KZUzKz eyS‡Z †c‡i‡Qb? (Aí, A‡a©K, ‡ekxifvM, me)
9. Besides young children, is there any Hajong person in this village who does not speak
Hajong well?
9. †QvU †Q‡jg‡q‡`i Qvov G MÖv‡g Ggb †Kvb nvRs e¨w³ Av‡Qb whwb nvRs fvjfv‡e ej‡Z cv‡ib bv?
10. What language do children in your village speak first?
10. GB MÖv‡gi wkïiv me©cÖ_g †Kvb fvlvq e‡j?
11. What language do you think a mother in your language group should speak with her
children?
11. Avcbvi fvlvfvlx gv‡qiv Zv‡`i wkï‡`i mv‡_ †Kvb fvlvq K_v ejv DwPZ e‡j Avcwb g‡b K‡ib?
12. Do young people (age 10) in your village speak your language well, the way it ought to
be spoken?
12. Avcbvi MÖv‡gi `k eQi eqmx wkïiv †hgb K‡i ejv DwPZ †Zgb K‡i wK Avcbvi gvZ…fvlv fvjfv‡e ej‡Z cv‡i?
13a. Do young people (age 10) in your village speak another language better than your
language?
13K. Avcbvi MÖv‡gi `k eQi eqmx wkïiv wK Avcbvi fvlvi PvB‡ZI Ab¨ †Kvb fvlv †ekx fvj K‡i ej‡Z cv‡i?
13b. If yes, which one(s)?
13L. hw` nu v, Zvn‡j †Kvb fvlvwU?
14. In about 30 years, when the children in this village grow up and have children of their
own, what language do you think those children will speak?
14. AvR †_‡K cÖvq wÎk eQi c‡i, GB MÖv‡gi wkïiv eo n‡q hLb wcZv-gvZv n‡e, ZLb Zv‡`i †Q‡j‡g‡qiv †Kvb fvlvq K_v ej‡e e‡j Avcwb g‡b K‡ib?
15a. Can you read and write letters and notices in Hajong?
15K. Avcwb wK nvRs fvlvq wPwV Ges ‡bŠwUm co‡Z I wjL‡Z cv‡ib?
69
15b. If yes, in which script?
15L. hw` nu v, Zvn‡j †Kvb eY©gvjv w`‡q?
16. What script should be used to write Hajong?
16. nvRs fvlv wjL‡Z †Kvb eY©gvjv e¨envi Kiv DwPZ e‡j Avcwb g‡b K‡ib?
17a. If Hajong were written in Roman script, would you be able to read it?
17K. hw` Bs‡iwR eY©gvjv w`‡q nvRs fvlvq ‡jLv nq Zvn‡j Avcwb wK Zv co‡Z cvi‡eb?
17b. If not, although it would be difficult, would you try to learn?
15L. hw` bv nq, Zvn‡j GUv wkL‡Z †M‡j KvRUv KwVb n‡e wKš‘ ZeyI wK Avcwb wkL‡Z †Póv Ki‡eb?
18a. If your community leaders set up a class to teach young children how to read and write
in Hajong, would you send your children?
18K. hw` Avcbvi MÖv‡gi †bZ„ ’vbxq e¨w³iv nvRs fvlv wk¶vi Rb¨ K¬vm Pvjy K‡ib, Avcwb wK Avcbvi wkï‡`i †mLv‡b cvVv‡eb?
18b. Why or why not?
18L. †Kb cvVv‡eb ev †Kb cvVv‡eb bv?
18c. In what ways can you help with such a class?
18M. GiKg K¬v‡mi Rb¨ Avcwb wK iKg mvnvh¨ Ki‡Z cv‡ib e‡j g‡b K‡ib?
D.2 Post-story questionnaire
1. In what language do you think the story was told?
1. GB MíUv ‡Kvb fvlvq ejv n‡q‡Q e‡j Avcwb g‡b K‡ib?
2a. Where do you think the storyteller is from?
2K. whwb MíUv e‡j‡Qb wZwb †Kv_vKvi †jvK e‡j Avcwb g‡b K‡ib?
2b. What helps you know the storyteller is from that place?
2L. Avcwb wKfv‡e Rv‡bb †h wZwb ‡m RvqMvi †jvK?
3a. Is the storyteller’s language pure?
3K. whwb MíUv e‡j‡Qb Zvui fvlv wK ï×?
3b. If not, in what way(s)?
3L. hw` bv nq, Zvn‡j †Kb?
4a. Is the storyteller’s speech different from yours?
4K. whwb MíUv e‡j‡Qb Zvui fvlv wK Avcbvi †_‡K wfbœ?
