Descriptive Study of Meena (Mina) Language
Professor Ram Lakhan Meena, Email:
prof.ramlakhan@gmail.com
Tribes of Rajasthan constitute almost 14% of the total population of the
state. The main tribal communities of Rajasthan are Bhil and Meena tribe. The major concentration of both
of the tribes of Rajasthan is found mainly in the slope of Vindhya, Aravalli mountain ranges. The tribes of
Rajasthan are very different from each other and represent a very distinct
heritage from the rest of the civilized population. In order to maintain their
livelihood, these tribes carry on cultivation, while there are quite a number
of tribes of state who have developed acumen for business and commercial
activities and as well as service classes. The early history of the tribes
of Rajasthan depicts that during the invasions by Hunas, Aryans, Sakas and Kushana;
the tribal communities survived the attacks and maintained their cultural and
traditional heritage till today. Among the scheduled tribes of Rajasthan, Meena tribe occupies the major position. Another
scheduled tribe of this state which has got importance is Bhil Tribe with its
variants. At the core of the state of Rajasthan, the Meena (Mina) tribes live
with its treasure of cultural tradition as depicted in its superb language, food habits, gorgeous clothes and other specific
particularities.
Indigenous people
of Rajasthan
Rajasthan tribals constitute around twelve percent of the
total population of the state. The tribes of Rajasthan, India constitutes of
mainly Bhils and the Minas. Infact, they were the original inhabitants of the
area where Rajasthan stands now. Apart from these main tribes, there are also a
number of smaller tribes in Rajasthan. However all Rajasthan tribes share
certain common traits, the variations being in their costumes, jewelry, fair
and festivals, etc
1) Bhils: Bhils
are the biggest tribe in Rajasthan. Banswara is the main area where Bhils in
large numbers. Previously Bhils main occupation was to collect the food. Famous
epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata depicted that Bhils were famous for their
skills in arching. From collecting food, they started farming for their livelihood.
Baneshwar fair in January and February is the best place to know more about
Bhil tribe.
The second largest
tribal group of Rajasthan is that of the Bhils after Minas. Dominating in the
Banswara area of Rajasthan, the Bhils are believed to be fine archers. Infact,
Bhil bowmen even found a reference in the great epics Mahabarata and Ramayan.
The Bhils were originally food gatherers. However, with the passage of time,
they have taken up small-scale agriculture, city residence and employment. The
major festivals of Bhils are the Baneshwar fair (held near Dungarpur) and
Holi.
2) Mina / Meena : Mina’s
tribesmen and women generally possess a good physic with an athletic body
built, big eyes and sharp features. They are known to be the inhabitants of
Indus Valley Civilization. There broad lips and a whitish complexion. Eastern
part of the state in Easter part belt of Rajasthan is the main area where Minas
are in populous condition. Around 39% of Rajasthan tribals
comprises of the Bhils.. The original inhabitants of the Indus Valley
civilization, Minas have a tall, athletic build with sharp features, large
eyes, thick lips and a light brown complexion. They are found dominating the
regions of Shekhawati and eastern Rajasthan. Minas solemnize marriage in the younger
years of the children.
3) Garasias : Garasias
are another small Rajput Rajasthan tribe residing in Mount Abu Road area of
Udaipur District in Damors of Dungarpur in southern Rajasthan. Damors is also a subtribe of Garasias and belonging to the Dungarpur and
Udaipur districts, Damors are mainly cultivators and manual laborers.
4) Sahariyas: Sahariyas
is one of the most backward Meena tribe. Sahariyas people inhabits mainly in
Jungle. They are also noted to be Bhils. Southeastern Rajasthan in Dungarpur,
Baran and Kota are some places where Sahariyas can be found. Sahariyas, the jungle dwellers, is considered as the most backward tribe in
Rajasthan. Believed to be of Bhil origin, they inhabit the areas of Kota,
Dungarpur and Sawai Madhopur in the southeast of Rajasthan. Their main
occupations include working as shifting cultivators, hunters and
fishermen.
