LANGUAGE IN INDIA

TOWARDS REFORMULATING DIALECT DICTIONARIES IN INDIAN LANGUAGES
AN ASSESSMENT OF TAMIL DIALECT DICTIONARIES
AND HOW DIALECT DICTIONARIES MAY BE PREPARED IN INDIAN LANGUAGES
L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

1. CREEPING EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON LANGUAGE USE

Language shows variation according to space and time. A significant dimension of language variation is found in the form dialects. The manifestation of different dialects is due to the variation in pronunciation, vocabulary and, to some extent, grammar. The study of the dialects and preservation of the dialectal forms are very essential in the era of changing world order.

The information technology and new forms of mass media channels made the world a global village. Sociologists have suggested that many minor languages will face natural death in the on going process of globalization. There are also opinions that free-trade, the other face of globalization, through English, is possible only at a certain level of any society. Beyond that level, local languages are inevitable to help the global market to reach the roots of the villages.

2. DISAPPEARING DIALECTS

In both the cases, homogeneity of languages is the expected impact of the globalization. Linguists and anthropologists have always argued for the preservation of the dialectal forms as part of cultural heritage programs in the globalization process.

One of the means of preservation of dialects is through the compilation of dialect dictionaries. Dictionary, as is known, is a book with systematic arrangement of words, with their meanings, etymology, usage, and also information on any field of knowledge.

3. CLASSIFICATION OF DICTIONARIES

Dictionaries are classified into various types on the basis of their nature, content, and purpose. The contents of the dialect dictionaries are dialectal forms. But the nature and purpose of the dialect dictionaries may vary depending on the collection and compilation methods. Yet, the nature and purpose of dialect dictionaries may be cited in general.

Since deviation and variation from the so-called standard norm constitute a dialectal form, dialect dictionaries may be classified into two categories, namely,

1. A Dictionary that contains the vocabularies of a particular region.
2. A Dictionary that contains the variations of a particular form across regions.

Dialect dictionaries are as important and useful as any other dictionaries for the study of languages. Even though the major purpose of compiling general dictionaries is for reference purposes, the dialect dictionaries can also be used as reference materials. The phrase 'reference materials' is used in the sense of identifying the meaning of a word in the "text".

4. DOWNGRADING DIALECTS

The usage of spoken forms in the literary texts was once forbidden, since spoken variety was considered as inferior and polluting. There were exceptions to this rule, and we find evidence for the acceptance of dialectal forms in great literary works in all Indian languages, especially in Tamil and Sanskrit. The earliest available Tamil grammar, Tolkappiyam, makes several references to dialectal forms and their functions. Kalidasa and many other great Sanskrit writers have employed dialect forms in their writings. Over the centuries dialectal forms and expressions were sought to be downgraded or eliminated.

5. THE PRESENT SCENARIO: IMPORTANCE OF DIALECT DICTIONARIES

Now the attitudes of the people and the values attached to the varieties have changed in the linguistic scenario. Postmodern literature encourages more of dialectal and subltern forms. Novels written exclusively using the spoken/dialectal forms seem to be accepted and appreciated by the people. In this context the dialect dictionaries as sources of reference have become significant.

Another important purpose of the dialect dictionaries is in the area of modernization of languages. Modernization of a language is generally considered to be a process of creating new technical terms and registers. When languages are introduced to function in modern domains like science and technology and other fields, technical terms are needed for the language to function effectively in those domains. The dialectal items are very important resource for coining technical terms. The dialectal forms are adopted as such to perform the required technical function.

Mass media like Television and Cinema now-a-days take themes related to villages and are using the form of language prevalent in those areas. Dialect dictionaries, if available to all regions, will be helpful for the writers other than those belonging to the region, to bring out the correct flavour of the language of that region.

Apart from these purposes, there are some other purposes like

• Preservation of the dialectal forms of a region
• Study of various forms and shades of meaning within and across regions and 3) Study of the historical changes that had taken place in the language.

6. STATE OF ART IN THE PREPARATION OF DIALECT DICTIONARIES IN INDIAN LANGUAGES

There is a dearth of dialect dictionaries in almost every Indian language. Tamil is no exception to it, although many dialect dictionaries have been prepared and published. These that are available lack expertise. So, new directions towards reforming the dialect dictionaries are the need of the hour. An attempt is made in this paper to propose certain reformulations in the preparation of dialect dictionaries, after examining the formats and problems in the existing dialect dictionaries in Tamil.

A cursory glance at the titles of the following dictionaries will give an idea about their contents of each of them.