4b. If yes, how different? (little, very)
4L. hw` nu v, Zvn‡j KZUzKz wfbœ? (GKUy, A‡bK)
70
5. How much of the story did you understand? (little, half, most, all)
5. Avcwb G MíUv KZUzKz eyS‡Z ‡c‡i‡Qb? (Aí, A‡a©K, †ekxifvM, me)
D.3 Subject biodata questionnaire
Number of interview:
mv¶vrKv‡ii µwgK bs: Date of interview:
mv¶vrKv‡ii ZvwiL: Location of interview:
mv¶vrKv‡ii ’vb:
1. What is your name?
1. Avcbvi bvg wK?
2. How old are you?
2. Avcbvi eqm KZ?
3. Sex of interviewee:
3. DËi`vZvi wj½ cwiPq:
4. Up to what standard have you studied?
4. Avcwb †Kvb †kªYx ch©š— cov‡jLv K‡i‡Qb?
5. What is your occupation?
5. Avcbvi ‡ckv wK?
6. What is the name of the village you are now living in?
6. Avcwb †h MÖv‡g evm K‡ib Zvi bvg wK?
7. What do you call your mother tongue?
7. Avcbvi gvZ…fvlvi bvg wK?
8a. What is your mother’s mother tongue?
8K. Avcbvi gv‡qi gvZ…fvlv wK?
8b. What is your father’s mother tongue?
8L. Avcbvi evevi gvZ…fvlv wK?
9. Where else have you lived and for how long?
9. Gi Av‡M Avcwb Ab¨ †Kv_vq emevm K‡i‡Qb? KZw`‡bi Rb¨?
D.4 Community information questionnaire
Name of village:
MÖv‡gi bvg: Transportation to village:
hvZvqv‡Zi gva¨g:
71
1. What is the location of your village by thana and district?
1. Avcbvi MÖvgwU †Kvb _vbvq I †Kvb †Rjvq Aew¯’Z?
2. How many people and families live in this village?
2. GB MÖvgwUi RbmsL¨v KZ I KZwU cwievi emevm K‡i?
3. What religions are followed here?
3. GLvbKvi †jv‡Kiv †Kvb †Kvb ag© cvjb K‡i?
4. Which languages are spoken as mother tongues in your village?
4. gvZ„fvlv wn‡m‡e †Kvb †Kvb fvlvwU Avcbvi MÖv‡gi †jvKRb e¨envi K‡i?
5. What jobs do people in your village typically do?
5. Avcbvi MÖv‡gi †jvKRb mvaviYZ †Kvb ai‡Yi KvR K‡i?
6. Where is the nearest post office?
6. me‡P‡q Kv‡Qi †cv÷ AwdmwU ‡Kv_vq Aew ’Z?
7a. Can you make TNT calls in your village?
7K. Avcbvi MÖvg †_‡K Avcwb wK wUGbwU †dvb Ki‡Z cv‡ib?
7b. Can you make mobile calls in your village?
7L. Avcbvi MÖvg †_‡K Avcwb wK †gvevBj †dvb Ki‡Z cv‡ib?
7c. If not, where is the nearest place you can make phone calls?
7M. hw` bv cv‡ib, me‡P‡q Kv‡Qi †Kvb RvqMv †_‡K Avcwb †dvb Ki‡Z cv‡ib?
8a. Where is the nearest hospital?
8K. me‡P‡q Kv‡Qi nvmcvZvjwU ‡Kv_vq?
8b. Where is the nearest clinic?
8L. me‡P‡q Kv‡Qi wK¬wbKwU (ev wPwKrmv †K›`ª) †Kv_vq?
9a. Are there government schools in your village?
9K. Avcbvi Mªv‡g wK miKvix ¯‹zj Av‡Q?
9b. If yes, what kinds?
9L. hw` _v‡K, †mwU wK ai‡Yi?
10. Are there any other types of schools or non-formal educational institutions in your village?
10. Avcbvi MÖv‡g wK Ab¨ ‡Kvb ai‡Yi ¯‹zj A_ev DcvbyôvwbK wk¶v cÖwZôvb Av‡Q?
11. How many children in your village go to school? (all, most, half, few)
11. Avcbvi MÖv‡g KZ msL¨K wkïiv ¯‹z‡j hvq? (mevB, †ekxifvM, A‡a©K, Aí)
12. How many girls in your village go to school? (all, most, half, few)
12. Avcbvi MÖv‡g KZ msL¨K †g‡qiv ¯‹z‡j hvq? (mevB, †ekxifvM, A‡a©K, Aí)
72
13. At which standard do most children in your village stop going to school?
13. Avcbvi MÖv‡g †Kvb †kªYx ch©š— ‡jLvcov †k‡l †ekxifvM wkïiv ¯‹z‡j hvIqv eÜ K‡i †`q?
14. In your village, how many students who begin school end up finishing 5th
standard? (all,
most, half, few)
14. Avcbvi MÖv‡g hviv ¯‹zj ïi“ K‡i Zv‡`i g‡a¨ KZRb cÂg †kªYx †kl K‡i? (mevB, †ekxifvM, A‡a©K, Aí)
15. In your village, how many students who begin school end up finishing 10th
standard? (all,
most, half, few)
15. Avcbvi MÖv‡g hviv ¯‹zj ïi“ K‡i Zv‡`i g‡a¨ KZRb `kg †kªYx †kl K‡i? (mevB, †ekxifvM, A‡a©K, Aí)
16. How many people in your village have completed BA or higher?
16. Avcbvi MÖv‡g KZRb we.G. A_ev Zvi †P‡q D”PZi wWMÖx jvf K‡i‡Q?
17. Do you have electricity in your village?
17. Avcbvi MÖv‡g wK we` yr Av‡Q?
18. What is your water source?
18. Avcbvi MÖv‡g cvwbi Drm wK?
19a. Do you listen to radio programs?
