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Chapter-: 4-
Deori-Tiwa-Assamese: A Lexico Semantic Study
4.0. Introduction
Semantic domains play an important role in language maintenance. While language shift
is a widely occurring phenomenon, the domain usage of lexemes determines whether that
a language is going to sustain or not in the long run. If a language sees a huge impact of
borrowing, loan words, other linguistic aspects of lexicon and on the syntactic structure
from its surrounding dominant language, the language has to confront serious
competition for survival. This chapter deals with some important semantic domains and
their fields which are basically used in day to day conversation. The motive here is to
check whether the speakers of Tiwa and Deori are able to retrieve the right lexicon for
these domains and field or not. The discussion will also take in to account the degree of
lexical replacement by Assamese lexicon in the form of borrowings. Apart from this the
study also looks into the matter of domain loss in the context of various semantic fields.
The entire discussion is ordered in the following pattern.
1. Theories of Semantic domain
2. Analyses of the selective semantic domains for Tiwa and Deori languages:
a) Objects in the sky
b) Stages of life
c) Emotion
d) Physical action
e) Location
3. Conclusion:
4.1. Semantic Domain
103
The predominant view in lexical semantics is the Saussure's structural semantics (de
Saussure: 1922) claiming that a word meaning is determined by the 'horizontal'
paradigmatic and 'vertical' syntagmatic relations between that word and others in the
whole language (Lyons: 1977). The Semantic Fields Theory (Trier, 1931) goes a step
further in the structural approach to lexical semantics by introducing an additional
aggregation level and by delimiting to which extend paradigmatic relations holds. The
basic assumption of this theory is that the lexicon is structured into Semantic Fields:
semantic relations among concepts belonging to the same field are very dense, while
concepts belonging to different fields are typically unrelated.72 In fact a word meaning is
established only by the network of relations among the terms of its field. Another
property of great interest is that there exists a strong correspondence among semantic
fields of different languages, while such a strong correspondence cannot be established
among the terms themselves.73 The structuralist approach in semantics has been
connected to the meaning-in-use assumption introduced by Ludwig Wittgenstein in his
celebrated 'Philosophical investigations' (Wittgenstein: 1965). A word meaning is its use
into the concrete 'form of life' where it is adopted, i.e. the 'linguistic game' in
Wittgenstein's terminology. Frequently co-occurring words in texts are associated to the
same linguistic game. It follows that fields can be identified from a corpus based analysis
of the lexicon, exploiting the connections between linguistic games and semantic fields
already depicted. The notion of semantic domain arises from this convergence, providing
an objective criterion to identify semantically related words in texts, supported by a
lexical coherence assumption.74
Lexical semantic domains are used to describe the paradigmatic relationship between one
lexical item and other items that belong to the same category. A contextual semantic
domain corresponds to what cognitive linguistics describes as a cognitive frame or
cognitive context. It focuses on the syntagmatic relationships between a lexical item and
other lexical items that are used in the same context or cognitive frame. A semantic
domain may be constituted with a number of semantic fields. "A Semantic field is an
72 Gliozzo, Alfio Semantic Domains and Linguistic Theory, P.l n Ibid. P.2 74 Ibid. P.3
104
attempt capture a more integrated, or holistic, relationship among entire sets of words
from a single domain."75 But not necessarily all the lexicon belong to same semantic
fields would be etymologically related to each other. Since, "Etymology is concerned
with determining the synchronic or the diachronic identity of words. Identification has
traditionally involved the phonologically lawful association of sounds and combinations
of sounds through time. However, the semantic identity of cognates has been established
on the basis of lexical definitions and on researchers' intuition about the adequacy of
proposed semantic relationship (Malkiel 1968: 352)."
Synonyms are words with identical or similar meanings. While substitutions between
some pairs of words like car/automobile, big/large, tall/high or water/H20 are truth
preserving, the words still give slightly different contextual meaning rather being
identical. Indeed, no two words are found which are absolutely identical in meaning, and
if we define synonym as identical meanings and connotations in all contexts, because of
this reason there cannot be absolute synonyms. The different facets of meaning which
distinguish these words are important besides propositional meaning. In practice the
word synonym is therefore commonly used to describe a relationship of approximate or
roughly similar in meaning. Although, in a specific environment one word is better fixed
than its synonymous counterparts, or may be to some extent they are rigidly
contextualized, more the number of synonymous words better for the semantic health of
the language. The proposed study will also try to capture the synonymous words both in
Tiwa and Deori.
Describing meaning only by a single-word translation is of limited value, because, as
theorists like Zgusta ( 1984) have pointed out, equivalence is asymmetric: word meaning
cannot always be precisely rendered by a matching word in another language. 76
Consequently, a number of alternative translations are often offered, cumulatively giving
an approximation of the meaning. However, it is not enough to give multiple
translations. As Adrados ( l977b: 261) notes, a semantic and lexicographic study must
75 Jurafsky, Daniel and Martin, James. H, Speech and Language Processing: An introduction to NLP. computational linguistics and speech recognition. 76 Cited in Fraser, B.L. Beyond definition: Organizing semantic information in bilingual dictionaries.P.2
105
provide data to distinguish between those translations. The organisation of the entry may
sometimes be enough to show (implicitly) how the senses interrelate.77
Geeraerts (1997: 17) has provided two concepts witht regard to meaning of the name and
the reality. He has distinguished the ideas of Onomasiology and Semasiology by
asserting that 'onomastics has to do with the way names are associated with bits of
perceived reality taking into consideration salient aspects of that reality in a given time
and space. Semasiology deals with meaning in just the opposite way. In Semasiology a
word is analysed for the meanings it may represent and the way those meanings may
change. Onomastics has to do with initial processes, semasiology with results' .78
4.2. Analyses of the selective semantic domains for Tiwa and Deori languages
Semantic domains refer to a specific place or area where the ingredients of that area
share a set of meanings, some common characteristics within that given context. All
languages have their own body of lexicon in a certain domain. A concept or any physical
entity is being represented in a language through a lexeme or may be a set of lexicon.
More the number of lexemes for one idea/entity, there is lesser the vulnerability of
getting endangered of that particular _language. It indicates the usage of more number of
functional lexemes in that particular domain. When a language starts losing its lexicon
and getting replaced by other dominant language, it implies that that language is on the
verge of endangerment.
In this section, five semantic domains namely 'objects in the sky', 'stages of life',
'emotion', 'physical action' and 'location' have been taken for explanation. While
choosing these domains, it was taken into consideration that lexemes represented in these
domains should readily come to the minds of the speakers and the frequency of those
lexicon is also assumed to be more than other domains. Since these domains are very
common in nature, any human language cannot do away with the above mentioned
77 Cited in Fraser. B.L. Beyond definition: Organizing semantic information in bilingual dictionaries.P.2 78 Hart, D. The Semantic development of the Cognates Russian 'komhama' room -English 'chimney' P.3.
106
domains and their respective lexical items. If a language is reported to miss out these
lexical entities, there might be excessive use of borrowings and eventually this would
lead to taking over the language by respective dominant language. Here, the issue of
language endangerment arises.
Tiwa and Deori speech communities are small speech communities m terms of
population and are surrounded by Assamese speech community and other languages
along with English and Hindi which take centre stage in imparting education to the
children of these two language communities. The motive of the study was to check
whether the speakers of these two languages do use their indigenous lexical items or not.
The reason for taking up Assamese lexicon for comparison is that the speakers of these
two languages have to remain in constant touch with Assamese speakers in their day to
day activities and they are equally fluent in Assamese. This way there are huge
incorporations of Assamese borrowings in their language. Following domains will
extrapolate this assumption.
