Deccani language
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other Deccani (Template:Nq dakanī or Template:Nq dakhanī;Template:Efn-ua<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> also known as Deccani Urdu,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Deccani Hindi,<ref name="Azam2017">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Verma1990">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Arun1961">Template:Cite book</ref> and Deccani Hindustani)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hirschmann2019">Template:Cite book</ref> is an Indo-Aryan language variety based on a form of Hindustani spoken in the Deccan region of south-central India and is the native language variety of the Deccani people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Maclean2021"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The historical form of Deccani sparked the development of Urdu literature during the late-Mughal period.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Deccani arose as a lingua franca under the Delhi Sultanate and Bahmani Sultanates, as trade and migration from the north introduced Hindustani to the Deccan. It later developed a literary tradition under the patronage of the Deccan Sultanates. Deccani itself came to influence modern standard Urdu and later Hindi.<ref name="Maclean2021"/><ref name="phonology">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Deccani language has an Indo-Aryan core vocabulary, though it incorporated loanwords from Persian, which was the official language of the Deccan Sultanates. Additionally, Deccani differs from northern Hindustani sociolects due to archaisms retained from the medieval era, as well as a convergence with and loanwords from the Deccan's regional languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi spoken in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and some parts of Maharashtra.<ref name="Maclean2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Deccani has been increasingly influenced by Standard Urdu, especially noticed in Hyderabadi Urdu, which serves as its formal register. In the modern era, it has mostly survived as a spoken lect and is not a literary language.
There are three primary dialects of Deccani spoken today: Hyderabadi Urdu, Mysore Urdu, and Madrasi Urdu. Hyderabadi Urdu is the closest of these dialects to Standard Urdu and the most spoken.<ref name="phonology"/>
The term "Deccani" and its variants are often used in two different contexts: a historical, obsolete one, referring to the medieval-era literary predecessor of Hindi-Urdu;Template:Sfn<ref name="Maclean2021"/> and an oral one, referring to the Urdu dialects spoken in many areas of the Deccan today.Template:Sfn Both contexts have intricate historical ties.
HistoryEdit
OriginEdit
As a predecessor of modern Hindustani,Template:Sfn Deccani has its origins in the contact dialect spoken around Delhi then known as Dehlavi and now called Old Hindi. In the early 14th century, this dialect was introduced in the Deccan region through the military exploits of Alauddin Khalji.Template:Sfn In 1327 AD, Muhammad bin Tughluq shifted his Sultanate's capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (near present-day Aurangabad, Maharashtra), causing a mass migration; governors, soldiers and common people moved south, bringing the dialect with them.Template:Sfn At this time (and for the next few centuries) the cultural centres of the northern Indian subcontinent were under Persian linguistic hegemony.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Bahmani Sultanate was formed in 1347 AD with Daulatabad as its capital. This was later moved to Gulbarga and once again, in 1430, to Bidar. By this time, the dialect had acquired the name Dakhni, from the name of the region itself, and had become a lingua franca for the linguistically diverse people of the region, primarily where the Muslims had settled permanently.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Bahmanids greatly promoted Persian, and did not show any notable patronage for Deccani.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, their 150-year rule saw the burgeoning of a local Deccani literary culture outside the court, as religious texts were made in the language. The Sufis in the region (such as Shah Miranji) were an important vehicle of Deccani; they used it in their preachings since regional languages were more accessible (than Persian) to the general population. This era also saw production of the masnavi Kadam Rao Padam Rao by Fakhruddin Nizami in the region around Bidar. It is the earliest available manuscript of the Hindavi/Dehlavi/Deccani language, and contains loanwords from local languages such as Telugu and Marathi. Digby suggests that it was not produced in courtly settings.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
GrowthEdit
