Some Notes on the Kui Dialect as Spoken by the Kuttia Kandhs of North-East Koraput

7/28/2019 Some Notes on the Kui Dialect as Spoken by the Kuttia Kandhs of North-East Koraput

1/18

SOME NOTES ON THE KUI DIALECT AS SPOKEN BY THE

KUTTIA KANDHS OF NORTH-EAST KORAPUT

by

T. BURROW AND S. BHATTACHARYA

According to the Linguis t ic Survey of India ,IV, p. 457, Kui has twoprincipal dialects, "one eastern and spoken in Gumsur and the adjoiningparts of Bengal (sic, i.e. Orissa), and one western spoken and spoken inChinna Kimedi". Gumsur and Chinna Kimedi are two tracts in theGanjam district the former lying roughly in the eastern and the latter inthe south-western part of it. Of these two dialects the Gumsur dialecthas been considered to be the standard Kui, and has been mainly dealtwith by scholars writing on the Kui language, namely J. P. Frye (1851),J. Smith (1876), L. Letchmajee (1902), J. E. Friend-Pereira (1909), andmore recently W. Winfield (1928-29). In view of its more comprehensivenature and greater accuracy the work of Winfield may be considered tohave superseded the earlier works to a large extent, and at the presenttime it is the standard work on the Kui language. The Linguistic Survey

based its account of Standard Kui on the works of Smith and Letchmajee.Its specimen from the district Khondmals agrees with the standarddialect but shows a more marked influence of Oriya. For the ChinnaKimedi dialect it was content to repeat the brief notes of L. Letchmajeefrom which not much more emerges than that original l is retained insteadof being changed to .d (ilu"house" as opposed to i.du,etc.). A specimen isalso given of the dialect as spoken in Kalahandi which shows this feature,and also intervocalic -c- (-cc-) for the usual Kui -s- (-ss-) in places wherethis feature occurs also in the Kut tiya dialect and in Kuvi (i.e. mach~ra

"were", sach~njf t"he went" [macceru , saccen ju] ).Apart from thesefeatures there are no signs of any very great differences between thesedialects and the standard, but nevertheless they should offer a fruitfulfield of investigation for further research.

The dialect of the Kut..tiya Kandhs of which a short account is given inthe following pages, has so far not figured in any work on the Kuilanguage. While touring the Koraput district in the winter of 1957-58we decided to spend a short time investigating this dialect, partly on


2/18

THE KUI DIALECT AS SPOKEN BY THE KUTTIA KANDHS 119

account of the reputation the Ku.t.tiyas have of being the most primitive of

the Kandhs, and partly because situated as they are near the boundarywhich separates the Kui and Kuvi languages they might possess a dialectintermediate between the one and the other.

Among the earliest references to the Kut..tiyas is the following byCampbell :1 "The inhabitants o f the villages above named are a wild raceknown as Kootia Khonds, speaking a dialect of the Khond language thatdiffers considerably from that spoken by the surrounding tribes." Itappears from his narrative that throughout his journey in the Kandh landin connection with the suppression of human sacrifice, he found the

language more or less uniform everywhere except in this one area. Hefurther writes: "In the Moota of Ryabiji the Meriah prevails to a greatextent, and the natives resemble in character and appearance those ofChinna Kimedy, but the dialect they speak is different and could withdifficulty be understood by my interpreters" (p. 198).

Ryabiji and Chandrapur, two villages in the Bisam-Cuttack taluk ofKoraput district, are located in the heart o f the Kut..tiya tract, and it maybe assumed that the dialect referred to by Campbell in this passage alsorefers to tha t o f the Kut.t.iya Kandhs. Verrier Elwin distinguishes theKu.t.tiyas from the rest of the Kandhs, emphasizing their primitivecharacter and their dependence still on axe cultivation. ~

In order to make acquaintance with the Ku.t.tiya dialect we camped atGudari some 25 miles nor th o f Gunupur for a week. So far as we couldgather the southern par t of the Ku.t.tiya ract lies a few miles to the west ofGudari. The forest area inhabited by them extends from this place alongthe borders of Bisam-Cuttack and Gunupur taluks to Ryabiji andChandrapur. We realised later that Chandrapur situated far more intothe interior would have been a more suitable place for our work. As itwas, we were dependent on such Kut.tiyas as we could contact in Gudari ,but it was difficult to retain their services for any long period, so thematerial gathered was less extensive than it would have been under morefavorable conditions.

Nevertheless we were able to ascertain the main features of the dialectwhich proved to be interesting, and which woull deserve further study.It is a dialect of Kui, not Kuvi, but it possesses a number of characteristicsof the latter language, and in general when it differs from the standard Kui

it shows features which can be found in Kuvi. The mos t obvious of these1 C a m p b e l l ( J o h n ) ,A personal Narrative o f Thirteen Years Service among the WildTribes of Khondistan (1864) , p . 228 ,

E lw in , V. , Tribal Myths of Orissa. p. x l iv.


3/18

120 T. BURROW AND S. BHATTACHARYA

features is the chang e o f ini t ia l s - to h- ;h a p u " t h o r n " : W.s a p u ; h i k k -" to

bend t he head" : W.s i k a ; M p a"ch i cken" : W. s [pa ; Mvenf i" p u s " : W.st 'venfi; heni" r azo r " : W.s ine; heru. r i"squi r re l " : W.siru.ri; h~je"br in ja l " :W. s~ j e ; ho j u"po rcup ine" : W.so ju ; h6 l -" to en te r" : W.s ~ l b a . To w a r d sthe nor th of the a rea th i s h - beg ins to g ive w ay to the s tandard s - , andinforman ts com ing f rom th i s d i s tance gave such forms assu.da" m o u t h " ,s e r k i "neck" , and s6.dagga "lungs" . Intervocal ical ly the same chang etakes p lace (v iha "f ly" , k r u h u "an te lope") bu t th i s fea ture appears a l sowide ly i n s t anda rd Ku i (W.k ruhu , v iha ,bes idekrusu , v i sa ) .

An othe r f ea tu re sha red by Kuv i , and a s r emarked above by t he K u i a s

spoke n in Ka lahandi i s the cor respondence o f in te rvoca l ic-c- ( -cc-)withKu i -s- ( -ss-), 3 wh ere p r imit ive D ravid ian had ei ther-cc- or -r_r- > -cc- .Such cases o f-c- ( -ce-)recorded by us a red c a s k a " w o m e n " , dc i k i -" tochoose" , eec u r " h o w m a n y " ,k i cc - "to nip , pinch",j e c c e ' e " I pu l led" ,.ddc- " to m easure" ,d~c - " to ca r ry on t he head" ,nacc - " to p r es s ",p u c c i"anthi l l" ,m d c i"dir t" , m u c e -" to shu t" , r~e- " to rub , smear" ,mf tc i" m u c u sof nose" and so for th : c f. W.as ask a, as ka , eso.r i, k isa , jes e , .ddsa , .c lftsa,n a s a , pus i , m ds i , mu sa , r~ sa, m~ s i ,and on the o ther ha nd Kuv i d .za (S .)" female" , acha l i (F. ) " to sor t ou t" ,echu ra (F. ) "how much" ,kie - (Su.)

" to p inch" , recee ' e (Su.) " i pul led",lde- (Su.) " to measure" ,duee - (P.),j u c c - (Su . ) " to ca r ry on the head" ,p u c c i (Su. P. ) and so for th .

