DOES DIGLOSSIA EXIST IN TAMIL

Aligarh Journal of Linguistics Volume 2, Numbers 1-2,2012, Pp.4I-51 D O E S D IG L O S S IA E X IS T IN T A M IL ? Prasannanshu * prasannanshu@ rediffmail.com. D ig lo s s ia is th e s o c io lin g u is tic p h e n o m e n o n o f th e e x is te n c e o f m o r e th a n o n e v a r ie ty o f a la n g u a g e w ith in a g e o g r a p h ic a l lo c a tio n . T h e u s e o f s u c h v a r ie tie s d e p e n d s u p o n s o c io lo g ic a l fa c to r s lik e c a s te , o r c la s s . D ig lo s s ia m a y k n o w in g ly o r u n k n o w in g ly b e c o m e a to o l o f e x c lu s io n a n d d is c r im in a tio n a g a in s t c e r ta in c o m m u n itie s . H e r e th e p r e v a le n c e o f D ig lo s s ia h a s b e e n d is c u s s e d in th e In d ia n c o n te x t, w ith a m o r e fo c u s e d a tte n tio n o n T a m il. It w a s fo u n d th a t d ig lo s s ia e x is ts in T a m il, a n d a m o n g s t o th e r fa c to r s c a s te d e fin e s it to th e g r e a te s t e x te n t. Diglossia is a well-known sociolinguistic phenomenon in which two varieties of language subsist as discernible members of a language spoken in the same geographical location. They generally do not form separate languages due to a variety of shared features, and on the other extreme, they cannot even be considered as dialects of the same language, as they do not fit the bill of a dialect as described by Varshney (1995), who says that a dialect is a regional variety of a given language, and characterizes diglossia as a situation where two widely divergent forms of the same language are in use by all members of the community under different conditions. He further notes that these language forms vary considerably at all levels of language viz. Sounds, words, grammar and meaning. Fergusson (1959) who originally gave the term diglossia, categorized as higher or lower, relative to each other, the stable-over-time varieties of language in use in diglossic communities. His conception of the high variety includes a highly codified variety learned mainly by formal education in which a body of literary works exists. He further conceived of the high variety as the one in which most of the formal and written transactions take place, but which is not used in ordinary transactions. Schiffman (1997) has summarized the main issues being explored, in the field of diglossia, after Fergusson (Post-1959), according to him the 'research on diglossia has concentrated on a number of variables and important questions: function, prestige, literary heritage, acquisition, standardization, stability, grammar, lexicon, phonology, the difference between diglossia and standard- A lig a r h J o u r n a l o f L in g u is tic s with-dialects, extent of distribution in space, time, and in various language families, and finally what engenders diglossia and what conditions favour its development. A diglossic situation is seen to exist in several Indian languages like Tamil, M arathi, and Hindi. Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken primarily in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. M a r a th i, is an Indo-European language spoken in M aharashtra and adjoining areas of south-central India, and written in the d e v a n a g r i script. Hindi is also an Indo-European language that is written in the d e v a n a g r i script, and spoken primarily in Northern India. Diglossia is not unique to the Indian languages, but is seen across languages. For example, Oilier (I993) studied the syntactic patterns of the Thai language and classified them into 'high' a n d 'Iow' registers. Greek is also known to have diglossic varieties: one is the high variety the 'Katharevusa' that is inspired robustly by the classical, and the low variety, the 'Demotic' is the one generally used by the people in ordinary day-to-day transactions. Similarly Arabic has a high variety that is the one used in the Holy Quran, and the other low varieties that are the dialects of various Arab countries, e.g. the Egyptian dialect. These varieties of the Arabic co-exist across the Arab world. It may be considered that the high varieties have been traditionally spoken by the upper classes in India. The high variety is Sanskritized and is considered more prestigious. W hile the language spoken by the masses has traditionally been distinct from the high variety in several features including the vocabulary, phonology, and structure that does not derive so heavily from Sanskrit. For the limited purpose of the present paper it can, in the Indian context, be assumed that traditionally, class and caste have been overlapping categories. The changing Indian society, and social realities have been working at weakening the caste based distinctions and discriminations, hence it may be expected that the distinction between diglossic varieties in the use of language varieties is also losing its rigidity. This can just be expected when the legal system of the country is hitting hard at the roots of the caste based discrimination, and the social environment is undergoing a sea change. The caste based distinction may have disappeared to a greater extent from Hindi, but it appears that caste still influences the choice of language variety in Tamil. Hindi has its own high and low varieties, but in modem times it may be difficult to associate anyone of the varieties with a particular caste, it is no longer exclusive to any of the castes to use a given variety. The distinction is more of education and profession than of anything else. Educated people especially in the fields of academics, and