5) Rajasthan tribes include the following also: Mer and Banjara (the nomadic
tribes), Kathodi (found in Mewar region), Rabaris (cattle breeders, found in
Marwar region), Sansi, Kanjar
Historical aspect
of Meena / Mina
They also claim to be descendants of the people of the Matsya Kingdom,
which flourished in the 6th century B.C. Nandini Sinha Kapur, a historian who
has studied early India, notes that the oral traditions of the Meenas were
developed from the early 19th century AD in an attempt to reconstruct their
identity. She says of this process, which continued throughout the 20th
century, that "The Minas try to furnish themselves a respectable present by
giving themselves a glorious past". In common with the people of
countries such as Finland and Scotland, the Meenas found it necessary to invent tradition
through oral accounts, one of the primary uses of which is recognised by both
historians and sociologists as being "social protest against injustices,
exploitation and oppression, a raison d'être that helps to retrieve
the image of a community." Kapur notes that the Meenas not merely lack a
recorded history of their own but also have been depicted in a negative manner
both by medieval Persian accounts and records of the colonial period. From
medieval times through to the British Raj, references to the Meenas
describe them as violent, plundering criminals and an anti-social ethnic tribal group. One such measure was the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, under the provisions of which the Meenas were placed.
Because they were struggled for their existence and pride. Mark Brown has
examined the impact and issues of the Meena community during British rule and
the change in their status from being a higher social group to a criminal
tribe.1
The community remained stigmatised for many years, notably by influential
officials of the Raj such as Herbert Hope Risley and Denzil Ibbetson, and were sometimes categorised
as animists and as a hill tribe similar to the Bhils.2 The
Raj colonial administration came into existence in 1858, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 which caused the government of Britain to decide that leaving
colonial administration in the hands of the East India Company was a recipe for further discontent. In an attempt to create an
orderly administration through a better understanding of the populace, the Raj
authorities instituted various measures of classifying the people of India.3 The
Meenas remained an officially designated criminal tribe until 1952, three years after the Act had been repealed. Meenas have
better rights for women in many respects compared to many other Hindu castes.4 The
Scheduled Tribes professing Hinduism form 99.5 per cent, whereas those
professing Islam and Christianity constitute a meagre 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per
cent respectively. Tribal following Sikhism, Budhism, Jainism, Other religion
and persuations together constitute a very small (7,174) population.
Linguistic Aspect
The Mina (Meena) language is spoken in Eastern part of Rajasthan states of
India by Indigenous community Meena. They are considered to be adivasi (aboriginal
people) which are scheduled in the tribes of India also. They are habitat in various parts of Rajasthan as well as the country, but they
are mainly found in the districts of Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Kota, Bundi,
Jhalawad, Udaipur, Alwar, Dausa, Jaipur, Tonk and some part of Bharatpur and
Dholpur; there is also a small population living in Sikar, Jalore and Ajmer
districts. See details in Appendix A, for a map of the Mina (Meena) Language survey
region. The Mina (Meena) language area is situated between 24° 12’-76°88,
25°14-76°36’, 26°03’-76°82 and 27°01’-76°20, latitude-longitude.5
In the past, the region was arid and barren, but today it is well watered and
fertile due to modern technic of irrigation and agricultural instrumentation. It is likely that a significant number of Mina
(Meena) speakers were subsumed under this category. Therefore, the population
of Mina (Meena) speakers in Rajasthan is probably much higher. The Mina (Meena)
language (ISO 639–3: myi) is classified as Indo–European, Indo–Iranian,
Indo–Aryan, Central zone, Mina, Unclassified (Ethnologue 2013) but
unfortunately it was deleted from list of world languages. The Devanagri script
is used for writing meena/mina language.6
The term ‘Mina (Meena)’ refers to both the people and their language. The
Mina (Meena) are generally members of Scheduled Tribe as per scheduled list of
Indian constitution and they are also belongs to the oldest indigenous people
of the Indus Civilisation. The researchers observed the people to be
friendly, hospitable, and open to outsiders. According to the 1991 census also
listed 13,098,078 people as ‘Meena’ speakers. As per the ‘Dialect Geography of
Rajasthan survey, Mina (Meena) speakers were found to be living mostly as rural
communities. The Mina (Meena) people are divided into a number of exogamous
clans. They practice monogamy when a young woman gets married, she is also supposed
to wear a veil as a sign of humility before her husband. Unlike in many other
groups, widow remarriage is allowed. Any of the brothers of a deceased man can
inherit his wife, or widows can do ritual remarry out of the family.
If a widow refuses to marry her brother–in–law, she must pay compensation
to him or his family. The main occupations of the Mina (Meena) people are
animal husbandry, cultivation, and cottage industries. In addition, they
frequently work for daily wages. Some are employed in government–related services.