1. Vazhakkuccollakaraati (Dictionary of Current Usage)
2. CeTTinaaTTil tamil vazhakku (Chettinaadu Tamil Usage or Tamil Usage in the Chettinaadu region)
3. Vattaara Vazhakkue collakaraati - Karical vattaaram (Regional Usage dictionary relating to Karisal region)
4. Kongu Vattaarae collakaraati (Regional Usage Dictionary of Kongu Region)
5. Tanjai VaTTaarac collakaraati (Regional Usage Dictionary of Tanjore Region)
6. Kanniyakumari Kirittava naadaar peeccu vazhakku akaraati (A Dictionary of Colloquial Speech of Kanyakumari Christian Nadar community)
7. Putucceeri Kiraamiyat tamil akaraati (Pondicherry Rural Tamil Dictionary)
8. toLiR kalaiccol akaraati (ulavu, taccu, PaTTu) (Technical Terms Dictionary of Professions)
9. KadaRkarai paradavar kalaic coRkal (Dictionary of Coastal Parava Fishing Community Technical Terms)
10. Matpaandat toliRcol akaraati - Periyar District (Dictionary of Pottery Terms used in Periyar District)

7. THE TAMIL TRADITION AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE

The Tamil tradition has distinguished ezhuttu "Written variety" from vazhakku "Spoken forms". Following that tradition, some dictionaries use "Vazhakku" to designate spoken Tamil. Some dictionaries specify the geographical regions (such as Karical, Kongu, Tanjai Regions). Two dictionaries, even though they specify regions, deal with the speech of certain specific castes (ceTTiyar, kiRuttava naadar). The Putucceri dictionary distinguishes rural forms from urban forms. It implies that the speech of rural people is comparable to dialects. There are also dictionaries of occupational terms, which are specific to particular regions and particular professions.

8. THE PROBLEMS: DIGLOSSIA

Taking cues from the existing state of affairs, we can discuss the problems that we face in the preparation and use of dialect dictionaries. The first problem is to identity the dialect and dialect area. There are many usages with regard to the variety such as spoken variety, written variety, dialects, social dialects, slang, etc. Tamil grammars and literatures accord a higher status to the written variety. But they acknowledge the existence of many spoken varieties in Tamil.

It is a well known fact that Tamil is a diglossic language. The two varieties, namely, the written and spoken, are assigned distinctive status, function, structure, etc. In the diglossic situation, we have a standard written variety, and also a standard spoken variety in Tamil. But all spoken forms could not be considered as dialectal forms. Most of the dictionaries use spoken forms common to all regions as dialectal forms. The spoken forms, which have some regional connotations, are to be taken as dialectal forms.

9. CASTE DIALECTS AND OCCUPATIONAL SPEECH

Another problematic area with regard to Tamil is the Caste dialect. The existence of caste dialects in Tamil is a debatable. But, generally speaking, Tamil linguists classify them as Brahmin Dialect, non- Brahmin dialect, and Harijan dialect. This classification may not characterize the situation correctly, because there is so much overlap between the two latter categories. In order to categorize a particular variety as a caste dialect, it has to be exclusively used by the people belonging that caste irrespective of the region and it should not be shared by people of other areas. This is true only with the Brahmin dialect. There are certain lexical items that may be exclusively used by some people.

This may be due to their occupational and environmental differences. Some occupational dictionaries like fishermen dialect, potters dialect, etc., are available in Tamil, and in several other Indian languages. It is to be mentioned here that traditional Indian society was organized on the basis of Hindu Varna system. Each community belonging to this Varna system was given a specific occupation. The caste and occupation go together in the traditional system. Each occupation certainly has exclusive vocabularies to designate their materials, instruments, and the process. For example, a potter may have different vocabulary to refer to the different types of sand and dirt. They may use certain vocabulary as their business codes. All these vocabulary items constitute their language.

Since caste and occupation in rural India are, to some extent inseparable even today, the occupation-related language appears to be a caste variety. The occupational terms exclusively used by them should be part of the occupational vocabulary and other occupational terms, which is used also by others should be included in the dialect dictionary. Any vocabulary item which is common to a particular area and distinct from other areas should be included in the dialect dictionary. The commonness and distinctiveness are the two important criteria in the selection of vocabulary items.

10. DIALECT AREA: REGIONAL DIALECTS

The specification of the dialect area is another important problem in Tamilnadu Dialectologists in Tamil classify Tamilnadu into five major dialectal areas as:

1. Northern Tamil dialect
2. Southern Tamil dialect
3. Eastern Tamil dialect
4. Western Tamil dialect
5. Central Tamil dialect

But the existing dictionaries mark their area of usage in a different manner. The Karical area includes some areas of eastern, western, and central dialect areas. Similarly, the Kongu area falls into eastern and central dialect areas. A pertinent question that comes here is, how do we demarcate the dialect area. Whether the dialect area should be marked on the basis of regions, or on the basis of some other factors?