19K. Avcwb wK †iwWI †kv‡bb?
19b. If yes, in what language(s)?
19L. hw` nu v, Zvn‡j †Kvb †Kvb fvlvq?
20a. Do you watch TV programs?
20K. Avcwb wK wUwf †`‡Lb?
20b. If yes, in what language(s)?
20L. hw` nu v, Zvn‡j †Kvb †Kvb fvlvq?
73
E. Sociolinguistic questionnaire responses
The following tables display subjects’ responses to the sociolinguistic questionnaire. The
questionnaire itself is in appendix D.1, and the question numbers there correspond with the
numbers given at the top of each table in this appendix. Subject biodata is given in appendix
G.3, and the subject numbers given in the biodata correspond with those in this appendix.
The following abbreviations are used in these tables:
Languages and people groups:
B = Bangla and Bengali
E = English
G = Garo
H = Hajong
Hn = Hindi
Other:
avg = average
DK = does not know
lg = language
MT = mother tongue
N = no
NA = not applicable
R = Roman script
Y = yes
w/ = with
E.1 Language-use responses
Subj.
No.
1a. Lg
use at
home
1b. Lg
use w/ H
friends
1c. Lg use w/
non-H friends
1d. Lg
use for
puja
1e. Lg
use in
market
2. Lg
use
most
15a.
Literate
in H?
15b. In
which
script?
G1 H H H H H, B H N NA
G2 H H B H B B Y B
G3 H H B H B H N NA
G4 H H B H B H N NA
G5 H H B H B H N NA
G6 H H, B B H H, B H N NA
G7 H H B H B B Y, w/
difficulty B
G8 H H B H B H Y B
G9 H H B H B H N NA
G10 H H B H B H N NA
G11 H H B H H H Y B
G12 H H B B B B Y B
P1 H H B H B H, B Y B
P2 B H B B B B N NA
P3 H H B H, B B H Y B
P4 H, B H B B B H Y B
P5 H H B H B H Y B
P6 H H B B B H Y B
P7 H H B H B H N NA
P8 H H B B B H, B N NA
P9 H H B w/ B, G w/ G H B H Y B
P10 H H B H B H Y B
P11 H H B B B B Y, w/
difficulty B
B1 H H B B B B Y B
B2 H H B H B B Y B
B3 H H B B B H N NA
74
E.1 Language-use responses (continued):
Subj.
No.
1a. Lg
use at
home
1b. Lg
use w/ H
friends
1c. Lg use
w/ non-H
friends
1d. Lg use
for puja
1e. Lg
use in
market
2. Lg
use
most
15a.
Literate
in H?
15b. In
which
script?
B4 H H H, B H B H Y B
B5 H H B H B B N NA
B6 H H B H B B N NA
B7 H H B B B H N NA
B8 H H B H B H N NA
B9 H H B B B H Y B
B10 H H B B B H N NA
N1 B B B H B B Y B
N2 H H B H B H N NA
N3 H H B H, B B B Y B
N4 H H B H B B N NA
N5 H H B H B H Y B
N6 H, B H B B B B N NA
N7 H H B H B H Y B
N8 H H B H, B B H N NA
N9 H H B B B H N NA
N10 H H B H, B B H N NA
N11 H H B B B B Y B
N12 B H, B B B, Sanskrit B B Y B
E.2 Bilingualism and language attitudes regarding oral and written-use responses
Subj.
No. 3. Lgs speak
and how well
4.
Best
lg
5. 2nd
-
best
lg
6. Always
say in
2nd
-best?
11. Lg.
mom
should use
16. Script
should
use
17a.
Read in
R script?
17b.
Try to
learn?
G1 B:poorly H B Y H B N N
G2 B:poorly, G:avg,
Hn:poorly H B Y H R N Y
G3 B:poorly H B Y H B N N
G4 B:avg H B Y H B N Y
G5 B:avg, G:well,
Hn:well H B Y H R Y NA
G6 B:poorly H B Y H B N N
G7 B:avg H B Y H B N Y
G8 B:well, G:poorly H B Y B B N N
G9 B:avg, G:poorly H B N H DK N N
G10 B:avg H B Y H DK N DK
G11 B:avg H B Y H B Y NA
G12 B:avg, G:avg H B Y H B Y NA
P1 B:avg, G:avg,
Hn:avg H B Y B B N Y
P2 B:well H, B NA Y H DK Y NA
P3 B:well, G:poorly H B Y H B Y NA
P4 B:avg, G:poorly H B Y H B Y NA
P5 B:well H B Y H B N Y
P6 B:avg H B Y H B Y NA
P7 B:poorly H B N H B N N
P8 B:avg H B N H DK N N
P9 B:well, G:well H B Y H B N Y
75
E.2 Bilingualism and language attitudes regarding oral and written-use responses (continued):
Subj.
