Bihari Language

This article has been written by a gentleman called
Tushar Vrind in the orkut community "The Bihari". A
superb read.

LE BALAIYA, ee ka hua? Kahe albalaye huye hain? Etna
narbhasane se kuchchho nahin hoga (Omigosh, what's
this? Why are you so flustered? Such nervousness won't
help matters.) The inveterate linguist may scream at
such an apparent contamination of Hindi language but
the average Bihari simply loves to throw all narrow
parameters of grammar to the winds. For them, the
funnier they are, the better their adaptability is
into their inimitable lingua franca.

Over the years, Biharis have invented a language,
which has an unmistakable stamp of their own. In
recent times, its popularity has travelled far and
wide beyond the borders of the State and many screen
heroes,including Amitabh Bachchan, have mouthed Bihari
liches with characteristic elan - a far cry from the
days when it was thought to be an infra dig of sorts
for anybody other than country bumpkins and unscrupulous
politicians to perpetrate such "verbal atrocities".

All that, however, is passe now. Bihari Boli is
sweeter than honey now Not only in Bollywood but also
on the campuses of prestigious universities and BITs
across the country. Words like harbaraye, garbaraye,
bargalaye, thartharaye and dhanmanaye which would have
sounded Greek tooutsiders earlier are being used with
gay abandon by the hep youngsters there.

Sobriquets laced with double entendres like "garda",
bawaal and dhuan denoting the varying degree of a
girl's beauty and sex appeal can be heardnot only in
Patna University colleges but also faraway Fergusson
College in Pune.

Moreover, a-go, dugo, teengo and chaartho type of
numerology which was a matter of disdain not long ago
is being accepted even by the stiff upper-lips without
any ualms. So, notes sarka do (pass on the
notes)","batti buta do (put out the lights)",
Principal ko harka do (bamboozle the principal),burbak
kahin ka (you stupid fellow!), hum to biga gaye(I was
thrown out) and Hum to huan thebe kiye the (I was very
much there) are some of the expressions which have
conveniently made their way into the otherwise
prim-and-propah St Stephens, New Delhi.

Similarly, coinages like dhakiyaye (shoved), mukiyaye
(punched), and latiyaye (kicked) are the current rage.
Hiyan (here), huan (there), kahe (why), enne (this
way) and onne (that way) are some of other typical
words, which are spoken rather nonchalantly by
so-called educated lot in the State.

One, therefore, does not get surprised if one hears
tanikke for little, nimman for good, anhar for
darkness and ejot for lights. For them, colloquial
language need not be tied to any narrow rules.
E topicwa par maatha khapane se kuchchho nahi
hoga(nothing is to come out of this topic), as one wit
commented. Among many characteristics of this language
are its terms fendearment. Seldom does one hear people
on the streets calling each other by their real names.
Raju automatically becomes Rajua, Pappu turns into
Pappua,Rajesh into Rajeshwa and Shatrughna at best
Satrohna. This potpourri of all Bihari dialects has
also coined new terms for human anatomy which would
baffle an FRCP if he were to land here straight from
Edinburgh. Here gor means legs, moori is substitute to
head, ongree is equivalent to finger, thor denotes
lips and kapar is synonymous with forehead.

This language also has more onomatopoeic words than
probably any other.
Words like tapak se, gapak se, and japak se can be
understood by Listening to their phonetical sounds. No
longer is Bihari language associated with a few
howlers like eskool (school)", teeshan (station) and
singal (signal) only. There are certain words which
carry the precise meaning but which cannot be properly
substituted by any word in other languages.Machchar
bhambhor liya is probably is one such example.
Bhambhorna is a super word, which means the collective
assault of mosquitoes to "bhambhor" you.
But then, one might argue, where else do you find so
many mosquitoes to bhambhor you. Right from Laloo
Prasad Yadav, who emerges as the best speaker of his
ghar ki boli to Shekhar Suman, everybody loves to
flaunt his native command of the language. Earlier,
Biharis were notorious for atrocious gender sense and
shoddy pronunciation. Now, the same traits have
become the tour de force of their conversation. The
time has certainly come to raise ekadhgo (one or two)
toast to
the longevity of the Bihari language.

"Teengo" cheers to that