Or ig ina l - .d - i s p reserved in Ku i an d Ku vi w hen preceded b y a nasa l( K u i s?nd.u, s~n.dru"gum , res in" : Ku vi (Su .)hin.dru" id . " ) bu t in te rvoca l ly,with few except ions (e .g . K ui ~.da "g oa t" : Ta.y a t . u , a t . u )i t is changed inthe m anner to be descr ibed below. Such cases o f - d- (and by meta thes is.d-) which o ccur in b o th languages, o r wh ich occur in K ui an d have n o tdev elope d out o f or iginal - l- , are to be explained as represent ing ei therori gin al -.d.d- (K u ia.da" in te rcep t ing o b jec t" : Te .a.d.damu"obstacle" , e tc . ;o.da" to swear" : Te .ot.t.u"an oa th" , o.d.du"to w age r", etc.) , or -.n.d- w he nthe nasal has been lost (e.g. K ui , K uviko.d- (ko.d.d-)" to t ake, buy " ba sedon the pa s t s temkon..d-o f kol.-" to take" ) ; K u ipu .du"p imple , a d ry i t ch" :Te. puv.du"a so re". Su ch instan ces of-.d- (wh ich is alwa ys distin ct from-.r-in p ronunc ia t ion as well as in o r ig in in bo th K ui an d Kuv i ) a re no t verycom m on in t he two languages , bu t i n Ku i t he f requency o f -d - is muc h in -creased because of a s t rong tend ency to turn or iginal - l- in to - .d-. T hechange i s by no m eans un iversal , main ly a ffec ting a num ber of com m on

n o u n s (pa.du " too th" , ka .du)" foo t" , e tc . ) bu t ra re ly appear ing in verba lroo ts w here - l- is general ly preserved( ]e l - " to p u l l ",nol - "to lad le" , e tc . ) .Th e change is a lso com m only abse nt in the case o f suff ixal syl lables (e.g .a In the se cases Winfield gives -s-, the earlier grammars and t he LSI usually - s s -


4/18

THE KUI DIALECT AS SPOKEN BY THE KUT.TIA KANDHS 121

p u m b e l i" f o a m " ) t h o u g h Wi n f i e l d ' sp o g d a " p u l l e t " , i f m i s w r i t t e n f o r

*pog.da,w o u l d c o n t a i n s u ch a v a r i a n t a s o p p o s e d t op o k l a " a h e n w h i chh a s n e v e r l a i d a n e g g " . T h e c h a n g e i s a t te s t e d b o t h i n t h e c a se o f - l-r e p r e s e n ti n g o r i g i n a l-l- (i.du"ho use " , e tc .) an d - l- r epresen t ing o r ig ina l -! -(o.dibes ide o li " b e a r " ) , b u t t h e f o r m e r c la ss is d e c id e d l y t h e c o m m o n e r.T h e c h a n g e i s o n e o f t h e c h a r a c te r is t ic f e a t u r e s th a t d i s t i n g u i sh K u i f r o mK u v i s in c e t h e l a tt e r r e t a in s D r a v i d i a n - l- u n c h a n g e d , w h i le i t c h a n g e s -!-into -.r-.

T h i s o r i g i n o f - . d - i n K u i m a y b e r e c o g n i s e d i n c o m m o n D r a v i d i a nw o r d s a s in s t a n c e d a b o v e a n d i n s u c h f u r t h e r e x a m p l e s a sme.du" p e a c o c k , "

vi.du" b o w " a n dk6.du"pes t l e" ; a l so in a fu r the r se t o f examples , where thew o r d i s n o t s o w i d e l y r e p r es e n t ed , f r o m t h e e v i d e n c e o f t h e s is te r l a n g u a g eKuvi , e .g .kf~.di" p a d d y " : K u v ikfd i ; sM. i" r a w, u n ri p e , g r e e n " : K u v ih i ' l i" i d . " , .daangi" n i g h t " : K u v i l a ' a~a " i d . " , .daisi" e a r ly in t h e m o r n i n g " :K u v i ( S u .)la ' is i 'e" i d . " . I n o t h e r e as e s w h e r e e v e n a K u v i e t y m o l o g y s n o tava i l ab le the na tu re o f the -.d - r em ains p rob lem at ica l . I f a K ui d ia lec tc o u l d b e f o u n d w h i c h c o n s i s te n t l y r e t a i n e d - /- s u c h d o u b t s w o u l d b eso lved . Th e Ku.t.tiya d ia lec t, a s recorded b y us , show s no g rea t d i ffe rencef r o m t h e s t a n d a r d K u i i n t h is r e sp e ct , t h o u g h i t w a s t h e / - f o r m t h a t w as

recorded in cases where Winf ie ld g ives a l t e rna t ives(g i la " u p p e r a r m " ,rn?la" f e m a l e c h i ld " ,val i" s t o n e " : W.gila/gi.da, mila]mi.da, vali/va.di).T oj u d g e b y t h e s l e n d e r e v i d en c e o f t h e L S I t h e K a l a h a n d i d i a le c t g o e s a g o o dd e a l f u r t h e r i n th e p r e s e r v a t io n o f - l -(ilu" h o u s e " ,k a l u" l e g " , a n dsa l anga ,i.e. s6 langa , W . s6 .danga" a n g r y " a re r e c o rd e d ) , b u t e v e n h e r e th e c h a n g eto - .d- occu rs (neg. basesi .d-" i s n o t " ) . A s f a r a s t h e d ia l e c t o f C h i n n aK i m e d i i s c o n c e r n e d L . L e t c h m a j e e as s e rt s t h a t t h e -.d - o f t h e B o d a n dG u m s u r d i a le c t s i s u n i v e r s a ll y c h a n g e d t o -/-, b u t d e t a i le d i n f o r m a t i o n isl a c k in g , a n d s in c e h is s t a t e m e n t c a n n o t b e t r u e a s r e g a r d s - .d - i n K u i w h e ni t i s no t o u t o f -/- , i t mu s t be t r ea ted w i th rese rve .

T h e a b o v e f e a t u r e i l l u st r a te s t h e f a c t t h a t i n s p it e o f c e r t a in K u v icharac te r i s ti c s the d ia lec t i s qu i t e de f in i t e ly Ku i , no t K uvi . A t th i s po in tw e s h o u l d e m p h a s i se t h a t K u i a n d K u v i a r e t o b e r e g a r d e d a s t w o s e p a r a t el a n g u a g e s , a n d n o t a s t w o d i a le c ts o f t h e s a m e l a n g u a g e a s h a s s o m e t i m e sb e e n h e ld . T h e y ar e o f c o u r s e c lo s e r t o e a c h o t h e r t h a n t o a n y o t h e rD r a v i d i a n l a n g u a g e , a s t h e ir c o m m o n n a m e w o u l d l e a d o n e t o b e li ev e , b u tt h e y a r e m u t u a l l y u n in t e ll ig i b le , a n d t h e y d i f fe r f r o m e a c h o t h e r i n m a n y

i m p o r t a n t r e s p ec ts , p h o n e t i c , m o r p h o l o g i c a l a n d l e x i co g r a p h i ca l . I n t h evas t major i ty o f cases the Kut . . t iya d ia lec t s ides wi th Kui and no t Kuvi .O f t h e i m p o r t a n t p h o n e t i c d i f fe r en c e s t h e f ir s t t o b e m e n t i o n e d i s t h e

t r e a t m e n t o f D r a v i d i a n - ./- . I n K u i t h i s d e v e l o p s to -l-, a n d a f t e r t h is


5/18


fus ion i t i s l i ab le , a long wi th o r ig ina l - l - to be fu r the r changed in to - .d -

