Bhulia or Bhuliya is an Indo-Aryan dialect[1] which carries the same name as the Bhulia people of India. It has mainly been classified as a dialect of Chhattisgarhi which in itself is considered a dialect of Hindi.[2]
The Bhulia people are reported to have migrated from Chhattisgarh to Odisha and carried their language with them.[3] In the past, Bhulia was reported to be an Odia dialect as it utilizes Odia script. However, one report made in the early 1900s claims the dialect has been reclassified as a form of Chhattisgarhi.[4]
A 1891 Census reported about 9,000 speakers of the dialect. In 1904, a survey done found about 13,000 speakers, primarily located in the pre-independence Sonpur and Patna states.[4]
Despite being considered a dialect of Chhattisgarhi, the dialect uses the Odia script.[4]
Volume 6 of the Linguistics Survey of India contains a table of vocabulary from various Chhattisgarhi dialects (including Bhulia) and their transliteration in English. The following table displays some of the book's transliterations:[4]
English | Bhulia |
---|---|
one | eka |
two | dui |
three | tini |
four | chāri |
five | pā̃ncha |
six | chhaa |
seven | sȧt |
eight | āṭh |
nine | naa |
ten | daś |
English | Bhulia |
---|---|
I | muĩ |
you | tuĩ |
we | āmi-māné, āmé-māné, ām-māné |
he | ō-māné |
they | oĩ-māné, ō-māné |
Some sources claim that Bhulia is a "tribal language" [5] or is spoken by tribals.[4] However, there is no consensus as to which tribal group uses this language.
Other sources claim that the Bhulia community speaks Laria, but still acknowledge Bhulia as a dialect of Chhattisgarhi.[6] Similarly, a 2008 magazine claims that Laria and Bhulia (spelled Lariya and Bhuliya) are dialects of the Chhattisgarhi branch of Indo-European languages. A different source claims that Bhulia is simply a dialect of Laria, and Laria is another name for Chhattisgarhi.[2] To add to the complexity, there are claims that locals do not make any sort of difference between Laria and Bhulia.[7] There are also no sources that note if the Bhulia community themselves speaks the Bhulia language.
((cite book))
: CS1 maint: date and year (link)