4.2.1. Objects in the sky
From time immemorial, human beings have been witnessing different entities of the sky,
such as Sun, Moon, Stars, etc. In fact all these entities have become part and parcel of
day to day life for every community. Prior to the extensive scientific discoveries, people
had even worshipped them considering God and goddess and savior of mankind.
Accordingly, these objects in the sky are given different names, and have been observed
meticulously to solve the mystery of the nature. Different language communities give
different nomenclatures for different objects in the sky and their movements.
1. Words refer to the objects in the sky:
107
Assamese7l) Tiwa~m DeorilS 1
akaxm:Jnd:Jl No pis;)im::mdJI
Observation: Tiwa has lost the generallexeme to represent
all the objects in the sky in totality or it may lack the lexeme.
2. Words refer to the study of the objects in the sky:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jyotirbidya No jyotirbidya
Observation: Almost all human tribes devote time to study
astronomy according to the standard and norms of their
education, believe and tradition. Not necessarily it will be
always a scientific study; it may be based on superstition
which is very much predominant among the illiterate tribal
communities live in remote areas. So does the name referring
to this study sure to exist. But the above data have shown
that Tiwa lacks the lexical item for it and Deori has
borrowed the same from Assamese language.
3. Sun: In this field the words related to the Sun and its movements were
searched. The intension was to find out the words which are mundane in nature and
secondly whether the speakers of Tiwa and Deori do use their lexicon or not in their
day to day conversation. The assumption is that if they are able to provide all the
words, they are not losing their lexicon, if they are using L2 lexicon to represent those
ideas, their language would moving towards the conversion with L2.
3.1. Words refer to the sun:
79 Nath, Arup Kumar/ Age 27/Pursuing PhD/15-01-2009 80 Deori, Guren (informant) I Age 43/ BA pass/18-01-2009 81 Deori. Chandra Singh (informant) /Age 811 Matriculate/25-01-2009
And Deori, Babuson (informant) Age 62/Senior Secondary/20-01-2009
108
Assamese
xurjy:J, beli,
adity.7, r.Jbi,
xuruj, dibak.Jr,
din.Jm.Jni
Tiwa
sal
Deori
sa
Observation: Sun is the epicentre of all natural objects in the
sky. There are lots of myths associated with Sun eulogizing
and worshipping the Sun God. Languages normally have
many lexemes referring to Sun. In the table, Assamese
language has shown many lexical items to represent Sun. But
Tiwa and Deori have revealed just two items for Sun which
share some phonetic similarities. This shows that these two
languages are genetically related to each other and have lost
the other lexical items in due course of time if they existed.
3.2. Words refer to the rising of the sun:
Assamese
xurjyod:Jy, puwa,
dh.Jlphat, udit
Tiwa
sal naid::>,
phUfUIJ
Deori
sa higaruba,
siga
Observation: Languages normally show a set of words to
describe the rising of the Sun. It may be a compound form of
lexeme describing 'sun' and 'rising' like xurjyod:Jy in
Assamese language or the time period referring morning
when the sun rises. To refer this domain Tiwa and Deori
languages represent 'Noun (Sun)+ Verb (rise)' structure as
well as two other words to refer to 'morning' time. They
have shown only two lexical items in this context.
109
3.3. Words refer to the setting of the sun:
Assamese Tiwa
xurjyasty:J, s:Jkaduba, sal k:Jid:Jik:owa
x:Jndhya, beli p:Jril,
beli duba
Deori
sa dubirum
Observation: Like the rising of the Sun, languages have
different lexemes to represent the process of 'the setting of the
Sun'. Assamese shows a series oflexemes describing this
phenomenon. But Tiwa and Deori give just limited number of
lexemes in this context. Here the structure is 'N + V'. In case
of Deori language, the verb form dubi itself is a borrowing
from Assamese language.
3.4. Words describing when the sun is shining:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
din, r:Jd sal thaid:J sau, sadu
Observation: The Tiwa structure for this semantic field is 'N
+ V' while Deori actually gives the time period representing
when the Sun is shining like the way it is found in Assamese
language.
3.5. Words describe when or where the sun doesn't shine:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
saya, sayagh:Jn, sJyan, say:J-gr:Jh::ln
kh· g:Jr.? , za sa, salja satring
xurjy:Jgr:Jh:Jn, saduja
110
xurjy:Jbihin,
xurjy:Jr lukabhaku
Observation: This phenomenon has various lexical items in
Assamese language, but Tiwa and Deori give a limited
number of lexemes in this context. In the Deori word say.J-
gr:JhJn the latter part is taken from Assamese which means
'eclipse'. Both the languages seem to have borrowed lexeme
from Assamese languag{:.
3.6. Words refer to the light of the sun:
Assamese
r:Jd, kas:Jli,
xurjy.Jr rey.Jni,
belir poh:Jr,
belir abha,
kir:Jn, r:Jdali
Tiwa
sal naiJa
Deori
sadu
Observation: The general understanding for this semantic
field is that every language should have more than one
lexeme to represent it. Although these are synonymous in
character, but context dependent. Assamese shows a series of
lexicon for this semantic field, but Tiwa and Deori have
displayed just one lexeme each.
3.7. Words describing the brightness of the sun:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
roudrujj:Jl sal na!Jd::>/phaiJd::> sa dagajiba
Ill
Observation: For this semantic field Tiwa and Deori both
represent their lexical items by using the lexemes for Sun as a
modifier. But Assamese language represents it through an
independent word for this semantic field.
3.8. Words describing the damage done by sunlight:
Assarnese Tiwa Deori
r:Jde pora, sal khama sa nidani
m:Jr:Jha,
r:Jde d:Jha
Observation: This semantic field is also represented by one
word each both in Tiwa and Deori with the word Sun as
modifier.
3.9. Words used to tell time by the sun:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
dokmokali(dmvn), phUruiJ (morning) siga (morning),
puwa (morning), diph:)f(noon) saku (evening),
dup:Jria(noon), bhatibela( afternoon) g::>dhuli (evening) ,
bh:Jr dup:Jriya(noon), h::>r( evening) dup::>ria (noon)
abeli(evening), siri (night)
g:Jdhuli(evening),
x:Jnd)a(evening),
x:Jndhiya(evening),
beli bhiuwa(erening).
112
Observation: This sub-field is one of the predominant areas relating
to Sun and its movement. Assamese language has a set of words to
represent the time according to Sun's various positions in the day.
Similarly, Tiwa and Deori have also shown different lexemes to
represent the major breaks of time in the day.
4. Moon: This field tries to attract all the words associated with moon, its
natural movements, how it is being represented in various positions etc.
4.1. Words refer to the moon:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
. h d JOn, c .Jn r.J, JOlla! tya
c".Jndr:Jma, jonbai,
Observation: The Moon has always been the centre of all
traditional myths for all human communities. Languages
have various attributions for Moon. Assamese is also no
exception. But, surprisingly, Tiwa and Deori have just one
word each for Moon. Most strikingly, the Tiwa word is a
borrowing word from Assamese.
4.2. Words used when the moon is shining:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jonak, jonaki rati, jonali jonai plaiJd:~ iya dagaba
Observation: In this sub-field, Assamese has shown phonetically
similar synonymous words with suffixal derivation. But Tiwa
and Deori use the lexemes for 'moon' as modifiers ofthe verb
'shining'.