journalism may tend to use the high variety irrespective of their caste. The use of this high variety in the school textbooks, official and legal documents, and in radio and television broadcasts can nevertheless have the effect of excluding a large number of people belonging to the low socio-economic strata. It can easily be imagined that diglossia can have several effects towards the exclusion of sections of communities, it can affect the educational, economic and social prospects of the speakers. Thus in effect diglossia can cause exclusion amongst members of a linguistic community. Some of the most visible and hannful effects of this linguistic exclusion can be seen in poor school performance of students belonging to the non-high language variety, and in their high school dropout rates. This is not surprising given that such disadvantaged students have to not only face the challenge of learning, but also have to surmount the language barrier. In Tamil, it appears that the diglossic situation is still defined to a significant extent, ifnot wholly, by the caste. 2. M ethod: A Survey ofTamil Speakers in Delhi: A survey of Tamil speakers was conducted. A total of 50 subjects were surveyed. In the final analysis only 49 were included, as the record of one was found to be unreadable, at the time of analysis. The questionnaire consisted of questions for seeking the general demographic information, and questions to find out the facts of diglossia in Tamil. The questions asked were about name, age, gender, educational qualifications, economic status, mother tongue, languages known, whether the subject was aware of the presence of a high, and a low variety in their language, did they speak both the varieties, if not then which variety did they speak, did they understand· both varieties, what according to them were these language varieties based upon, and does the prevalence of two varieties lead to social exclusion. 2.1 Observations and Analysis: M ost of the subjects were mostly randomly selected from amongst the visitors to the M alai Temple of Delhi. However, ten of them were the first year students of the National Law University, Delhi. A majority belonged to the middle class (75.51 % ), however a few were from the high class and the low income groups respectively. Economic status: High /middle / low income group A lig a r h J o u r n a l o f L in g u is tic s ..............• E con om ic statu s No. of su b .iects Low M iddle class High No response 2 37 4 6 % of su b .iects 4.08 75.51 8.16 12.24 G en d er No. of su b jects <lO % of su b jects ,4 35 JO 25 20 M ale 34 69.39 Female 15 30.61 15 10 45 out of these 49 declared Tamil to be their mother tongue, the remaining four, however knew Tamil. 50 45 40 45 35 30 Tamil is the mother tonl!Ue Yes No. of subjects No 4 45 %of subject s 91.84 8.16 25 20 15 10 5 0 T h e m o th e r to n g u e is T a m !! T h e m o th e r to n g u e is n o t T a m i! A very vast majority varieties in Tamil. 100 .. 90 80 70 60 SO 40 30 20' 10 o (91.84) of the Subjects acknowledged S1:~4 the presence of two A lig a r h J o u r n a l o f L in g u is tic s Is th ere a h igh an d a low varie in T arn il? Yes 6.12 2.04 A majority (48.98) claimed to speak both the varieties, while 34.69% speak only one of the vatieties; Ramanujan (1968) observed that speakers of a given variety of Tamil use some forms of the other variety, too. He noted that in Iyengar (Brahmin) speech M udaliyar (non-Brahmin) forms are used to convey irony or pejoration. However, here the data indicates that a large number of people use both the varieties for more extensive purposes that needs just to convey irony or pejoration, this may be a sign of the changing times. This may indicate a shifting trend towards a more functional use of diglossia than its traditional caste based distinction. S p e a k b o th th e S p e a k o n ly o n e v J rie tie s v a rie ty N o re s p o n s e D o e s D ig lo s s ia E x is t in r a m i! Speak one or both varieties No. of subjects Speak both the varieties 24 Speak only one variety 17 No response 8 %of subiects 48.98 34.69 16.33 75.51 % (370ut of 49) understand both the varieties, while 5 (10.20%) understand only one. This is in tune with the very concept of diglossia. Since diglossia is not a geographically defined variety all the speakers can be assumed to know both the varieties, but they use these varieties in different situations and for different purposes. Here it may be mentioned what Agha (2007. p-157) has noted: if there are two registers available in a language then some speakers may develop some competence in more than one register. This competence may not be equal in the two registers. He concludes from this that the presence of registers leads to "the creation of social boundaries within society, partitioning off language users into groups distinguished by differential access to particular registers and the social practices they mediate, and by asymmetries of power, privilege, and rank that depend on access to such registers and practices." Undoubtedly, we have a situation of two registers in Tamil. And in the view of Agha (2007) This may indicate 'creation of social boundaries'. W e shall seen later that in response to the specific question whether prevalence of two varieties leads to social exclusion, a significant 40.82% feel that it does. A lig a r h J o u r n a l o f L in g u is tic s Understand one or both the varieties Understand both No. of subjects the 37 varieties Understand 75.51 only one 5 variety Noresponse %of sub.iects 10.20 " 7 14.29 B o th / m id d le /m ix e d Speak the variety -" High