The findings of dialect geography of Rajasthan a critical survey done by this
author states that ‘Mina (Meena) is used as a lingua franca of [the] majority
of the population in eastern Rajasthan, and east southern Rajasthan. Due to its
strategic geographical location, Mina (Meena) has been in stable contact with other
dialects of rajasthani language. These dialects spoken adjacent to Mina (Meena)
might have caused language change in Mina (Meena) at various levels.’
Phonology
: Vowels of Mina / Meena Language
Meena language
has 50 sounds, including 35 dishes, 13 vowels and 2 semi vowels. The
language has developed three lexical tones: low, mid and high.
Phonology : Consonants of Mina / Meena Language
Sound
level
1) The pronunciation
of vowels in the Mina dialect is chaotic for example (a:) is pronounced (a) and
(e) and (a) is pronounced as (ә).
2) Most
of the vowels, "the process of acceptance is shown most of the places."
3) At
the same time, the pronunciation of 'sa' is 'H' in the pronunciation of the
recipes, in some places the pronunciation of 'g' (b) is generally 's' (े), and
4) In
the pronunciation of the recipes, the pronunciation of 's' (é) is 'h' (iv) A.
In some places, the pronunciation of 'six' (b) is generally 's' (े)
and
5) In
most of the survey sites, the pronunciation of 'Dental' (s) is found in place
of the palatable 'sh' (s) 'A' the word 'sh'. 'A' has been written (A) A (A),
but it becomes 'B' (E) everywhere.
6) This
trend is targeted in Rajasthan. It has been found in the survey that the word
"sound" in the speech is closely related to the sound (A) before self
or long A, U, O, A and O, and "before (A) The tax seems closer. As long as
(a) and (A) dishes are pure orthocentrical or intimate sounds, its
pronunciation is affected by the subsequent tone.
7) The
sound arises by pressing the upper teeth on the lower lip, it is a denture
sound. And (v) is considered a pure voice, which is not caused by pressing the
lips, but instead of breathing out between the two lips.
8) In
addition, there is a multiplicity of silent sounds. 'L' (S) and 'L' (T) are
quite popular here. During the survey, most of the compiled material was found
to be the Marwari representation format of 'L' ('S') and 'No' (D), but the
soundtrack is not found in the sermon (Chapepajpavadpad), in such a situation,
Are very similar to
9) In
'B' (a) 'A' (in) of 'A' (k) in the words 'd' (k) and 'r' (x3), the plurality
and prominence of 'd' is found.
Morphology
Meena
has two numbers and two genders with three cases. Postpositions are of two
categories, inflexional and derivational. Derivational postpositions are mostly
omitted in actual discourse.
Syntax
·
Meena belongs to the languages that mix three types
of case marking systems: nominative –
accusative: transitive (A) and intransitive (S) subjects have
similar case marking, different from that of transitive
object (O); absolutive-ergative (S
and O have similar marking, different from A), tripartite (A, S and O have
different case marking). There is a general tendency existing in the languages
with split nominal systems: the split is usually conditioned by the referents
of the core NPs, the probability of ergative markingincreasing from left to right in the following nominal
hierarchy: first person pronouns – second person
pronouns – demonstratives and third person pronouns – proper
nouns – common nouns (human – animate – inanimate). Meena split case
marking system partially follows this hierarchy:first and
second person pronouns have similar A and S marking, the other pronouns and
singular nouns are showing attrition of A/S opposition.
·
Agreement: 1. Meena combines accusative/tripartite marking in nominal system with
consistently ergative verbal concord: the verb agrees with both marked and
unmarked O in number and gender (but not in person — contrast Braj). Another peculiar
feature of Meena is the split in verbal concord when the participial component of a predicate agrees with O-NP while
the auxiliary verb might agree with A-NP. 2. Stative participle from transitive verbs may agree with
the Agent. 3. Honorific agreement of feminine noun implies masculine plural
form both in its modifiers and in the verb.
·
In Hindi and Punjabi only a few combinations of transitive verbs with their
direct objects may form past participles modifying the Agent: one can say in
Hindi:‘Hindii siikhaa aadmii’ – ‘a man who has learned Hindi’ or ‘saaRii baãdhii
auraat’ – ‘a woman in sari’, but *‘kitaab paRhaa aadmii ‘a man who has read a
book’ is impossible. Semantic features of verbs whose
perfective participles may be used as modifiers are described in (Dashchenko
1987). Meena seems to have less constrains on this usage, compare bad in Hindi
but normal in Meena.
