35th A.I.C.D.L. WELL-ATTENDED AND PRODUCTIVE

• Prof. Panchanan Mohanty delivered the Presidential Address.

• Prof. Jaware Gowda was honoured in the inaugural session and later in a special meeting.

• The arrangements were excellent.

• Food was delicious.

Prof. B. Gopinathan Nair presented the Dialect Maps of Malayalam - Ezhava/Tiiya - Kerala and the second edition of the book Dialect Survey of Malayalam (Ezhava - Tiiya) to the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri. Veerappa Moily, on 22.6.07. Dr. Moily observed that for Karnataka at least the speech of one community should be surveyed thoroughly.

DRAVIDIAN SUBSTRATUM AND INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES
(Presidential Address by Prof. Panchanan Mohanty: 35 A.I.C.D.L., Mysore 21-23 June 2007)

1. Introduction

It is the possession of language and culture that makes human beings unique as well as very different from other animals. In fact, the development of both language and culture has not been understood fully even now. When it is quite possible to train a pet such that it acquires some cultural traits of human beings, it cannot pass them on to its progeny. On the contrary, humans do hand over their language and culture to their descendants. So scholars hold the view that there is a close relationship between language and culture, and that they have developed in correlation with each other. Kroeber (1948: 225) states: "Culture, then, began when speech was present and, from then on, the enrichment of either meant the further development of the other". That is why language has been said to be an index of culture. Language and culture are products of the human brain. Both required a more developed brain so that they could expand. Due to migration of human beings from one place to another, various linguistic and cultural groups came in contact with each other and, as a result, exercised mutual influence. India bears probably the most significant testimony to this kind of contact and that is why it is truly a multilingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country. There have been a number of studies in this area since the epoch-making publication of Emeneau (1956). In this presentation, I wish to examine more data from the four major language families of this country in general and Indo-Aryan and Dravidian in particular to show the depth and range of their convergence.

2. The Linguistic Situation in India

It is more or less accepted that out of the four major language families found in India, the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan speakers have entered from the northwestern side whereas the Munda speakers have entered from the northeastern side. This is the reason we see a lot of shared characteristics between Dravidian and Indo-Aryan on the one hand and Munda and Tibeto-Burman on the other even in the prehistoric times.

India has been a linguistic area because there was contact leading to convergence among various linguistic stocks at different periods. Here it must be made clear that contact does not straight away lead to convergence. Contact between two linguistic groups facilitates bilingualism. As both the speech communities become bilingual, they code-mix and code-switch quite frequently and also start using the other language structure while speaking their mother languages. This is what is called substratum influence. A careful analysis of the Neo Indo-Aryan (NIA) languages reveals that there is a very strong Dravidian substratum in this country.