113
4.3. Words used when or where the moon doesn't shine:
Assamese
jonakbihin
ch:Jndr:J gr:Jh:Jn,
auxi, m:Jr auxi,
ghop m:Jra andhar,
:Jmab:Jsya,
Tiwa
jonai ja,
jonai said::>
Deori
iya higaya
iya gr::>h::>n
Observation: The words represented in this context are
mostly used in literature as imagery or simile. But Tiwa and
Deori have shown very limited set of words. The assumption
here would be either they have lost those lexemes or stopped
using them in the conversation. In Deori, to express
'eclipse', it has borrowed the lexeme from Assamese
language.
4.4. Words refer to the light of the moon:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jonak, jonaki, jonai plaiJd::> No
jonali
Observation: The data clearly say that Deori has lost the
word to refer to this semantic field.
4.5. Words refer to the rising of the moon:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jon utha jonai naid::> iya xigaharuba
Observation: All three languages use 'N + V' structure to
114
express the lexeme for this semantic field.
4.6. Words refer to the setting of the moon:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jon para, jon duba jonai bidJ iya khuguruba
Observation: This phenomenon is also expressed through 'N
+ V' structure.
4.7. Words refer to the phases of the moon:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
kasijon (the first duguju xigaruba iya,
moon) Jmab;)isya purnima,
pr:Jtip.Jd, dwitiya,
tritiya, S:Jturt"i,
h . h· p.JflC .Jml, X:JSt l,
x.Jpt:Jmi, :JSt:Jmi,
mb:Jmi, d:Jx:Jmi,
ekad:Jxi, dwad:Jxi,
tr.Jyud.Jxi, s:Jturd.Jxi,
purnimahmab:Jsya
Observation: The Assamese fortnight has fifteen separate names
for each day according to the size and brightness of the moon,
whereas Tiwa has just two words for 'full moon' and 'completely
no moon' and both of them are borrowings from Assamese
language. Although, Deori has also borrowed these two lexemes
from Assamese, it has still remained the expression to refer to the
115
J 'first day moon'.
5. Star: Stars form another important field of the domain 'objects in the sky'.
Field like this one is a universal field. All languages must have their lexical
representation to describe this field.
5.1. Words used to refer to the stars:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
t.Jra, t:Jrali t::>ra, phunt::>ra, phund::>ra t::>ra, jeti t::>ra
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori languages use the Assamese
representation of the lexeme star. But they still retain their own
lexicon as well.
5.2. Words describing the sky when the stars are shining:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
t:Jramli phunt::>ra naid::> jeti daga jiruba
Observation: The Assamese word is derivative adjective, but
Tiwa and Deori express this semantic field with the help of
verb 'shining'.
5.3. Words used when or where the stars don't shine:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
t:Jra-bihin phunt::>ra ja jeti ja, t::>ra ja
Observation: In all three languages, the idea was conveyed
with the help of negative expression such as bihin in
Assamese and )a in Tiwa and Deori.
116
5.4. Words refer to the light of the stars:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
tirbir.Jni phunt::>ra j::>led::> jilik jalak
Observation: The Deori wordjilikjalak is actually an
expressive morphology in Assamese language which means
glittering, but not necessarily it refers to only the light of the
star. This is a borrowing from Assamese, but it doesn't have
'field to field' correspondence. In Assamese this same
expression is synonym but used in different context. Tiwa
expresses it with the help of 'shine' verb along with it.
5.5. Words refer to a group of stars:
Assamese
t.Jram:Jnd:Jl,
t.Jrabor,
tar:Jkarajy:J,
tar:Jkam:Jnd:Jl,
hatip:Jti,
Tiwa Deori
hatip::>ti,
xatbhai k::>kai
Observation: Assamese shows a series oflexemes to denote
this semantic field, but Tiwa merely expresses it by adding
the plural classifier rau with the lexeme, whereas, Deori
explains this field with the help of imageries where the first
one means 'the road taken by the mystery elephant (the
milky way in English context)' and the second one says 'the
seven brothers'. But all these expressions are borrowed from
117
I Assamese language.
4.2.2. Stages of life
This semantic domain is used to collect the lexemes representing different stages of life,
names for various phases etc. Human beings are the prime area of study or discussion in
all languages and while doing so the speakers are bound to refer them with various
lexemes. Let us consider the following Tiwa and Deori lexicon for this domain.
1. Words refer to the time periods of a person's life:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jiv:Jn p.Jrjay No m::>si::> x::>m::>i
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori languages seem to lose
the independent lexical item for life. Although Deori put in
to words this concept through a clausal expression where
m:Jsb denotes female in general which is a Deori lexeme and
the lexeme x:Jm:Ji means time in Assamese language.
2. Words refer to the entire period of time a person lives:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jiv;m, jiv:Jn kal, ajiv:Jn jiv::>n m::>sb jiv::>n
Observation: Tiwa and Deori both borrowed equivalent
lexeme from Assamese to express this semantic field in their
languages.
3. Words refer to the life cycle of a person:
118
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jiv:Jn s:Jkr:J, jiv.Jn bitr.J jiv:m ph:)r No
Observation: Tiwa has borrowed the lexemes from Assamese
to represent this semantic field whereas the Deori word
remains untraced.
4. Baby
4.1. Words refer to a very small child:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
kesua, bnmani, xixu thegela giriri-m:)isa
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori refer to this semantic field
in one lexeme each.
42 Words refer to the time period when a person is a baby:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xixu-kal brkhia ph:)f, thegela ph:)f ffi:)ISa p:)r
Observation: All the three languages here show the same structured
lexemes, while the p:Jr is Assamese borrowing which means time.
4·3
· The sounds babies make:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
blbla kh:)Jkh:)laid:) ffi:)isa kelkelari
Observation: All the three languages show the evidences for
reduplication to explain this semantic field. Tiwa uses the
borrowed form from Assamese, while the Deori kelkela can
119
also be traced in some non-standard varieties of Assamese
such as Darrangia, Kamrupia variety.
s. Care for a baby
s.1. Words refer to feeding a baby:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
ahar khuowa, piyah k\wwa s;:, khuwawa suhareba, hareba
Observation: The Tiwa verb for 'feed' is a clear borrowing from
Assamese, while Deori is still retaining the lexemes in this context.
5·2· The way babies are carried:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
kolat lowa/bba kh;:,r;:,j;:, laua sekuhJ laba
Observation: Here also the verb has been borrowed from
Assamese language in both Tiwa and Deori.
5·3
· The place babies are kept:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
/ulna kubai laua, pag;)l laua teliiJ betiiJ,
imarihJ barba baga duruba
Observation: Since, the mothers of North East Hill Tribes are used to of
using various tools and techniques to keep their babies safe while they are
working either at home or in the field, this field shows a series of lexical
items both in Tiwa and Deori.
120
6. Child
6·1. Words refer to a child (from birth to puberty):
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xixu, kixorli, kh::>r::>la, mJisa m::>ji,
s:Jru l:Jra!sowali pan thai, deka sakati
k:~mman kJrkhia
Observation: This sub-field is well represented in both Tiwa
and Deori languages.
6·2· Words refer to the time period when a person is a child:
Assamese Tiwa Deori r------x.Jix.Jb, bixor, baly:Jkal kh::>r::>la ph::>r, brkhia ph::>r suru p::>r
x.Jrukal
Observation: Here, in both Tiwa and Deori the word p:Jr is a borrowing
from Assamese and in Deori suru is also derived from Assamese word
x:Jru which means small.
