Santali language
Santali (ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ, Pronounced: [santaɽi], সাঁওতালি, ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ, सान्ताली) is a Kherwarian Munda language spoken natively by the Santal people of South Asia. It is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari, spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal.[5] It is one of the constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic and the additional official language of Jharkhand and West Bengal per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.[6] It is spoken by around 7.6 million people in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, making it the third most-spoken Austroasiatic language after Vietnamese and Khmer.[5] Santali is characterized by a split into at least a northern and southern dialect sphere, with slightly different sets of phonemes: Southern Santali has six phonemic vowels, in contrast with eight or nine in Northern Santali, different lexical items, and to a certain degree, variable morphology. Santali is recognized by linguists as being phonologically conservative within the Munda branch. Unlike many Munda languages that had their vowel systems restructured and shrunk to five such as Mundari, Ho, and Kharia, Santali retains a larger vowel system of eight phonemic cardinal vowels, which is very unusual in the South Asian linguistic area.[7][8] The language also uses vowel harmony processes in morphology and expressives similar to Ho and Mundari.[9] Morphosyntactically, Santali, together with Sora, are considered less restructured than other Munda languages, having less influence from Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages.[10] Clause structure is topic-prominent by default.[11] Santali is primarily written in Ol Chiki script, an indigenous alphabetic writing system developed in 1925 by Santal writer Raghunath Murmu. Additionally, it is also written in various regional Indian writing systems such as Bengali-Assamese script, Odia script, Devanagari, and the Santali Latin alphabet.[7] NameThe Santals call themselves hɔɽ (lit. 'man') and their language hɔɽ rɔɽ ("language of the Santals"). In North Bengal, the language is known as jaŋli or pahaɽia. In Bihar it is called parsi ("foreign"). The name Santal, in turn, was derived from Sāmanta-pāla ('dwellers of the frontiers') and was used by Bengalis to refer the Santals. L.O. Skrefsrud assumed that Santal was derived from Sãot, name of a place in Midnapore region in West Bengal where the Santals were supposed to have been settled in remote antiquity.[12] In Nepal, the Santali language is known as Satar.[13] HistoryAccording to linguist Paul Sidwell, proto-Munda language speakers ancestral of Santali probably arrived on the coast of Odisha from Indochina about 4000–3500 years ago, and spread before the Indo-Aryan migration to the Chota Nagpur Plateau and adjacent areas.[14]  Santali remained an oral language until the mid-1800s, when European interest in the languages of India led to the first efforts to document it. The language was initially recorded using the Bengali, Odia, and Roman scripts by European-American anthropologists, folklorists, and missionaries such as Jeremiah Phillips, A. R. Campbell, Lars Skrefsrud, and Paul Bodding. Their work resulted in Santali dictionaries, collections of folk tales, and studies on the language’s morphology, syntax, and phonetics. In 1922, Sadhu Ramchand Murmu from Jhargram district of West Bengal attempted to create a Santali script called Monj Dander Ank, but it did not gain popularity. Later, in 1925, Raghunath Murmu from Mayurbhanj district of Odisha developed the Ol Chiki script, which was first publicised in 1939 and eventually became widely adopted.[15][16] The Ol Chiki script is now considered as official script for Santali literature and language across West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand.[17][18] However, users from Bangladesh use Bengali script instead.[dubious – discuss] Santali was included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India for official recognition as a scheduled language in 2003 through the 92nd Amendment Act, granting it the right to be used in government communication, education, and competitive examinations.[19] In December 2013, the UGC, the higher education regulatory body of India, introduced Santali as a subject in the National Eligibility Test (NET), enabling its use for lectureship and as a medium of instruction in colleges and universities.[20] Geographic distributionDistribution of Santali language in the states of India[21]
