Brstjjy

Bhojpuri
भोजपुरी (bhōjpurī)
The word "Bhojpuri" in Devanagari script
Native to	India and Nepal
Region	Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh in (Bhojpuri region and Purvanchal region) in India and Terai region and Madhesh region in Nepal
Ethnicity	Bhojpuri people
Native speakers	51 million, partial count (2011 census)[1] (additional speakers counted under Hindi)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bihari languages Bhojpuri
Dialects	Northern (Gorakhpuri, Sarawaria, Basti) Western (Purbi, Benarsi) Southern (Kharwari) Tharu Bhojpuri Madheshi Domra Musahari Caribbean Hindustani Fiji Hindi
Writing system	Devanagari (more used) Kaithi (less used)[2]
Official status
Official language in	India (Jharkhand[3])  Fiji    Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-2	bho
ISO 639-3	bho – inclusive code Individual codes: hns – Caribbean Hindustani hif – Fiji Hindi
Glottolog	bhoj1246[4]
Linguasphere	59-AAF-sa
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For a guide to IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Bhojpuri (/ˌboʊdʒˈpʊəri/;^[5]भोजपुरी (help·info)) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the North-Eastern part of India and the Terai region of Nepal.^[2] It is chiefly spoken in western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.^[5][6] Bhojpuri is sometimes considered one of the Hindi dialects^[7] although it officially belongs to the geographic Bihari branch of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. Fiji Hindi, an official language of Fiji, is a variety of Bhojpuri. Bhojpuri is one of the recognized official languages of Nepal and Fiji. It is also a recognized minority language in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Mauritius.^[8][9]

Bhojpuri is also spoken by the first generation immigrants who migrated from the UP region which now encompasses parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India to the newly created Pakistan.^{[citation needed]} It is, however, slowly dying out in Pakistan as the next generation prefers to speak Urdu, Pakistan's national language and lingua franca.

The variant of Bhojpuri of the Indo-Surinamese people is also referred to as Sarnami Hindustani, Sarnami Hindi or just Sarnami^[10] and has experienced considerable Sranan Tongo Creole and Dutch lexical influence. In Mauritius, a distinctive dialect of Bhojpuri remains in use, locally called Bojpury. The day-to-day usage of the language in Mauritius is dropping and today, it is spoken by approximately 5% of the population, according to latest census.^[11]

Geographic distribution

Bhojpuri Speaking Region in India

Bhojpuri speaking region bounded by the Awadhi-speaking region to the west, Nepali speaking region to the north, Magahi- and Maithili-speaking regions to the east, and Magahi- and Bagheli-speaking regions to the south.^[2]

In Bangladesh, there are also Bhojpuri-speaking Muslims. However, their total number is estimated to be smaller than the number of Bhojpuri speakers in Mauritius, African, Caribbean, and South American nations.

Bhojpuri is a major language spoken in Nepal.^[9]

Outside South Asia

Bhojpuri is also spoken by people who were brought as indentured labourers in the 19th century and early 20th century, for work in sugarcane plantations during British colonial era, to Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, other parts of the Caribbean, Jamaica, and South Africa.^[8][9][12]

Dialects

The known dialects, per world language classification system, are Bhojpuri Tharu, Domra, Madhesi, Musahari, Northern Standard Bhojpuri (Basti, Gorakhpuri, Sarawaria), Southern Standard Bhojpuri (Kharwari), and Western Standard Bhojpuri (Benarsi, Purbi).^[2]

Bhojpuri has the following dialects, the first three being the major child dialects:^[9]

1. Southern Standard Bhojpuri


2. Northern Standard Bhojpuri


3. Western Standard Bhojpuri^[15]
   


4. Nagpuria Bhojpuri^[16]
   

Southern Standard Bhojpuri is prevalent the areas of Shahabad (Buxar, Bhojpur, Rohtas and Kaimur districts) and Saran region (Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj districts) in Bihar, and eastern Azamgarh (Ballia and Mau district) and Varanasi regions (eastern part of Ghazipur district) in Uttar Pradesh. It is sometimes referred to as ‘Kharwari’. It can be further divided into 'Shahabadi', 'Chapariyah' and 'Pachhimahi'.^[17]

Northern Bhojpuri is common in the areas of Gorakhpur (Deoria, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj districts) and Basti regions (Basti, Sidhartha Nagar and Sant Kabir Nagar districts) in Uttar Pradesh, western Tirhut region (East and West Champaran districts) in Bihar and other districts in Nepal.^[18] Local names include ‘Gorakhpuri’ for the language in Deoria and eastern Gorakhpur, and ‘Sarwariya’ in western Gorakhpur and Basti. The variety spoken cast of Gandak river between Gorakhpur and Champaran has a local name Pachhimahwa.^{[citation needed]}.

