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

SIBIPTJBIA DIALECT OF PUB#EA. 139

The western limit of Northern Bengali extends into the Purnea District Thai
language may be taken as occupying the eastern third of the District, that is to say, the
whole of the Kishanganj and the eastern half of the Sadr Sub-division. In the Kishan-
ganj Sub-division, and in the Kasba Amur and Balrampur Thanas, the Musalmans, who
are said to be of Koch origin, speak a mixture of Bihari and Bengali, closely resembling
the Koch-Bengali of Malda. This dialect is called Kishanganjia or Siripuria, and is
returned as spoken by 603,623 souls. Although in the main -a Bengali dialect it is
written in the Kaithi character, which is one of those used for Uihaii.

It is unnecessary to give an analysis of its forms, as it closely resembles, on the one
hand, the dialects of Malda, already illustrated, and on the other hand, in the forms
borrowed from Bih&ri, the dialect which will be shown as existing in Western Purnea.
The following forms, peculiar to the dialect, may be noted. There is a tendency to
change a, to u. Thus se-Jchuna for se-khand, then, ghwfi for ghafi, a space of twenty
minutes. As in Malda, r always becomes r, and all sibilants are pronounced as *,
though written £ in the Kaithi character. Note also the following forms which belong
neither to BihSn nor to Bengali, but are a corruption of the former, pol, he fell;
phdl> he became; ol, he came. The word ose, having come, is a corruption of the
Bengali dsiyd.

The following specimens are a translation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and a
short account of a village embroglio. They are printed in the vernacular character, in
facsimile, in order to show how Bengali looks when mitten in the Kaithi diameter.

Bengali.