7. Youth:
?.1. Words refer to a youth (between puberty and adulthood):
Assamese Tiwa Deori
yub:Jk, yub:Jti, pan thai mtra
dekalora, kh::>rla mirasi,
deka, ji.Jri, dekaji::>ri
sevelia,
121
I I Observation: Assamese offers a series of lexical items in this
context, but Tiwa and Deori offer just two indigenous words
each. Deori borrows deka jbri from Assamese language.
7·2· Words refer to the time period when a person is a youth:
.Assamese Tiwa Deori
dekaka.l, joub:mkal, kh::>r::>la ph::>r, mira p::>r, mirasi p::>r,
gabh;;rukal k::>rkhia ph::>r deka kal, jiy::>ri kal
Observation: This sub-field also gives ample lexicon in both
Tiwa and Deori languages along with borrowings such as
p;;r, ph;;r (with !pi aspiration in Tiwa), deka kal, jiy;;ri kal from
Assamese language.
s. Adult
s.1. Words refer to an adult:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
purux, prapt;;b;;y;;sb/a, meua margi mukagu misigu,
b;;y;;x;;st;;, m;;hila bJyJXJStJ
Observation: Deori borrows the second lexeme from Assamese.
8·2• Words refer to time periods of adulthood:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
pow·h.J, ad;;hia p::>Dixal ad::>hia
Observation: In this sub-field Deori has lost its lexeme and
122
expresses it through borrowing word from Assamese.
83 Words refer to becoming an adult:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
prapt:Jb:Jy.Jsb/a t;)ralibiiJ No
Observation: Assamese shows marked gender distinction to
denote this semantic field, Tiwa has a generic lexeme, but
Deori has lost its lexicon.
9. Older person
91 Words refer to an old person:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
p;)r;)i-libiiJ, gira girasi,
buri-libiiJ tal)gira tal)girasi,
lurluria gira/si,
d£h ffi;)Si
Observation: The nouns to denote this semantic field in
Assamese language show clear-cut gender distinctions and
so is the case with some lexicon of Deori. In Deori, by
adding /si/ with the masculine noun, it converts to feminine.
In the Tiwa lexicon, the modifier buri in buri-libil} and in
Deori lurluria in lurluria gira/si are borrowings from
Assamese language.
92 Words refer to the process of becoming old:
123
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b:Jy:Jx bhati diya, p:x::>i XUIJga, buri XUIJga gira!si, sar::>ri
brid"y:J howa,
burha/burhi howa
Observation: Assamese reveals a set of lexicon to describe this
phenomenon. Tiwa borrows the lexeme buri to express the same.
9·3
· Words refer to the time period of old age:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
bridhav:Jstha, bardh:JAy:J, No girai x::>m::>i
burha/burhi kal, xex kal,
bhati kal
Observation: Here also, Assamese shows a series of words for
this semantic field. Tiwa has simply lost its lexicon and Deori is
using a borrowed structure.
10. Male, female
101· Pairs of words refer to male and female people:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
purux m:Jhila, meva margi mukagu misigu,
m:Jta maiki, muka misi,
munih timta, m::>isa m::>si,
bra sowali mira mirasi,
Observation: The striking feature is that Tiwa has retained
124
just one pair of words to represent this semantic field unlike
Assamese and Deori.
10·2 Words refer to a man:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
purux, m:Jta, meua, mUIJSa mukagu, deka,
munih, bra, muka, mJisa,
day:Jria, deka, mira, gtra
yub:Jk, sriman
Observation: Like the previous fields here also Tiwa gives a
limited set of lexicon for this semantic field.
10·3· Words refer to whether or not a man is married:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
:Jbibahit:J, b:Jr."Jla bJrJla bJrJla
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori have borrowings from
Assamese to refer to this sub-field.
104· Words refer to a woman:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
m."Jhila, nari, margi, khJrla misigu, misi,
yub:Jti, tirota, mJsi, mirasi,
grihini, srim:Jti, girasi
sowali
Observation: Like the man field, this semantic field also has
125
limited number of lexicon in Tiwa language.
105· Words refer to whether or not a woman is married:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
jbri, abi:Ji, p::>hari lijaua biya sayaba
:Jbibahita, gh:Jini
Observation: In Assamese the first lexeme means that the
girl is waiting for marriage. Second and third lexemes are
used for unmarried woman and the fourth one is for married
woman. But in Tiwa and Deori both the structures refer to
unmarried woman.
11. Die
ILL General words refer to dying:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
mrit:J, nih:Jt:J,
mrityu, m:Jra, kera xul)ga
p:Jr:Jlok prapti
xipuri powa,
}orne loi jowa,
ih:Jlila tyag bra
Observation: Assamese language has a number of lexicon to
represent this semantic field. But Tiwa and Deori have just
few words for this field.
126
112· Words refer to being close to death:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
mumurxu, mrityumuk"i, thina kamd:l chiba p:lr, chin:li nuni
mrityur duard;;li
mrityur mukhamuk"i,
j;;m;;r duar dekhi ;;ha
Observation: Although the phrases in this semantic field are
figurative in meaning, Assamese has many expressions in this
context. But Tiwa and Deori provide very limited expressions for
this semantic field.
ll.3. Euphemisms and idioms used to refer to death:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xex nisxax tyag bra, No No
ih.Jlila x.Jmb;;r;;n bra,
x.Jr.Jg jatra,
xipuribi jowa,
sir.J bidai Iowa
Observation: Tiwa and Deori languages do not express death
through euphemism and idiomatic expressions or else they
have lost all the expressions.
11.
4. Words refer to losing someone in death:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
herua, kale horile khumai lagal) chir:lm
127
Observation: Although Assamese and Tiwa have preferred to
use independent word for this sub-field, Deori expresses this
subfield through the generic word for death only.
4.2.3. Emotion
This semantic domain was triggered to collect the lexemes related to human emotional
world, happiness, sorrow, likings, dis-likings, anger etc. Since, these are all human
nature; no language can be devoid of these words. To express these human natures,
characters, if a language takes help of another language, the assumption would definitely
be that that language is under the threat of getting endangered. Let us consider the
following lexicon ofTiwa and Deori in this domain.
1. Words refer to feeling emotions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
abeg, anubh:Jv, No No
anubhuti
Comment: Tiwa and Deori are unable to retain the words to
refer to feeling emotions.
2. Words refer to the part of a person that enables him to feel emotions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
hiya, hrid:Jy, :Jnt:Jr, buku, kha hrid:ly
Observation: Assamese has a series of words to explain this
semantic field under the domain of emotion. Tiwa shows just one
lexeme for this field, while Deori comes up with the borrowing
from Assamese.
128
3. Words describe someone who has strong emotions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b:Jr abegik, X:Jl)bed.Jnxil, kha kurua giriri hrid:->y
kom:Jl .Jnt.Jr.Jr
Observation: To explain this field all three languages use modifier
adverb which denote the nature of the emotion. The only
exceptional word is the Assamese X:Jl)bed:mxil which means
sensitiveness.
4. Words describe someone who does not show any emotions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
abeghin, anubhutihin, bthor, kha kerva sava hrid:->y
bthin hrid:Jy, tan :mt.Jr, tan hrid:->y
Observation: Like the previous field, here also this concept is
expressed by using adverbial modifier in all three languages.
Assamese also expresses it by adding suffix -hin (which is used in
negative connotation) with the words abeg and anubhuti. Deori has
borrowed even the adverbial modifier from Assamese along with the
modified noun.
s. Words refer to the way a person feels at a particular time:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
man:Jxiklm:Jn:Jr .Jb:Jstha, No sui
ulah
129
Observation: To deal with this semantic field, Tiwa doesn't
retain any word and Deori has just one lexeme unlike Assamese.