(oli, o.di" b e a r " ) . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d i n K u v i D r a v i d i a n - ./- i s c h a n g e d t o -r -(o'.ri" b e a r " , e t c . ) , a t r e a t m e n t w h i c h i t s h a r e s w i t h K o n d a a n d P e n g o .T h e s e c o n d i m p o r t a n t d i f fe r en c e i s t o b e s e e n in t h e t r e a t m e n t o f th e o r i- -na l a lveo la r s , in wh ich the two langu ages d iverge in severa l r espec t s. Theco m bi n at io n -_r_r- de ve lop ed to-cc-,w h i c h i n K u i i s f u r t h e r m o d i f i e d t o - s -,a l t h o u g h , a s p o i n t e d o u t a b o v e , c e r t ai n d i a le c t s, i n c l u d i n g t h a t o f t h eKut . t . iyas agree wi th Kuvi in th is respect (Kuvip u c c i" a n t h i l l " , K u i ( K )pucci ,( W ) p u s i " i d . " : Tapu_r.ru,etc.) . Th e g ro up -_n.r- de ve lop ed to-nj-inb o t h l a n g u a g e s a n d t h i s m a y b e f u r t h e r s i m p l if ie d b y l o s s o f th e n a s a l

( e . g . K u i ( K )m f m j i" t h r e e " : Ta . mfm__ru,e tc . , wi th nasa l p rese rved , andK u v i pajji, K u i pa j i : T a. pan__ri"p ig " , e tc. , ~ wi th nasa l a ss imi la ted . I t i sh o w e v e r i n t h e t r e a t m e n t o f t h e s in g l e a l v e o la r -.r- t h a t t h e t w o l a n g u a g e sd i ff e r m o s t , a n d i n a d d i t i o n t o d i v e rg i n g o n e f r o m a n o t h e r, n e i t h e rl a n g u a g e d i s p la y s u n i t a r y t r e a t m e n t . F u r t h e r m o r e t h e m a t t e r i s c o m -p l i c a te d b y t h e f a c t t h a t i n t h e s e t w o l a n g u a g e s - a s a ls o i n K o n d a , P e n g o ,an d G on di - in te rvoca l i c -_r- an d -.d - f e ll toge ther, a nd have un derg one thes a m e d e v e l o p m e n t i n e a c h l a n g u a g e .

I n t h e f ir s t p l a c e w e h a v e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e a l v e o l a r ( a n d a l o n g

wi th i t o f the o r ig ina l -d - wh ich has coa lesced wi th i t) to -y - in K uv i an d - j-i n K u i :

(a) Original -_r-:K n i a ja" t o b e c o m e c o o l " , K u v i a y - " i d . " : Ta .a_ru,etc.K u i ( K ) ~ju " w a t e r " , K u v i~yu:T a . ya .ru, a_ru,etc.K u i n~ja" t o s p r o u t " , K u v i .n~y-:T a . n@'u" a p p e a r, r i s e ",na_ru"sprout",

etc.(b) Original - .d-:K u i naju ,K u v i n a y u" v i l l a g e " : Ta .nat .u,etc .K u i 6ja " t o b r e a k " ( i n t r. ), K u v i6y- : Pa rji 6.d-, etc.O f th e s e t w o a l t e rn a t i v e tr e a t m e n t s i t i s p o s s ib l e t h a t t h e o n e a p p e a r i n g

i n K u v i is t h e m o r e o r i g i n a l, s in c e K u i s h o w s a d e v e l o p m e n t o f y - t o - j- i ncases wh ere -y - is o r ig ina l a nd no t o u t o f - r- o r -.d -, e .g . inka ju " h a n d " ,K u v i k e y y u .

The Ku. t t . iya d ia lec t shows the Kui deve lopment in such examples as~ju" w a t e r " a n d6j- " t o b e b r o k e n . " I t a ls o a g re e s w i t h K u i i n a m o r e i d io -syncra t i c se r i es where we f ind a deve lopment to -g - , and where the

d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e t w o l a n g u a g e s , K u i a n d K u v i , i s p a r t i c u l a r l ys t r ik ing , because in the cor resp ond ing K uv i wo rds the resu l t is no t -y - as

4 Note that in the same way Gondi has paddi 'pig ' , but mand ' three ' .


6/18

T H E K U I D I A L E C T A S S PO K E N B Y T H E K U T .T IA K A N D H S 123

in the examples quoted above, but -_r-. The Kut.t.iya examples which we

recorded coincide with the Kui forms. They are ug- "to butt" (past stemugd-) and p e g - "to pick up" (impv. p e g u m u ,past lsg. pegd 'e , absol.pegjanahi) .These belong to a series of nine verbs recorded by Winfieldand given by him in the infinitive form in which there has been trans-position of the consonants of root and suffix, e.g. pebga "to pick up"< *pegba(1 sg. pr. pegi , 1 sg. pas tpegde) .The other verbs in this seriesare abga "to be suitable" (agi, agde), ibga"to cast down" (igi, igde), ubga"to strike against, butt " (ugi , ugde), gebga"to associate with" (gegi, gegde),tubga "to fasten a necklace" (tugi, tugde) nobga"to wash" (nogi, nogde),

m a b g a "to roll on the ground" (magi, magde),and subga "to roast"(sugi, sugde).Among these the etymology of abga and gebgais at presentuncertain, bu t in the case of the others we find that Kuvi -r- corresponds toKui -g- (and also that Kon.da in such cases has -r-). E.g. :

ibga: Kuvi ir- (irh-)"to throw";ubga: Kuvi ur- (urh-)"to but t", Kon.da u.r-;tubga: Kuvi tur- (turh-)"to put on, wear";nobga: Kuvi nor- (norh-)"to wash", Kon.da no.r.;pebga : Kuvi per- (perh-)"to pick up", Kon.da per- ;m a b g a :Kuvi ma r- (marh-)"to roll over", Kond.a mar- ;subga: Kon.da su_r-,Gondi surrana "to bake".It can also be stated that bo th Dravidian -r- and -.d- are represented in

these examples, -r- for instance in pebga (Ta. pe.rukku,etc.), and -.d- forinstance in nobga(Ta. nut.akku,etc.). As for the -g- of Kui it is presumablyto be taken as a secondary develppment of-j-, and as a parallel we maynote that ka ju "hand" also appears as kagu .

Thus the developments of Kui and Kuvi are quite independent ofeach other, and it can also be observed that even in other cases Dravidian-r- (-.d-) is represented by -r- in Kuvi. An example is found in Kuvi p~r-"to chase" (of. Kon.da p~r- ,Pengo p 3 z -"id.") corresponding to Kui p e h a"to drive away" (with exceptional development to -h- in this case).Similarly we have Kuvi re- (recc-)"to pull" (of. Konda tel-, _re.rh-"id.")corresponding to Kui je lba , and re 'na i (S.) rechali (F.) "to descend"corresponding to K u i j a p a . On the other hand the reverse treatment seemsto have taken place in the case of Kui r~ga"the small stalk on which agrain of paddy hangs"; cf. Kuvi (P)jeka "head of rice", engf l(F.) "an ear

of paddy", jekan_ga(F.) "ears of paddy".We also find this consonant represented by -r- in Kui in some caseswhere it has come to stand after an ini tial consonant as a result of meta-thesis: e.g. gr~mb 'a"to learn" gr~ppa "to teach" (of. Go. kar~tana"to


7/18

124 a'. BURROW AND S. BHATTACHARYA

l ea rn " wi th - r- o r ig ina l ly a lveo la r, and s ti ll d i st ingu i shed as such in ce r ta india lects) , and

mr~nga" t o b e l o s t " ( Ta .

ma.ra ietc .) . I t is poss ible tha t in

these cases the K uv i t r ea tm ent was - j- (wi th a reversa l o f the usua l s i tua -t i o n ) i f w e a s s u m e t h a t i nj~p-(j~pit-)" t o l e a r n , t e a c h " a n dj ~ n g -" t o g e tlos t " the in i t i a l o f a co nso nan t g rou p has bee n e l ided (i.e . j~p-


8/18

T H E K U I D I A L E C T A S S P O K E N B Y T H E K U.T T. A K A N D H S 1 2 5

p.ri'a "unripe mango", be'ot.i"back", d.d'a~a"night", sro'i "soot", rna'esi

"tomorrow", ote'e "I took", o 'i "I will take", a 'e "is not", mu'enu "Icannot" , jePenu"I did not pull". Compare on the one hand W. vira, raka,m aha, p.ria, beot. , .ddangi, sr6bi, rn aisi, or e, oi, ~ ', mu k'nu, elb'nu,and on theother hand Kuvi (Su.) i'ira "earth , soil", (P.) raka 'a "blood", (Su.) maha 'a"mango", ki'e.ni "castor plant", la'a~a "night", (Su.) ro'va, (S.) roowa,(F.) r6 'ya "soot" , (Su.) ote'~ "I took" , (F.) a 'e "not".