No. 3. Lgs speak
and how well
4.
Best
lg
5. 2nd
-
best
lg
6. Always
say in
2nd
-best?
11. Lg.
mom
should use
16. Script
should
use
17a.
Read in
R script?
17b.
Try to
learn?
P10 B:avg H B Y H DK Y NA
P11 B:well H, B NA Y H B N Y
B1 B:well B H Y H
a new one
or modified
B or
Assamese
Y NA
B2 B:well H, B NA Y H B N Y
B3 B:well H B Y H B Y NA
B4 B:well H, B NA Y H B N Y
B5 B:well H B Y H B N N
B6 B:well, H:avg H B Y H B N Y
B7 B:avg H B Y B B little N
B8 B:well H B Y H B N Y
B9 B:well, E:avg,
G:poorly H B Y H B little Y
B10 B:poorly,
G:poorly H B N H B N Y
N1 B:avg B H Y H B N Y
N2 B:poorly H B N H B N N
N3 B:well, G:poorly,
Koch:avg B H Y H B Y NA
N4 B:avg H B Y H DK N Y
N5 B:avg H B Y H B N N
N6 B:well H B Y B B N Y
N7 B:well, E:poorly,
G:avg H B Y H B N Y
N8 B:well H, B NA Y H, B B N N
N9 B:avg H B N H DK N N
N10 B:avg H B N H, B DK N Y
N11 B:well B H Y H, B B Y NA
N12 B:avg H B Y H, B B Y NA
E.3 Language attitudes toward language classes responses
Subj.
No.
18a.
Kids
to MT
class?
18b. Why or why not? 18c. Help how?
G1 Y For education None
G2 Y For education, which will lead to better
jobs.
Tell the kids to go to MT class & explain
its importance.
G3 Y Education is important for job
opportunities. As a group lacking in
education, we are falling behind everyone.
Make certain that children attend the
classes.
G4 Y For MT education. Help them learn.
G5 Y We don't have any other school. Help make sure kids attend the classes.
G6 Y For their good. She could give some time.
G7 Y To learn H. Whatever she can; could give time.
G8 Y To learn H. She could help teach since she knows H.
76
E.3 Language attitudes toward language classes responses (continued):
Subj.
No.
18a.
Kids
to MT
class?
18b. Why or why not? 18c. Help how?
G9 Y To learn. "None, as I'm uneducated."
G10 Y To learn to read & write their own lg. Might be able to give time.
G11 Y It will be easy to learn in MT. As much as he can help.
G12 Y To learn H & to help it thrive. As much as he can.
P1 Y For education as this later on would help
them do further studies.
Cannot give financial help but may give
physical labor.
P2 Y For education & to help decide on a H script,
which will identify them as a separate tribe. As much as he can.
P3 Y Education in H will give us a sense of
pride & help decide about the script. Can't give financial help but can take kids to
class & convince elders of class's importance.
P4 Y Education will give them pride and a
separate identity.
Can't give financial help but can convince
the community people of its importance.
P5 Y For education. Give 1–2 hours.
P6 Y To learn MT. DK.
P7 Y To learn MT. Can't help.
P8 Y They need to learn. As much as he can.
P9 Y To learn to read & write their own lg. By working.
P10 Y To learn H. She'll encourage children to go.
P11 Y To learn their own lg. & alphabet. Give time & encourage others to cooperate.
B1 Y To maintain our MT; otherwise it will be
gone.
Maybe give a little financial help &
physical labor & help teach.
B2 Y To learn an alphabet for writing H. As much as he can.
B3 Y To learn how to write MT. Can’t give financial help but can help
teach.
B4 Y MT education will give them separate
identity as Hajongs.
Tell people of its importance, especially
the kids, & convince them to go to class.
B5 Y For education. Can tell people of its importance.
B6 Y To learn; this will be good. DK.
B7 Y It would be good because it's the lg. they
speak from birth. Whatever way is needed.
B8 Y For development. Whatever is possible.
B9 Y To learn more H. She would help but doesn't know how.
B10 Y For education. DK.
N1 Y To learn their MT. By working.
N2 Y To learn H. By working.
N3 Y To learn their own lg. As much as he can.
N4 Y To learn H. By gathering children to go.
N5 Y It will be good if they can speak H well. By working.
N6 Y To keep our lg. She would help but doesn't know how.