3. Language as a Tool to Reconstruct the Cultural Past

It is now widely accepted that language is a repository of information about the cultural past. Seton-Watson (1981:2) states: "The history of language is not just a subject for philologists but forms a very important part of social history, and one which seems to be relatively neglected by most historians". Burke (1987:17) also expresses a similar view: "Linguistic forms, their variations and changes also tell us something about the quality of social relationships in a given culture or cluster of cultures .... language is too important historically to leave to the linguists - so intimately involved with the process of social interaction and social change that social historians need to give it much more attention than they have done so far". However, the use of language as a tool in reconstructing social history is not popular and linguistic orientation in the study of social history is yet to take off in India. It can easily be demonstrated that linguistic clues are significant in the reconstruction of social history. Let us take a couple of examples from the first major Oriya poet Sarala Dasa's SaraLa: Maha:bha:rata which was written in the 15th century. There are words like /mudusuli/ `an old maid in a palace', /meka:pa/ `bodyguard', /kuTTuNi/ `a woman-messenger' in it. Not only these but Oriya surnames like Lenka, Malia and Muduli are, in fact, Dravidian words. The first one means `servant' and the remaining two, `headman'. Then, there is an extremely popular proverb in Oriya, /a:paNa: suna: bheNDi/ `own gold is a useless thing'. It is normally used in a situation like the following: When a son does not look after his parents although it is the norm in our society, the parents blame the son by saying that he is not gold, he is silver. In other words, he is not an ideal son but a bad one. Oriya dictionaries give two meanings for /bheNDi/: one is the vegetable `lady's finger' and the other `a useless thing'. Interesting, this proverb is the only example where /bheNDi/ occurs with the second meaning. Also, it is difficult to accept `gold' to become `a useless thing'. Actually, it is the Dravidian word /weNDi/ meaning `silver' that has become /bheNDi/ in Oriya pronunciation. It also perfectly fits in the context of the meaning of the proverb because the son is not precious like gold; he is a cheaper metal like silver. There is also another proverb: /ka:Li kotari, hesa muturi/. Interestingly, many Oriya dictionaries (e.g. G.C. Praharaj's purNacandra oDia: bha:sakosa) have not even listed /kotari/ in them. However, it is certainly related to the Telugu word /ku:turu/ (1873) `girl / daughter'. The meaning of this proverb is: `The girl is dark-complexioned and wets the mat (at night)'. So, the implication is that she is not a good match for marriage.

Again, there are many place-names in Central India which are Dravidian, e.g. Chilika, the famous natural lake of Orissa, means `a river' or `a big stretch of water' in Dravidian. A river named /ka:ThajoDi/ flows on the southern side of Cuttack town. Though I am not sure of the source of /ka:Tha/, there is little doubt that /joDi/ is nothing but Tamil /co:r/, Kannada /juri/ (DEDR 2883). The same /joDi/ is also found in /naijoDi/ `a low-lying narrow stretch on the roadside though which water flows'. Besides, there are a number of places with the Dravidian suffix /-peT/, /-peTa:/ (e.g. court-peTa), /-koT/ (e.g. /khalikoT/, /dhara:koT/) and /-Diha/ (e.g. /ganjeiDiha/) in Orissa. /Diha/ is also an Oriya word meaning `a piece of homestead land'. I should mention here that Rajkot in Gujarat and Giridih in Jharkhand also possess the above-mentioned suffixes. All these examples provide evidence in support of a strong Dravidian substratum not only in Orissa but also in Gujarat and Bihar. My contention here is that linguistic analysis has to be built into the system of socio-historical reconstruction of a society.

4. Sanskrit vis-a-vis NIA

We are aware of the wide-ranging influence of Sanskrit on different Indian languages but what is not much discussed is the influence of other Indian languages which converted Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, into Prakrit within 500 years of its arrival on the Indian soil and that this change started from Central India, the meeting point of Dravidian and Aryan languages and cultures. Let us call this phenomenon Indianisation or nativisation of Sanskrit and take the example of consonant- cluster simplification to illustrate it. It should be pointed out here that consonant clusters are a characteristic feature of Sanskrit whereas lack of such clusters is a significant aspect of the genius of the Dravidian languages. The consonant clusters found in modern Dravidian languages are mainly due to borrowing from Sanskrit. Interestingly, Prakrit, the next stage of Sanskrit, does not possess these clusters. In the initial stages of Prakrit, these clusters were geminated and at a later stage they got simplified by way of deletion of the weaker consonant and lengthening of the preceding vowel in every word. If we compare the NIA languages like Punjabi and Hindi with Oriya and Bengali, a clear trend will emerge. Consider the following examples:

Notice that in the first two examples, Punjabi and Hindi have geminates and in the rest only Punjabi preserves geminates, but these geminates have been simplified in Oriya and Bengali. The point I am trying to make here is that in respect of the above characteristic, Punjabi is the closest to Sanskrit, then comes Hindi as it retains some of them. Oriya and Bengali are the farthest from Sanskrit because they have simplified the geminates.