Another matter to be considered when working on Kui was theaccuracy of the material already avaiIable. As remarked above, the workof Winfield may be regarded to have superseded that of his predecessors

in most respects (but not as we have seen in respect of the glot tal stop, andnot in certain other matters such as numerals), so it seemed advisable totest a certain number of points on which there remained some doubt.These points are mainly questions of vowel length, and of the distinctionbetween dental and retroflex. Here a few corrections were found to benecessary. For instance one would expect for comparative reasons tha tkr6ga (W.) "fat" should have retroflex -.r- (cf. Kuvi (Su.) korva, etc.), andthis in fact is the form we recorded (k.r6ga).Similar cases appear in ourk.rahoni"a dance", k r6- "to be bent", and t.rdda~ga"liver" compared withWinfield's kraha "to swim, to move with the arms outstretched whiledancing", kr6su "bending, bowed", trd.da"liver". The reverse variationis seen between our srd~gu"breast", and Winfield's s.rdngu.The correct-ness of our form is confirmed by Kuvi (Su.) rd~gu "breast". In othercases where our material from Kui is not sufficient, a similar correctionof the forms given by Winfield is suggested by the evidence of Kuvi.For instance in view of Kuvi (Su.) g.ro'li"a double handful", and grih-(grist-) "to slide, slip", it may be considered probable that Kui gr6.da"the scoop or receptacle made by holding both hands together" andgrihpa "to be smooth, slippery", should be corrected to g.r6daand g.rihpa,but further work in the field is necessary before such points can be settled.

In the matter o f quantity it may be noted that we recorded gut.a"stump"(cf. Kuvi (Su.) gut.t.u,pl. gu!ku "id.") whereas Winfield gives gftt.a,andconsequently there is some reason to doubt the correctness of the formgiven by him, just as there is in the case of his s a t . a "to point", in view ofthe form assumed by this word elsewhere in Dravidian (Ta. cut.t.u,etc.),though this needs to be tested. As further instances of doubtful quanti ty

in Winfield we may mention dmbu"arrow" (F.P. ambu; our informantsgave a different word, lati), and ohpa "to break" and kahpa "to plaster"in view of the contrast with 6ja "break" (intr.) and kdja "to plaster" (cf.Kuvi (F.) kaiyali,Pc. kaz- "to plaster").


9/18

12 6 T. BURROW AND S. BHATTACHARYA

In som e cases we observed var ia t ion be tween surd a nd sonan t in th is

d ia lec t as com pared wi th s tandard K ui . Thus , in agreement wi th Kuvi ,i t has k i- " to do" a s opposed to W . 'sgiva(also kivain his B. dialect), an dharp-" (hen) to f lap wings" W .j a rpa , bu t a l so sarpa, Ku vi (Su .)han.-,(S.)hanpinai" id . " . Var ia t ion in the oppos i te d i rec t ion i s seeni n f i r a "c lo th" :W. s~ra" r ag" ; gate l i"co t " (Ku v i P.gale l i) : W .kale; jalerik i- "to s i f t" :W . s(t ler i"s ieve" ;grah- " to excre te" (Kuvi Su .grah- " id . " ) : W. k.rahpa;O u r K . ga.d.da"s t ream" cont ras t s in the same wa y wi th K uvi (S .)kad.d.a" id ." . S imi la r d iffe rences a re found b e tween Ku vi and W . ' s K ui , e .g .Kuv i (S . )gi tor i k ina i" to t i ck l e " : W. kf t i " t ick l ing" ; Kuvi (Su . )kugur i

" d o v e " : W. gugur i"id ." ; Kuvi (S.)k u d u "b roken r i c e " : W.gudu " id . " ;Ku v i (F.) k a n d r o m i g r a y u" a r o u n d h o l e " : W.gundur i"a round th ing , acirc le"; K uv i (F.)gPer r i"a r row sha f t " : W .keer i" a r r o w " ; K u v i ( S . ) g 6 p e r i"g ra s shoppe r ": W .kopolos i(of. M alt .qopo);Kuvi (F. )gonja l i"to s t r ing"(bow) , open (umbre l l a )" : W.k6nja" to s t r e tch some th ing f rom one po in tt o ano the r" , " t o s t ri ng bow " ; K uv igro ' l i"a doub le hand fu l " : W .kr6.da;K u v i te.deli"w ais t" : W ..d~t i " id ." ; K uv i (S.)tulpinai"to t ramp": W..du.da" to t read , t rample" ; Kuvi (Su . )pr6 .d i "banyan" : W.br6d. ;Kuvi (Su . )g r a y u"hole , p i t " : W .k r a u ; Ku vi (S .)gohna i" to ou t r each" ; W .k o h p a" toh o l d o u t t h e h a n d " ; K u v itang- " to hang" : Ku i (K . )dang- " id . " (W.drfmga,with intrusive - r- ) ; Kuvi (Su.)p 6 d a "g i r l " ; W. b6da. In a l l suchcases o f course the vo iced var ian t i s secondary.

The w ord fo r " ca l f " we go t ,gra.du,contras ts wi th W..dra .du " id ." , andi t appears th at occasional ly in W . 's dia lect there is a change fromgr-(gr-) to .dr- (dr-). This seems a l so to have happened in.drapa" to s tepove r" (cf . Ta.ka ta - "to cross" , e tc . ) , in .dra- " thu nd er" (of . Kuv i (Su.)gn.u-" to thunder" ) , an d ind.rahpa"to be hard, s t i ff" , cf. Te.gad.usu"hard", e tc .Ku v i on t he o the r hand has fo r " ca l f".dalu,wi th l o s s o f g - (


10/18

THE KU I DIALECT AS SPOK EN B Y T HE KU.TT tA KAND HS 1 2 7

th ree l anguage s . Th e Kut..tiya fo rm of the w ord we rece ived ,.d~.dru,s h o w s

an in t rus ive - r- in the seco nd sy l l ab le in the s in gu la r a nd in the f i r s tsy l l ab le in the p lu ra l(.dr~t.ku).In con nec t ion wi th in i t i a l s - an in t rus ive - .r-a p p e a r s in W .s.rohpa" t o c o m e o u t , e m e rg e " ,s r rppa " t o c a u s e t o e m e rg e " .N o t r a c e o f -.r- i s f o u n d i n t h e f o r m s o f th i s v e r b w h i c h a p p e a r i n t h er e l a te d l a n g u a g e s : K u v iho ' - (ho t t - )" t o c o m e o u t " ( F.hrcha l i" t o g o o u t " ,S . h rna i " t o s t a r t " ) , P e n g ohr- (ho t t - ) ,K o n . d a s6 - " i d . " ( c f . a l s o K u r.co 'ond ,M a l t . c h o y e" to r i se , s t a r t " ) . Th e Ku. t.tiya fo rm w e ob ta ined h erea g r e es w i t h t h a t o f K u v i : 3 sg . p r.hop inne" i t c o m e s o u t " . T h e s a m e th i n gs ee m s t o h a v e h a p p e n e d i n K u is.r~nga" t u r m e r i c ": K u v ih~nga" i d . " , a n d

in K u i s rahpa " t o b e s o u r " ( K .s r ap i " s o u r " ) : K u v i ( S.)h a p n e" p u n g e n t " .I t i s al so q u i te c e r t a i n l y s e c o n d a r y i n K u isr~nda" t o b l o w th e n o s e " : K u v i(F. ) s inda l i" id . " ( c f. a lso T a .c~ntu,etc .) N o - i"- wa s fo un d in th e Ku.t .tiyaf o r m o f t hi s w o r dmf~ci~a M ndi rna ' i" I a m b l o w in g m y n o s e " .