N7 Y For education & to preserve the lg.
because it's getting mixed. Whatever help she can give, she will.
N8 N BRAC is here teaching in H medium but
teaching literacy in B. NA
N9 Y It would be good. DK.
N10 N They already have enough schools. NA
N11 Y This is important for us tribals. As much as she can.
N12 Y To learn MT. As much as he can.
77
E.4 Language-vitality responses
Subj.
No. 9. Any not
speak well?
10. Kids’
1st lg.
12. Kids speak
H well?
13a. Kids speak
other better? 13b. Which?
14. Lg. in
30 years
G1 N H Y N NA H
G2 Y H Y Y B H
G3 N H Y N NA H
G4 N H Y N NA H
G5 N H Y N NA H
G6 N H Y N NA H
G7 N H Y Y B H
G8 N H Y Y B H
G9 N H Y N NA H
G10 N H Y N NA H
G11 N H Y N NA H
G12 N H Y N NA H, B
P1 N H Y N NA H
P2 N H Y N NA H
P3 N H Y N NA H
P4 N H Y N NA H
P5 N H Y N NA H
P6 N H Y N NA H
P7 N H Y N NA H
P8 N H Y N NA H
P9 N H Y N NA H
P10 N H Y N NA H
P11 N H Y N NA H
B1 N H Y Y B B
B2 N H Y N NA H
B3 N H Y N NA H
B4 N H Y N NA H
B5 Y H Y N NA H
B6 N H Y N NA H
B7 Y H Y N NA B
B8 N H Y N NA H
B9 N H Y Y B H
B10 N H Y N NA H
N1 N H Y N NA H
N2 N H Y N NA H
N3 Y H Y N NA H
N4 N H Y N NA H
N5 N H Y N NA H
N6 N H Y Y B H, B
N7 N H Y N NA H
N8 N H Y Y B B
N9 Y B N Y B H
N10 Y B Y Y B H, B
N11 N H Y N NA H
N12 N H Y N NA H, B
78
E.5 Language-dialect responses
Subj.
No.
7a. Speak differ-
ently? 7b. Where?
7c. How
much understand?
8a. Ever
met
Indian H?
8b. From
where?
8c. How
much
understand?
G1 N NA NA Y Assam all
G2 N NA NA Y Meghalaya; Assam all
G3 N NA NA N NA NA
G4 N NA NA Y Tura; Ballath all
G5 N NA NA Y Tura; Shillong;
Ballath all
G6 N NA NA Y Tura all
G7 Y Haluaghat; Tura Haluaghat:
all, Tura: half N NA NA
G8 Y Sherpur; Beltuli;
Manapara all Y Tura; Rongra all
G9 DK NA NA N NA NA
G10 Y west of here all Y Tura all
G11 N NA NA Y
Tura; Garo Bada;
Puthimari;
Mankachar
all
G12 Y
Shaungora; Kula-
gora; Khujhigora;
Arapara; Jhanglia;
Bhalukapara;
Nangolgora
all Y
Tura; Garo Bada;
Rangatari;
Kalupara; Mahendragonj
all
P1 Y
Sylhet; Sherpur;
Haluaghat
Sunamganj
all Y
Lokhinpar;
Guwahati;
Shillong; Tura
all
P2 Y Sunamganj Sher-
pur; Haluaghat all Y Ballath all
P3 N NA NA Y Ballath; Assam all
P4 Y east of Sunamganj all N NA NA
P5 N NA NA Y Tura; Bakmara all
P6 N NA NA Y Betbari all
P7 N NA NA N NA NA
P8 N NA NA N NA NA
P9 N NA NA Y Bosalgri all
P10 Y west of here all Y DK all
P11 Y west side all Y Tura; Araimail;
Dhamor all
B1 Y Koirakori, Sherpur
& Baromari,
Jhinaigati most Y Tura; Arunachal most
B2 Y Sherpur; Shri-
bordi; Nalitabari; Jhinaitgati; Sylhet
all Y Tura; Goalpara;
Garo Bada all
B3 Y Nalitabari; Sylhet all Y Tura most
B4 N NA NA Y Tura; Goalpara little
B5 Y
Indian border
areas; Shivbari;
Sylhet
little NA NA NA
B6 Y western area all Y Tura all
B7 Y Sherpur; Jamalpur most Y Tura little
79
E.5 Language-dialect responses (continued):
Subj.
No.
7a. Speak differ-
ently? 7b. Where?
7c. How
much understand?
8a. Ever
met
Indian H?
8b. From
where?
8c. How
much
understand?
