Page:Adam's reports on vernacular education in Bengal and Behar, submitted to Government in 1835, 1836 and 1838.djvu/138

would be difficult to say with certainty which is most prevalent. The Bengalee perhaps is a little more common in the former, and the Hindee in the latter. In Bahadurgunj and Matagari on the frontier of Morung, many of the tribes from the east speak Bengalee. The Hindee and Mithila are, however, by far the most prevalent, and in all the remaining sub-divisions little else is spoken in conversation. The oral use of Hindoostanee is generally understood except among the very lowest of the people. The western portion of Purneah formed part of the ancient kingdom of Mithila, together with the modern districts of Tirhoot and Sarun in Behar and part of the adjacent tracts now possessed by the Nepaulese. Within those territories a distinct language was spoken still named the Mithila, or Trihutya, or Tirahuti, and accordingly in the western portion of Purneah learned Hindoos still use in their literary compositions the character called Tirahuti which differs little from the Bengalee in form, but much in pronunciation. With some exceptions, the Brahmans of Mithila pronounce their words nearly in the same manner with those of the south of India. The dialects of the Bengalee language, where it is spoken, are exceedingly impure. There is not only a difference in almost every petty canton, but even in the same village several dialects (Mithila, Magadha, Sambhal, &c.) are often in common use, each caste retaining the peculiar words, acceptations, and accents of the country from which it originally came. The Hindee is in a still greater state of confusion. There are local dialects which often vary so much that one is not only not spoken, but not even understood, by those who use the other. There are, however, two chief dialects. One is an Apabhasha or vulgar tongue, spoken by the lowest classes, by the women, and even by a large proportion of the Brahmans. This dialect contains many songs and several hymns in praise of the village deities, but none of them appear to have been committed to writing. The second is called Désbasha or the language of the country, and is spoken by a considerable portion of the Brahmans and persons of the higher ranks and also by a very small proportion of the women, but even these use the first dialect when they speak to their servants. The Désbasha is also used in correspondence by persons of rank and education, but a good many who can speak it, or understand it when spoken, especially among the Brahmans, cannot write it at all, and several use it in business without acquiring a pure style. Not above 3,000 men in the whole district understand this language, so as to speak it with propriety, nor can half that number write it. Perhaps 300 women understand it when spoken, and of these only about 20 were known to be able to correspond in this dialect, or indeed in any other, and all these lived to the west of the Kosi river. It is only on the west side of the Kosi that there is any considerable degree of education among the people of this district who speak the Hindee language.