I n t h e K u i fo r m s q u o t e d ,s.rohpaa n d s rahpa , t h e r e a ls o a p p e a r s a n - h -w h i c h s e e m s t o h a v e n o e t y m o l o g i c a l j u s ti f ic a t io n . I n n e i t h e r ca s e w a s - h-record ed in th e K u .t .t iya d ia lec t. L ikew ise we reco rdedm r a n u " t r e e " , a so p p o s e d t o W. ' sm r a h n u ,a n d .d~ka" c a r r y o n t h e s h o u l d e r " ( K u v i.d~k-)a s o p p o s e d t o h i s.dehka.A n o t h e r e x a m p l e o f th i s k i n d i n W i n f ie l d i s t o b eseen in s.rahnu kr.di" b u l l o c k " : c o m p a r e K o n . d aran ( p l .raku)" b u l l o c k " ,a n d f u r t h e r K o n .d a.rapi,G o . sa.rapi,e t c . " c o w d u n g " .

A m o n g o t h e r m i n o r p h o n e t i c p o i n t s w e m a y m e n t i o n t h e o c c a s i o n a lp a l a ta l is a t io n o f - g - b y o n e o f o u r i n f o r m a n t s , n a m e l y invanjus" t o n g u e "( W. , a n d a n o t h e r o f o u r in f o r m a n t svaggos i )a n d unju l i " f i n g e r n a i l "(W . unguliS). A n i n t e r v o c a l i c - h - i n s t e a d o f - g - a p p e a r s i nn e h i " g o o d "( in a g r e e m e n t w i t h K u v i ) a n d i nj o h - " t o w a s h c l o th e s " ( K u ineg i , jrga ) .W e reco rded b -, no t v - , inb.r?c-" t o p r e s s " a s o p p o s e d t o W. ' sv.r~sa.A no c c a s i o n a l t e n d e n c y w a s f o u n d t o t u r n -6 - i n t o - a -(hf~ju" b o i l " : W. s r ju) .I n a n u m b e r o f w o r d s a m o r e o r i g i n a l - e- w a s f o u n d w h e r e W. h a s-i-, e.g .in ro nese" o n e d a y " , W. ron is i (c f . Kuvi Su .n~cu " d a y " , ro n~cu" o n ed a y " ) . M e t a t h e s i s a p p e a r e d i nr ip i " m a h u a " w h i c h i s n o t f o u n d i n W.(irpi) . A s o p p o s e d t o W.u.rgi" b o i l e d r i c e" w e r e c o r d e dorg i " p o r r i d g em a d e o f m a n d e y a g ra i n " . I n t h e c as eofp . ru~g-" t o s n a p , b r e a k " , t r.p.ruk-(W . p l u p k a " b r e a k " ) w e s e e m t o h a v e a n i n s t a n c e , ra r e i n t h i s d i a le c t b u tregu la r in K uvi , o f - . r- r eprese n t ing o r ig ina l - !- . W e f ind-n.d-s impl i f ied to-n- in vd.roni" n e x t y e a r " a s o p p o s e d t o W .va.ron.di(of . a lso Kuvi , Su.

5 Wi n f i e l d d e r i v e s t h i s w o r d f r o m O r i y a , t h i n k i n g p r e s u m a b l y o f S k t .anguli- a n d i t sd e r i v a ti v e s , b u t a p a r t f r o m t h e d i f f e re n c e o f v o w e l t h e I A w o r d m e a n s ' f in g e r ' , n o t' f in g e r - n a i l' . I t w o u l d t h e r e f o r e s e e m b e t t e r t o a t t a c h t h e K u i w o r d t o T a .ukir, K a .uguru ' n a i l ' , e t c .


11/18


van.ona " i d . " ) . N o t e a ls o K .murenji " s p i n e " ( W. mu d. enfi, K u v i S u .

mur'esi). O c c a s i o n a l i n s t a n c e s w e r e n o t e d o f a n i n o rg a n i c - h - a t t h eb e g i n n i n g o f w o r d s , e . g.hit.ananji" y o u n g e s t ( s o n ) " , c f. W .it.a " l a s t b o r n ,y o u n g e s t " .

I n t h e s h o r t t im e a v a i l a b l e n o t a g r e a t d e a l o f g r a m m a t i c a l m a t e r i a lc o u l d b e c o l l e c t ed , b u t a s f a r a s w e c o u l d s e e t h e d i v e rg e n c e s f r o m W i n -f ie ld ' s Grammar a r e n o t v e r y g re a t. A m o n g t h e fo r m s o f t h e p l u ra lka.rkaa n d kaska f r o m kanu " e y e " a n d kaju " h a n d " a g r e e i n f o r m w i t h K u v i(kan.ka, ke ska )r a t h e r th a n w i t h W.(kanga, kaka),a n d a r e n o d o u b t o l d e rf o r m s ( cf . a l s o G o . A .ka.rk " e y e s" ) . N o d o u b t a l so a n o l d e r t y p e i n K u i

a r e t h e m e t a t h e s i s e d p l u ra l str~ka " a n t s " a n d tr~ka " b a m b o o s " f ro mtarua n d t~ru,G s o p p o s e d t o W . ' starka a n d t~rka w h i c h h a v e b e e n r e m a d e o no n t h e a n a l o g y o f t h e s in g u la r. I n t h e s a m e w a y n o d o u b t a f o r m l ik e K u im~nga" f is h e s" h a s b e e n r e f o r m e d i n c o m p a r i s o n w i t h I ( u v i ( S u .)mn.~ka,but in th is case the Ku. t t . iya d ia lec t a lso hasm~nga. K. vacaka,p l u r a l o fvanju " f i n g e r " , c o n t r a s t s w i t h W. ' svaska o r vaskaka, b u t Wi n f i e l dm e n t i o n s (Grammar, p . 14) tha t the p lu ra l su ff ix-ska i s s o m e t i m e sl e n g t h e n e d t o -saka. A s i m i la r p l u r a l w a s r e c o r d e d b y u s i nm~caka"eggs" , sg .mYnju .In th i s casem~nju, t h e o r ig i n a l f o r m o f th e w o r d f o r" e g g " ( cf . G o .m~nj" e g g " ) is n o t f o u n d i n W i n fi e Id ' s K u i . I n s t e a d , h e h a sm~sa, p l. mYsaka" t e s t ic l e " . H i s p l u r a l f o r m c o r r e s p o n d s e x a c t ly t o o u r s( t ak i n g i n t o a c c o u n t t h e a l t e r n a t i o n b e t w e e n - c - a n d - s - i n th e t w o d i a le c ts ),b u t m~sa i s a n e w f o r m b a s e d o n t h e p l u r al . N o u n s e n d i n g in-~gu s h o wt h e s a m e s u b s t i t u ti o n o f u n v o i c e d c o n s o n a n t fo r n a s a l v o i c e d c o n -s o n a n t i n t h e p l u r a l ,sra~gu " b r e a s t " , p l .srSkaka. T h e s a m e k i n d o f p l u r a lw a s r e c o r d e d b y u s i ntakaka, p l . o f tangu " h o o f " , a w o r d t h a t d o e s n o ts e e m t o b e e l s ew h e r e r e c o r d e d e i t h e r i n K u i o r K u v i .