[To be continued in the next issue]

OBSERVATIONS OF PARTICIPANTS

The honouring of Prof. D. Jaware Gowda added dignity to the 35th A.I.C.D.L. In a special meeting, Prof. D.J. Gowda was adorned with a Mysore turban and shawl and a few words in praise. In the inaugural session, he was presented a beautiful box containing Rs.10,000/- for his endowment lecture in which he mentioned about his participation in the All India Conference of Dravidian Linguists held years ago in Karnataka (Bangalore).

Papers in Kannada are to be published by the Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies. The English papers will be published by the D.L.A. soon.

Dr. Panchanan Mohanty, the President of the 35th A.I.C.D.L., talked about Oriya and the Dravidian influence on it. He was to the point and gave a list of cognates to substantiate his viewpoint.

After the inauguration, Prof. D.J. Gowda read his paper Basava, Kuvempu and Tolstoy which was long but everyone listened to him with rapt attention.

The Minister for Higher Education who was to attend the inauguration could not make it because of his visit to China and an emergency meeting of the Cabinet on the change of government. Some one remarked that politicians are like that and we will have the function without him.

One elderly member from Thiruvananthapuram attended the Kannada sessions. The Chairman wanted to test his understanding of Kannada. He asked his impressions at the end of the session and said that he would give pass mark to the elderly delegate for his understanding of Kannada.

The absorption of Sanskrit loanwords with prothetic vowel as in irussian for Russian is similar to Tamil. Whether this can also be taken as a parameter to decide on the cognation of languages was a question raised by the delegate from Thiruvananthapuram.

Chappathi and a sweet were served for lunch and dinner. The food supplier gave more servings of sweet but because of the fear of indigestion, a few resisted the temptation.

While discussing about the dwindling number of students in courses on Linguistics, it was observed that employment opportunities are now more in speech correction, teaching of languages, etc. Linguists should make their position clear to the administration about the gains in appointing them, which can save man-hours and money.

Students from All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore presented papers on intonation, aspiration, etc. which linguists seldom talk about.

Papers on transformations were few while those on speech correction were more.

To a senior delegate from Thiruvananthapuram, one delegate said that he would donate an amount to the D.L.A. The senior delegate said that if it is a few thousand Rupees, a prize could be awarded; if a lakh, a fellowship can be given to a scholar with assistance from the D.L.A.

A DELEGATE'S COMMENT

One delegate at the 35th A.I.C.D.L. stated that some announcements in the DLA News regarding useful seminars were known only after the events were over, and the secretary concerned for the seminar could not be contacted. He requested publishing such announcements in earlier issues well before the start of the seminar.

He was informed that DLA News is sent to the press on 10th of every month and posted on 15th. If the announcement reaches the I.S.D.L. before 10th, it is included in that issue, otherwise in the next issue. Usually, announcements regarding seminars reach here late, so we are helpless.

V.I. Subramoniam

35th A.I.C.D.L. AT A GLANCE

PARAYUR KUTHU CHAKKAYAN:
CHILAPATHIKARAM

King Chenkuttuvan returned to Vanchi after his successful expedition to Himalayas. His large army of brave soldiers who exhibited their battle scars as marks of valour were disbanded and they indulged in all sorts of pleasures with their womenfolk. Chenkuttuvan was the lord of the Sea Grit World¹ - that part of the earth which formed the coastal area washed by roaring sea waves. His capital city Vanchi was protected by high walls decorated with flags and in the centre of the city stood a towering mansion which looked like Mount Meru¹. The king and Queen Venmal would go to the gem-decked terrace of the mansion to enjoy the splendour of the moonlight. There the royal couple were entertained by a Kuthu Chakkayan from Parayur who performed Kottichetham¹, the dance of God Siva. In the ancient city of Mesopotamia too, each city-state had a royal palace for its ruler and a ziggurat², a tower, on top of which existed a temple dedicated to the god of the city.

