Satarupa Dattamajumdar
8-9Introduction
The demographic variables like
population strength, group concentration, group proportion, rate of population
growth, territorial demarcation, inter-ethnic marriages and history of
immigration and emigration are important factors that contribute in understanding
the social dynamics of an ethnic group and help in describing their bilingual
status. In bilingual social situations the members of the speech community use
languages other than their mother tongue in socially defined environments and
the bilingual cognitive status implies the motivation (or the psycho-social
set-up) of a speaker behind choosing and using different languages from
individual’s speech network in specific domains of social life. Therefore,
the study of demography and its co-variation with the languages in the social
network becomes imperative for understanding the nature of bilingualism in the
multilingual social set up of the Lepcha speaking community. An attempt has
been made in this article to look into the demographic (language) account of
the Lepcha speaking population with special reference to West Bengal from the
point of view of the socio-political history of the Lepchas of Darjeeling
district in West Bengal.
At the very outset in the context of
the dealing with census data, it is pertinent to mention that in spite of many
criticisms regarding ‘anomalous handling’ or ‘intentional distortions’ of the
census data, scholars opine that language census can serve as a foundation of
socio-linguistic enquiries because of its magnitude of geographical coverage which cannot be
expected in individual effort. In connection to the discussion of the use and
misuse of language census data Khubchandani (1997:161)[1]
states “A language census thus could be used as an important tool to interpret,
at the macro level, the trends of population concerning speech behavior and
correlating them with other trends, and not as a depository of ‘absolute’
numbers accounting for the speech behavior at the micro level.”
Demographic Status of Lepcha
The numerical data of the demographic
profile of Lepcha according to Indian census are provided in the following in
order to have a glance at the ethnic group strength (by region) and language
and its growth. Based upon the data comments will be made on the demographic
profile of the speech community.
Total Native Speakers by Country
The numerical strength of Lepcha
speakers in India (Male and Female), Nepal and Bhutan are given below.
Table
- 1: Strength of Lepcha speakers in India, Nepal and Bhutan
|
Name of the countries
|
Total Number of Speakers
|
Males
|
Females
|
|
India
|
39,342 (1991 census)
50,629 (2001 census)
|
20,445 (1991 census)
26,111(2001 census)
|
18,897 (1991 census)
24,518 (2001census)
|
|
Bhutan
|
34,700 (2000)
|
Not available
|
Not available
|
|
Nepal
|
3,660 (2001)
|
Not available
|
Not available
|
Numerical Strength of Language by
State/ Region
The distribution of the Lepcha speakers
in different states of India according to 1991 census and 2001 census are
presented in the following for a comparative picture.
Table-2: Distribution of the Lepcha
speakers in different states of India (1991)
|
Place Names
|
Total Population
|
Males
|
Females
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
9
|
7
|
2
|
|
Assam
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
|
Goa
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
|
Maharastra
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
|
Manipur
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
|
Meghalaya
|
7
|
4
|
3
|
|
Mizoram
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
|
Rajasthan
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
|
Sikkim
|
29,854
|
15,535
|
14,319
|
|
Tripura
|
8
|
3
|
5
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
8
|
3
|
5
|
|
West Bengal
|
9,421
|
4,873
|
4,548
|
|
Delhi
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
Table-3: Distribution of the Lepcha
speakers in different states of India (2001)
|
Place Names
|
Total Population
|
Males
|
Females
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
23
|
15
|
8
|
|
Assam
|
13
|
9
|
4
|
|
Delhi
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
|
Goa
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
|
Haryana
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
|
Jammu &Kashmir
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
|
Jharkhand
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
|
Karnataka
|
40
|
35
|
5
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
7
|
3
|
4
|
|
Maharastra
|
7
|
1
|
6
|
|
Manipur
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
|
Meghalaya
|
22
|
11
|
11
|
|
Mizoram
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
Nagaland
|
8
|
7
|
1
|
|
Rajasthan
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
|
Sikkim
|
35,728
|
18,505
|
17,223
|
|
Tamilnadu
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|
Tripura
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
|
Uttaranchal
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
West Bengal
|
14,731
|
7,489
|
7,242
|
The above data reveals that the
population strength of Lepcha speakers is more in Sikkim than in West Bengal.