B8 Y south of here little Y Shivbari (3-4 miles
across the border) most
B9 Y west all Y Tura; Dipulipara all
B10 DK NA NA Y Dermail little
N1 Y Durgapur; Deplai;
Bhuinapara all Y Halchati; Nokshi all
N2 N NA NA N NA NA
N3 N NA NA Y Halchati; Deplai all
N4 N NA NA Y Halchati all
N5 Y Durgapur;
Nokshi, India all Y Halchati all
N6 Y DK NA N NA NA
N7 Y Deplai (3 km east) all N NA NA
N8 N NA NA N NA NA
N9 Y Durgapur all N NA NA
N10 Y Bhalukapara;
Jamalpur all N NA NA
N11 Y
older people;
Netrokona; Durgapur
older people:
all, Netrokona
& Durgapur:
most
N NA NA
N12 Y Dhobaura all N NA NA
80
F. Post-story questionnaire responses
The following tables display subjects’ responses to the post-story questionnaire. The story
itself is found in appendix C. The post-story questions are found in appendix D.2, and they
correspond with the numbers given at the top of the table in this appendix. Subject biodata is
given in appendix G.2, and the subject numbers given in the biodata correspond with those in
this appendix.
The following abbreviations are used in this table:
DK = does not know
H = Hajong
lg = language
N = no
NA = not applicable
Y = yes
Subj.
No.
1. Which
lg?
2a.
Storyteller
from
where?
2b.
How do you
know where?
3a. Lg
pure?
3b.
If not,
how?
4a.
Speech
different
from
yours?
4b.
If
yes,
how?
5.
How
much
under-
stand?
L1 H DK NA Y NA N NA little
L2 H east of the
village guessed Y NA N NA most
L3 H eastern
Bangladesh guessed Y NA N NA all
L4 H India speaks
differently Y NA Y little all
L5 H India lg. is different
from ours Y NA Y little all
L6 H Bangladesh lg. is different
from India’s Y NA N NA all
L7 H India by his accent Y NA N NA all
L8 H India
lg. is a little
different from
ours
N
mixed
with
Bangla
Y little all
L9 H DK NA Y NA N NA all
L10 H DK NA Y NA N NA all
K1 H Durgapur lg. is a little
different Y NA N NA all
K2 H Durgapur speech is a
little different Y NA N NA all
K3 H India speaking style
is different Y NA Y little all
K4 H east of the
village
from his
accent Y NA N NA all
K5 H Durgapur from the
pronunciation Y NA Y little all
K6 H Durgapur from his
accent Y NA N NA all
K7 H Koirakori,
Nalitabari
He speaks like
a person from
that region.
Y NA N NA all
K8 H DK NA Y NA N NA all
81
G. Subject biodata
Abbreviations used in the biodata tables are as follows:
Column headings:
Subj. No. = subject number
Educ = education
MT = mother tongue
M’s MT = mother’s mother tongue
F’s MT = father’s mother tongue
Language: H = Hajong
Education: SSC = secondary school certificate
HSC = higher secondary certificate
10 = completed class 10 but did not pass
SSC exam
MSS = Master’s degree
Note: Dates are given as MM/DD/YY
G.1 Wordlist and CIQ informant biodata
W
L
C
I
Q
Date Location
A
g
e
S
e
x
Educ Job M
T
M’s
MT
F’s
M
T
Other
residences and
length
(in years)
X 03/08/05 Gopalbari 32 M HSC teacher H H H
Birisiri:2,
Mymensingh:2,
Durgapur:2, Dhobaura:5
X 03/08/05 Gopalbari 40 M 8 service
holder H H H none
X X 03/09/05 Gopalpur 47 M HSC business
-man H H H
Panchgao:30,
Durgapur:12
X 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 31 M 5 business
-man H H H India:12
X 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 60 M 4 farmer H H H none
X X 03/11/05 Nokshi 36 M 0 rickshaw
driver H H H none
G.2 Recorded story subject biodata
Subj.
No. Date Location
A
g
e
S
e
x
Educ Job M
T
M's
MT
F's
MT
Other
residences and
length (in years)
L1 03/14/05 Gopalpur 58 F 0 housewife H H H Bhobanipur,
Durgapur:15
L2 03/14/05 Gopalpur 35 F SSC teacher H H H Zangailia,
Dhobaura:22
L3 03/14/05 Gopalpur 15 M 10 student H H H none
L4 03/14/05 Gopalpur 18 F 8 housewife H H H Bhalukapara:17
L5 03/14/05 Gopalpur 23 M 9 carpenter H H H none
L6 03/14/05 Gopalpur 70 M 4 farmer H H H none
L7 03/14/05 Gopalpur 40 M 0 hindu
priest H H H none
L8 03/14/05 Gopalpur 47 M HSC business-
man H H H
Panchgao:30,
Durgapur:12
L9 03/14/05 Gopalpur 45 F 0 day
laborer H H H
Zangailia,
Dhobaura:17
82
G.2 Recorded story subject biodata (continued):
Subj.