Western Bhojpuri is prevalent the areas of Varanasi (Varanasi, Chandauli, Jaunpur and Western part of Ghazipur districts), Azamgarh (Azamgarh district) and Mirzapur regions (Mirzapur, Sant Ravidas Nagar and Bhadohi districts) in Uttar Pradesh. ‘Banarasi’ is a local name for the Banaras Bhojpuri. Western Bhojpuri is also referred to as "Purbi" or "Benarsi".^[19]

Nagpuria Bhojpuri (not to be confused with Nagpuri) is southern most dialect, found in Chhotanagpur region of Jharkhand, particularly parts of Palamau and of Ranchi. It has more Magahi influence.^[16][18] It is sometimes referred to as 'Sadari'.^[20]

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Sociolinguistics

Bhojpuri is, sociolinguistically, one of the seven Hindi languages (Haryanvi, Braj, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, Bagheli and Kannauji).^[22] Of these seven, Bhojpuri has the most allophonic variations in vowels.^[23]

Robert Trammell has published the phonology of Bhojpuri.^[24][25]

Bhojpuri has six vowel phonemes,^[25] and ten vocoids. The higher vowels are relatively tense, while lower vowels are relatively lax. The language has 31 consonant phonemes and 34 contoids (6 bilabial, 4 apico-dental, 5 apico-alveolar, 7 retroflex, 6 alveo-palatal, 5 dorso-velar and 1 glottal).^[24]

According to Trammell, the syllable system is peak type: every syllable has the vowel phoneme as the highest point of sonority. Codas may consist of one, two or three consonants. Vowels occur as simple peaks or as peak nuclei in diphthongs. The intonation system involves four pitch levels and three terminal contours.^[24][26]

Writing system

Bhojpuri story written in Kaithi script, written by Babu Rama Smaran Lal in 1898

Bhojpuri was historically written in Kaithi scripts,^[2] but since 1894, Devanagari has served as the primary script. Kaithi is used rarely right now.

The word "Bhojpuri" written in kaithi script.

Kaithi script was used for administrative purposes in the Mughal era for writing Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, Magahi and Hindustani from at least the 16th century up to the first decade of the 20th century. Government gazetteers report that Kaithi was used in a few districts of Bihar through the 1960s. Bhojpuri residents of India, who signed up and moved as indentured labour in Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, and the Caribbean colonies of the British Empire in 19th century and early 20th century, used Kaithi as well as Devanagari scripts.^[8]

By 1894, official texts in Bihar were written in Kaithi and Devanagari. At present almost all Bhojpuri texts are written in Devanagari even in the overseas islands where Bhojpuri is spoken. For example, in Mauritius, both Kaithi and Devanagari scripts have been in use since the arrival of Bhojpuri people from India. The Kathi script was considered informal in Mauritius, with the structure of Kaithi similar to Devanagari (spelled Devanagri in Mauritius). In modern Mauritius, Bhojpuri script is Devanagari.^[27]

Politeness

Bhojpuri syntax and vocabulary reflect a three-tier system of politeness. Any verb can be conjugated as per these tiers. For example, the verb "to come" in Bhojpuri is "aana" and the verb "to speak" is "bolna". The imperatives "come!" and "speak!" can thus be conjugated five ways, each marking subtle variation in politeness and propriety. These permutations exclude a host of auxiliary verbs and expressions which can be added to these verbs to add even greater degree of subtle variation. For extremely polite or formal situations, the pronoun is generally omitted.

Similarly, adjectives are marked for politeness and formality. For example, "your" has several forms with different tones of politeness: "tum" (casual and intimate), "tōhār" (polite and intimate), "t'hār" (formal yet intimate), "rā'ur" (polite and formal) and "āp ke" (extremely formal). Although there are many tiers of politeness, Bhojpuri speakers mainly use the form "tum" to address an individual who is younger and "ap" for individuals who are older than themselves or hold a higher position in workplace situations.

Status

There have been demands for greater official recognition of Bhojpuri, such as via its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.^[28]

Bhojpuri is being taught in various universities of India. Universities like Veer kunwar Singh University ^[29] , Banaras Hindu University^[30], Nalanda Open University^[31]. Teach Bhojpuri.

Literature

Lorikayan, or the story of Veer Lorik, is a famous Bhojpuri folklore of Eastern Uttar Pradesh.^[32] Bhikhari Thakur's Bidesiya is another famous book.

A modest number of novels have been published in Bhojpuri since 1956.^{[citation needed]}

Media

Many Bhojpuri magazines and papers are published in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Parichhan is a contemporary literary-cultural Maithili-Bhojpuri magazine, published by Maithili-Bhojpuri academy, Delhi government and edited by Parichay Das. The Sunday Indian, Bhojpuri^[33] is a regular national news magazine in Bhojpuri. Aakhar is a monthly online Bhojpuri literature magazine.^[34] Other media in Bhojpuri include Lok Lucknow,^[35]

Mahuaa TV and Hamar TV are Bhojpuri language channels.

Examples

The following is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Bhojpuri, Hindi, Sarnámi and English:^[36]

अनुच्छेद १: सबहि लोकानि आजादे जन्मेला आउर ओखिनियो के बराबर सम्मान आओर अधिकार प्राप्त हवे। ओखिनियो के पास समझ-बूझ आउर अंत:करण के आवाज होखता आओर हुनको के दोसरा के साथ भाईचारे के बेवहार करे के होखला।^[36]

अनुच्छेद १: सभी मनुष्यों को गौरव और अधिकारों के मामले में जन्मजात स्वतन्त्रता और समानता प्राप्त हैं। उन्हें बुद्धि और अन्तरात्मा की देन प्राप्त है और परस्पर उन्हें भाईचारे के भाव से बर्ताव करना चाहिये।^[37]

Aadhiaai 1: Sab djanne aadjádi aur barabar paidaa bhailèn, iddjat aur hak mê. Ohi djanne ke lage sab ke samadj-boedj aur hierdaai hai aur doesare se sab soemmat sè, djaane-maane ke chaahin.^[38]

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.^[39]

See also

• Languages of Nepal


• Culture of Bhojpuri Region


• Bhojpuri cinema

References

External links

Bhojpuri edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• 
  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Bhojpuri, United Nations Information Centre, India (1998)


• 
  Kaipuleohone has archived open access recordings of Bhojpuri.