HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kannauji is an
Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
spoken in the
Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
region of the
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state of
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. Kannauji is closely related to Hindustani, with a lexical similarity of 83–94% with
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
. Some consider it to be a
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of Hindustani, whereas others consider it a separate Western Hindi language. Kannauji has at least 9.5 million native speakers as of 2001. Kannauji shares many structural and functional differences from other dialects of
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
, but in the
Linguistic Survey of India The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a linguist w ...
it has been added as a variant of
Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Haryana ...
and
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...
. Kannauji has two dialects or variants of its own: Tirhari and Transitional Kannauji, which is between standard Kannauji and
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...
.


Geographical distribution

Kannauji is not a standard dialect of Hindi and can be assumed to be the transitory phase between
Braj Bhasha The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominant ...
and
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...
. Eastern parts are heavily influenced by
Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...
whereas Western districts are Braj speaking. Kannauji is predominantly spoken around the historic town of
Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
in the following districts of the
Ganga-Yamuna Doab ''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...
: *
Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...
*
Kanpur Dehat Kanpur Dehat district is a district in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The administrative headquarters of the district are at Mati- Akbarpur. This district is part of Kanpur division. Kanpur was formerly spelled Cawnpore. History The s ...
*
Kanpur Nagar Kanpur Nagar district, meaning Urban Kanpur District is one of the districts of the Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is a part of Kanpur division and its district headquarters is Kanpur. Kanpur was formerly spelled Cawnpore. Notable People ...
*
Farrukhabad Farrukhabad is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Farrukhabad tehsil. The city is on the banks of river Ganges and is from the national capital Delhi and from the state capital Lucknow. ...
*
Auraiya Auraiya is a city and a municipal board in Auraiya district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. NH 19 passes through the center of the town. Phaphund railway station is nearest Railway Station. Saifai Airstrip is the nearest aviation fac ...
*
Etawah Etawah also known as Ishtikapuri is a city on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Western Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District. Etawah's population of 256,838 (as per 2011 population census) m ...
In the non-Doabi areas, it is spoken in
Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. History The early history of Hardoi is obscure. The name suggests a Bhar, a Dalit caste of ...
, western parts of
Lakhimpur Kheri Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of Lucknow division, with a total area of . The nation ...
and
Sitapur Sitapur is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 90 kilometres north of state capital, Lucknow. The traditional origin for the name is said to be by the King Vikramāditya from Lord ...
districts in
Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
and
Shahjahanpur Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Uttar Pradesh, India. The city is between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. History Shahjahanpur was established by Dil ...
and
Pilibhit Pilibhit is a city and a municipal board of Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-easternmost district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub-Himalayan Plateau belt next to f ...
of
Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (previously Rampur State) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Rampur, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe. Th ...
. A distribution of the geographical area can be found in volume 9 of '
Linguistic Survey of India The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a linguist w ...
' by George A. Grierson. The population of the region is 22,011,017.


Works


Phonology


Consonants


Grammar

There is no published grammar of Kannauji till date, but some of the basic features of Kannauji, which can be observed easily, are as below: Kannauji is a Prodrop language. In such languages pronouns are dropped for the convenience of the speaker. (This feature includes pronouns of WH category, too.) For example, * ''ka: tum huan jaiyo:'' can also be said ''huan jaiyo:''


Word formation processes

Word formation processes of Kannauji are more or less like of Hindi, but some processes of word formation of Kannauji are not found in Hindi. Here are the word formation processes of Kannaiji:


Borrowing words

In borrowing something from other language is taken directly into a language. It is a very common and very productive process of word formation. On the lexical and semantic basis we can divide borrowing in two types:


Lexical borrowing (loan words)

In lexical borrowing a word is directly taken into a language from other language. Lexical borrowing is very common in Kannauji. Sometimes a word is not borrowed as it is. Some phonetic changes are made to it to match the properties of target language. The word is localised for ease of native speakers. For example:


Semantic borrowing (calque)

In semantic borrowing some concept from another language is taken into a language, but the words used to express that concept are made in the target language. In this type of borrowing concepts/words are localised. For example:


Coining

Coining is a less frequent and a less productive word formation process. In coining meaning of a word is extended up to an extent that it starts being used as a category. Here are some examples of coining. *chyawanpra:sh was a product made by Dabur. After that, many other companies launched their similar products. The name of chyawanpra:sh became so popular that now every such product is known as chyawanpra:sh. * pachmo:la: When Vaidyanaath launched its digestive tablets it named them pachmo:la:. This product became so popular that afterwards all such products are known as pachmo:la:.


Word formation by addition

In Kannauji new words are formed by inflection old words, too. According to different properties this process is divided into two main types:


Inflection

In inflection a new word is formed from an old word by adding something in it. It is the most common process of word formation in Kannauji. This process is category specific. The grammatical category of a word remains same even after inflection. For example: -ini ladka + '-ini' = ladkini (boy) (girl) Here '–ini' is used to make a feminine form of the word ladka. Here is another example of inflection: sangi + '-ini' = sangini (mate- male) (mate- female)


Derivation-

In derivation, too, new words are formed by old words using affixes. This is a very common process like inflection. There are three types of affixation found in Kannauji.