T h e d e c l e n s io n f o l lo w s m u c h t h e s a m e p a t t e r n a s t h a t g i v e n b y Wi n f ie l d,w i t h o c c a s i o n a l v a r ia t i o n s . T h e a c c u s a t i v e s e e m e d t o b e r a r e l y u s e de x c e p t i n t h e c a s e o f m a s c u l i n e n o u n s ( a c c.mr~nani " s o n " , kuenani" m a n " ) , t h e s i m p l e s t e m u s u a l l y s u ff ic in g . I n t h e f e w f o r m s r e c o r d e df r o m n e u t e r n o u n s ( e.g .kra.diti " t i g e r " ,pf~siti" c a t " ) t h e t e r m i n a t i o n w a s-ti i n c o n t r a s t t o t h e-tini g i v e n b y Wi n fi el d . T h e l o c a t iv e w a s c o m m o n l yin -ta, e .g . .de .d i t a "on a t r ee" ,neppita " o n t h e s h o u l d e r " ,hu.data" i n t h em o u t h " , kurita " i n a p o t " . W i n f ie l d d o e s n o t g i v e t h is , t h o u g h h e h a s-to " a t " a n d -tani " i n " . O t h e r f o r m s re c o r d e d a g r e e d w i t h W. ( e. g . a b l .

* Ku i (K.) t~ru 'bamboo' = Kuvid~.ruid. W . g ives quite a different meaning fo rt~ru, 'shoot, bud'. Po ssibly his meaning should have been 'bam bo o shoot' bu t thematter can only be decided by first-hand enquiry.


12/18

THE KU I DIALECT AS SPOKEN BY THE KU.TTIA KANDHS 12 9

-t.i , rfpet.i "from above") including the common postpositions, e.g.

heni.rahi"with a razor" (W. r a i with no -h-), Oju-la'i"in the water".The masculine nominative singular termination is in Kui -enju , -anju(mr[en ju"son", e a n j u "he", s a s e n j u"he went"), on the other hand in Kuviit appears as -esi , asi(Su. m i r ' e s i "son", e v a s i "he", h a c c e s i"he went").The Kut..tiya dialect has -nj- like the rest o f Kui, bu t final -i as in Kuvi:m r i e n j i"son", e a n f i "he", etc.

Agreement with Kuvi is particularly noticeable in the case of thepersonal pronouns. In the Kut..tiya dialect these are n ~ n u 'T ' , m ~ m u"we"(exd. ; we did not record the inclusive form), n~nu"thou", m f r u "you", as

opposed to W. dnu, ~mu, [nu, [ ru .On the other hand compare Kuvi n ~ n u ,m d m b u , n [ n u , m [ m b u .The dialect has separate accusative forms distinctfrom the dative, whereas in W.'s dialect the latter case is also used for theaccusative. These forms are n a n a ' a "me" and n i n a ' a "you" (forms for theplural are no t recorded). The genitive forms recorded are n~, ma, nf, rn[(n~ .dukri"my wife", m a k u r i "our pot", n f k6d. i"your cow", m f n ~ y u"your (pl.) village"). We recorded also a longer form n a ' i e.g. n~'i r in.dim r d g a s k a "my two daughters" . According to W. the genitives are n~i ,m~i , n~, m~.

As opposed to W.'s neuter pronominal form Tri "this" we recorded abase id - ( id ina r i"what is this?", i d a 6 m u"take this"). The correspondingpronoun in Kuvi is idi. W. gives a n - as the interrogative base ( a n i "what",a n a r i "what thing", etc.), but remarks that in some districts the base is in-.It is the latter type of interrogative which is found in the Ku.t.tiya dialect:ini , inari .

In the dialect of Kui studied by Winfield the Dravidian numeralsbeyond "two" have been lost, and this is generally the case in the morenorthern dialects. The same loss has occurred in Kuvi, and so far notrace of any Dravidian numeral above "two" has been found in anydialect of that language. On the other hand certain dialects of Kui lessexposed to Oriya influence have preserved the Dravidian numerals up to"seven", and these are given in the grammars of L. Letchmajee and J. E.Friend-Pereira. According to the Linguistic Survey (IV, 469) the Dravidi-an numerals up to "ten" are preserved in the dialect of Chinna Kimedi,but no forms are quoted. The statement must be treated with scepticismunless confirmation is forthcoming. In the Kut.t.iya dialect the numerals

up to "seven" are preserved. The simplest form of the numerals appearsin certain standard combinations, e.g. r o n e s e "one day", r i nese "twodays", rnf~ dina ,"three days", n d l d i n a "four days", s~ d ina "five days",hdja d ina"six days", o.ri din a"seven days". More commonly n connection


13/18


with non-mascul ine no uns the fo l lowing longer fo rms a re used :ron.di

"one" , rin.di" t w o " , manf i "three" , nalgi " fou r " , s~ggi "five", haja gota"six", o.rigo.ta"sev en" (e.g.ron.dikoju"one fowl" ,rin.dikoska" two fowl s " ,e tc . ) . Mascul ine forms up to " four" were recorded:ro'onfi " o n e m a n " ,ri'er/ri'ari " t w o m e n " ,mu'a r " three men " ,nalur " fou r men" . Beyond tha tthe affixgan.di(W . gan.di"bod y, person") i s used :s~ gan.di, haja gan.di, o.rigan.di " five (s ix , seven) m en" . The num era l s up to " fou r" m ay a l soreceive the inf lect ions of the f i rs t and second persons:mamu r i ' a t amu"we two" , m a m u m u ' a t a m u"we th ree" , m~ru r i 'a tatar i " y o u t w o " ,miru naltatari"yo u four" , e tc. A bov e " twen ty" the count ing is norm al ly

in scores:ri kr.ri "40" , mft kr.ri"60" , s~g gr.ri"100" , o.rig grp i"140", e tc .The verba l fo rms recorded conform in the main to the sys tem of

W infie ld , bu t there are cer ta in points of difference. In the pa st tense W .has the f i rs t person s ingular terminat ion -e( taki te " I walked" , k r t e " Ireaped") , tha t i s to say the same ending as the neu te r 3 rd sg. The cor re -spon ding term inat ion Ku.t .t iya dia lect is -e 'e(ki te 'e " I d id" , reste 'e " Isaid" , e tc .) , a form wh ich closely agrees with that of Ku vi (Su.paste '~ " Ispread" , e tc .) . I t is p ro bab ly there fore a m ore or ig ina l fo rm of thete rmina t ion which has been shor tened in the more no thern d ia lec t s .

A no the r pecu l iar i ty is that in the verb s of W . 's f i rs t con jugat io n ( i.e . verbswi th pas t s tem in-it- as opposed to s imple - t - ) a di fferent terminat ion,-enu, i s used : kftritenu "I fell", tumbitenu"I sneezed",maski tenu"I ex-chang ed", e tc . Otherwise the con jugat ion of the two s imple tenses, pas tand fu ture , i s the sam e as W . ' s , excep t tha t the g lo t ta l s top ap pears in thef i rs t perso n o f the fu ture(k i ' i "I w il l do") , and there is a f inal -i ins tead of-u in such form s asvatenji"he came" ,vateri " they came" ,h~nenji"he wil lg ive" and maner i" they a re".

The impera t ive forms a re the sam e as W ' .s , bu t no te the form s o f thef i rs t person plural :regina "le t us cut (corn)" ,k ina " le t us do" ,hon.d~na" le t us cu t up (meat )"regina " le t us tha tch" . This fo rm i s m ent ioned byFriend-Pereira (p . 47,sana " le t us go") , b u t ignored b y W infie ld exceptfor the fo rm of the nega tive verbkgma (Grammar,p. 74).

