Table 14. Perceived comprehension of Malhoriya story
DK DES
KAT N=
10 12
11
How much of the Malhoriya story did you
understand?
All 80
100 91
Most 10
– 9
Half 10
– –
Less than half –
– –
As table 14 shows, the majority of respondents reported understanding all of the story. Consistent with RSQ data, Kathariya participants reported through dialect mapping that, after their own variety,
they understand Malhoriya best. During informal interviews, four of 12 Kathariya respondents reported that Malhoriya is the least
pure Tharu variety. In summary, the majority of respondents for both the RSQ and informal interviews reported they
felt that Malhoriya speech is “good.” Participants of the RSQ were able to identify differences between their own speech and the Malhoriya story most of the time. The majority of participants said they would
allow intermarriage with Malhoriya speakers, which suggests a lack of strongly negative attitudes. Kathariya subjects appear to view themselves separate and distinct from Malhoriya.
5.4 Summary of attitudes and emic perspectives
In summary of attitudes by varieties toward Dangaura, Deukhuri and Malhoriya, it can be generalized that no negative attitudes are held toward Dangaura or Deukhuri and mixed attitudes were
reported toward Malhoriya. More RSQ respondents said they understood “all” the Deukhuri story than the Dangaura or
Malhoriya story. Subjects from all varieties feel they understand one another to some extent, with the greatest differences being between Dangaura and Kathariya. Kathariya may be more similar to Malhoriya
than to Dangaura or Deukhuri. Malhoriya respondents identify Deukhuri as more similar to their own speech than Dangaura.
Differences were reported between speech varieties to varying degrees, but despite the identified differences, overall attitudes appear favorable.
Kathariya respondents often recognized differences between their speech variety and the other varieties of the survey. They often stated that their own speech is “very different” from that of the story’s
they heard from other varieties. Kathariya language assistants responded more favorably to Deukhuri speech than they did to recordings of Dangaura and Malhoriya varieties.
6 Language vitality
One way of measuring language vitality is through assessing the function of the language and the degree of interruption of intergenerational transfer. The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale
EGIDS is often used to classify the level of vitality held in a community or language using a 0–10 scale with 0 representing strong vitality and 10 being extinct Lewis and Simons, 2010. Through investigation
of various factors effecting language vitality, Dangaura Tharu and its sub-varieties is assigned an EGIDS level of 5: Written; The language is used orally by all generations and is effectively used in written form
in parts of the community. Kathariya Tharu is a level 6a: Vigorous; The language is used orally by all generations and is being learned by children as their first language. A complete description of EGIDS is
in appendix G.
Several of the indicators of language vitality that this survey examines are based on Lynn Landweer’s Indicators of Ethnolinguistic Vitality IEV, in which she describes several factors that have
been “useful in indicating the probable direction a speech community will go relative to the maintenance of, or shift from, its traditional language” Landweer 2000. This section discusses seven indicators of
vitality: domains of language use, intergenerational transfer, group dynamics, network of social relations, language prestige, external recognition and economic base.
6.1 Domains of language use
