Linguistic Survey Of India Vol V Part I Indo Aryan Family Eastern Group

IIK-SOUTH-WESTERN BENGALI.

bTthi I v °en^Mid^0<«- Bis bounded on theeast and north
bv 21 ^vf f S spoken mthoseportionsof theBistrict, and on thesouthand west
by the Ow» of Midnapore and of Mayurhhanja. It tou6hes the «ea in the Nandigram
Thana. It cove* a smaU area, and might almost be classed as a mised sub-diale^t of
Standard Bengalx and Orzya. It differs considerably, however, from both laaguag^
and possesses peeuhanfaes of its own which entitle it to be classed as an indepenL
dialect, and not as a mere mixture.

It is spoken, by 346,502 people.

I am indebted for thei following account of the languages of Midnapore to a note
whuh has been furnished to me by Babu Krishna Kishor Acharji, the Secretary of the
Midnapore District Board, Three main languages are spokeninthis District, namely, Ben-
gali, Oriya, and SantalL The last is a tribal language, and not a local one. It is spoken
by the Santals of the west of the District in Thanas Dantan, Gopiballabhpur, Jhargaon,
and Binpur. The other inhabitants of these thanas speak a corrupt Oriya. Oriya is
also spoken in the southern portion of thethana of ffarayangarh, and in the Sub-Division
of Oontai in the south of the District

In the rest of the District the language Is Bengali The boundary between Ben-
gali and Oriya is not capable of accurate definition. On each side of the border-line aboye
indicated, there is a mixed dialect which may be styled either bad Bengali or bad Oriya.
In the north and east of the District there is spoken a tolerably pure Bengali belongi
ing to the Standard dialect. The members of the Kaibartta caste speak the curious
dialect Which.I have named South-Western Bengali; and they are so numerous in the
centre of the District and in the west of the Tamluk Sub-Division, that their language
must be considered the main language of the tract,

The. following is the Kaibartta population in the area referred to :—

Name of Thana. Population.

Sadr Sub-Division, Midnapore (South of Thana)
Debra (South of Thana) .
Sahang (whole) ,
Narayangath (North) .

Tamlttk Sub-Division. Panakur* (West)
Tamlufc (Do.)
(Do.)

23,613
121,770
18,751
75,542
S7,796
42,438
346,502
This may be taken as the population speaking South-Western Bengali. It should
be observed that the dialect .of Nandigram, mentioned above, is a mixed oae, and
partakes of fhe nature of the Standard Bengali spoken in the rest of the Tamluk Sub*
Division.
The boundary between South-Western Bengali and Oriya may be taken to be the
Eiver Kalighai, where it passes through the Narayaugarh Thana. Tfliis river, also named
he?e the Haldi, continues to be the language boundary and becomes the Northern