The re la t ive par t ic iples agree with W . and also the verbal par tic iples ofthe present (e.g.h~ndi, vehpi, 60and o f the pa s t(vaja, pilca, pegja).Likew ise the adv erbial par t ic iples(tacci vamu"br ing ing come") , which asin W. a re o f ten repea ted(dahi dahi"seeking", .dricci .dricci"dragging) .

Elsewhere absolut ives are form ed, as in W . (p . 131 ft .) , by the add i t ion of"conjunc t iona l par t ic les" to the pas t verba l par ti c ip le . Cor respon ding toW. ' s -nai we have fo rm in -nah i :e~ganahi"having c l imbed" ,pegjanahi"having p icked" ,palganahi "having lowered the head" . This-nahi m ay


14/18

THE KUI DIALECT AS SPOKEN BY THE KUT.TIA KANDHS 131

appear shortened to -n i (p~can i"having pressed", hr. rcani "having in-

serted"), or even to - n ( j e j a n "having pulled").An infinitive in - o n i is frequent: u e b o n i "to drink", h~.roni "to see",t r ~ b o n i"to wander". It may also be used as a noun: k.rahoni"a dance".Winfield ( G r a m m a r ,p. 136) gives a corresponding form in -on.di , pag on.d i"to fight", etc. Compare the similar change of-n.d- to -n- in K. v & o n i"next year": W. v&on.di.

The four compound tenses follow the same pattern as in Winfield, andas in Winfield both uncontracted ( 6 i m a n e"she is taking") and contracted( r i n e n f i"he is taking") forms are found. In our material the contracted

forms are considerably more abundant than the uncont racted ones.A suffix -es iadded to the past stem and making temporal or conditional

adverbs is recorded in a few instances, e.g. t i cces i"if on eats", or "whenone eats", but the material is somewhat scanty". Similar forms appear notto be registered elsewhere.

The Kui language, along with Kuvi, has developed a special type ofverbal inflection which is used when the first or second persons form thedirect or indirect object of the verb, and occasionally when some moregeneral reference to them is implied. This conjugation is formed by theinsertion between the root and the terminations of certain augments,namely -a- (s~ai"I will give [you]": s~ i "I will give [him, them]"); -a ra -( s fa ragnu"I will not give [to you": sfO'nu"I will not give [to him, them]"),- t a - (v~ ta i"I will strike [you]": v~i "I will strike [him, them]"), - t a ra -(v~tara~'nu"I will not strike [you]": v~gnu"I will not strike [him]"). Forthe full details see Winfield who calls these augments "t ransit ion particles".These "particles" seem to represent, in a part ly disguised form, the commonDravidian verbal base t a / t a r - "to bring, to give (to you or me)", whichfunctions elsewhere in Dravidian (e.g. a lreadyin Old Tamil) as an auxiliaryverb combined with the verbal root. The restriction of its reference tothe first and second persons remains the characteristic feature of this typeof conjugat ion in Kui. The elision of the initial t- in -a- and -a ra - isnatural in such a subsidiary verb, and we may cite in comparison thecontracted forms of the compound tenses where the m a - of the verb m a n -is elided.

Our forms correspond in the main to Winfield's: M a i "I will give (toyou)", tl~tai"I will twist (your arm)", t 6 s t a m u"show (me)", etc. The only

difference seems to be t hat the form in -a ra - ( - t a ra - )is more widely used.In addit ion to examples in the future tense ( n a c c a r a ' i"I will press (you)",etc. : cf. W., p. 105, p e h a r a i "I will drive (you) away"), it is found also inthe past tense where it is not given by W. : k i c c a r a t e n j i"he nipped (you or


15/18

13 2 T. BURR OW AND S. BFIATTACHARYA

me)", pand.arate'e"I sent (you)"). Instances of this formation being used

with a more general reference ot the first or second persons appear in thefollowing examples: .dStamu"lie down (here, near us)", j~ ta ra 'enu"I willno t descend (down to where you are); cf. Winfield p. 109.

Another type of extended conjugation in Kui is made by what Winfieldcalls "the motion particle" -ka , which is also inserted between root andtermination: m e h k a i"I will go and look", m e h k a t e"I went and looked".Similar forms were given by our informants, e.g. p i h k a ' i"I wil lleave (you)and go", dahka ' i "I will go and look for", and (with the variant -ga-tr~ga'i"I will go for a walk". The forms of the first person singular of the

past tense differ from W.'s in having the termination -enu: tr~gatenu"Iwent for a walk", t aka tenu"I went and fetched". This -ka- is perhaps tobe connected with the k a- "to go" which appears in Kurukh kgmd(alternating with ker- , ka l-),and in the present stem ka- o f the Brahui verbhining"to go".

In the Kuvi language a type of a tmanepadais commonly formed by theuse of the auxiliary verb ko.d.d-.In Kui Winfield makes no mention of thisin his account of the auxiliary verbs (pp. 123-128), but we got some formsof this kind from our Kut..tiya infomants : e.g. nd vanju kracan go.ditenu

"I cut my finger", maha 'apegjan go .dumu"pick yourself a mango". As faras can be seen from these two examples the auxiliary is added to the pastverbal participle with affixed -n. It is possible that further investigationwill show this construction to be generally current in Kui.

We found also that the verb h~- "to give" was in common use as anauxiliary: e.g. dahani tacca hiat.u"having sought bring", kut ta h~amu"sew(something for me)." In these examples the auxiliary is added to the pastverbal participle. In some cases it is added to the past verbal participlewith affixed -n, and in these cases the initial of the auxiliary is voiced:mr~k jan jP i"I will hide". This usage is probably imitated from the veryfrequent use of the verb "to give" as an auxifiary in the local Oriyavernacular. Winfield does not give this in his list of auxil iary verbs.

The following forms were also noted: drpa-vinne"(dog) barks", "(cow)lows", arpa-vite "(cow) lowed", ~ju valga-vinnu"water boils", ~ju valga-vitu "water boiled", himba urpa-vinnu"porridge is boiling over". Nosimilar forms are given by Winfield. They contain apparently the infinitivesof the verbs concerned in the beginning, but the remainder of the forma-

tion is not dear.As was to be expected the dialect contains a considerable number ofwords not recorded by Winfield, and something like half of these arewords which are also found in Kuvi. Cases o f the latter are seen in ava


16/18

THE KUI DIALECTAS SPOKENBY THE KU.TTIAKANDHS 133

"e lde r b ro the r ' s w i fe" (Kuv i F.aw a "si ter- in- law") , ~d- " to get wet"

(K uvi ~d- " id.")ek - " to load (on a ca r0 , K uv i . S.ekhna i(ove r bu rden" ) ,kappel i"bitter" (cf. Kuvi Su. S.k a m b e l i" id.") , k a m b -"to r ipen, (hair) tobecom e g rey" (Kuv ik a m b - "id.") , kr iu-peja~a"ea r-wax" (Kuv ikirpej ja"id.") ,kirga viha~a"a k ind o f bees" (Kuv i Su . P.kr~yya, F . kir ingy a"bee" ) ,k u r i "po t " (Kuv ikur r i "id."7), k o r a k a (p l . ) "horse-gram,dolichos uni-florus'" (Kuvi Su .ko ra , pl. ko raea " id . " ; Ku i (W. ) has Or iya loanwordkol ta ) , k randu"mon goose" (Kuv i Su.k randu "id.") , ga.dda"r iver" (Kuv iSu. ka.d.da"id.") , gu t i "mou th" (Kuv i Su .gu t i " id.") , j aggu "c loud"(K uvi ht~gu "cloud , sky") ,t umb- " to sneeze" (Kuvi Su .t u m m - "id.") ,

