SANGLI

Language has played a crucial role in shaping India’s social and political landscape, with pivotal moments such as the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which redrew the country’s states along linguistic lines. Maharashtra was a state which was formed as a result of its dominant Marathi-speaking population. 

Sangli district is home to multiple speech communities (a group of people who use and understand the same language or dialect), each maintaining their own distinct linguistic traditions. While Marathi serves as the predominant language throughout the district, Hindi, Urdu, and Kannada function as other significant languages of communication. The district's linguistic landscape also includes lesser-known varieties such as the Nandiwale.

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, the district had a total population of 28,22,143. Marathi was the most commonly reported mother tongue, spoken by 85.97% of the population. It was followed by Kannada (5.08%), Hindi (4.76%), Urdu (2.38%), and Telugu (0.43%). Smaller mother tongue groups included Gujarati (0.36%), Lamani/Lambadi (0.17%), Marwari (0.15%), Sindhi (0.11%), Banjari (0.09%), Vadari (0.07%), Kaikadi (0.05%), and Bengali (0.04%).

Kannada, being among the major languages spoken, is a notable aspect of the district’s linguistic landscape. Interestingly, more than half of the Kannada-speaking population here (about 1,09,667 people) is concentrated within the Jat taluka. This distribution, in many ways, is closely linked to the historical and geographic landscape of the district. Notably, Sangli, more specifically, the Jat taluka, is situated at the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The Nandiwale variety is spoken by the Nandiwale community, a group that has historically resided across regions in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. This community traditionally earned their livelihood by decorating bulls with colourful ornaments and migrating from village to village. Over time, their language variety naturally evolved as they interacted with different linguistic communities.

According to Girimal Kulkarni (2017), the use of this language has declined, raising concerns about its preservation. However, he points out that in some regions, such as Sangli, the Nandiwale variety is still spoken. A notable feature of this variety is the strong influence of Telugu on its vocabulary and speech patterns. Kulkarni mentions that many believe the Nandiwale people originally migrated from Andhra Pradesh, which could explain this influence. At the same time, the variety also reflects influences from Kannada and Marathi. Despite these linguistic influences, he emphasises that the Nandiwale variety maintains its “own distinct identity.”

One noticeable feature of the Nandiwale variety is the frequent use of the "di" (/ɖi/) sound in verb forms. This pattern appears in words such as:

This pattern may have developed within the variety or could reflect similarities with neighbouring languages.

The Nandiwale variety shares many words with Telugu and Kannada, particularly for everyday terms. The table below shows examples of words that are similar in all three:

Some words, like “Nin” (I) and “Rodu” (Two), are similar to both Telugu and Kannada. Others, such as “Mim” (We) and “Nidhi” (Yours), more closely match Telugu.

A few words have small pronunciation differences from their Telugu equivalents. For instance:

• ‘Okaṭi’ (ఒకటి, meaning ‘One’) in Telugu begins with a more prominent ‘o’ sound, while in Nandiwale it becomes ‘Vagati’.
• Similarly, ‘Mēmu’ (మేము, meaning ‘We’) in Telugu has a long ‘ē’ sound, whereas in Nandiwale, it is pronounced as ‘Mim’ with a short vowel.

These variations could have emerged over time and perhaps indicate something about the community’s speech patterns.

One of the clearest variation patterns in the Nandiwale variety can be seen in how day names from Telugu are slightly modified. In Telugu, days of the week end with the suffix “-vāraṁ.” In Nandiwale, this ending regularly changes to “-ram.”

Linguists often refer to such a process as “back-clipping,” which is when part of a word is removed, but its meaning stays the same. This kind of change is common in many languages. For example, in English, “photograph” is often shortened to “photo”, and “television” becomes “TV”. In Nandiwale, speakers have consistently shortened “-vāraṁ” to “-ram,” illuminating how the speakers of this variety have adjusted words to fit their own way of speaking.

A similar pattern can be seen in words for seasons, which are also influenced by Telugu but have been slightly modified, sometimes in word structure and others in pronunciation: