Bhulia (dialect)

Bhulia or Bhuliya is an Indo-Aryan dialect^[1] which carries the same name as the Bhulia people of India. It has mainly been classified as a dialect of Chhattisgarhi which in itself is considered a dialect of Hindi.^[2]

History

The Bhulia people are reported to have migrated from Chhattisgarh to Odisha and carried their language with them.^[3] In the past, Bhulia was reported to be an Odia dialect as it utilizes Odia script. However, one report made in the early 1900s claims the dialect has been reclassified as a form of Chhattisgarhi.^[4]

A 1891 Census reported about 9,000 speakers of the dialect. In 1904, a survey done found about 13,000 speakers, primarily located in the pre-independence Sonpur and Patna states.^[4]

Script

Despite being considered a dialect of Chhattisgarhi, the dialect uses the Odia script.^[4]

Vocabulary

Volume 6 of the Linguistics Survey of India contains a table of vocabulary from various Chhattisgarhi dialects (including Bhulia) and their transliteration in English. The following table displays some of the book's transliterations:^[4]

Numbers

English	Bhulia
one	eka
two	dui
three	tini
four	chāri
five	pā̃ncha
six	chhaa
seven	sȧt
eight	āṭh
nine	naa
ten	daś

Subject Pronouns

English	Bhulia
I	muĩ
you	tuĩ
we	āmi-māné, āmé-māné, ām-māné
he	ō-māné
they	oĩ-māné, ō-māné

Discrepancies

Some sources claim that Bhulia is a "tribal language" ^[5] or is spoken by tribals.^[4] However, there is no consensus as to which tribal group uses this language.

Other sources claim that the Bhulia community speaks Laria, but still acknowledge Bhulia as a dialect of Chhattisgarhi.^[6] Similarly, a 2008 magazine claims that Laria and Bhulia (spelled Lariya and Bhuliya) are dialects of the Chhattisgarhi branch of Indo-European languages. A different source claims that Bhulia is simply a dialect of Laria, and Laria is another name for Chhattisgarhi.^[2] To add to the complexity, there are claims that locals do not make any sort of difference between Laria and Bhulia.^[7] There are also no sources that note if the Bhulia community themselves speaks the Bhulia language.