n a m - " to be l ieve" (Kuvi S .n a m m i n a i"id.") ,p~c-"to press, squeeze, m ilk"(Kuv i Su.p?c-"id.") ,pon.da"mi l ehcow"(Kuv ipon .da"id.") ,p r t u " m a l e o fan ima l s " (Kuv ip r t u "id.") , mun ju "forehead" (Kuvi . Su .m u n j u "id.") ,mrf tmbu" face" (Kuv imf~rnbu"id.") , m l u k -" to d raw wa te r (by d ipping inpot )" (Kuvi Su .mn.uk- "id.") , trip- " to wash ( face)" , (Kuvi Su . F.rap-"id.") , vrih-" to ask , beg" (Kuv i Su.rTh- (dst-) , S. rihnai, F . ds sa li" to ask,beg" ; thus i t appears tha t an in i tia l v - has been los t in Kuvi , w hich m akesthe connec t ion wi th Ta .ira- "to beg", e tc . doubtful) ,lanj- to ba le wa te r(wi th hands) (Kuvi Su . P. . ran j - " id ." ; poss ib ly the same as W. ' slanj-"spr inkle") ,h ~ g u l i " the i t ch" (Kuv i Su .h ~ g u t i ; W . has t he ve rbs~pka" to i tch") ,h r m b - " to rub , s t roke" (Kuvi S .h r m b i n a i" to scour scrub") .

The fo l lowing wo rds appea r to be re cord ed ne i ther in W infie ld no r inthe ava i lab le Kuvi mater ia l :ira "bui ld of f ie ld" ,una "ho le" , karbe l i"quick ly" , k a k o r i "co ld (o f wa te r ) " ,k f d u "cheek" , ko.di "hoe" , k l fma"qui l l o f porcupine" ,k leh- " to bui ld (house)" ,girer " l izard" , ger- " toopen" ,ju ra "A on la t ree" (c f. Kon.dasf4rika ma ran"id.") , t.u4l.umi" a k i n dof drum" (cf . Ta .tut.umai,T e . tu.dumu" a k i n d o f d r u m " ) ,groho (in theplural , grohoga) "ph legm" ,g.ria "bank o f r ive r " ,.di.di"midday" (c f . P j .t.it.te-delkul"id.") , .dTma"numb ness , loss of sensa t ion (in a l imb )" ,.don.do" th igh" , td~gu(pl. tdkaka)" h o o f " , to.rkenji" th ie f" (L . Le tchm ajee , p . 39,has torka "thief") , na t i " ch in" ,pa rp - " to comb" (of . Kol .p a T- " id ." ) ,pf~hi mran u" K u s a m t re e ,Schleichera t r ijuga"(Kon.dapfczi"id." , e l . Ta.pft , pftvu,etc. "id.")p r k a r i "sm oke " (of. Te .poga , etc.) ,p.r~k-"( food) tobecome s ta le" (c f . Tu .pa rahgun i "id.") , p.ruma "fea ther" , m~.ra "r ice-field", mresk -" to rub" , ruk - " to sc rape toge the r w i th the ha nd" ,reg- " tocut (corn)" ,r~pe"a lof t", .r~d-, "to float",lukur i"cool shade" ,sfr ta " lower"

This word appears in 'Vizagapatam Ko ndh' text given n theGramophone Recordsof theLanguages and D ialectsof the MadrasPresidency (M adras, 1927), p. 72. As faras we have been able to observe t is not elsewhere ecorded n K uvi.


17/18

13 4 T. BURR OW AND S. BHATTACHARYA

(cf . Go. Tr. sir--s ir ta "under, benea th") ,h~ca "ma t " , hal- "to dissolve

(intr.).Other words appear in a somewhat d i ffe ren t fo rm f rom tha t g iven inW inf ie ld 's account o f Kui . O f these a num ber have a l ready been men-t ioned in connec t ion wi th the phone t ic var ia t ions be tween th i s d ia lec tand W infie ld ' s. In add i t io n the fo llowing var ian t fo rm s m ay be men-t ioned: acc- " to f ea r " : W. aja; ~ci ki-" to choose" : W.aska; or?i "rat ,m o u s e " : W. o.dri, K u v i orli; kdnju "ca r ry ing yoke" : W.kdsa "id ."(probably or ig ina t ing f rom the p lura l , c f . the remarks on W. ' sm~sa aso p p o s e d to K .m~nju"egg" above ; Kuvi (Su . F. ) hask~nju" id ." , bu t F.

a lso givesk~cha); kdt.-"to f ix , fas ten, secure" (W. only in combinat ionwi th giva: k~t.a giva" to la tch") ;kitkoro.di"armpit" (cf . W.ki tk i lombe.ri);k isk in jscorp ion" : W.kiskant.oeri); k.r6-"to b en d" ( intr. ),k.r6p-" to bend"( t r. ) : W. krrsu inba" t o b e n d " ;graha " rus t " : W.kai; grucc-" to smea r thef loo r w i th cowdung" : W.g.ruhka; .dumb-"to be ext inguished (f i re)"(Kuv i a l so has.dumb-):W . lumba " id . " ; p i k k - " to b e h e a w " ( K u v ip i k k -" id . " ) : W.p~ga; pua "ember s " (na.ri pu a; K u v i P. pYtya"burn ing coa l" ,F. puiya " spa rk" ) : W.pf~vala" spa rk" ;p~r- " to chase , d r ive away " (Kuvip~r-) : W. peha; bre-"to burst" (intr. , e.g. boil , 3 sg. pastbrete): W. cf .p r o b a b l ypr~ju "a c leavage" ;mu~gi" n o s e " : W. mungeli ; muci t raka"ak ind o f an t s " W.mura.ri,(P.) mujo.ri" id . " ; mrag- " to h ide" : W.marga;mr~ga,pl. mrdgaska"daugh te r " (Kuv ima~ga,131.m~ska) : W. mrau,pl.mrauska; m.rO.du" t u r b a n " : W.mrr.du "a s t rip o f c lo th for ty ing a co i l o fha i r" ; r~nj-" to b laze" : W .riva " t o b u r n " ; ru- "to set l ight to" (1 sg. pa strute'e): W . ruta"id." (1 sg. pastrutite); .rgtga"shade , shadow" (c f . KuviP. . r~a " id ." ; probably


18/18

THE KU I DIALE CT AS SPOKEN BY THE KUT.TIA KAND HS 13 5

"bamboo" , ag ree ing w i th Kuv id~ru "id ." , has qui te a different meaning

f rom W . ' s " sh oot , bud " , and i f the meanings a re cor rec tly recorded inboth cases , they wi l l p robably have to be cons idered as separa te homo-ph on es. Th e Ku.t .t iya dialect has~ju "wa ter" , w i th the expec ted pho ne t icco r r e spondence t o Kuv i~yu. On the o ther hand Winf ie ld has~ju in thesense of "co ok ed r ice , food, r ice-water, gruel , a meal" . This a lso sho uldp ro bab ly be r ega rded a s a hom ophon e , and a co r r e spond ing K uv i word isp robab ly t o be a s sumed f rom Schu lze ' sh ~ ru y u t a i tt in a i"mar ina te"(Voc abu l a ry,p. 103; l it . "p ut sal t in thej ~ u" ; the init ial j - ( i .e . y-) can betaken as the com m on pro the t ic y - before fron t vowels , o r poss ib ly j~u i s a

mispr in t fo r~ju). Fo r "wa te r" W . has qu i te a d ifferen t wo rd ,siru/si.dru,o funcer ta in e tym ology. H e does , howev er, g ive~su "water" , but th is is acom pos i t iona l fo rm (c f. Ta .y~r_ru-,etc .) , as can be seen from the fol lowingexample s : ~su k6ru " h i p p o p o t a m u s " , ~su loeri "kingfisher" , ~su po ta"a tea l . "

Documents

Some Notes on the Kui Dialect as Spoken by the Kuttia Kandhs of North-East Koraput