The Kongu, Karical, and Cettinadu are the classifications not marked on the basis of region. The first two denotes the landscape and soil and the third one, a region with a specific community. The linguistic division of the dialect area has its base in the variation of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. But this division is not enough as far as the dictionaries are concerned.

11. CULTURAL SPECIFICITY

One more dimension, namely, cultural specificity, should be added for the following reason. The way of life and worldview depend on the environment, weather, soil, landscape, flora and fauna, etc. Even though the over-all traditional customs, superstitions and other beliefs, social and cultural attitudes, etc., common to the whole Tamilnadu, certain specific cultural traits are available to certain regions. These traits must be shared by the people belonging to different castes, occupations, religions, etc., of that particular region. The dialect dictionary should have those reflections as the boundaries.

People belonging to a particular caste might have pursued certain occupations for centuries. Such occupational groups like carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, farmers, and shoemakers living in a particular area share certain common cultural items. This commonness is the result of their environment and belief system. These common elements which are deviant from other areas must find their place in the dialect dictionary. Hence, the cultural dimension, apart from linguistics dimension, is necessary for a dialect dictionary.

12. THE NEED TO CHANGE OUR METHODS

Such types of dialect dictionaries could not be compiled by using traditional methodology. Generally, data for the dialect study are collected from old, rural women, who hardly travel outside their hamlets. But the interesting aspect of language is its variation. Sociolinguists have proved that language variation is systematic. So, data should be collected from people belonging to different castes, age groups, occupations, etc., using a well prepared questionnaire.

This type of data collection will give the social nature of the vocabulary collected. If there are many vocabulary items available for a particular concept/thing, then the social values attached to the vocabulary give important cues about the usages. For example, a study of the items caatam, and cooru, (both meaning cooked rice), will reveal how and why people choose one over the other for an occasion, and what social values are attached to each of these words.

13. PROBLEMS RELATING TO THE PRESENTATION OF ITEMS

The presentation is another important aspect that we need to consider carefully in the preparation of dialect dictionaries. In the case of dialect dictionaries, alphabetic arrangement need not and should not be the primary pattern of presentation. Since dialect dictionary is oriented towards reflecting the social life of the people in an area, semantic categorization of the vocabulary should be the primary one.

Semantic categorization is the best way to study culture. The whole life patterns of the people could be classified into as many semantic categories as possible such as time, weather, land, agriculture, ailment, dress, body parts, manners, cattle, superstitions, etc. The semantic categorization is very useful for identifying both the aspects of culture, namely, material and non material culture of the people. Most of the dialect dictionaries contain vocabulary items relating to agriculture, land, products, etc., Though agriculture is the major economic activity of Tamil Nadu, other related and dependent occupations are also part of the society. The number of vocabulary under a particular semantic categorization and their variation will help us to understand the social and cultural life of the people.

Another variation found in the dictionaries is presentation of the vocabulary and its meaning. As mentioned earlier, in the presentation and function of dialectal words pronunciation is an important aspect. Most of the dictionaries have given the dialectal words in Tamil script, which does not bring out the pronunciation or sound nuances clearly. The letters of the Tamil script have specific phonetic values depending on the place of occurrence. The exact phonetic value of the dialectal words cannot be given using the Tamil script, because the Tamil script is more oriented toward the phonemic representation than toward the phonetic representation. This, indeed, is an admirable quality, but not efficient for our purpose of presenting the dialectal forms. At the same time, adopting international symbols is also not useful for a common reader. Voiced sounds, fricatives, and nasalization are some of the sounds that need special symbols.

In the existing dictionaries, the meaning and usage of the dialectal words are given either using dialectal form or standard language. The usages, if given in dialectal form, will be unintelligible. At the same time, use of standard language for usages does not bring out the dialectal flavor. Hence, the meaning of the head word may be given in standard Tamil and the usages/citation may be given in the dialectal form.

14. TO CONCLUDE

Dialectal dictionaries are very important both from the linguistic and cultural points of view. From the linguistic point of view, it should give the exact dialectal variations and the meaning nuances. From the cultural point of view, it should reflect many social facts of the people living in a particular location, sharing common and distinct cultural traits. Dialect dictionary, if prepared involving huge manpower and excellent expertise, will be a source book for the study of language diversity and a cultural document for Tamils as well. All this is true for the preparation of dialect dictionaries in Indian languages.

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