Santali is spoken by over seven million people across India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, with India being its native country and having the largest number of speakers.[5] According to 2011 census, India has a total of 7,368,192 Santali speakers (including 358,579 Karmali, 26,399 Mahli).[22][23] State wise distribution is Jharkhand (2.75 million), West Bengal (2.43 million), Odisha (0.86 million), Bihar (0.46 million), Assam (0.21 million) and a few thousand in each of Chhattisgarh, and in north-eastern states Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram.[24] The highest concentrations of Santali language speakers are in Santhal Pargana division, as well as East Singhbhum and Seraikela Kharsawan districts of Jharkhand, the Jangalmahals region of West Bengal (Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia districts) and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Smaller pockets of Santali language speakers are found in the northern Chota Nagpur plateau (Hazaribagh, Giridih, Ramgarh, Bokaro and Dhanbad districts), Balesore and Kendujhar districts of Odisha, and throughout western and northern West Bengal (Birbhum, Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly, Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Bardhaman, Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur, Uttar Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts), Banka district and Purnia division of Bihar (Araria, Katihar, Purnia and Kishanganj districts), and tea-garden regions of Assam (Kokrajhar, Sonitpur, Chirang and Udalguri districts). Outside India, the language is spoken in pockets of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions of northern Bangladesh as well as the Morang and Jhapa districts in the Terai of Koshi Province in Nepal.[25][26] Official statusSantali is one of India's 22 scheduled languages.[6] It is also recognised as the additional official language of the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal.[27][28] DialectsDialects of Santali include Kamari-Santali, Khole, Lohari-Santali, Mahali, Manjhi, Paharia.[5][29][30] Being scattered apart in many different pockets in one of the most densely-populated parts of India, Santali dialects are becoming increasingly distinct in phonology, morphology, and lexicon. Reports by R.N. Cust (1878) mentioned four or more dialects, while according to George Campbell, only two main Santali dialects are attested: Northern and Southern. Data gathered by Ghosh (1994) and Kobayashi et al. confirm Campbell's account.[31] Northern Santali speakers are concentrated in Santhal Pargana division (Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur), Hazaribagh, the Singbhum districts of Jharkhand; Purnia and Bhagalpur divisions in Bihar; Malda division, Birbhum, Bankura, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, and Jalpaiguri districts in West Bengal. Southern Santali speakers predominantly live in Southern Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal; Balesore and Kendujhar, and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.[32] According to observation by Ghosh, "In the lexicon SS (Southern Santali) and NS (Northern Santali) are somewhat different, initiated by borrowing from the neighbouring languages. The local borrowings in the two dialects are so high that sometimes one appears to be unintelligible to the other. In certain cases the usage is also different."[33] PhonologyConsonantsSantali has 21 consonants, not counting the 10 aspirated stops which occur primarily, but not exclusively, in Indo-Aryan loanwords and are given in parentheses in the table below.[34]
In native words, the opposition between voiceless and voiced stops is neutralised in word-final position. A typical Munda feature is that word-final stops are "checked", i. e. glottalised and unreleased. Bodding (1929) noted that in the vowel space between an open syllable and a syllable that starts with a vowel, if both vowels are of the same height, approximant /w/ is inserted in between cues of two low vowels, and /j/ for mid-high and high vowels. VowelsSantali has eight oral and six nasal vowel phonemes. With the exception of /e o/, all oral vowels have a nasalized counterpart.
