Tiwa : An endangered language of Assam

( A Study with special reference to the prevailing situation in Nagaon and Morigaon districts )

National Seminar on Comparative Study on Boro-Garo group of Languages of N-E India organized by the Dept. of Bodo, Gauhati Unioversity in collaboration with Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore

presented by Dr Biswajit Das Nowgong Girls College Nagaon

1. Introduction: This paper is on the Tiwa language, an endangered language spoken by the Tiwa community of Tibeto-Burman group found primarily in Marigaon, Nagaon, Karbi-Anglong and Kamrup district of Assam. Tiwa is spoken primarily in the district of Marigaon and in some parts of the adjoining areas of Nagaon district.

There are two types of speech varieties of Tiwa known as Hajowali and Datiyali. The inhabitants of the hills are known as Hajowali and those of the plains are known as Datiyali. The Tiwa language is still spoken on the foothills and in some rare villages of the plains. Most of the plains people of the community have gradually shifted to Asamiya. But the hills people of the community have been able to retain their own language and speak Asamiya with competence.

The people of Tiwa are also known as Lalung. The inhabitants of the plains of the Tiwa community are Hindus, but the inhabitants of the hills are mostly Christian.

2. Tiwa, an endangered language: There are many factors that contribute to this condition. Some of these are the small number of speakers, their ages, whether or not children are using the language, the use of other languages regularly in various cultural settings, feelings of ethnic identity and attitude about their language in general, the urban drift of the population, governmental apathy, the language's) used in education, as well as economic intrusion and exploitation. The language may also lack prestige and the passionate support of its speakers. Because of the decreasing number of speakers, many languages are at the risk of falling out of use. If a language loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an endangered language. Some languages may have thousands of speakers, but be endangered because the children are no longer learning them, and speakers are using the local dominant language. The UNESCOs online Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger categorizes 2,500 languages at five levels of endangerment: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct.

The following are the main factors to assess the state of endangerment of a language. The factors are mainly:

F1: Intergenerational language transmission F2: Absolute number of speakers F3: Proportion of speakers within the total population F4: Trends in existing language domains (deals with who speaks the language, when, with whom, and on what topic) F5: Response to new domains and media (mainly concerned with the extent to which the language copes with modernity) F6: Materials for language education and literacy F7: Governmental language policies F8: Community members attitudes towards their own language F9: Amount and quality of documentation Except for F2, all factors are assessed on a scale from 0 to 5, where 5 indicates that the language is safe, used on a regular basis, supported by language policies, etc. F4 deals with those who speak the language, when, with whom, and about what topics. F5 concerns the extent to which the language copes with modernity. Other factors are self-explanatory.

2.1. Intergenerational language transmission (F1): The most commonly used factor in evaluating the vitality of a language is whether or not it is being transmitted from one generation to the next. In case of the Tiwa community, most of the plains Tiwa speak Asamiya in their regular conversations. They do not know the Tiwa language. A very small section of the Tiwa not only speaks the Tiwa language and it is but also speaks Asamiya with competence. Among the speakers of the Tiwa language, there is some inter-generational use of the language. it has been seen that in some villages the younger generations are non-fluent in speech but passive under standers of the language.

2.2. Absolute number of speakers and Proportion of speakers within the total population: According to the 2001 Census reports, the total number of the plains Tiwa are 171000. But the number of the Tiwa speakers amounts only to 26481. According to the 1991 census the number of speakers was 32633(both hills and plains).

The speaker of the Tiwa language (plains) are mainly distributed in the following villagesNambar Gaon Upar Bar Gaon Pachim Nambar Gaon Dakshin Gamari Aati Habi Gaon Hayang Thal Manjoy Gaon Bamuni Bar Lalung Gaon Amsai Tangia Gaon Marjung Gaon Khoapara Bangaon Jugdal(Sona pur) Makaria Dahali Darapani Bengnabari Silsang (Upar Gaon & Guri Gaon) Kronkuchi Dabarghat Sindisar

DeoSal

Sonaikuchi Gobha Gaolia Kalbari Pumakuchi Gegera Balikuchi or Balikungi (Grandparent age) Burha Raja Gaon (Grandparent age)

2.3 Trends in existing language domains(deals with who speaks the language, when, with whom, and on what topic) : The domains of the use of Tiwa are dwindling. For example, communication in the Tiwa language takes place only among such members as know the language. It occurs mainly at home between husband and wife, parents and children and during conversations outside the home area (among the community members).

2.4 Response to new domains and media : New areas for language use may emerge as community living conditions change. While some language communities do succeeded in expanding their own language into the new domain, most do not. If the communities do not meet the challenges of modernity with their language, it becomes increasingly irrelevant and stigmatized.

The Tiwa language is restricted to a single domain (private and social conversation within the community members); it is not used in new domains. Asamiya and English are used in new domains.

2.5 Community members attitudes towards their own language (F8). The maintenance, promotion, or abandonment of non-dominant languages may be dictated by the dominant linguistic culture, be it regional or national. The linguistic ideology of a state may inspire linguistic minorities to mobilize their populations towards the maintenance of their language, or may force them to abandon them. These linguistic attitudes can be a powerful force both for promotion and loss of their languages.