6. Positive emotions: The lexemes representing emotions can be classified into
two dimensions-positive and negative emotion. Both lexemes of these two
semantic fields are studied separately in the following.
6.1. General words refer to positive emotions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
an:Jndanubhuti, phurti kumun naiJa purti nunuma,
utsah, usah, an::md::>,
xuk"anub"uti pr::>fulb
Observation: For this semantic field Assamese offers a series
of lexicon, while Tiwa is represented by just one lexical
expression and Deori borrowed all the lexemes from
Assamese.
6.2. Like, love
6.2.1. Words refer to liking something:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
bhal bga, up:Jbhog, kumun naiJa chu nimanuma,
j:Jtn:J Iowa
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori explain this semantic
field with the use of auxiliary verb like Assamese.
6.2.2. Words refer to liking someone:
130
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b"al powa, kumun nama chu nimanuma
x:mman k:Jra,
anurag
Observation: The lexemes representing this field are also
similar to the previous one in case ofTiwa and Deori are
concerned, but Assamese shows some exceptions having
more lexicon.
6.2.3. Words refer to liking something very much:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
k"ub b 17al bga, para kumun naiJa khub chu nimanuma
:Jti b17al,
b:Jhut b"al bga
Observation: This semantic field is generally described by using
adverbial modifiers. In Assamese k"ub, .Jti, b:Jhut etc. are
modifiers. Tiwa and Deori also use adverbial modifiers to
describe this field. Deori is shown to have borrowed the
modifier from Assamese language.
6.2.4. Words describing something that is liked:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
m:Jr:Jm:Jr, ad:Jr.Jr, kumun naiJa chu nimanuma
seneh:Jr, alax:Jr
Observation: For this semantic field also Tiwa and Deori
show san1e structure as they did for verb like. But Assamese
131
has a set of adjectives to denote this field.
6.2.5. Words refer to a person who likes something:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
:Jnuragi, :Jnugrahi, No ::muragi
:Jttutxahi
Observation: This semantic field is not represented in Tiwa
language, but Deori has borrowed the lexeme from
Assamese language.
6.2.6. Words refer to liking something more than something else:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
priy:J, iyatbi, tatbi penekuri kumun naiJa lasinag::>i basi sui, m::>r::>m::>r, priy::>
Observation: In this semantic field, modifiers are used to explain the degree of
comparison. They are adverbs in all three languages. The last two lexemes in Deori
are borrowings from Assamese.
6.2.7. Words refer to the thing you like the most:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
ataitbi priy:J, s:Jb:Jtbi para kumun naiJa atainag::>i subase, s::>bneke priy::>
priy:J
Observation: In this semantic field the degree of superlative is being tested.
There is remarkable phonetic similarity between the Deori and Assamese
adverbials. This could also be an evidence of borrowing from Assamese. Even
the last expression here also borrowed from Assamese. Here the structure of
the modifier goes like this: s:Jb:Jtke (Assamese) -7 s:Jbneke (in Deori).
132
7. Happy
7.1. Words describing how a person feels when something good happens:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xuk\ amndit.J, utp"ullit.J kumun xukhi
Observation: Deori and Tiwa have displayed just one lexeme each
for this semantic field. But Deori uses the borrowed item from
Assamese language.
7.2. Words describing a person who is very happy or joyful:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
;ytt;mt:J!b:Jhut xuk\ k"ub xuk"i para kumun khub chu
Observation: Assamese shows a number of adverbs to express the
degree of superlative. But Tiwa and Deori have just one lexeme each
for this purpose. Deori has again borrowed the adverb from Assamese.
7.3. Words describing a person who usually feels good:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xuk"i, an:Jndit:J kumun xuk chu nimama
Observation: The Tiwa word kumun occurs in various
semantic environments. Here also it is used to express the
feel good condition. Assamese has adjectives for this
semantic field whereas Deori uses adverbial in this context.
7.4. Words describing a person who feels good about someone's behaviour:
133
Assamese Tiwa Deori
x:Jntust:J, b 11al bga, xuk11i ho1va, kumun naiJa chu nimama
m:Jn khowa
Observation: In all three languages, this semantic field is expressed
through 'adjective +verbal' structure. Assamese has a series of synonyms
for this field.
8. Laugh: Every language has lexemes to refer to the action of laugh, various
styles and way of laughs. People express their happiness; make joy and
merriment through laughter. And people have to behave differently according
to the demand of the situation and so they laugh accordingly. Let us consider
the lexicon to represent laugh in Tiwa and Deori in the following.
8.1. General words referring to laughing:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
h:Jha, phurti, tamsa miniua hati garuba, purti
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori have retained their
lexicon for this semantic field. But Deori has borrowed one
lexeme from Assamese.
8.2. Words refer to laughing a little or quietly:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
eukeuka No kikkiksa hatigari
Observation: Assamese and Deori have expressed this
semantic field through expressive morphology. But Tiwa is
unable to retrieve this lexeme.
134
8.3. Words refer to laughing a lot or loudly:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
girj:mi, :Jtt:Jhasy:J ..
gEhsa hatigari, rausi kubsi paiJa mmma
Observation: This semantic field is well represented in all the three
languages.
8.4. Words refer to laughing for a long time:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b"al hJha, paiJa minid::>IJ, ::>msa p::>r
hahi n:Jr:Jk"a, mini mini mudi naid::> samaine hatigari,
hahi b"ag:Jra, hatigaiJna hatigaiJna
hahi s.Jkur pani ola, mukumuji liguiJna
b:Jr hahi ut"a, khinri
hahit pet bik"ai jowa
Observation: Assamese and Deori have.enough lexical representation
for this semantic field. Tiwa gives just two lexical expressions for this
field.
8.5. Words refer to laughing at someone because they did something
wrong:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
t"atta m:Jsbra bra, jokowa, mini d::>na s::>se ninuma ,
besu duruba
Observation: This semantic field also brings into fore adequate
lexemes in all the three languages.
135
8.6. Words refer to beginning to laugh:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
hahib:J dh:Jra, miniva hamd:J hatigami nuni
hahi utha,
hahib:J ar:Jmb":J bra
Observation: This semantic field is used as a first step of
laughing, i.e. the process of beginning to laugh. Deori and
Tiwa are represented by one lexeme each.
8.7. Words describing someone or something that causes people to laugh:·
Assamese Tiwa Deori
hahir k"orak, No damamujai xu hatigari,
hahiyat.Jr patr:J, jijiruba
r:Jxal
Observation: Deori is well represented for this semantic field like
Assamese. But Tiwa failed to retain the word for this semantic
field.
8.8. Words refer to smiling:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
misikia, lahebi h:Jha, teppe minid:J misikia hatigaruba
kom:Jlbi h:Jha,
Observation: For this semantic field both Tiwa and Deori have
one lexical expression each. But Deori has borrowed the
modifying lexeme from Assamese.
136
9. Negative emotions: Like the positive emotions, human languages also have
words to represent negative emotions. The following data elicitation would
give the lexicon for Tiwa and Deori languages in this context.
9.1. General words refer to negative emotions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
beya bhab, durb"av.Jna keria naiJd;:, saba bhab/cintaJbhabiba
Observation: To represent this semantic field Tiwa has its own
lexeme, but Deori has borrowed all the nouns for this field while
retaining the adjectival for it.
9.2. Words refer to emotional pain:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
bixad, bed:ma, No saba bed::ma
bir;;h, bix;;nn;;ta,
niraxa
Observation: This semantic field has many synonymous
words in Assamese language. But Tiwa has lost all the words
for this field, whereas Deori is representing it through
borrowing word from Assamese.
