06-01-174

174

EASTERN HIND.

THE BROKEN DIALECTS OF THE SOUTH.

MARR, PWR, KUMBHR, AND JH.

　The first three of these are tribal dialects spoken in Balaghat and Bhandara. They are merely broken forms of Baghl, mixed up with other languages spoken in the neighbourhood. These two districts form the meeting ground of Chhattsgah, Baghl, Bundl, and Marh, to mention Aryan languages alone, and not considering the Dravidian languages which occupy the same tract. The three dialects above mentioned are in the main Baghl. In the same tract we have also Baign, a form of Chhat- tsgah corruptd by G, Ldh, which is Bundl corrupted by Marh, and Gowr, which is Bundl in some places and Marh in others. jh is corrupt form of Baghl spoken in the District of Chhindwara by the jhs, a Dravidian tribe. It will be more fully discussed when dealing with the specimens. We shall take these dialects in order. They are more jargons than dialects, and full specimens are not necessary.

　Marr is the dialect spoken by the Marrs. This is a gardening caste which is numerous over nearly the whole of the Central Provinces, but which appears in the greatest number in Balaghat. Its members are said to have two places of origin, the Berars and Northern India. Those of Balaghat appear to have come from the latter direction, and this is borne out by the curious irregularities of their jargon, which distinctly point to the languages of the Gangetic Doab. Marr, as a dialect, is only reported from that district where it is said to be spoken by 52,700 people. It is found all over the District except in the Eastern Tahsls of Saletekri and Raigarh of which the main language is the Khalh form of Chhattsgah. It is, so far as its verbal inflections go, a form of Eastern Hind, resembling the kind of Baghl spoken in Mandla. On the other hand, its nouns remind one of the Kanauj of the east-centre of the Doab. Thus, the Nominative of strong nouns and adjectives, such as chh, little, mr, mine, ends in , and, as in Banda, while the Eastern Hind Past Tense, with its third person singular in is, is used, the subject has the typical Western Hind case of the Agent, with n. Thus, ur-n kahis, the son said; us-n kahis, he said. The l in m-l is probably borrowed from Marh or Chhattsgah. The r in apr is an evident attempt to pronounce the Marh l.

　In the District of Balaghat, the most important language is Marh. It is a peculiar local dialect known as Marh, and is spoken by the lower classes over the whole district, except in the Northern Parganas of Mau, Paraswara, Sarekha, Bhim Lat and Raigarh, and in the Eastern ones of Saletekri and Chauria. In the three last named parganas, all of which lie to the east of the District, the language is the Khalh form of Chhattsgah. In the North-Western parganas of Mau, Paraswara, and Sarekha, the Aryan languages are Marr, Pwr, and Ldh. These three languages are also spoken over the whole of the Marh tract and Pwr, also, in Bhim Lat. As stated above, the first two are forms of Baghl, and the third is a form of Bundl. The Dravidian G is also spoken over nearly the whole district. Golar, a Dravidian language, and Baign, a corrupt form of Chhattsga, are also spoken in various