·
Meena has retained an important feature of ergative
syntax lost by the other representatives of Modern Western New Indo-Aryan
(NIA), namely, the free omission of Agent NP from the perfective transitive
clause.
·
Meena is the only Western NIA language where the reflexes
of Old Indo-Aryan synthetic passive have penetrated into the perfective domain.
·
Meena as well as the other NIA languages shows deviations
from Baker’s 'mirror principle', that requires the strict pairing of
morphological and syntactic operations (Baker 1988). The general rule is that
the 'second causative' formation implies a mediator in the argument structure.
However, some factors block addition of an extra agent into the causative
construction.
·
In the typical Indo-Aryan relative-correlative
construction the modifying clause is usually marked by a member of the
"J" set of relative pronouns, adverbs and other words, while the
correlative in the main clause is identical with the remote demonstrative
(except in Sindhi and in Dakhini). Gujarati and Marathi frequently delete the
preposed "J" element. In Meena the relative pronoun or adverb may
also be deleted from the subordinate clause but – as distinct from the
neighbouring NIA – relative pronoun or adverb may be used instead of
correlative.
·
Relative pronoun 'jakau' may be used not only in
relative/correlative constructions, but also in complex sentences with
"cause/effect" relations
This is a descriptive study of the Meena / Mina Language spoken in the most
of the parts of eastern Rajasthan. The study is based on data collected in a
major project of University Grants Commission of India namely
‘Dialect-Geography of Rajasthan’ by the author of this research paper. The whole
work consists of description of phonology, morphology, and syntax, with some
discussion of its native speakers by surveying method, orientation system and
variations within the language. There are also some regional features, such as
the orientation system, that are present in all languages in the state of
Rajasthan regardless the language families. It has more prominent typology,
such as SVO word order and a simplified inflectional system.
In particular, this research is able to build a comprehensive theory of the
expression side of language, mainly phonology, morphology. This descriptive
study is conveniently divided into three parts phonology, morphology and
grammar, which form the core of descriptive linguistic research. It has rightly
been pointed out by one of the leading descriptive linguists, H.A. Gleason
(1995). Using the phoneme and the morpheme as their basic units, linguists have
been able to build a comprehensive theory of the expression side of the
language, and to make detailed and comprehensive statements about the
expression systems of specific languages. This is what is ordinarily called
descriptive linguistics.7
The thesis begins with the ethnographic description of Meena / Mina
language. This chapter emphasizes that languages must be frequently
investigated as immediate expression of the interaction between humans and
their environment. The first Chapter provides the ethnographic information of
the people, their land, living habitat, culture, population etc. The second
chapter deals with the classification of the language. This chapter is divided
into three parts: (1) Genetic Classification, (2) Typological Classification
and (3) Morphological Classification. Genetic Classification deals with the
geneological classification of the Meena / Mina language. Meena / Mina belongs
to Indo–Aryan family of languages.
The different classifications proposed by linguists for Indo–Aryan
languages are given. The language has been mentioned in some of the
classifications and in some classifications the language is not mentioned. The
possibility of the placement of the language in particular family is also
discussed where the language has not been mentioned under any branch. The
second section of this chapter discusses the typological classification of the
language. The typological characteristics of the Meena / Mina language are
carried out by comparing the features with other languages of the family. This
classification is based on the model of Subbarao, 1997 (cf typological
characteristics of Indo–Aryan languages).8
The common features of the Indo–Aryan languages are also discussed. Meena
/ Mina exhibits the SOV word order pattern, i.e. it is a verb final language as
other Indo–Aryan languages. Meena / Mina has post-positions like other verb
final languages. Genitive precedes the governing noun in Meena / Mina. The
marker of comparison follows the standard of comparison in Meena / Mina like
other Indo–Aryan languages. Time adverbials (TA) precede Place Adverbials
(PA) in Indo–Aryan and also in Meena / Mina. Time Adverbials and Place
Adverbials occur in descending order in Meena / Mina. Adjectives can follow or
precede the head noun i.e. modified in Indo–Aryan languages and also in Meena
/ Mina. In Meena / Mina, numerals follow the head noun and it can also precede
the head noun. Determiners follow the head noun in the unmarked word order. It
may also precede the head noun.