9.3. Sad
9.3.1. Words describing a person who is sad:
\ Assamese Tiwa Deori
137
duk"i, duk"it:J, keria naiJd::l dukh nimani
;;xuk"i, niran;;nd;;
Observation: In opposite to a series of lexicon in Assamese
language, Tiwa still retains a single lexical expression for
this field, while Deori has borrowed the adjectival from
Assamese.
9.3.2. Words describing a person ·who is very sad:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
bixadgr;;st;;, keria naiJd::~, kera naiJd::l b::~r saba nima mni
b;;r duk"i, h;;tax,
b"agi p;;ra,
m;;nok;;st:J howa,
;;st"ir howa,
Observation: To explain this semantic field Assamese offers a series
of lexicon, while Tiwa offers two equivalent expressions and Deori
has one expression for it with the borrowing of adverbial from
Assamese.
9.3.3. Words describing a person who usually feels sad:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
h;;tax, duk"i duk"i, ;;xuk"i, dukhi saba nimanuma
;;xanti, m;;nobst:J
Observation: For this semantic field Tiwa has borrowed Assamese
lexicon, Deori retains its lexeme.
138
9.3.4. Words describing how a person feels when his hopes are not
fulfilled:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
axah.Jt.J, h:Jtax, britrisna khabal keria niman:)i jam
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori have one sense representation
for this semantic field.
9.3.5. Words refer to feel jealous when something good happens to
someone:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
irxa, j.Jbni por:Jni, s.Jku para, s.Jku s:Jr:Jha nina mijaua mukukJi
Observation: For this semantic field Assamese offers a series of lexicon, but Tiwa
and Deori retain just one lexicon each.
9.3.6. Sounds a person makes when he is sad:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
ha hutax, humuniah No No
Observation: The general convention is that all the human
languages should have the lexicon for this field. But Tiwa
and Deori both have lost them over the period oftime.
9.4. Lonely
9.4. 1. Words describing how a person feels when he is alone:
I Assamese Tiwa Deori
139
:Jb!x:Jria, nix:Jljg:J, bix:JJm:J, bixad I sajaib I s::>saya, seure jaba
Observation: Both the lexical items of Tiwa and Deori seem to have
phonetic similarity. When Assamese has a series of words for this field,
Tiwa has just one lexeme.
9.5. Cry
9.5.1. Words referring when a person cries:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
bnda, karaua, ogaba,
s:Jkupani taka, karaid::> mukumiji luruba,
due bra, ges:->rga mba,
hiya dhakura, duk nunuma
Observation: For this semantic field Deori is well represented
like Assamese. But Tiwa offers just two words in this
context.
9.5.2. Words used for weeping:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
usupa mudisri karaid::> No
Observation: In this semantic field Tiwa has one lexical
expression like Assamese, but Deori has been unable to
retain its lexicon.
9.5.3. Words describing when people cry but do not show:
I Assamese Tiwa Deori
140
b"it.Jri b"it:Jri k.Jnda. hiya b":Jga m::>n::> karava ti thisa ogaba
ant:Jre k.Jnda, hiya d:Jha, buku b":Jga
Observation: This semantic field has shown a series of lexical expressions in
Assamese, but Tiwa and Deori provide just one item each.
9.5.4. Words describing when people cry in pleasure/out of happiness:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
an:Jnd:Jr b:Jnya, an:Jnd.Jr s.Jkupani, No hatigal)na ogaba
an:Jndrasru,
Observation: Tiwa has lost the lexeme for this semantic field, but Deori has
still retained it.
4.2.4. Physical Action
The following study exemplifies the cross linguistic study of verbs of physical actions
such as stand, sit, walk etc, which could be categorized in the physical action or motion
verb domain. The main focus has been to find out the expressive morphology of these
words and the reduplicated forms of them. The domains which are included in this
category are some verbal expressions which Newman82 referred them as 'posture verbs'
which in the literal uses of verbs describe various human postures with different lexical
items. This is prominent in the distinction between the action of entering into a posture
and the state resulting from the posture. Languages do have a huge body of lexicon to
substantiate this phenomenon. Newman says "the posture states, while all aptly described
as 'at rest' have quite different roles to play in our lives. Sitting is generally associated
with comfort and is a posture we can maintain for some hours while continuing to work
with our hands, while continuing to talk etc. Standing in one position is not so
comfortable and we are not inclined to stay in that position for long, though it is a
position with advantages for seeing at a distance, exerting force against others etc. So,
sc Newman, J n1e Linguistics of' Sitting. Standing and Lying.P.l
141
despite a commonality between the at-rest positions, there are also clear differences in
their functions in our daily lives. The posture verbs encoding these states reflect these
realities; with regard to some linguistic phenomena in a language (e.g. the basic syntax
they occur with), they may appear a unified set, behaving in a parallel way, while in
other ways (e.g. figurative extension of the posture meaning) the verbs may pattern
differently."83 Following an attempt is made to put into words the expressive posture
verbs in Tiwa and Deori languages.
1. General words referring to physical actions:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xaririk kamkaj/ sals:Jbn No kamkaj
Observation: Tiwa does not have a generic word to explain the
semantic field physical action, while Deori has an Assamese
borrowing.
1.1. Stand
1.1.1 Words refer to being in a standing position:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
thiy:J howa thia tii]i tharJ tagaba
Observation: For this posture verb, Tiwa expression is
represented by auxiliary verb like the Assamese lexicon, but
Deori is represented without the auxiliary verb. The Tiwa
verb for stand thia is a borrowing ·from Assamese language.
83 Newman, J The Linguistics of Sitting. Standing and Lying.P.l
142
1.1.2 Words refer to standing up from a sitting or lying position:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
utha, bh.Jri p.Jta, thiy:J diya, thiy:J hmva, sigala sargab£, tagab£
b:Jhar p:Jra utha, ga d:JI)a
Observation: Tiwa and Deori both offer limited number of lexical expressions
unlike Assamese in this context.
1.1.3 Words referring how people stand:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
pon howa, bhalke thiy:J howa, kumunke thia hJI) pulul)asa tagab£
bekake thiy:J howa, beyake rowa
Observation: For this semantic field the adjectival plays an important role
to define the posture verb. Tiwa and Deori have shown just two
expressions for this field.
1.1.4 Words refer to standing near something:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
kax:Jt rowa, JSJrJb thia hJI) JSJrJt tagaba
ekebge rmva,
os.Jr:Jt thiy:J hmva
Observation: Tiwa and Deori show the same structure for
this field like Assamese. But both the languages have
borrowed the deictic words from Assamese language.
1.1.5 Words referring how one order someone to stand:
143
Assamese Tiwa Deori
thiy;; howa/h;;uk thia h:)IJ n:) tagabc:
Observation: To express this semantic field, the verb
indicates the degree of respect/command/request etc and gets
associated with the verb. Tiwa and Deori also represent this
field with the help of auxiliary verb.
1.2. Sit
1.2.1. Words referring to being in a sitting position:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b;;/zi th;;ka, tika pelowa, kh:)j:)IJe thaua duduiJna dunuma,
ax:Jn Iowa bJhJ dudube
Observation: For this semantic expression, Tiwa is represented by
just one lexeme, while in Deori it has a second lexical expression
with Assamese borrowing.
