kOmTAu Dialect of Telugu (circa 1900)

| Home | Prabandha | Sataka | Script |

Previous

Excerpts from the 1906 edition of Linguistic Survey of India (Telugu)

The kOmTau Dialect

Editorial Note:

The following material is an excerpt from the "Lingustic Survey of India," Vol.4, G.A. Grierson (Ed.), 1906.

The Telugu dialect sampled below was perhaps in use in South-Eastern Maharashtra (Chandrapur Dt.) towards the end of the 19^th century.

kOmTAu Dialect of Telugu (circa 1900)

The bulk of the Telugu-speaking population of Chanda is reported to use the standard form of the language. It has --- been mentioned that several minor dialects have been reported to exist, such as sAlEvArI, the dialect of the wearers, kOmTAu, the language of the kOmTIs or shopkeepers, kApEvAri, ascribed to a certain class of agriculturists, gOlarI spoken by the nomadic g0lars or gOlkars, a dialeot called manthanI, and so forth.

Of these only sAlEvArI, kOmTAu, and gOlarI have been returned for the purposes of the Linguistic Survey. The revised figures are as follows

kOmTAu	8,827
sAlEvArI	3,660
gOlarI	25
TOTAL	7,512

At the last Census of 1901, 22 speakers of gOlarI were returned from Chanda, and it is stated that the dialect spoken by other castes such as kOmTIs, sAlEvArs, etc., is identical. kOmTAu was returned as a Telugu dialect from Assam. The number of speakers was 11. If we add 56 speakers of kOmTIs returned from the Bombay Presidency we arrive at a total of 67. It is, however, not certain that these individuals speak a form of Telugu. The so-called gOlarI, kOmTIs, etc., of other districts is apparently a Kanarese dialect………

No specimens have been received in the so-called sAlEvArI, and there is no reason to suppose that the Salewars of Chanda speak a Telugu dialect different from that current among their neighbors.

The so-called kOmTAu and gOlarI of Chanda are, according to specimens forwarded from the district, identical and do not differ from the ordinary Standard Telugu.

Forms such as annaDu instead of annADu, he said; tsastA instead of tsastAnu, I die; baDadi instead of paDinadi, it fell; are probably used everywhere in the Telugu territory, and they cannot be urged as reasons for separating those forms of speech as real dialects of Telugu.

The numbers of speakers of all these so-called dialects can therefore safely be included in the total given for Standard Telugu above.

It is, accordingly, of no interest to give particulars about the Telugu spoken by the various classes mentioned above. It will be quite sufficient to print the beginning of a version of the Parable of the Prodigal Son professing to be written in kOmTAu, in order to show that we have here simply to do with ordinary Telugu.

DRAVIDIAN FAMILY - TELUGU

So-called kOmTAu Dialect (DISTRICT CHANDA)

Sample

oka	maniShi-ki	yiddaru	pillagAnDlu	vunDiri.	vAnDlO	cinnavADu
One	man-to	two	sons	were.	Them-among	the-younger

tanDri-tO	anTADu,	'tanDri,	yEdO	mAlamata- di	nA-ku	vatstsa-valadi	adi	yivvu.'
the-father-to	says	'father,	what	property-of	me-to	to-come-ought	that	give.'

venaka	vADu	pillani-ki	dhanamu	pa~n~mci	icinDu.	venaka	kon&ni	devasA-la-ku
Then	he	the-boy-to	property	dividing	gave.	Then	some	days-in

cin&na-pillaDu	anta	som&mu	dzama-jESi	dUra	dESA-na-ku	pOyinADu,	yinka
the-younger-son	all	property	having-collected	far	country-to	went	and

akkaDa	avitsAramu-tO	naDci	tana	sampattu	pADu-goTTinADu.	tarvAta	vADu
there	inconsiderately	behaving	his	property	wasted.	Afterwards	he

antA	voDSinanka	A	dESamu-lO	lAvu	karuvu	baDadi.	anduku,	vAni-ki	kaThinamu
all	spent-after	that	country-in	heavy	famine	arose.	So,	him-to	distress

baDadi;	appuDu	vaaDu	dEsamu-lO	okka	maniShi	daggira	pOyi	vun&naaDu.
fell;	then	he	the-country-in	one	man	near	having-gone	stayed.

vaaDE	tEnu	vaani	pandu-lu	kaaSE-koraku	tana	cEnDlO-ki	tOllaaDu.	appuDu	pandu-lu
He-also	then	him	pigs	tending-for	his	fields-in-to	sent.	Then	pigs

tinE-di	poTTu-tO	vaaDu	tana	poTTa	nimpu-kO-vaale	ani	vaani-ki	ani-pi~ncindi,	yinka
eaten	husk-with	he	his	belly	to-fill-ought	so	him-to	it-appeared,	and

yevvaru	vaani-ki	yivva-lEdu.	tarvaata	vaaDu	telvi-mIdi-ki	vacci	annaDu,	'maa
anybody	him-to	gave-not.	Afterwards	he	senses-on-to	having-come	said	'my

tanDri	yinTlO	yendaru	naukara-la-ku	puShkaLangaa	an&nam	vun&nadi,	yinka	nEnu
father’s	house-in	how-many	servants-to	richly	food	is,	and	I

aakali-tO	tsastaa.	nEnu	lESi	naa	tanDri-dikku-ku	poyyEnu.	vaani-tO	anEnu,
hunger-with	die.	I	having-arisen	my	father's-side-to	will-go	him-to	will-say,

"O	tanDri,	nEnu	yISvaru-ni	viruddham	nI-mundara	paapam	jEsinaanu;	yikkaDi-nu~nci
"O	father,	I	God	against	thee-before	sin	did;	now-from

nI	koDaku-nu	anETanduku	nEnu	yOgyani	kaanu.	nI	okka naukari-vaani-vale
thy	son	to-say	I	worthy	am-not.	Thy	One-servant-like

nan&nu	vuntsu. "
me	let-be.'

First posted on the World Wide Web: March 1999.
Suggestions, additions and corrections to the above will be gratefully appreciated.
Electronic conversion and compilation carried out by:
Seshu Madhava Rao Adluri

Top

Previous

Next