YAVATMAL

Yavatmal is a district located in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, sharing its borders with Telangana to the south and several other districts of eastern Maharashtra. Its geographic positioning has played a significant role in shaping its linguistic landscape, resulting in a diverse mix of speech forms and influences from surrounding areas. 

The district is home to multiple speech communities (a group of people who use and understand the same language or dialect), each maintaining its distinct linguistic traditions. While Marathi serves as the predominant language throughout the district, Banjari, Urdu, Hindi, Varhadi, Gondi, and Halbi function as other significant languages of communication.

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, it was recorded that Yavatmal district had a total population of 27,72,348. Of this population, Marathi was the most commonly reported mother tongue, spoken by 67.57% of the population. Banjari was the second most widely reported, at 13.29%, followed by Urdu (5.41%), Hindi (5.12%), Kolami (2.77%), Gondi (2.40%), and Telugu (1.31%). Smaller mother tongue groups included Vadari (0.38%), Marwari (0.35%), Gujarati (0.29%), and Paradhi (0.27%).

Banjari, also known as Lambani, Lamani, Lambadi, Gour Boli, or Gormati, is spoken by the Banjara (Laman) community, originally from the Mewar region of Rajasthan. Historically nomadic traders, the community migrated across India in search of livelihood, leading to a wide spread of the language.

Today, Banjari speakers are found in many Indian states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. In Yavatmal district, Banjari is spoken by 13.29% of the population (3,68,457 people), making it the second most widely spoken mother tongue after Marathi.

Banjari does not have a native script (original writing system), which has shaped how the language is used and preserved. Instead of writing in their own script, speakers have adapted the writing systems of surrounding regional languages. In Maharashtra, for example, they use the Devanagari script (used for Marathi and Hindi), while in Karnataka, the Kannada script is used.

Banjari has five vowels, a, e, i, o, u, along with their longer forms such as ā and ī, although long vowels are typically not used at the end of words. The language features 32 consonants, many of which are similar to those found in Marathi. However, certain sounds like the Marathi "थ" (/th/ with a breathy aspiration) are absent in Banjari. Nasal sounds, such as the "n" in song, are used, but modifying them usually does not change the meaning of a word. Aspirated consonants, those pronounced with a burst of breath, tend to appear mostly at the beginning of words.

Banjari shows a fascinating blend of its own vocabulary and forms borrowed from languages like Marathi and Hindi. This blending is most noticeable in everyday words, terms for family, the body, colours, food, and numbers. Many of these look and sound quite similar across all three languages, showing how close contact and migration have shaped the language.

In terms of kinship and pronouns, Banjari uses words that are nearly identical to Marathi and Hindi. For instance, ‘sāsu’ means ‘mother-in-law’ in all three. The word for father in Banjari, ‘bā’, is closely related to ‘bābā’ or ‘vadil’ in Marathi and ‘pitāji’ in Hindi. Even the second-person singular pronoun ‘tu’ is the same across the three languages.

Words for body parts follow a similar pattern. In many cases, there is almost no difference in form, for example, ‘dāt’ for ‘tooth’, ‘hāt’ for ‘hand’, and ‘gāl’ for ‘cheek’ are the same in Banjari and Marathi, and very close in Hindi too. This suggests a strong set of shared roots or long-term borrowing between the languages.

The same goes for colours. Banjari’s ‘haro’ (green) and ‘niɭo’ (blue) are very close to ‘hirwā’ and ‘niɭā’ in Marathi and ‘harā’, ‘nilā’ in Hindi. The small vowel differences at the end don’t change the meaning, but they do reflect local phonological patterns.

Food vocabulary is especially rich in borrowed or shared forms. Words like ‘kāndo’ (onion), ‘seb’ (apple), and ‘santra’ (orange) are consistent across the three languages. A few items, like ‘angur’ (grapes), also show influence from Marathi, which uses ‘jāmbhuɭ’, reflecting regional variety even within a shared root.