= Prefix

= In this type of affixation an affix is inserted initially in a word. *‘ap-’ 'ap-' + jash → apjash (evil) (fame) *‘par-’ 'par-' + dosh → pardo:sh (others) (defects) ‘ap’ and ‘par’ are prefixes here. New words are being formed by adding them to two old words ‘jash’ and ‘dosh’.


= Suffix

= In this type of affixation an affix is inserted at the end of a word; this way a new word is formed. *‘-aevo’ dikha:na: + -aevo → dikhaevo (showing) rakhna: + -aevo → rakhaevo (keeping) *‘-pan’ apna + -pan → apno:pan (self)


= Infix

= In this type of affixation an affix inserted somewhere in the middle of the word. *‘-la-’ dikh aevo: + -la- → dikhlaevo: (showing)(making something show by some other person) *‘-va-’ hasa evo: + -va- → hasavaevo: (to make laugh)(causing people laugh by some other person)


Blending

Blending is the process in which parts of two words (which are already present in that language) are joined to make a new word. choti: + bit͜ti: →chotit͜ti: (small) (girl) badi: + bit͜ti: →badit͜ti: (big) (girl) bade: + dad͜da: →badid͜da: (big) (brother)


Compounding

In compounding two words are stringed together to form a new word. This process is a common word formation process. This type of formation process is used more by educated persons. For example: guru + ghantal = gurughantal Here gurughantal is made by stringing guru and ghantal and the meaning referred by the stringed word is reflected by the words. Although it is not necessary in every condition. For example: am͜ma aur dad͜da → am͜ma: dad͜da:


Conversion

Conversion is a very productive but less frequent process of word formation. In this process a word starts being used as another word (having some similar properties). In this process a word of some grammatical category starts being using as word of other grammatical category, too. Here are some examples of conversion. *wao: baura: hai (He is a moron) *baurane: kahe: hau: dadda: (Why are you behaving like a moron?) Baura is an abstract noun. In the first sentence baura: is used as an abstract noun. After conversion it started being used as a verb also, as in the second sentence.


Suppletion

In suppletion another relative form of a word is formed without any morpho-phonological similarities with the previous one. These forms do not relate morphologically or phonologically. For example: ja:t and gao: ja:t - ham ja:t hai gao: - wao gao: hato ‘ja:t’ is present participle for very ‘go’ whereas ‘gao:’ is the past participle form.


Reduplication

Reduplication is a very common process of word formation in Kannauji. Most of the reduplicated forms are made by adjectival and nominal words. This is not a productive type of word formation process; instead it adds stylistic effect in conversation. For example: ghare-ghare Here ghare is formed following the word ghare so it is an example of reduplication.


Echo formation

Echo formation is a similar process to reduplication. In echo formation, a similar-sounding word is made from nominal and adjectival. There is no logic behind why this formation is done but it increases the stylistic effectiveness of conversation. For example: tasla-wasla Here wasla, a similar-sounding word is formed after word tasla so it is an example of eco formation process. Some other examples are * haldi-waldi * ata-wata


Metaphoric expansion-

In metaphor a word is objected on another one because of some similarity. In metaphoric expansion a word is used in different situations and environments due to one similar quality. The meaning of a word is expanded metaphorically in this word formation process. For example: dama:d → sarka:r ko dama:d dama:d is a person who is preferred very much in his/her in-laws family/house. So sarka:r ko dama:d is used to refer a person who is favoured very much by government. Here is another example of metaphoric expansion- shekhchil͜li: → gao ke shekhchil͜li:


Onomatopoeic words

Onomatopoeic words are supposed as absolute or original words. They sound like the actions and things they are related to. For example: * khatar-patar It is a sound made by friction of two heavy objects. * dhum-dhama:ko: It sounds similar to firing something. * satar-patar


References


Further reading

# http://www.sumania.com/lang/allindi4.html # # Dwivedi, P., & Kar, S. (2017). On documenting low resourced Indian languages insights from Kanauji speech corpus. ''Dialectologia: revista electrònica'', (19), 67-91. https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Dialectologia/article/view/328489 #Dwivedi, P., & Kar, S. (September 2016). SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND PHONOLOGY OF KANAUJI. In ''International Conference on Hindi Studies''. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pankaj_Dwivedi4/publication/308198142_Sociolinguistics_and_Phonology_of_Kanauji/links/57ea51bd08aed0a291332dc2.pdf #Dwivedi, P. &Kar, S. (2018). Phonology of Kanauji. In Sharma, Ghanshyam (Eds.) Advances in Hindi Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1). 189-220. Germany: Lincom Europa. {{Central Indo-Aryan languages Hindi languages Languages of Uttar Pradesh Kannauj