12 threshold of 90 would be lowered to 80, and all the word lists showing 80 lexical similarity
and higher would be considered as representing an intelligible dialect area. The opposite was also true. In the event that word lists showing 89 lexical similarity came out unintelligble, then
further dialect intelligibility testing would be needed for higher degrees of lexical similarity. In such a case, the threshold would have to be moved up to 95. Dialect groupings based on
lexical similarity are considered tentative until they have been confirmed by dialect intelligibility testing.
4.1.2 Lexical similarity table.
Table 1 shows the percentages of lexical similarity among the various dialects surveyed. The abbreviations are listed below with the language, village, tehsil or taluk, district, and state
given in that order: 1. GD= Rajput Garasia, Dhabaavalivav, Danta, Banaskantha, Gujarat
2. GK= Rajput Garasia, Kui, Abu Road, Sirohi, Rajasthan 3. GM= Rajput Garasia, Mama Pipla, Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha, Gujarat
4. GP= Rajput Garasia, Piplo, Bali, Pali, Rajasthan 5. AA= Adiwasi, Anaso, Bhiloda, Sabarkantha, Gujarat
6. AB= Adiwasi, Bordiyala, Danta, Banaskantha, Gujarat 7. AK= Adiwasi, Kadzavas, Khedbrahma, Sabarkantha, Gujarat
8. BK= Bhil, Kharod, Dahod, Panch Mahals, Gujarat 9. PB= Pateliya Bhil, Sakarda, Dahod, Panch Mahals, Gujarat
10. WS= Wagdi, Sialderi, Dungarpur, Dungarpur, Rajasthan 11. MB= Marwari Bhil, Indira Nagar, Danta, Banaskantha, Gujarat
12. MW= Marwari, Wokli, Bali, Pali, Rajasthan 13. RM= Rabari Marwari, Indira Nagar, Danta, Banaskantha, Gujarat
GD 99 GK
97 96 GM 96 94 97 GP
91 87 91 89 AA 88 77 88 75 89 AB
93 87 93 86 93 96 AK 84 79 82 81 92 79 88 BK
79 76 79 76 91 79 82 93 PB 87 79 86 80 93 79 84 84 84 WS
70 68 73 67 84 69 74 80 80 75 MB 75 75 77 78 83 67 76 75 75 78 80 MW
80 78 84 77 87 76 82 81 83 80 81 85 RM
Table 1 Lexical Similarity Percentages.
13
4.1.3 Tentative conclusions and observations.
We tentatively set a percentage threshold at about 90 lexical similarity and assumed that those with such a high percentage were virtually the same dialect. We came up with five
major dialects. They are grouped together as follows: 1. Group I GD, GK, GM, GP
2. Group II AA, AB, AK 3. Group III AA, BK, PB
4. Group IV AA, WS 5. Group V AA, AK, GD, GM
There are several observations that can be made about the above groupings. The Rajput Garasia show the highest degree of lexical similarity. The word lists show that there is little
dialect variation among the Rajput Garasia. They constitute Group I. The second grouping is Adiwasi Garasia. The dialects AK and AB are almost identical.
People from both places say they speak the same language. In fact, we decided to use the story obtained from AK as the story representing this dialect. The text from AK was tested in AB and
showed complete comprehension. AA is included in this grouping because 89 is so close to the threshold, and because the people of AA said that they have relatives in the Poshina AK
area. Group III includes AA and extends to the southernmost extremity of the area surveyed.
Both PB and BK are in Panch Mahals district of Gujarat. It was in the Panch Mahals district that the researchers had some difficulty in finding mother tongue speakers of Pateliya Bhil. The
Pateliya Bhil there are showing some signs of advanced bilingualism in Gujarati. The researchers reported that even the children were speaking Gujarati with each other. In order to obtain the
word lists, older speakers had to be sought out who still remembered the Bhil language. The other Bhil group there BK did not appear as bilingual as the Pateliya. This group reported that
they can understand some Gujarati but not all. There are some factors about the Wagdi dialect that should be pointed out. The list
WS was obtained in Dungarpur. Later, it was checked in Banswara. In both instances the speakers were Mena Bhil. The Mena Bhil identify Wagdi as their mother tongue. It is reported
that not only is Wagdi the indigenous language of the Mena Bhil, but it is also the regional language. The Wagdi spoken in Dungarpur and Banswara appears to be the same. The lexical
similarity between the two places was 100. Considering that the two places are over 100kms. apart, the degree of similarity is amazing. The Mena Bhil in Dungarpur also reported that the
Mena Bhil in Kherwara speak the same language, and that the people from the two areas intermarry. The Adiwasi from Anaso AA is the variety of language spoken right on the border
of Gujarat and Rajasthan next to Kherwara and Dungarpur.
14 Group V appears as a rather strange combination. The word lists do show a high degree
of lexical similarity. Part of this may be accounted for by the fact that both GD and GM come from an area that is predominantly Adiwasi. There may be some borrowing of vocabulary
between the groups. It is also strange that there should be such a high degree of lexical similarity for AK and GD, and yet for AB and GP lexical similarity is only 75. This is accounted for by
the fact that the AB list has not yet been checked against the Garasia lists for alternate words and synonyms.
One final observation should be made concerning the lexical similarity chart. AA appears to have the highest degree of lexical similarity with the most dialect areas. Several things
may account for this. Adiwasi from Anaso is near a major road that joins Gujarat and Rajasthan. There is considerable traffic, and a high degree of contact with speakers from other dialects is
probable. AA is also in an area where several dialects appear to cross, and it may share more in common with them all. Another reason it may appear so lexically similar to the other dialects is
due to elicitation procedures. When enquiring about synonyms and alternate words, it is possible that the speaker may not understand the questions. Do you also say this? can be easily
misinterpreted as Do you understand this word? etc. If that happens, then the list is corrupted with words that are not really synonyms. This is a case where dialect intelligibility testing was of
great value in clarifying the relationship. Contrary to expectation, the dialect spoken in and around Anaso in Bhiloda is not nearly as intelligible with the other dialects as the word lists
suggest. See section 4.2 on dialect intelligibility.
4.1.4 Lexical similarity with the state languages.