In numbers too, Banjari keeps very close to both Marathi and Hindi, particularly for the basic counting numbers. Words like ‘ek’ (one), ‘ʧār’ (four), and ‘sāt’ (seven) are essentially the same. For numbers above twenty, Banjari uses a compounding system - ‘wisan ek’ for twenty-one, ‘wisan di’ for twenty-two, and so on.

Ordinal numbers are also easy to form. In Banjari, adding ‘-ne’ to a cardinal number makes it ordinal. For instance, ‘ekne’ is ‘first’, dine is ‘second’, and tinne is ‘third’. General vocabulary also reflects a strong Marathi and Hindi influence, with many everyday nouns being identical or nearly so.

Banjari nouns follow a pattern that shows gender (male or female), number (singular or plural), and case (how the noun functions in the sentence, like subject or object). There is no third gender category (neuter), which is different from many other regional languages.

In Banjari, the general form of a noun is: Noun Stem + Gender + Number + Case Suffix (case suffix = small ending added to show the noun's role in a sentence). Some nouns use the same root but change the ending vowel to show gender. For example:

In Banjari, plural forms (more than one) are often shown through the verb or number word in the sentence, rather than changing the noun itself. This is especially true when the noun is the subject. In such cases, the noun form stays the same, and the listener understands it is plural based on context.

In other cases, Banjari uses three ways to show plurals:

• Adding a suffix (a small word-ending)
• Repeating the noun (called reduplication)
• Removing part of the original word

Banjari also uses common endings from other languages to form agent words (called agentive suffixes). For example, wala (male) and wali (female) are added to describe someone doing a job or activity—like telwala = “oil seller.”

Pronouns (words like I, you, they) in Banjari don’t show gender, but they do show singular/plural. The basic structure is: Pronoun Stem + Case Suffix.

Banjari also uses ‘ekmek’ for “each other,” just like in Marathi. This shows how closely the two languages are related in structure.

Verbs in Banjari change depending on who is doing the action and when it happens. This process is called conjugation (changing a verb to show tense, number, or gender). For example, jo means “to go,” but its form will change depending on the speaker or time.

In the past tense, Banjari uses -y after verbs that end in a, u, or o:

There are few compound verbs in Banjari such as:

Varhadi is a language variety that is mainly spoken in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, in districts such as Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Washim, and Yavatmal. This region is sometimes called ‘Varhad Pradesh’, as noted by Deepdhwaja Kosode (2017). The Vidarbha region has a long history, and is even mentioned in ancient texts like the Mahabharata as a legendary kingdom.

Varhadi is well known for a number of phonetic (sound) changes, differences in vocabulary, and grammatical features that make it distinct from other language varieties.

One of the most noticeable features of Varhadi is that the sound “ल” (la) is often replaced with “ड” (da). For example the word ‘बोल (bol)’ which means ‘to speak’ in English becomes बोड (bod) in Varhadi. This change is quite common and perhaps gives Varhadi speech  a smoother and simpler sound in everyday use.

Another interesting feature, noted in the Amravati District Gazetteer (1968), is that long vowels, especially at the ends of words, are often shortened in Varhadi speech. This sound change perhaps makes words comparatively simpler and quicker to say. For example:

These forms come from longer versions जवळ (javal) and उडविला (udavila), but the final vowels are shortened in daily speech. In many words, the vowel ‘a’ is used instead of ‘e’, especially in future tense verbs and some nouns. This can be seen in examples like:

There is also a pattern where ‘i’ and ‘e’ are replaced by ‘va’ in some words. This results in forms like:

In addition, the sound ‘v’ is often weak or missing when it comes before ‘i’ and ‘e’. Because of this, words like vistav, vis, and vel are often heard in shortened forms:

These examples show how Varhadi simplifies pronunciation in everyday speech, making it distinct from other varieties. Such sound changes are a key part of what gives Varhadi its unique character.