Meena / Mina also has split determiners. The negative particles occur
pre-verbally in some Indo–Aryan languages and this characteristic is also
found in Meena / Mina. The question particles or wh- constituents occur
pre-verbally in Meena / Mina. Meena / Mina has relative clause but relative
pronoun is absent and the determiners sometime serve the purpose of relative
pronouns. In Meena / Mina, adverbs can be re-duplicated as other South-Asian
and Indo–Aryan languages. The third section of this chapter discusses the
morphological classification of Meena / Mina language. Meena / Mina is partly
isolating and partly agglutinating. In particular, it also deals with the
morphological typology of Indo–Aryan languages.
The chapter discusses the different methodologies that were employed done
on Indo–Aryan languages. Model Selected is divided into two parts; i.e.
review of the literature and the selection of the model. The fifth chapter
deals with the phonological analysis of the language. The discussions are made
on vowels, phonemic and allophonic vowels, phonetic description of vowels and
diphthongs, the consonants, allophonic consonant, phonetic description of
consonants, consonant clusters, and geminates. The distinctive features for
vowels and consonants are discussed in another section. The canonical structure
of words and syllabic structure are also discussed.
This chapter also deals with tones and the types of tones. In particular,
it also deals with morphophonemics, rules and phonological processes in Meena /
Mina. The sixth chapter deals with the morphological analysis of the language.
In this chapter, the morphological categories- the primary and the secondary
grammatical categories- are dealt with, in detail. This chapter discusses the
structure and use of the Nouns, Number, Case, Gender, Numeral, Pronouns,
Adjective, Adverbs, Verbs, Tense, Aspect, Mood, Negation and Word Formation
Processes. The study of nouns includes the structure of nouns, types of nouns,
classification of nouns. The number has been discussed for its inflection for
plurals. The different cases, and the gender, the numerals - cardinal and
ordinal and also the patterns of numerals - are discussed. Pronoun and
different types of pronouns, adjective, their patterns, classifications,
inflections, degrees of adjectives, structures are discussed.
The discussion on adverbs includes their classification and structure. The
study on verbs includes the infinitive pattern of verbs, classification of the
verbs and other types of verbs. Tense, aspect and mood have also been discussed.
This chapter also includes the discussion on negation. fXt the end the
spectrographic study of the sounds has been given which is followed by the text
and the appendix and bibliography. ' This work is an attempt to describe the
language. This descriptive study does not claim to be the complete analysis of Meena
/ Mina language. A detailed and proper analysis on Syntax and Semantics is also
required. Serious efforts are needed on morphology and syntax. However, we can
hope that this thesis will provide a base for future research. This can point
some future steps which will be helpful in the further research on Meena / Mina.
………………………………………………………..
1.
Brown, Mark (2004). "Crime, Liberalism and Empire:
Governing the Mina Tribe of Northern India". Social and Legal
Studies. 13 (2): 191–218. doi:10.1177/0964663904042551.
2.
Kapur, Nandini Sinha (2007). "The Minas: Seeking a
Place in History". In Bel, Bernard. The Social and the Symbolic. Sage.
p. 131. ISBN 978-0-76193-446-2.
3.
Naithani, Sadhana (2006). In quest of
Indian folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34544-8. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
4.
Kishwar, Madhu (13 August 1994). "Codified Hindu
Law: Myth and Reality". Economic and Political
Weekly. 29 (33): 2145–2161. JSTOR 4401625.
5.
Meena, Ram Lakhan; A Survey of Dialect Geography of Rajasthan,
KK Publication, Delhi.
6.
Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.).2013, SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.
7.
Pati, Rabindra Nath; Dash, Jagannatha (2002). Tribal and Indigenous People of India: Problems and Prospects. APH Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-8-17648-322-3.
8.
A Research Journal published by Delhi Public Library, New
Delhi.
Further Reading
·
Brown, Mark (2003). "Ethnology and Colonial
Administration in Nineteenth-Century British India: The Question of Native
Crime and Criminality". The British Journal for the History of
Science. 36 (2): 201–219. doi:10.1017/s0007087403005004. JSTOR 4028233.
Key Words : myi Meena Language spoken in India, myi International Code used for Meena/Mina Language, Mina Language, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, , SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com
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