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In the early 16th century, the Bahmani Sultanate splintered into the Deccan Sultanates. These were also Persianate in culture, but were characterised by an affinity towards regional languages. They are largely responsible for the development of the Deccani literary tradition, which became concentrated at Golconda and Bijapur.Template:Sfn Numerous Deccani poets were patronised in this time. According to Shaheen and Shahid, Golconda was the literary home of Asadullah Wajhi (author of Sab Ras), ibn-e-Nishati (Phulban), and Ghwasi (Tutinama). Bijapur played host to Hashmi Bijapuri, San‘ati, and Mohammed Nusrati over the years.Template:Sfn
The rulers themselves participated in these cultural developments. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of the Golconda Sultanate wrote poetry in Deccani, which was compiled into a kulliyyāt. It is widely considered to be the earliest Urdu poetry of a secular nature.Template:Sfn Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Bijapur Sultanate produced Kitab-e-Navras (Book of the Nine Rasas), a work of musical poetry written entirely in Deccani. The mathnawi Pem Nem was also compiled during his reign.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Although the poets of this era were well-versed in Persian, they were characterised by a preference for indigenous cultures, and a drive to stay independent of esoteric language. As a result, the language they cultivated emphasised the Sanskritic roots of Deccani without overshadowing it, and borrowed from neighbouring languages (especially Marathi; Matthews states that Dravidian influence was much lessTemplate:Sfn). In this regard, Shaheen and Shahid note that literary Deccani has historically been very close to spoken Deccani, unlike the northern tradition that has always exhibited diglossia.Template:Sfn Poet San'ati is a particular example of such conscious efforts to retain simplicity:Template:Sfn Template:Verse translation
As the language of court and culture, Persian nevertheless served as the model for poetic forms, and a good amount of Persian and Arabic vocabulary was present in the works of these writers. Hence Deccani attempted to strike a balance between Indian and Persian influences,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn though it did always retain mutual intelligibility with the northern Dehlavi. This contributed to the cultivation of a distinct Deccani identity, separate from the rulers from the north; many poets proudly extolled the Deccan region and its culture.Template:Sfn
Hence, Deccani experienced cultivation into a literary language under the Sultanates, alongside its usage as a common vernacular. It also continued to be used by saints and Sufis for preaching. However, the Sultanates did not use Deccani for official purposes, preferring the prestige language Persian as well as regional languages like Marathi, Kannada, and Telugu.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
DeclineEdit
The Mughal conquest of the Deccan by Aurangzeb in the 17th century connected the southern regions of the subcontinent to the north, and introduced a hegemony of northern tastes. This began the decline of Deccani poetry, as literary patronage in the region decreased. The sociopolitical context of the period is reflected in Hashmi Bijapuri's poem, composed two years after the fall of Bijapur, in a time when many southern poets were pressured to change their language and style for patronage:Template:Sfn Template:Verse translation
The literary centres of the Deccan had been replaced by the capital of the Mughals, so poets migrated to Delhi for better opportunities. A notable example is that of Wali Deccani (1667–1707), who adapted his Deccani sensibilities to the northern style and produced a divan in this variety. His work inspired the Persianate poets of the north to compose in the local dialect, which in their hands became an intermediate predecessor of Hindustani known as Rekhta. This accelerated the downfall of Deccani literature, as Rekhta came to dominate the competing dialects of Mughal Hindustan.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The advent of the Asaf Jahis slowed this down, but despite their patronage of regional culture, Deccani Urdu's literary tradition died. However, the spoken variety has lived on in the Deccani Muslims, retaining some of its historical features and continuing to be influenced by the neighbouring Dravidian languages.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
PhonologyEdit
ConsonantsEdit
- {{#invoke:IPA|main}} can be heard as either voiceless {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or voiced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} across dialects.
- The {{#invoke:IPA|main}} of Urdu is merged with {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
VowelsEdit
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPAlink | |
| Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | ||
| Mid | Template:IPAlink | Template:IPA link | Template:IPAlink |
| Low | Template:IPAlink | ||
- {{#invoke:IPA|main}} can have lax allophones of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} when preceding consonants in medial position.