No. Date Location
A
g
e
S
e
x
Educ Job M
T
M's
MT
F's
MT
Other
residences and
length (in years)
L10 03/14/05 Gopalpur 22 F SSC student H H H Panchgao:6,
Durgapur:10
K1 03/15/05 Nokshi 50 F 1 housewife H H H Koirakori,
Nalitabari:20
K2 03/15/05 Nokshi 40 F 0 day
laborer H H H none
K3 03/15/05 Nokshi 26 M 8 farmer H H H none
K4 03/15/05 Nokshi 40 M 0 farmer H H H none
K5 03/15/05 Nokshi 28 M SSC farmer H H H Tejgaon:3
K6 03/15/05 Nokshi 25 M 8 service
holder H H H Mirpur:10
K7 03/15/05 Nokshi 35 F 0 day
laborer H H H
Koirakori, Nalitabari:9
K8 03/15/05 Nokshi 70 F 0 housewife H H H none
G.3 Sociolinguistic questionnaire subject biodata
Subj.
No. Date Location
A
g
e
S
e
x
Educ Job M
T
M's
MT
F's
MT
Other residences
and length
(in years)
G1 03/08/05 Gopalbari 70 M 5 farmer H H H Borokona,
Kalmakanda:1
G2 03/08/05 Gopalbari 42 M 3 day laborer H H H
Bhobanipur,
Durgapur:9,
Bagmara, India:2
G3 03/08/05 Gopalbari 40 M 0 farmer H H H none
G4 03/08/05 Gopalbari 40 M 8 farmer H H H none
G5 03/08/05 Gopalbari 20 M 3 home-
maker H H H none
G6 03/08/05 Gopalbari 40 F 0 farmer H H H Ranigao (1 km
away):18
G7 03/08/05 Gopalbari 14 F 8 student H H H Chikunbari,
Meghalaya:10
G8 03/08/05 Gopalbari 25 F 8 farmer H H H Ghoragao (2 km
away):12
G9 03/08/05 Gopalbari 50 F 0 farmer H H H Ranigao:15
G10 03/08/05 Gopalbari 30 F 2 farmer H H H Ghoragao:10
G11 03/08/05 Gopalbari 30 M 10 farmer H H H none
G12 03/08/05 Gopalbari 38 M 8 service
holder H H H none
P1 03/09/05 Gopalpur 40 M 7 carpenter H H H Betbari Karnui,
Chengini:20
P2 03/09/05 Gopalpur 47 M HSC tea shop
owner H H H
Panchgao:30,
Durgapur:12
P3 03/09/05 Gopalpur 30 M SSC business-
man H H H none
P4 03/09/05 Gopalpur 18 M 10 un-
employed H H H
Panchgao:4,
Durgapur:10
P5 03/09/05 Gopalpur 18 M 4 farmer H H H none
P6 03/09/05 Gopalpur 15 F 8 student H H H none
83
G.3 Sociolinguistic questionnaire subject biodata (continued):
Subj.
No. Date Location
A
g
e
S
e
x
Educ Job M
T
M's
MT
F's
MT
Other residences
and length (in
years)
P7 03/09/05 Gopalpur 55 F 0 housewife H H H none
P8 03/09/05 Gopalpur 45 M 0 day
laborer H H H none
P9 03/09/05 Gopalpur 45 F 4 farmer H H H Bhobanipur:16
P10 03/09/05 Gopalpur 15 F 8 student H H H none
P11 03/09/05 Gopalpur 35 F SSC teacher H H H Zangalia,
Dhobaura:18
B1 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 30 M SSC tailor H H H none
B2 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 30 M MSS teacher H H H Durgapur:6
B3 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 52 M SSC retired H H H Durgapur:14
B4 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 70 M 4 farmer H H H none
B5 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 60 M 6 carpenter H H H none
B6 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 32 F 0 farmer H H H Tura:11
B7 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 63 F 7 housewife H H H none
B8 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 17 F 9 student H H H none
B9 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 22 F SSC housewife H H H none
B10 03/10/05 Bhalukapara 50 F 0 housewife H H H
Boheratuli
(Ranikong
Mission):16
N1 03/11/05 Nokshi 26 M 8 farmer H H H none
N2 03/11/05 Nokshi 43 M 5 day
laborer H H H
Koirakori,
Nalitabari:33
N3 03/11/05 Nokshi 21 M 8 farmer H H H none
N4 03/11/05 Nokshi 40 M 0 farmer H H H none
N5 03/11/05 Nokshi 42 M 5 farmer H H H none
N6 03/11/05 Nokshi 30 F 0 farmer H H H Koirakori (north of Nalitabari):6
N7 03/11/05 Nokshi 23 F 9 housewife H H H Koirakori:20
N8 03/11/05 Nokshi 28 F 0 housewife H H H
Beltuli (7 km
from
Nalitabari):15
N9 03/11/05 Nokshi 65 F 0 housewife H H H Somochora (4 km
west):30
N10 03/11/05 Nokshi 45 F 4 housewife H H H Koirakori:16
N11 03/11/05 Nokshi 27 F HSC teacher H H H Koirakori:15
N12 03/11/05 Nokshi 27 M SSC service
holder H H H
Jessore:4,
Tangail:3
84
H. Hajong community information
H.1 Bhalukapara
Date: March 10, 2005
Transportation to village: rickshaw east from Durgapur (about 2 hours) or else go to
Dhobaura by bus and then take rickshaw from there
1a. Thana: Dhobaura
1b. District: Mymensingh
2. Population: 25 families, 200 people
3. Religion: Hindu
4. Mother tongue: Hajong
5. Work: farmers, day laborers, carpenters, service holders, teachers
6. Nearest post office: Ghosgaon
7a. TNT: no
7b. Mobile: yes
7c. Nearest phone: NA
8a. Nearest hospital: Dhobaura
8b. Nearest clinic: Bhalukapara mission clinic
9a. Government school: yes
9b. What kinds: primary
10. Non-government education: Roman Catholic mission primary and high school
11. Children who attend school: all
12. Girls who attend school: all
13. Most students complete: class 10
14. Children who finish 5th
: most
15. Children who finish 10th
: most
16. Number who have completed BA: 1
17. Electricity: no
18. Water source: tube-well, river
19a. Radio: yes (a few radios)
19b. Language: Bangla, Hindi
20a. Television: yes (4 TVs)
20b. Languages: Bangla, Hindi
H.2 Gopalbari
Date: March 8, 2005
Transportation to village: rickshaw from Durgapur to Lengura (2.5 hours); walk
from Lengura to Gopalbari (30 minutes); it is faster to go to Lengura via bus/tempo
from Durgapur to Nazirpur.