There are numerous diphthongs and triphthongs. Larger vowel sequences can be found, eg. kɔeaeae, meaning 'he will ask for him', with six consecutive vowels.[35] Word prominenceSantali prosody exhibits iambic patterns with stress is always released in the second syllable in most disyllabic words, excepting loan words from Hindi, Bihari, Bengali and Assamese. In trisyllabic words, a process called V2 deletion actively drops the second vowel, turning the supposedly trisyllable into a disyllable consisting of two heavy syllables. Despite that, stress consistently falls on the second syllable. Eg. hapaɽam ('ancestor') → hapˈɽám.[36][10] Vowel harmonyLike all Kherwarian languages, vowel harmony in Santali is a morphological triggered process.[37] MorphologySantali, like all Munda languages, is a suffixing agglutinating language. NounsNouns are inflected for number and case.[38] NumberThree numbers are distinguished: singular, dual and plural.[39]
CaseThe case suffix follows the number suffix. The following cases are distinguished:[40]
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PossessionSantali has possessive suffixes which are only used with kinship terms: 1st person -ɲ, 2nd person -m, 3rd person -t. The suffixes do not distinguish possessor number.[41] PronounsThe personal pronouns in Santali distinguish inclusive and exclusive first person and anaphoric and demonstrative third person.[42]
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The interrogative pronouns have different forms for animate ('who?') and inanimate ('what?'), and referential ('which?') vs. non-referential.[43]
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The indefinite pronouns are:[44]
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The demonstratives distinguish three degrees of deixis (proximate, distal, remote) and simple ('this', 'that', etc.) and particular ('just this', 'just that') forms.[45]
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NumeralsThe basic cardinal numbers (transcribed into Latin script IPA)[46] are:
The numerals are used with numeral classifiers. Distributive numerals are formed by reduplicating the first consonant and vowel, e.g. babar 'two each'. Numbers basically follow a base-10 pattern. Numbers from 11 to 19 are formed by addition, gel ('10') followed by the single-digit number (1 through 9). Multiples of ten are formed by multiplication: the single-digit number (2 through 9) is followed by gel ('10'). Some numbers are part of a base-20 number system. 20 can be bar gel or isi. ᱯᱮ pe (3
× ᱜᱮᱞ gel 10)
or or or
(ᱢᱤᱫ) (mit’) ((1)
× ᱤᱥᱤ isi 20
+ ᱜᱮᱞ gel 10) 30 DerivationTo derive new nominals, the stems of lexical verbs, adjectives, and other nouns can employ many different methods, including affixation, reduplication, and compounding. Suffixation: Two nominalizing suffixes -ic for animate, and -ak for inanimate noun class, are used to form referential nominals.[47] Verbs → nouns: jɔm ('eat') > jɔmak ('food') adjectives → nouns: nɔtɛ ('this side') > nɔtɛn ('belonging to this side') > nɔtɛnak ('thing of this side') / nɔtɛnic ('one of this side') ponɖ ('white') > ponɖak ('white thing') / ponɖic ('white one') suffixes → nouns: ɔl-tɛ (write-INS) > ɔltɛak ('that with which is written(pen)') Infixation is the most productive derivation method in Santali. Infixes -tV-, -nV-, -mV-, -ɽV-, and -pV- are often inserted into nouns, verbs, adjectives to derive new words.[48] ɛhɔp ('begin') > ɛtɔhɔp ('beginning') rakap ('rise', 'ascend') > ranakap ('development') Prefixation in North Munda has been reduced to a very few restricted exceptions.[49] cɛt ('teach') > macɛt ('teacher') VerbsVerbs in Santali inflect for tense, aspect and mood, voice and the person and number of the subject and sometimes of the object.[50] Santali TAMsThere are no specific markers for the Imperative.[51]
Applicative TAMsApplicative voice in Santali is represented by adding the applicative marker -a- to four tenses (Future, Imperfective, Past 1, Perfect) with an additional and rare Past 2 tense in the cases of inanimate objects. The transitive set serve polyvalent predicates, while the intransitive set mark for monovalent ones.
Subject markers
Object markersTransitive verbs with pronominal objects take infixed object markers.
