Kotli and Gujari Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi Vasavi, Noiri and Dungra Bhili

2.3.3 Dungra Bhili and Noiri

The range of lexical similarity relationship between Dungra Bhili and Noiri wordlist is 77 to 87 percent. The range is widened due to the unchecked Dungra Bhili Ambadungar wordlist. If this wordlist is not included, the range of lexical similarity between Dungra Bhili and Noiri is 83 to 87 percent. Noiri Chillare and Pannali wordlists have closer relationship to Dungra Bhili wordlist than Astambha and Gomon wordlists do. But geographically Astambha and Gomon are closer to Dungra Bhili, though the area is separated by the river Narmada. For a better understanding about the linguistic relationship between Dungra Bhili and Noiri, intelligibility testing was done in two wordlist sites, Chillare and Astambha, which is discussed in the next chapter.

2.3.4 NahaliNihali varieties

Three varieties of NahaliNihali are covered in lexical comparison. The Nahali found in the western part of the survey area is called Nahali of Toranmal. Those from the eastern part are called Nihali of Jamod and Nihali Korku of Tembhi respectively. It is obvious from the comparison that Nahali of Toranmal is very different from Nihali of Jamod and Nihali Korku of Tembhi. A comparison of Nahali of Toranmal with Noiri, Barutiya and Dungra Bhili wordlists in the matrix shows a range of 58 to 68 percent lexical similarity. This lexical relationship is relatively low and reinforces other pieces of evidence about a separate linguistic identity. However, according to Watters 2013:19, Nahali of Toranmal compares at 69 to 73 percent with Bareli Pauri wordlists. It also shows 65 to 67 percent of lexical similarity with Rathwi Bareli wordlists. 18 The Bareli Pauri story scored 96 percent when tested among Nahals of Toranmal. Based on the intelligibility test, Watters recommended that the Nahals of Toranmal could benefit from a Pauri language development program. But because of the skewed sample and other sociolinguistic complexities, he himself was not strong in this opinion. For a detailed description of the test, refer to Watters 2013:19, 31. It was reported during the course of this survey that there is an increasing migration of Bareli speaking Pauras to Nahali speaking villages. So the intelligibility of Nahals of Toranmal in Bareli Pauri may not be inherent, but rather an acquired intelligibility through contact. As stated in section 1.5.2, a group of Nihals in the eastern part of the survey area claim to speak Korku as their mother tongue the wordlist of Tembi is a representation of Nihali Korku and that they cannot handle Nihali of Jamod. This is supported from the wordlist comparison of Nahali of Tembi with Korku, which shows a 94 percent relationship. But these communities both Korku and Nihali speaking Nihals have intermarriage, and the latter is reportedly bilingual in Korku as well. Nihali of Jamod is very different from any of the wordlists compared. It shows only 30 to 31 percent lexical similarity with Nihali of Tembhi and Korku. It compares at only 18 to 22 percent lexical similarity with other wordlists in the matrix.

2.3.5 Kotli and Gujari

Kotli shows a 45 to 57 percent relationship with Noiri, Barutiya and Dungra Bhili wordlists. The lexical relationship between two Kotli wordlists Kotli from Papiner Narayanpur and Adivasi Bhil from Taradi is only 75 percent. This may complement the information about the existence of two Kotli dialects. The Gujari wordlist and one Kotli wordlist are from the same village Taradi, which shows only a nominal relationship 68 percent between them. 18 Three Bareli Pauri and three Rathwi Pauri wordlists were compared with Nahali of Toranmal in that survey.

2.3.6 Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi

Neither Noiri nor Dungra Bhili shows a significant relationship with Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi, the respective state languages of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

2.3.7 Vasavi, Noiri and Dungra Bhili

Vasavas are found in the northern part of Maharashtra in Nadurbar district and the eastern part of Gujarat Bharuch and Surat districts. Watters attempted to compare different Vasavi varieties with different Bhili varieties. They had compared Noiri Astambha wordlist with different Vasavi varieties, which ranges from 60 to 71 percent 19 Watters 2013:19. According to the present survey the lexical similarity between Dungra Bhili and Noiri is 77 to 87 percent. Hence it would be plausible to think that Noiri is closer to Dungra Bhili than different Vasavi varieties. 3 Dungra Bhili intelligibility among Noiras Noiras live principally on the southern side of the river Narmada, whereas Dungra Bhils live on the northern side of it. Efforts to develop the Dungra Bhili language were initiated in 1995 and have been going forward with responses from the people. Pre-primers and primers were produced, and post literacy materials are ready to be printed in the Gujarat script. The lexical similarity study of Dungra Bhili and Noiri necessitates intelligibility 20 testing to find out whether Dungra Bhili materials could be used among Noiri speaking people. This portion of the report deals with the attempt of the researchers to evaluate Dungra Bhili intelligibility among Noiras.

3.1 Lexical similarity comparison versus intelligibility