1.2.2. Words describing how a person is sitting:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
auji b;;ha, auji kh:)j:)IJ, apasu b:)igaiJna dudube,
the1pt the1J tuli b;;/w, lathUI)ti kh:)j:)IJ, aujiiJna dudube,
ep11;;/iake b;;ha, khiiJgrake kh:)j:)IJ ekJtiya sa dudube
pan h;;i b;;ha,
bekabi b;;ha,
kas;; bandh bgai b;;ha,
b";;ri uthai b;;ha,
144
bhalke b.Jha
ek.Jtiya h.Ji b:;ha
Observation: This semantic field provides a series of expressions in
almost all the languages. Assamese has a set of lexicon, while Tiwa
and Deori offer three expressions each. Out of them Tiwa has
borrowed one and Deori has two lexical expressions from Assamese.
1.2.3. Words refer to sitting down from a standing position:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b:;hi p.Jra, ax.Jn Iowa, t"iy:; h.Ji kh:)j:)IJgaiJ dudube
thakibo novvara howa
Observation: Along with the denotative expression Assamese also has
connotative expression (the last one) which means unable to stay on
standing. But Tiwa and Deori have just two simple expressions for this
semantic field.
1.2.4. Words referring to sitting up from a lying position:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
ut"i b.Jha thuuanephara kh:)jUIJga sargaiJna dudube
Observation: This semantic field has very limited number of
lexemes in all three languages.
1.2.5. Words describing how a person sits down:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
lahebi b.Jha, salaiJ khujuiJ, meh mesa dudube,
arambi b.Jha, ph:)tke khujuiJ gaiJde igabasa dudube,
145
l;;pke b;;ha, p;:,tsare dudube
ph;;tke b;;ha,
hali b;;ha,
ebtia h;;i b;;ha,
eph;;lia h;;i b;;ha
Observation: Unlike Assamese language, Tiwa and Deori have
provided a few numbers of lexical expressions for this field.
1.2.6. Words refer to causing someone to sit:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b;;hib;; bga khujuiJa naiJa huiJga dudujiri saDm
Observation: This semantic field is also well represented in all
three languages.
1.2.7. Words refer to sitting on something:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
kih;;bar up;;r;;t b;;ha nuxine sau khujuiJga dama mujab pis;:,h dudube
Observation: For this semantic field, the generic word for something is
used as locative word in all three languages.
1.2.8. Words refer to the place where you sit:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b;;ha thai, ax;;n, jaga khujuiJa jaga duduba tai
Observation: Tiwa and Deori both have borrowed the lexeme
for place from Assamese.
146
1.2.9. Words saying to someone when one wants someone to sit down:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
b:Jha, b:Jh:Jk, ax.Jn lowa, khujuiJ b;:,la dudumi nisabem,
ax:Jn gr:Jh:Jn k:Jra huna nisa dudun;:,i nisabem
Observation: For this semantic field, the auxiliary verbs associated with the
lexemes in Assamese get agreement according to the request, respect and
command according to the age /respect of the intended person. Tiwa and
Deori also show agreement in some of these kinds of expressions.
1.3. \Valk
1.3.1. General words refer to walking:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
k"oj brha lamlima, khuj karua sagu keba
Observation: Although Tiwa and Deori both have lexemes for
this semantic field, Tiwa has borrowed the second lexical
expression from Assamese.
1.3.2. Words refer to travelling some place on foot:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
p.Jdyatra, k 17ojkarhi p\tra No kejia
Observation: Tiwa lacks lexemes for this semantic field, while
Deori comes up with one lexeme.
1.3.3. Words refer to walking quickly:
147
Assamese Tiwa Deori
begai ja, begdi jowa, bre bre li ua, abugaiJna keruba
douri douri jowa selaiJ lamlim
Observation: Assamese and Tiwa both have the evidences of
expressive morphology for this field along with other lexicon
while Deori has a single expression.
1.3.4. Words refer to walking slowly:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
lahe lahe khojbrha, tep tep lamlima, meh mesa keruba
dhire dhire jowa tep tep liva
Observation: All the three languages have provided
reduplicated expressive morphology to explain this field.
1 .3.5. Words refer to walking carefully:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
xab;;dhane Poj diya, kumun kheli susa keruba,
sai sai jowa, bhalke khoj diba, Jbl) JtJI)na keruba
age pise sai jaba
Observation: Like Assamese, Deori has also retained the expressive
morphology for this semantic field, but Tiwa is unable to retain them.
1 .3.6. Words refer to walking quietly or secretly:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
susuk samak bi jowa, mJne mJne li ti thisa khiruba,
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m.Jne m:Jne JOWa, sJsegu sJseiJna keruba
lukai lukai jowa,
Observation: For this semantic field Tiwa and Deori have shown
only expressive morphology like various expressions in Assamese.
But Tiwa has just one expression in its body of lexicon.
1.3.7. Words refer to walking loudly:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
.. dhJm dhJmai li begsa keruba g:Jp g.Jpaz JOWa,
d":Jm d":Jmai jowa
Observation: Tiwa has shown similar structure to represent
this field. And the lexemes have been borrowed from
Assamese. But Deori is not giving expressive morphology
like Assamese and Tiwa.
I.H. Words refer to walking like a soldier:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
gup gupai k"oj brha dhJm dhJmai li grup grup/gup gupsa kebe
d".Jm d":Jmai jowa
Observation: Like the previous field, here also Tiwa is using the
borrowing structure. Deori has also borrowed the expressive
morphology from Assamese.
1.3.9. Words refer to stepping on something:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
g:Js:Jki diya, b":Jri diya, gas1 gara akaji duruba
149
eoj diya I Observation: For this semantic field Tiwa and Deori both have
one lexical expression each.
1.3.10. Words refer to a single step:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
ek"oj, ek k"oj khJpsa amasa, amakin
Observation: This field is well represented in both Tiwa and
Deori like Assamese language.
1.3.11. Words refer to the length of your step:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
ek"ujia, eb 17:Jri khJpsai amasa
Observation: This semantic field is almost similar to the
previous field. Both Tiwa and Deori have retained single
lexeme to express this field.
1.3.12. Words refer to measuring the length of something by counting your
steps:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
eb 17:Jri, dub":Jri khJpsa dikhJP li amasa
Observation: For this field, Tiwa has retained the lexicon
carefully, while Deori shows just one lexeme.
1.3.13. Words refer to someone who walks:
150
Assamese Tiwa Deori
p:Jthik, p.Jthsari, p:Jdatik lamauliua keijia
Observation: Unlike Tiwa and Demi, Assamese has offered
more than one lexeme for this field, while these two have
retained just one lexeme each.
!.3.14. Words refer to a mark on the ground left by a person's foot:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
khoj, khoj:Jr sab, khoj:Jr sin khJS ama dudaruba
Observation: Tiwa has a phonetically similar word with Assamese
lexicon for this field, while Deori has one lexical expression for
this field.
1.3.15. Words refer to the sound of someone walking:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
khoj:Jr x:Jbd:J lathuiJe xJbdJ amab xJbdJ
Observation: Both Tiwa and Deori have borrowed the word
to represent sound from Assamese.
1.3.16. Words refer to walking through water:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
j:Jp.J1) j:Jp:J1) bi, No No
g.Jj:J1) g.Jj:J1) bi
Observation: This semantic field has lost all the lexicon in
Tiwa and Deori languages.
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1.3.17. Words refer to a time \Yhen people walk for fun:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
k"oj karhib:J jowa, k::>drai luua kejeruba
t:Jh:Jl dib:J jowa,
p"uri :Jha
Observation: Tiwa and Deori are represented by just one
lexeme each in opposition to a series of lexicon in Assamese
language.