Both! middle/mixed No. of subjects IS 11 %of subjects 30.61 22.45 , Low 13 No response 7 M iscellaneous responses 3 26.53 14.29 6.12 11 indicated middle, both, or mixed-it was assumed that all these expressions represent the same form of language, or at the least they can be clubbed together as a single class of responses, and may signi~ the use of both varieties. Here it may be observed that 'Tambaram type' answers are due to the open ended nature of the question. and-other variable The fact that a vast majority of speakers (75.51 %) understands (knows) both varieties, but most of them (57.14%) claim to speak in only one variety further shows the presence of a diglossic situation in modern Tamil. The responses to the question what these Language Varieties Are Based Upon, were as follows: No. of subjects T am il diglossia is based u p on Caste 2",':,1 U ••• .(.\33- I ,2 .2 0 1 ~ <I ~~a I 1 (> II 0/0 of 26 subjects 53.06 Education 18 36.73 Gender 2 4.08 -- Place/ Region 13 Religion 10 SocioEconomic Status 2 No response 4 M iscellaneo us responses 6 26.53 20.41 4.08 8.16 12.24 81 -- A majority (53.06%) believes that diglossia in Tamil is based upon caste, the disparate responses may indicate one or all of the following causes: human errors/confusion in responding; criterion of diglossia in Tamil. Education is the second most weakening of caste as the preferred response and sole 36.73% defining of the respondents, Le. more than a third of them, feel that education is behind the use of different varieties by Tamil speakers. This may in fact be a social reality, and diglossia, now, instead of being defined only be the erstwhile most powerful social factor, viz., caste is now showing a move towards social class or socio-economic status. It further remains to be explored, by scholars who study the society, whether education and caste still are an overlapping category in the modem Tamil society. A lig a r h J o u r n a l o f L in g u is tic s The miscellaneous responses to this question (a total of 6) appeared to be random and could not be fitted into any category: they included: 'spoken versus written'; 'by birth'; 'habit'; 'ideology', and 'fluency'. M any subjects gave more than one response to the above question; hence the sum of the responses exceeds 49. Interestingly 20 subjects believe that the prevalence of two varieties leads to social exclusion, while 22 do not feel so, and 7 refrained from answering this question. However, when the respondents answered (especially, the four questions on the variety they understand and use, the cause of varieties, and social exclusion) it cannot be ruled out that a subconscious or conscious sense of political or social correctness may have influenped some of the answers. Due to changing political, social and legal situation in India the topic of caste has assumed the hue of a taboo in the public domain. Does diglossia lead to social e x c lu s io n ? Does diglossia lead to social exclusion? No. of subject s Prevalence of two varieties leads to social exclusion Prevalence of two varieties does not lead social to exclusion No response 20 %of subjects 40.82 22 44.90 7 14.29 A larger study covering not only the people living outside Tamil Nadu, but also the ones in Tamil Nadu will certainly have its advantages, still it is expected that the present study dealing with a relatively smaller limited number of Tamil speakers in Delhi shall provide us with insights into the issue of diglossia in the contemporary Tamil society. I. 91.84 of the subjects acknowledged the presence of two varieties. This along with the assertion of a majority (53.06%) that this presence of two varieties in Tamils is based upon caste leads us to believe that diglossia is very much present in contemporary Tamil. But the data also reveals that there may be a shift towards education as the basis of diglossia in Tamil (36.73% of the subjects feel that diglossia is based upon educational level). This shift may indicate a move towards more functional role of diglossia in Tamil. 2. The fact that a vast majority of speakers (75.51 %) understands (knows) both varieties, but most of them (57.14%) claim to speak in only one variety further shows the presence of a diglossic situation in modern Tamil. 3. A significant number (40.82) of subjects feel that diglossia leads to social exclusion or isolation. Thus it can be concluded that diglossia exists in Tamil, and amongst other factors caste defines it to the greatest extent. It can prima facie be assumed that language can become an inadvertent cause, or a calculated tool of social exclusion. W hether the diglossic situation in Tamil is intended or unintended is beyond the scope of the present study, and requires further investigation in future research. Agha, Asif (2007). L a n g u a g e a n d S o c ia l R e la tio n s . New York: Cambridge University Press. OilIer, Anthony (1993). Diglossic Grammaticality in Thai. In W illiam A. Foley (ed.), T h e R o le o /T h e o r y in L a n g u a g e D e s c r ip tio n , Berlin: M outon de Gruyter. Pp. 393-420. Ramanujan, A. K. (1968). The Structure of Variation: A Study in Caste Dialects. In M ilton Singer and Bernard S. Cohn (eds.) S tr u c tu r e a n d C h a n g e in In d ia n S o c ie ty , New York: W enner-Gren. Pp. 461-74. Schiff man, Harold F. (1997). Diglossia as a Sociolinguistic Situation. In Florian Coulmas, (ed.), T h e H a n d b o o k o /S o c io lin g u is tic s . Oxford: Blackwell. Varshney, R.L. (1995). A n In tr o d u c to r y T e x tb o o k 0 / L in g u is tic s a n d P h o n e tic s (E ig h th E d itio n ) Bareilly: Student Store.