In applicative constructions, inanimate objects are marked with a pronominal suffix, a checked -k. Possessor argument indexingTransitive verbs may form agreements with non-arguments/outside/indirect objects. To denote inalienable possession of the concerned indirect object, prefix -t- is attached to the applicative forms of the pronouns; otherwise it is marked in the noun phrase and functions as an attribute. ako-ge=ko 3PL-EMPH=3PL.SUBJ idi-ke-t-ko-tako-a take-AOR-TR-3PL.OBJ-3PL.POSS-FIN 'They took theirs away themselves.' Dual person as honorificIn specific contexts nowadays, Santali speakers have been increasingly using the pronominal duals to express honorific in a generalized sense to show respect to the addressed interactants, such as senior, highly-regarded, or unfamiliar persons.[52][53] Limitations of Santali indexationIn Santali as well as Kherwarian languages, the pronominal subject markers are highly mobile clitics that tend to attach to the word preceding the verb stem. If the subjects and objects are not considered topical to the discourse and dropped, then the subject marker may appear at the end of the verbal complex. Subbarao & Everaert (2021) and Koshy (2021) categorized Kherwarian subject markers as phrasal clitics, as their functions encompass the entire verbal construction rather than affecting single individual verb. hɔpɔn-iɲ son-1SG dɔ TOP khube-ge-y=e very.much-FOC-y=3SG.SUBJ kəmi-ke-t-tae-tiɲ-a work-AOR-TR-3SG.POSS-1SG.POSS-FIN/IND 'This son of mine worked very much and well for him.' Indexing arguments in Santali is essentially intertwined with the distinction of animacy of arguments. Distinction between animate/inanimate is not marked on nouns at all, but is conveyed through morphosyntax, such as in genitive and locative cases and verbal agreement. That is, if an argument of the verb does not belong to the animate noun class, the verb will not index that argument. Inanimate entities such as flower, tree, rice, book, food,... and objects that cannot move by themselves like vehicles (eg. motorbike, Tesla, airplane) are never indexed by the verb. The following examples illustrate the distinction between inanimate and animate versions of the same noun in two different contexts. Kanehito Kanehito Yamada Yamada Frieren=e Frieren=3SG.SUBJ ɔl-ed-a write-ACT.PROG-FIN 'Kanehito Yamada is writing Frieren (manga).' Frieren Frieren Aura Aura a-jɔ-aka-d-e-a=e CAUS-eat-PRF-TR-3SG.OBJ-FIN=3SG.SUBJ 'Frieren has given Aura to eat (it).' However, there are some notable exceptions of inanimate objects that are significant ('sun', 'moon', 'star') or culturally important ('doll') are considered animate in Santali. Nouns like 'Government' is also considered a single body of animate entities and is marked with third person singular. Even mushroom, thorn being pricked, puff-ball, earwax are perceived as animate and are indexed by pronominal markers as such, showing the unpredictability of the Santali animacy-based indexation system.[54] In negative formations, the negation particle may show indexation of an inanimate subject, while other Kherwarian languages suppress it. ɖɛr tree.branch ba=i NEG=3SG.SUBJ.INAN rapud-kan-a break-IPFV-IND/FIN 'The branch isn't breaking.' ImperativeAs described by Ghosh (2008), there are no specific markers for the imperative series. However, in the affirmative imperative, the indicative/finite marker -a is replaced by second person markers. In the negative imperative, verb (TAM/person-syntagma) takes -a while the imperative subject marker moves to the enclitic position behind the negative particle, right before the verb (See ##Negation). daya-kate show.mercy-CONV ma-ge MOD-FOC oko-baɲcao-ka-ɲ-tabon-pe hide-save-ACT.RES-1SG.OBJ-1PL.INCL.POSS-2PL.SUBJ.IMP 'Please show kindness and hide and save me (for the sake of us)' FinitenessAny finite verbs will attach -a, except the imperative and in the subordinate clause.[55] noa-rɛak this-GEN mit one ʈaŋ CLF kəhəni story ləi-ad-iɲ-a=e tell-ACT.APPL.PST-1SG.OBJ-FIN=3SG.SUBJ 'He told me a story about this.' CausativeThere are two causative markers: a- and -oco. -oco is attached on every type of verb stems, and a- is restricted to two transitive verbs jɔm ('eat') and ɲu ('drink').[56] sɛn-otʃo-daɽe-a-e-a=ɲ go-CAUS-ABIL-ACT.APPL.IPFV-3SG.OBJ-FIN=1SG.SUBJ 'I let/made him come.' PermissiveWhile both the causative and the permissive share the same suffix -oco, the permissive is different as an applicative marker is combined with the causative morpheme, resulting in the shift of the concerned person from the accusative to the dative position. ɲɛl-otʃo-ad-e-tahɛ̃kan-a=ko see-PERM-ACT.APPL.PST-3SG.OBJ-IMPERF-FIN=3PL.SUBJ 'They had permitted him to see.' ReciprocalInfix -pV- turns transitive and ditransitive verb roots into reciprocal meaning, but in many verbs it also conveys that the action is done together by two participants.