Brenzinger notes that if communities do not meet the challenges of modernity with their language, it becomes increasingly irrelevant and stigmatized. This hypothesis holds true for Tiwa language. The Tiwa people are scattered in different areas of Assam. Asamiya is used by all as a common lingua franca for intra-group communications. In this context it is worthwhile to mention that Moran, has now become extinct as all the speakers of the Moran community have adopted Asamiya as their first language, making a case of total language shift. In the context of Tiwa, it has been already in the process of a language shift. Asamiya is now often and only language spoken on a regular basis at home for most of the Tiwa communities. Economic trends have also accelerated the decline of Tiwa language. Asamiya is needed in all business transactions; it has become associated with upward social mobility, leaving Tiwa language as the language of a stigmatized traditional past. These socio-economic factors affect the speakers attitudes towards their language, a crucial factor for its survival . But the fact is that, A very small section of the Tiwa community is concerned about their language.

2.6 Governmental and institutional language policies, including official status and use (F7): The Constitution of India makes provision for ... free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. The National Policy on Education of 1968 spoke about the regional languages and the three Language Formula. The 1986 Policy reiterated the earlier stand. The States Reorganization Commission had asked the Union Government to elucidate a policy outline for education in mother tongue at the secondary stage. The All India Council for Education recommended the adoption of the Three Language Formula (TLF) in September 1956. The endorsement for this formula came from various directions. It was adopted later at the Chief Ministers conference. According to this proposal, three languages would be taught at the secondary-school level: English, the local language, and Hindi; in Hindi speaking areas, another Indian or European language would be taught. The UNESCOS three basic policies are :

1. The UNESCO supports mother tongue instruction as a means of improving educational quality.

2. The UNESCO encourages bilingual and/or multilingual education at all levels of education as a means of promoting both social and gender equality, and as a prerequisite for linguistically diverse societies.

3. The UNESCO supports language as an essential component of intercultural education as it wishes to contribute to understanding between different population groups and to ensure respect for fundamental rights.

In 2004, The government of Assam approved the teaching of the Tiwa Language as subject up to class IV. Significantly Don Bosco School of Karbi Anglong District also teaches the Tiwa language up to Class IV.

2.7 Amount and quality of documentation (F8) and Materials for language education and literacy (F5). The Tiwa language has no script to write. Assamese and Roman scripts are used in the writing of the language. Nothing has yet to come out in printed letters in the Tiwa Language. All the writings about the language and culture and other materials are published in both English and Asamiya.

2.8 Summary. The following table summarizes the previous discussion.

Factors F1:Transmission Rating 2 Comments A very small section of the community is learning the language as a mother tongue. These speakers have varying levels speakers of speakers fluency. About 15.57% of the total population speakers speaks the language. The domains are limited/dwindling.

F2: Number of total

26483

F3: Ratio of

15.57%

F4: Language domains

F5: New domains

F6: Education

1
2

The language is not used in any new domains.

Literacy rate is not satisfactory. The plains people are more educated than those on the hills In 2004, the language was introduced as a subject to learn in school, up to class IV Most of the people are not concerned about their language. Grammar, dictionary and different customs are documented in Asamiya and English.

F7: Policies

F8: Attitude

F9: Documentation

Table 4: Assessing the language vitality of the Tiwa Language

This results point out that the Tiwa Language is severely endangered.

Concluding remarks: A Sppech community should examine these factors first to assess their language situation and to determine whether action is needed, and if so, what to do next. For this, although all factors are important, the first six listed above are specially useful.

Once a language is appears destined to be endangered, there are two basic steps that need to be taken in order to stabilize or rescue the language. The first is language documentation and the second is language revitalization. Language documentation is the process by which the language is documented in terms of its grammar, its lexicon, and its oral traditions (e.g. stories, songs, religious texts).Language revitalization is the process by which a language community through political, community activities, and educational means attempts to increase the number of active speakers of the endangered language.

I am very pleased to inform you that some process have been taken by the community members themselvs to revive the Tiwa languge. A school has been set up in Morigaon District( Tiwa Bhasa Charcha Kendra) to learn the Tiwa language

and the new generation shows its interest to learn the language. When attitude of the members towards their language is very positive, the language may be seen as a key symbol of group identity. Just as people value community traditions, festivals and community events, members of the community get the strength to assert their and ethnic identity. If the members view their language as hindrance to economic mobility and integration into mainstream society, they may develop negative attitudes toward their language.

We all share the responsibility of ensuring that no language will disappear and that all languages will be maintained and perpetuated into the future generations. The reason why we must fortify the diversity of language is, indeed, captured by a Navajo elder: If you do not breathe, there is no air. If you do not walk, there is no earth. If you do not speak, there is no world. ( Paraphased by Yamamoto from a Navajo elders Words, PBS-TV millenneium series Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, aired on May 24, 1992.)

Bibliography:
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Thank you