During the Sangam period, there was a class of artists called Chakkayans who performed a dance, Kuthu, for the entertainment of the kings and others. It was one such Chakkayan who emerged from nearby Parayur to give a performance at Vanchi in anticipation of a reward. Parayur is now identified with Paravur near Kodumkolloor³. Chilapathikaram further says that Parayur is a place where Brahmins well-versed in the four Vedas lived. Apart from providing indirect evidence that Vanchi was near Paravur, it emerges that although the Chakkayan himself may not be a Brahmin, Kuthu performance may have been influenced by the traditions and culture of the Brahmins who had established a colony near the Chera capital Vanchi in the early centuries of the Christian era.

Kottichetham performed by Parayur Kuthu Chakkayan depicted the dance of joy by God Siva on the burning of Tirupuram, the abode of the Asuras. The dancer is dressed as arthanari - half man (Siva) and half female (Uma). This concept with Uma as the left half represented the bipolar nature of the created world. While the male portion made violent movements, the female portion representing Uma was steady and unshaken. The anklets on the painted legs of the Chakkayan chimed in unison, the small drum in his hand was expertly beaten, the matted hair swung in eight directions and his reddened right eye expressed various emotions. However, neither did the padaka and the sudaka of the woman which the Chakkayan bore on one side shake nor was there a stir of the waist girdle or the soft breasts. There was also no movement of the earlobes and the beautiful tresses of the woman.

The art of Parayur Chakkayan survived for several centuries and evolved into Koodiyattam. In this art form, communication is through body movements and a codified language of gestures and expressions, with facial expressions being important. A gamut of expressions can be presented by the face with its eye, cheek, lip movements and the elasticity of facial muscles. Parayur Chakkayan's reddened right eye expressed various emotions. The power of communication is so refined and persuasive in Koodiyattam that it can portray any situation, thought or activity. Parayur Chakkayan's eyes showed a thousand expressions. bhavaprakasa through netrabhinaya is the soul of Koodiyattam⁴. The present-day Koodiyattam artiste uses the percussion instrument mizhavu for background music in place of the drum. Women from the Nambiar community play the female roles and are known as Nangiars. Koodiyattam is the only link with Sanskrit tradition and its strength lies in the mixture of two parambaryam-s - Sanskrit and Dravidian⁵. In other words, Koodiyattam represents the Dravidianisation of Sanskrit drama. This art form survived from the Sangam period till date because of the greatness of art in Koodiyattam and the devotion of the small community of Chakkiyars who carried on with its performance from generation to generation with such modifications from time to time as may have been necessary.

The heritage of Chakkayans helped their descendants in the staging of Sanskrit dramas in later years. In Chera country, Sakthi Bhadran wrote Ascharya Choodamani. Mathavilasa and Bhagavatha Jugava were already available. Nilakanta Kavi wrote Kalyana Sowganthikam (9th century A.D.) and Kulasekharan wrote two dramas - Subhadra Dhanamjayam and Tapatheesam- varanam. The acting style in Kerala transformed Sanskrit drama (natakam) into dance (attam). Koodiyattam thus emerged out of Sanskrit drama. Under religious restriction, it was allowed to be performed only in the koothambalam-s of temples as offerings to gods. When the Chakkiyar adorns the dress of a Puranic character and ties a red scarf on his head, it is as if the spirit of his character has entered his body. The audiences consisting mostly of ardent devotees accept the terse comments of the Chakkiyar on the conduct of the king, social conditions or about the clumsy character of some people without any demur. Presently there are 14 temples in Kerala to which koothambalam-s are attached. They are at Guruvayoor, Thrissur, Thirumandhamkunnu, Koodalmanickam, Thrikkakara, Peruvanam, Punnatur, Tiruvegappura, Moozhikulam, Kidangoor, Haripad, Tiruvarpu, Arpukara and Tirualathur. All these places are located in a contiguous area northeast and south of Kodumkolloor.