[57] dal ('beat') > dapal ('beat each other') landa ('laugh') > lapanda ('laugh together') BenefactiveThe benefactive for transitive and ditransitive stems is -ka in Northern Santali dialect and -ka-k in Southern Santali. In Southern Santali, if the object is animate, the last -k will be replaced by pronominal clitics. tɔl ('bind') > tɔlka ('to bind for somebody') tɔl-ka-e-kan-a=e bind-BEN-3SG.OBJ-IPFV-FIN=3SG.SUBJ 'He is binding it(cow) for someone.' Medio-passiveTransitive verbs and a limited number of intransitive and intransitive-transitive verb roots will take -jɔn to form the Medio-passive voice.[58] Passive and ReflexiveTransitive roots, transitive-intransitive roots, and causative stems will take -ok to derive passive stems. In the transitive-intransitive roots, it denotes the prominence of transitivity. Attaching it to transitive verbs will create reflexivity.[58] ɲɛl ('see') > ɲɛlok ('be seen') (passive) ranoco ('cause to medicate') > ranocok ('be caused to medicate') (causative > passive) mak ('cut') > makok ('cut oneself') (reflexive) The intransitive applicative TAM set is also interpreted as expressing reflexivity and used to emphasize the action directed toward the subject themselves. uni He tupri hat ar and aŋgrɔp=e coat=3SG.SUBJ hɔrɔk-akawan-a put.on-MID.APPL.PRF-IND 'He has put on hat and coat.' Nominal verbalisationIn daily speeches, nominal roots can be found functioning as verbs with appropriate inflection. The verbalization of nominals extends to interrogatives and indefinites. Adjectives that are derived from nominals can take inflection as well as person indexation, too. ɔjɔn-ad-e-a=ɲ medicine-ACT.APPL.PST-3SG.OBJ-FIN=1SG.SUBJ 'I gave him medicine.' uni He dɔ TOP am-ak'-kan-a-e 2SG-GEN-IPFV-FIN-3SG.SUBJ 'He is yours.' uni He dɔ TOP dayawan-kan-a-e kind-IPFV-FIN-3SG.SUBJ 'He is kind.' hana that.far.INAN dare tree noa this.INAN dare-ko-khɔn tree-PL-ABL dɔ TOP sɛ̃ɽa-gɛ-a big-FOC-FIN 'That tree is bigger than this tree.' Serial verb constructionsTwo or more verbs and modifiers can combine together to derive a compound verb. Normally they are combinations of two transitive verbs or two intransitive verbs and limited numbers of transitive+intransitive and intransitive+transitive combinations.[59] ɲɛlɲam-led-e-tahɛ̃kan-a=ko see.find-ACT.PLUP-3SG.OBJ-IMPERF-FIN=3PL.SUBJ 'They had seen and found him.' Auxiliary verb constructionsComplex predicates are pervasive in Munda clause structure. In Santali, there are univerbated auxiliary constructions to mark many functions, such as denoting a quick, sudden, or intense action.[60] Santali AVCs exhibit split-doubled pattern: the lexical verb may index the object argument, and the auxiliary verb may index the subject argument. ɲɛl-gɔt-ke-d-e-a=pɛ see-AUX-AOR-TR-3SG.OBJ-FIN=2PL.SUBJ 'You guys suddenly caught sight of him' or 'You guys saw him off/said good-bye to him.' NegationThere are three particles in Santali used to express negation: baŋ, ɔhɔ and alo. baŋ and ba (shortened form) are the negatives for interrogative and declarative sentences; ɔhɔ is the emphatic negative of declarative sentences; alo is the prohibitive negative in the imperative. These negation particles will take away the subject marker from the verb.[61] ba=ko NEG=3PL.SUBJ sap-le-d-e-a catch-ANT-TR-3SG.OBJ-FIN 'They did not catch him.' alo=m PROH=2SG.SUBJ ləi-Ø-a-e-a tell-PRES-BEN-3SG.OBJ-FIN 'Don’t tell him.' SyntaxThe unmarked word order of Santali is SOV, though topics can be fronted.[62] The subject marker may appear enclitic to the verb itself if there is no preceding word. ir-ke-t-ta-e-a=ko cut-AOR-TR-POSS-3SG.OBJ-FIN=3PL.SUBJ 'They have cut his (paddy).' VocabularyIn daily conversations, Santali speakers generally employ high percentages of words of native Austroasiatic/Munda/Santali origins, compared to other Munda languages such as Kharia and Juang. Loan words, mostly borrowed from Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Nepali, Oriya and even English may account for almost 20% of the lexemes of daily needs. Younger generation who have opportunities to engage in higher education tend to be more accustomed with lexical influence from neighboring languages as well as English.[63] See also
References
Works cited
Further reading
Dictionaries
Grammars and primers
Literature
External links Santali edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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