4.2.5. Location
Although, this domain deals with primarily the lexemes available for location, the thrust
area would be the deictical lexemes. Deixis plays a pivotal role in the communication
system in understanding the topic in a better way. Generally speaking deixis is concerned
with the relationship between language and context as reflected in the structure of the
language itself (Levinson: 1983:54). All languages have set of deixis for better
contextual communication. Deixis can be of various types such as location, space,
reference, temporal, personal, social, discourse and emphatic deixis etc. Tiwa and Deori
also provide us a number of deixis, but lexemes for this domain are declining very fast
and getting replaced by Assamese deictic words. Here, only location deictic markers are
taken into consideration. Let us consider them in the following.
1. Location
1.1 Words refer to the location of something:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
st"an, ast"an, jaga, t"ai jaga. thai tai
Observation: All the lexemes for this semantic field Tiwa and
Deori both of them have borrowed from Assamese language.
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1.2. Here
1.2.1. Words refer to a place near the speaker:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
iyat, eikhinit, iyatei xeub, xeu hebh::>, helakini, bh::>
Observation: For this domain both Tiwa and Deori are well
represented.
1.2.2. Words refer to a place near the listener:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
tat, iyat, eikhinit peiSU b::>h::>
Observation: Tiwa and Deori each have one- deictic lexeme
to represent this semantic field.
1.2.3. Words refer to a place that is not near the speaker or the listener:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
tat, xou tat, beleg:;t, br:;bat pasuba bur::>mah::>, xou b::>h::>, ba b::>h::>
Observation: Although Deori looks well represented in this domain, it has still
lexical borrowing (the second one) from Assamese. Tiwa shows just one lexeme
for this field.
1.3. In front of
1.3.1. Words indicate that something is in front of something else:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
x.Jnmue:Jt khub dugujuhu
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Observation: Like Assamese, Tiwa and Deori are also
represented by a single lexeme for this semantic field.
1.3.2. Words indicate that two people are in front of each other:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
x:.mmukha x;;nmukhi mukha mukhi . ' mukhamukhi mukhamukhi
Observation: Expressive morphology is used to express this semantic field
in all three languages. Deori and Tiwa have borrowed all the expressions
from Assamese.
1.4. Behind
1.4.1. Words indicate that something is in back of something else:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
pis;;t, pisphale khelaiJ jiiJ, khelaiJ;) simi phale, simih;)
Observation: The deixis to explain this semantic field are not
borrowings in Tiwa and Deori. But in Deori, the word ph ale is
borrowing from Assamese.
1.5. Beside
Words indicate that something is beside something else:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
kax;;t, bg;;t, ekebge, ;)S;)r;)b, aiJelag;), lag;), xaduh;), ekebgh;)re,
x;;ite, pis;;tei, xophale, maijauajil), laskijiiJ datit
baophale, datil, xobasipi ;)japi ;)Sipi,
h;)ina
!54
Observation: This semantic field is well represented both in Tiwa and
Deori like Assamese. The only observation would be that both languages
have borrowed words such as :JS:Jr:Jb, lag.? in Tiwa and
ekebl:Jre, datil in Deori from Assamese.
1.6. Between
Words indicate that something is between two other things:
Assamese Tiwa Deori
maj:Jt, kendr:Jt, m:Jd1'y:Jt maje S:)Sih:)
Observation: For this semantic field also Tiwa uses the
Assamese lexicon and Deori still retains its lexeme.
4.3. Conclusion
The importance of home and religion domains for language maintenance is undoubtedly
immense. All these semantic fields are actually extensively used in the day to day
activities of human life. In the face of excessive linguistic convergence, it becomes
difficult to retain the languages unaffected for Tiwa and Deori. In the process of
convergence languages go for huge amount of borrowing, which finally lead towards
'negative borrowing'. As Brenzinger comments, "Negative borrowing has nothing to do
with reductional loss of essential, it just follows the practice of the model language in
dropping linguistic elements that the model language does not have. This is not confined
to categories, for it can happen in other areas of the language system too."84 When
speakers are less fluent or don't use their mother tongue for a long time, this
phenomenon triggers off. From theoretical perspective negative borrowing immediately
doesn't lead to dysfunctional state of the language. But, in the long run, it will take the
8~ Brenzinger, M. Language Death:factual and theoretical explorations with 5pecial reference to East Africa. P.65
155
languages towards endangered situation. Speakers will start shifting towards the
dominant or model language. Excessive use of Assamese words in Tiwa and Deori is
now leading these two languages to lose many functional categories of lexicon.
The entire analysis of the semantic domains and fields has immensely substantiated the
claim that there is a huge replacement of lexical items in Tiwa and Deori by Assamese
lexicon in the form of borrowings. The following diagram will further give a clear
picture of domain/field replacement of Tiwa and Deori lexicon by their Assamese
counterpart.
140 130
120
100
80
60 52
40
20
0
Total tested fie Ids Tiwa Deori
in Assame~
Assamese 130 fields tested. The
percentage is assumed
100%
Tiwa 28% borrowing
Deori 40% borrowing
Figure 1: Level of Semantic Field Borrowings
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The above diagram clearly indicates that both the languages have been subject to
continuous borrowings from Assamese language in their vital semantic domains. Out of
130 sample fields which are considered for semantic domains, Tiwa has borrowed from
Assamese in 37 fields and Deori did the same for 52 incidences. The percentage of
lexical borrowing is higher in Deori comparing to Tiwa. It reveals two dimensions: A)
Deori is fast replacing its lexicon by Assamese counterparts. B) But at the same time,
comparatively, Tiwa speakers are slightly hesitant to replace their lexicon by Assamese
counterparts rather they are letting their lexemes lose off. This way Tiwa is fast losing its
lexicon and taking this language towards the endangered situation.
100
90
80
70
60
so 40
30
20
10
0
Total fields tested I Asscrnese (in %)
Tiwa (in%) Deori (in%)
Figure 2: Level of lexical Loss in various Semantic Field
Figure 2 also indicates the same picture like the language borrowing (Figure I). In this
scenario, out of 130 samples, in 12% semantic fields, Tiwa language failed to
retrieve/retain their lexicon and similarly 8% Deori lexicon could not be retrieved. This
157
implies that the speakers of these two languages have lost this huge amount of lexicon
from their languages. This percentage also spells out the concern that after examining a
limited number of semantic fields we have got this present scenario, had it been the
entire semantic fields tested, probably we would have obtained a more alarming
indication for both the languages with regard to lexeme loss. Since the loss pertains to
the areas of basic lexicon, thereby they can be called essential semantic domains of the
languages. If this trend continues it can rightly lead these languages towards the death
knell in the near future.
Although many semantic fields in Tiwa and Deori have lexical representations, but in
most of the fields, in comparison to Assamese language, the informants came up with
just one or sometimes two lexemes while Assamese shows a series of lexicon for the
same. This phenomenon of restriction or depletion of semantic domains has serious
repercussion on the vitality of the language. Only the functional lexemes of some
domains could be retrieved. The depletion or the restriction of the domains could be
checked through continuous exercise of literature, using those lexicon more and more in
Public and formal domains as well as other domains.
Out of all these five semantic domains, the domain 'Stages of life' has shown maximum
number of lexical borrowing in both Tiwa and Deori. The conspicuous fact is that Deori
shows the tendency to borrow maximum number of adjectival modifiers in the phrasal
expressions than Tiwa. With regard to minimum number of borrowing or in other words
maximum number of lexical retention is shown by the 'location' deictic domain in both
the languages. But Tiwa shows maximum number of lexicon loss in comparison to
Deori.
158