Page 601 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

folklore are now available in Bhojpuri along with different institutions to promote
Bhojpuri culture, language, literature and folklore.

The Bhojpuri speech community is almost monolingual, especially in the rural
areas. But due to the official vernacular Nepali as the medium of instruction, the
newer generation is stepping towards multilingualism, especially among those

educated as well as among those living in urban areas. However, they are highly
proficient in mother tongue speaking.

Bhojpuri is used in different common domains of language use such as
counting, singing, joking, bargaining/shopping/marketing, story-telling,

discussing/debate, praying, quarrelling, abusing (scolding/using taboo words), telling
stories to children, singing at home, family gatherings and village meetings. Bhojpuri

community in common is seen to have maintained their language vitality. The rate of
shifting toward Nepali is very low. In general, Bhojpuri native speakers have very
positive attitudes towards their language and they look confident for continuity of

their language even in the grandchildren's generation. The Bhojpuri speech
community is proud of their linguistic identity to have their own kinds of custom,

language, life-style, way of thinking, belief and they want to implement Bhojpuri as
an official language of Nepal and a vernacular of education in primary schools

seeking help on behalf of the state and the community.
The Nepalese Bhojpuri region, geographically, from Jamuni river westward in

Bara up to whole Parsa district is the central, Nawalparasi and Rupandehi western,
Jamuni eastward in Bara up to Bakeya river in Rautahat mid eastern and Bakeya
eastward up to Sarlahi is the eastern Bhojpuri region. Similarly, on the basis of

community, the dialect spoken by Tharu community in Rautahat is considered as Tharu
Bhojpuri and on the religious basis, the dialect of Sheikh community of Muslims in

central and western part of Rautahat as Sheikh dialect of Bhojpuri.
16.1.2 Phonological features
There are 36 distinctive consonant sounds in Bhojpuri. They can be classified

in terms of manner of articulation, place of articulation, voicing, aspiration and
breathiness. According to manner of articulation they can be classified as stops,

fricatives, affricates, laterals, nasals, flaps, and glides. In terms of place of articulation
they can be categorized as bilabials, dentals, alveolar, apico-alveolar, palato-alveolar,

retroflex, palatal, velar and glottal. We find contrasts among these sounds in terms of
voiced vs. voiceless, aspirated vs. unaspirated, voiced vs. breathy and voiced vs.

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