- Diphthong sounds include {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- {{#invoke:IPA|main}} can be heard as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} after {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
- {{#invoke:IPA|main}} can be heard as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in initial positions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Modern eraEdit
The term Deccani today is given to a Hindustani lect spoken natively by many Muslims from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra (who are known as the Deccanis). It is considered to be the modern, spoken variety of the historical Deccani dialect, and inherits many features from it. The term Deccani distinguishes the lect from standard Urdu - however, it is commonly considered a "variety" of Urdu,Template:Sfn and often gets subsumed under this name, both by its own speakers and the official administration. The demise of the literary tradition has meant that Deccani uses standard Urdu as its formal register (i.e. for writing, news, education etc).Template:Sfn
Geographical distributionEdit
Deccani speakers centre around Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. Deccani is also spoken in many other urban areas of the Deccan region and Mumbai, especially those with large Muslim populations such as Aurangabad, Nanded, Akola, Amravati, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Mysore and Bangalore.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In addition to members of the Deccani community, some Hindu Rajputs and Marathas in the Deccan speak Deccani Urdu as well.<ref name="phonology"/>
FeaturesEdit
Deccani retains some features of medieval Hindustani that have disappeared in contemporary Hindi-Urdu. It is also distinguished by grammar and vocabulary influences from Marathi, Kannada, and Telugu, due to its prolonged use as a lingua franca in the Deccan.Template:Sfn Below is a non-exhaustive list of its unique features, with standard Urdu equivalents:
| Deccani | Standard Urdu equivalent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| mai, tu (southern dialects) | mẽ, tum | First and second person singular pronouns | |
| hame, tume (southern dialects) | ham, āp | First and second person plural pronouns | |
| kane, kan | pās | Possessive marker | |
| un, in, une, ine | us, is | Third person singular pronouns | |
| uno, uno logã, unõ | un, un lōg, woh log | Third person plural pronouns | |
| "sabaan"(southern dialects) | "kal" | For the word "tomorrow", northern dialects use the same word as Standard Urdu | |
| mer(e)kū, ter(e)kū (northern dialects) | mujhe, tujhe | First and second person possessive pronouns often used with postpositions (mera + ku, tera + ku) | |
| suffix -ã [ãː] (logã, mardã) | -õ, -ẽ | Plural marker | |
| ap(p)an | āp lōg | Third person plural pronoun, often used in first person as well | |
| suffix -ich [it͡ʃʰ] (mai idharich hũ) | hī (mẽ idhar hī hũ) | Emphasis marker, Matthews comments that this is "probably from Marathi"Template:Sfn | |
| kaiku, ki | kyũ | 'why' | |
| po (southern dialects) | par, pē | 'on' or 'at' (postposition) | |
| suffix -ĩgā (kal jaĩgā, ab karĩgā) | -ẽge (kal jāyẽge, ab karẽge) | Plural future tense marker | |
| sangāt | ke sātʰ | 'with', both are used in Deccani | |
| nakko | mat/na (imperative), nahĩ cāhiye (first person negative) | From MarathiTemplate:Sfn | |
| kate | lagta hē | 'it seems' or 'apparently' | |
| sō | sō | Common to Deccani and Urdu but largely restricted to classic literature and rarely used in the standard spoken registers of the latter
Still commonly used in Deccani, roughly meaning 'that', 'which', or 'hence' | |
| suffix -ko (jāko, dʰōko, āko) | suffix -kē or -kar (jākē/jākar, dʰōkē/dʰōkar/, ākē/ākar) | Conjunctive participle, all three are used in Deccani | |
| lang}}) [x/χ] | lang}}) [q] | Deccani speakers have fully merged q with kh | |
| lang}} [aɪ], au {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} [aʊ] (southern dialects) | lang}} [ɛː], au {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} [ɔː] | Southern dialects of Deccani preserve diphthongs where northern dialects and standard Urdu have shifted to open-mid vowels | |
| Sources:Template:Sfn<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> | |||
These features are used to different degrees among speakers, as there tends to be regional variation. Mustafa names some varieties of Deccani as "Telugu Dakkhni, Kannada Dakkhni, and Tamil Dakkhni", based on their influence from the dominant Dravidian language in the spoken region. He further divides Telugu Deccani into two linguistic categories, corresponding to Andhra Pradesh, which he says has more Telugu influence; and Telangana, with more influence from standard Urdu. The latter is seen especially in Hyderabad.Template:Sfn
Deccani's use of Urdu as a standard register, and contact with Hindustani (widespread in India), has led to some of its distinctive features disappearing.Template:Sfn
CultureEdit
Deccani finds a cultural core in and around Hyderabad, where the highest concentration of speakers are; Telangana is one of the only four states of India to provide "Urdu" official status. Deccani Urdu in Hyderabad has found a vehicle of expression through humour and wit, which manifests in events called "Mazahiya Mushaira", poetic symposiums with comedic themes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> An example of Deccani, spoken in such a context at Hyderabad:
Additionally, the Deccani film industry (also called Dollywood) is based in Hyderabad and produces movies in Deccani, especially the Hyderabadi dialect.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LegacyEdit
HindustaniEdit
Deccani is often considered a predecessor of Hindustani. The Deccani literary tradition is largely responsible for the development of modern Hindustani since contact with southern poets led to a shift in northern tastes and the development of Urdu as a literary language.<ref name=":0" /> Deccani also imparted the practice of writing the local vernacular in the Perso-Arabic script, which eventually became the standard practice for Urdu all over the Indian subcontinent.Template:Sfn
See alsoEdit
- Hyderabadi Urdu
- Urdu in Aurangabad
- Nawayathi (Kumta, Honnavar, Bhatkal)
- Deccani Muslims
- Deccani film industry
- Deccani Marathi, a dialect of Marathi-Konkani which goes by the same name
ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
CitationsEdit
BibliographyEdit
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