1a. Thana: Kalmakanda
1b. District: Netrokona
2. Population: 48 families, 175 people
3. Religion: Hindu
4. Mother tongue: Hajong
5. Work: farmers, day laborers, service holders
6. Nearest post office: Lengura
7a. TNT: no
7b. Mobile: yes (with antenna)
85
H.2 Gopalbari (continued):
7c. Nearest phone: NA
8a. Nearest hospital: Kalmakanda
8b. Nearest clinic: Lengura
9a. Government school: no
9b. What kinds: NA
10. Non-government education: primary school up to class 5
11. Children who attend school: all
12. Girls who attend school: most
13. Most students complete: class 8-9
14. Children who finish 5th
: most
15. Children who finish 10th
: half
16. Number who have completed BA: 2
17. Electricity: no
18. Water source: spring, river
19a. Radio: yes (most families have radios)
19b. Language: Bangla, Hindi
20a. Television: yes (five families have TV)
20b. Languages: Bangla, Hindi
H.3 Gopalpur
Date: March 9, 2005
Transportation to village: rickshaw east from Durgapur (about an hour)
1a. Thana: Durgapur
1b. District: Netrokona
2. Population: 50 families, 235 people (total including Bengalis and Garos: 125
families, 600 people)
3. Religions: Hindu (Islam, Christian)
4. Mother tongues: Hajong (Bangla, Garo)
5. Work: farmers, day laborers, mechanics, businessmen, wood sellers
6. Nearest post office: Durgapur
7a. TNT: no
7b. Mobile: yes
7c. Nearest phone: Durgapur
8a. Nearest hospital: Durgapur
8b. Nearest clinic: Durgapur
9a. Government school: yes
9b. What kinds: primary
10. Non-government education: BRAC, CARITAS, and SDA primary schools
11. Children who attend school: most
12. Girls who attend school: most
13. Most students complete: class 5
14. Children who finish 5th
: most
15. Children who finish 10th
: very few
16. Number who have completed BA: 3
17. Electricity: no
18. Water source: tube-well, spring, pond
19a. Radio: yes (most people have radios)
19b. Language: Bangla
86
H.3 Gopalpur (continued):
20a. Television: yes (15 TVs in village)
20b. Languages: Bangla
H.4 Nokshi
Date: March 11, 2005
Transportation to village: bus from Sherpur to Jhinaigati (20 km; 50 minutes); then
tempo from Jhinaigati to Nokshi (6 km); ask for Hajong Para.
1a. Thana: Jhinaigati
1b. District: Sherpur
2. Population: 50 families, 200 people
3. Religion: Sonaton
4. Mother tongue: Hajong
5. Work: farmers, day laborers, weavers
6. Nearest post office: Rangtia
7a. TNT: no
7b. Mobile: yes
7c. Nearest phone: NA
8a. Nearest hospital: Jhinaigati
8b. Nearest clinic: Jhinaigati
9a. Government school: half-government
9b. What kinds: primary
10. Non-government education: BRAC, SDA primary schools
11. Children who attend school: all
12. Girls who attend school: all
13. Most students complete: 3
14. Children who finish 5th
: few
15. Children who finish 10th
: few (5 people)
16. Number who have completed BA: 1
17. Electricity: no
18. Water source: tube-well
19a. Radio: yes (a few radios)
19b. Language: Bangla, Hindi (but can’t really understand)
20a. Television: yes (4 TVs in village)
20b. Languages: Bangla and whatever else is on
87
References
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