Maithili –Vanessa

We cando everything –except speak proper German!

This is the slogan of the city Stuttgart, which lies in the South of Germany and is the capital of the federal state Baden-Württemberg –the Swabian heartland of the country. There are numerous dialects in Germany, some stronger, others less so. The Swabian dialect belongs to the former, and in addition is quite unpopular, if you believe the annual surveyofthe German population. Especially for Northern Germans, this South-German dialect is hard to bear, but perhaps only because they can’t understand a word of it! Swabian, just likeSwiss-German, has its roots in theAlemanniclanguage, which is why these two speech variants have a lot in common. Apart from its own Grammar (rare use of the imperfect tense, no genitive case!! A dream for German learners!), there are mainly differences in pronunciation between Swabian and Standard German.

One feature of this Southern dialect are the nasal sounds, comparable with Portuguese and French. “Umlaute”, like ö and ä, hardly exist: König becomes Keenich, schön becomes schee. The ö-Umaut’ is replaced with an e and üwith an i. Ein Stück Fleisch then becomes a Schdick Floisch. The many diphthongs make the language sound very broad, e.g. die Mutter ist müde would be dia Muader isch miad. In addition, in the Swabian dialect, hard consonants are pronounced softly: p, t and k become b, d and g. Ein Vater becomes ein Vader andeinSocke a Sogg. At the same time, st becomes sch(d) and sp is pronounced schb, so the word “ist” (is) would be isch.Another feature which stands out are the many minimizations. DasMädchenbecomes Mädle, dieTürdas Türle (orrather: Dirle).

Lastly, there are numerous Swabian words which are very different from their Standard German counter parts. Who would have guessed, that a Mugg meanseineFliege(a fly), a Gugg einePlastiktüte(plastic bag) and that in the Schwabenländle peopledon’t use the word arbeiten (to work) but schaffen? Other words, which Reigschmeckte (foreigners) would struggle with, are Breschdleng (Erdbeerestrawberry), eischmoddza (einschmieren–togrease something), Ade (Auf Wiedersehen–Good bye) und fatza (reiβen–to break). Why don’t you ask your German teacher, whether they know the following words (unless of course I am your teacher, a born and bred Swabian) :Krumbiere /Veschbr/schwätza. In this spirit–Tschüssleand Ade!

By Miss Koehnlein

13

Maithili

मैथिलीभारतमें 3 करोड़ (उत्तरपूर्वीभारतमेंथिहारऔरझारखंड) औरनेपाल (तराईक्षेत्र) में 40 लाखिोलनेर्वालोंद्वारािोलीजानेर्वा लीएकअल्पसंख्यकभाषाहै।मैथिलीभोजपुरीऔरमगधीसेसंिंथधतहै।यह 1000 सालसेभीज्यादा पुरानाहै।मैथिलीभारतमें एकसंर्वैधाथनकमान्यताप्राप्तक्षेत्रीयभाषाहै, औरनेपालमेंएकमान्यताप्रा प्तभाषाहै।इसकाउपयोगथिक्षा, सरकारऔरसाथहत्यमेंथकयाजाताहै। मध्य / मधुिनीिोली, यासोतीपुरा, मैथिलीकामानक रूपमानाजाताहै।यहमुख्यरूपसेथिहारकेद रभंगाऔरमधुिनीथजलोंमें िोलीजातीहै।अन्यिोथलयोंमेंिाथमलहैं: िज्जिका, थजसेभारतऔर नेपालमेंलगभग 1.2 करोड़ लोगिोलतेहैं, इसेिोलने र्वालोंद्वाराएकअ लगभाषामानाजाताहै; हालााँथकइसेआथधकाररकतौर परएकभाषाकेरूपमेंमान्यतानहींदीग ईहै। मैथिलीपहलेथतरहुतथलथप केसािथलखागयािा, जोकभीकभीआजभीइस्तेमालकी जातीहै।इसेकै िीथलथपसे भीथलखागयाहै। 20व ींसदीमेंदेर्वनागरीमैथिलीकेथलएसिसेअथधकइस्तेमालकीजानेर्वालीथलथप िनगई। इसभाषाकानामथमथिलानामसेआयाहैथजसेसीता केथपताराजाजनक (7व ींिताब्दीईसापूर्वव) काप्राचीनसाम्राज्यकहाजाताहै।हालांथक ऐसाकहा जाताहैथकप्राचीनकालमें थमथिलामेंथर्वद्वा नोंद्वाराअपनेसाथहज्जत्यककायोंकेथलएसंस्कृ त काप्रयोगथकयाजातािाऔरमैथिलीआमलोगों कीभाषािी।मैथिलीमेंसिसेप्रथसद्धसाथहत्यकारकथर्वथर्वद्यापथतिे, थजन्ोंनेअपनीकथर्वताओंसेद रभंगाकेराजाकोप्रभाथर्वतकरकेमैथिलीको लोगोंकी भाषाकीज्जथिथतसे 14 र्वींिताब्दीकेथिहार मेंआथधकाररक कामकेथलएइस्तेमालथकया।

Maithili

Maithili is a minority language spoken by 30 million speakers in India (Bihar and Jharkhand states in north-eastern India), and another 4 million in Nepal (Terai region). Maithili belongs to the Eastern Bihari branch of the Indo-Aryan languagefamily andis closely related to Bhojpuri andMagadhi. It is more than 1000 years old. Maithili is a constitutional recognized regional language in India, and a recognized Nepalese language in Nepal. It is used in education, government and literature. The Central /Madhubanidialect, or Sotipura, is considered the standard form of Maithili. It is spoken mainly intheDarbhangaandMadhubanidistricts of Bihar. Other dialects include:

• Thēthi, • Dehati and • Kisan,

14