The community of Kuthu Chakkayan was made into a separate caste and given the name `Chakkiyar' at the time of Jathinirnayam in the 9th century A.D. consequent on Aryanisation. The members of this caste were not treated as Brahmins, their occupation being Kuthu narration and dance. Kulasekharan who ruled Kerala in the 11th century A.D. with Mahodayapuram near Kodumkolloor as his capital summoned a Chakkiyar from Parameswaramangalam (Paravur) to help him in the finalisation of stage rules (Ranga-Padam). Kulasekharan refers to him as a friend of Brahmins (Brahma-Bandhu). The Chakkiyar started in the morning, travelled through Periyar river and reached Mahodayapuram before the king's court adjourned at noon. This Chakkiyar could be a descendant of Parayur Kuthu Chakkayan of Chilapathikaram⁶. The Chakkiyars of Kerala were in demand in Chola country also. A Chakkayan named Kumaran Sreekantan was given land in A.D. 992 as chakkai kani for the performance of the seven-part Arya-Kuthu during Purattasi festival in Gomuktheswara temple at Thiruvaduthurai⁷. The chakkai kani awarded during the reign of Parakesari Rajendra Chola contained provision for the supply of rice flower, betel leaves, areca-nuts and ghee for mixing collyrium and turmeric. These articles were used by the Chakkiyars of Kerala for Kuthu performance.

The whole world came to know about Koodiyattam only when the Chakkiyars took it out of the koothambalam-s of temples. In June 1980, Guru Rama Chakkiyar lead a Kalamandalam troupe to perform Koodiyattam in Poland and France. All this resulted in the proclamation of Koodiyattam as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of U.N.E.S.C.O. in May 2001.

Pavaikuthu finds mention in the lyric seruvankolam avunar ninka tiruvin seyyol aatina pavaiyum in Chilapathi- karam⁸. A research scholar has made out a case that Pavaikuthu is the former name of Mohiniyattam⁹. The emergence of Malayalam language resulted in many dance and theatre forms using the suffix attam. Pavaikuthu is believed to have been renamed as Mohiniyattam.

References

1. The Chilapathikaram, V.R. Dikshithar, BK III, p. 318, canto XXVIII, lines 45-50. Vanchikandam. Oxford. 1939.

2. Mesopotamia - The King Fisher Illustrated History of the World. American Edition. 1993.

3. Some Aspects of Kerala and Tamil Literature, Raghava Iyengar M., p. 150, University of Kerala, Reprint 1973.
   Keralathile Sthala Charithrangal - Ernakulam Jilla (Malayalam), Valath V.V.K., p. 199, 1993.

4. Abhinayathinte Thudarchayum Valarchayum (Malayalam), K.G. Poulose, p. 243, International Centre for Koodiyattam, 2001.

5. p. 242, Ibid.

6. p. 78, Ibid.

7. Therenjedutha Prabhandangal Volume 2 (Malayalam), Ezhuthachan K.N., p. 318, Kerala Sahitya Academy, March 1991.

8. The Silappadikaram, V.R. Dikshithar, p. 125, canto VI, lines 60-61, Oxford, 1939.

9. "Mala Reghunath: Indian-Born Nigeria-Based Dancer" in The Hindu dated 17.7.1995, K. Santhosh.

K. Ravindran

MODERN HOMO SAPIENS EMERGED
TWO LAKH YEARS AGO

The Hindu (Thiruvananthapuram, 14.3.07) reported the discovery of a fossil jawbone in Morocco (Africa) dated back to 1,60,000 years ago. It was nearly identical with that of a present-day eight-year-old child, indicating that even so long ago, humans had extended childhood, necessitating a society enabling proper upbringing of juveniles.

It was known that modern humans emerged in Africa two lakh years ago but fossils had been found only in European sites dating back to 20,000 to 30,000 years. The present find implies that the modern human phase, viz. of childhood, prolonged juvenile dependency and extended development of the brain, had commenced well before what conventional theories believe. The report had been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, G. Britain [Courtesy: The Hindu].

T. Madhava Menon