Aside from pronunciation, Varhadi also has vocabulary that is both familiar and region-specific. Speakers of Varhadi use some words that are common across Marathi and Hindi, and some that are specific to the region. For example, आलू (ālu) for potato is used in both Varhadi and Hindi, while सिगल (sigal), meaning cup or container, is more region-specific.

Family terms in Varhadi reflect close relationships and often have local variants. Some of these, such as porgi and porga, are also used in other parts of Maharashtra, but forms like katti and katta show regional variation.

The terms for body parts in Varhadi, in many ways, reflect its unique phonetic features. For example, टेकुर (head) and केपज (forehead) highlight the differences from standard pronunciations of similar words in other regions.

Colour terms in Varhadi also differ slightly from forms that one can usually find in Hindi or Marathi, often showing simplified or altered sounds.

Proverbs are an important part of oral tradition. They carry life lessons, humor, and cultural values, passed down through generations. These sayings often reflect practical wisdom and comment on everyday situations that are spoken in Varhadi.

Gondi is a language spoken by the Gond people across central India, including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Gujarat. In Yavatmal district, Gondi is spoken by 2.40% of the population, making it the sixth most widely spoken mother tongue as per the 2011 Census.

The origins of Gondi have been the subject of multiple theories. The traditional view maintains that Gondi has primarily existed as an oral language without a written script. However, it has been noted in the Languages of Maharashtra (2017) that this perspective has been challenged by scholars such as Motiram Kale, who argues that Gondi is an ancient language that once served as the official language of the ancient Gondwana Kingdom, complete with its own script and literary tradition. Scholar Vyankatesh Atram claims that hieroglyphs discovered in Gondwana are actually Gondi script and that it served as the official language of the Kuyava Kingdom in the pre-Rigveda period. According to this theory, the written script disappeared when Duryon, the Kuyava capital, was destroyed around 3201 BCE.

Despite these historical shifts, this language has endured beautifully in its oral form. Unfortunately, it has been classified as a “vulnerable language” in UNESCO’s 2009 report, which states that while most children still speak Gondi, its use may be restricted to certain domains.

Gondi is classified as part of the Dravidian language family in the Chandrapur Gazetteer (1972) and as mentioned above, is spoken across central India. However, rather than existing as a single uniform variety, Gondi exhibits significant dialectal diversity. The influence of surrounding languages, such as Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, and Chhattisgarhi, has contributed to regional variations in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammatical structures.

Sound System (Phonology). It is listed in the volume Languages of Maharashtra (2017), that there are more than 13 vowel sounds (counting all the short, long, uncommon vowels and diphthongs) and more than 37 consonant sounds in the Gondi language. They are as follows:

Gondi includes a distinct set of kinship terms that differ and are phonologically unique.

Gondi is spoken differently across Gondia, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, and Chandrapur in Maharashtra. In these areas, the language is in close contact with Hindi and Marathi, which has led to gradual shifts in vocabulary.

In many cases, original Gondi words have been replaced by borrowed forms, especially in everyday contexts. In other cases, certain words in Gondi may look or sound similar to words in Hindi or Marathi, but carry different meanings. For instance, The word मुलगी (mulgī) means mother’s elder sister in Gondi, whereas in Marathi, it means girl. These kinds of terms are often referred to as false friends (words that appear the same across two languages but differ in meaning).

Other terms, like सकार (sakār) for morning or दुपार (dupar) for afternoon, resemble their counterparts in Marathi and Hindi, and may be considered as borrowings which have slight alterations in the way they are pronounced and spelled.

Some Gondi words also have lexical overlap with, that is they resemble terms in, Marathi or Sanskrit in both sound and meaning. As noted in Languages of Maharashtra (2017), Vyankatesh Atram has pointed to certain Gondi terms as being possible sources for later Marathi words. For example:

• कलुष (kaluśa) – coal → is believed to be the possible source for the Marathi word कोळसा (kolasā)
• जावा उन्माल (jāva unmāl) – having a meal → similar to Marathi जेवण (jevaṇ)

While the direction of influence is debated, such overlaps point to long-standing interaction between Gondi and neighboring languages.