(Perhaps the geo-political history of the Lepcha inhabiting region explains the
situation, discussed in the following section)
It is to be mentioned here that if the
speaker strength of Lepcha is compared with the speaker strength of other
languages of the country, it may not occupy a numerically significant position,
the percentage being 0.00. However, when it comes to the area where the
language is spoken, the percentage is 6.6 in Sikkim (occupying a fourth
position in the state) and it is equally significant if we consider the
locality, i.e., Kalimpong subdivision of Darjeeling district of West
Bengal.
Numerical Growth of Lepcha Population
The growth of Lepcha population
according to Indian census of 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 are shown below.
Table
– 4: Growth of Lepcha Population in India
|
Persons who returned Lepcha as their
mother tongue
|
Decadal percentage of increase
|
|||||
|
1971
|
1981
|
1991
|
2001
|
1971 to 1981
|
1981 to 1991
|
1991 to 2001
|
|
33,360
|
27,814
|
39,342
|
50,629
|
-16.62
|
41.45
|
28.69
|
The above table reveals that though the
population strength of the speech community is not very high, the growth rate
of population is on the rise for last two decades (1981 to 1991 and 1991 to
2001). But there is a decadal decrease of percentage of population during 1971
to 1981 .
Total Bilinguals and Trilinguals
Total Lepcha Bilinguals are 37,654 (2001 census) and total Trilinguals are 12,821 (2001 census). That is, 74.37% of Lepcha speakers
are bilinguals whereas, 25.32% are trilinguals according to 2001 census.
Coming to the phenomenon of
bilingualism it can be said that the percentage of bilingualism is very high
among the Lepcha speakers compared to the national average of bilingualism
(i.e., 24.79%). In the incidence of bilingualism among the hundred non-schedule
languages of the country, Lepcha occupies the tenth position (highest being
80.63% in case of the Maring speech community). It is equally significant when it comes to
trilingualism, i.e., people knowing third language, Lepcha occupies the twenty
fifth position among the non-schedule languages.
Total Monolinguals
Total monolingual speakers in Lepcha
are 12,975 (2001 census) of which total monolingual
males are 6,267 and monolingual females are 6,708 in number according to
2001census.
Bilinguals by Language
The number of bilingual Lepcha speakers
speaking different languages according to census data of 2001 is presented in
the following.
Table – 5: Bilingual Lepcha speakers
speaking different languages
|
Name of the language in which Lepchas are bilingual
|
Number of Speakers
|
|
Assamese
|
3
|
|
Bengali
|
31
|
|
Hindi
|
2,119
|
|
Kannada
|
1
|
|
Nepali
|
30,471
|
|
Oriya
|
14
|
|
Sanskrit
|
3
|
|
Telugu
|
7
|
|
Urdu
|
12
|
|
Ao
|
1
|
|
Bhotia
|
1,423
|
|
English
|
3,415
|
|
Limbu
|
27
|
|
Rai
|
3
|
|
Sherpa
|
5
|
|
Tamang
|
2
|
|
Tibetan
|
56
|
|
Others
|
25
|
Amongst the second languages that are
spoken by the Lepcha speakers in India, Nepali holds the first position, the
number of speakers being 30,471, English holds the second position, the number
of speakers being 3,415 , Hindi holds the third position, the number of
speakers being 2,119 and Bhotia holds the fourth position, the speaker strength
being 1,423. Bangla, in spite of the state official language for the Lepchas of
West Bengal has practically no impact on the Lepcha speaking population (if we
accept the census position).
Breakup of Monolingual, Bilingual and
Trilingual Lepcha Speakers in India
The number of the Lepcha speakers
speaking only Lepcha (monolingual), second language (bilingual) and third
language (trilingual) according to 2001 census is provided in the following.
Table
-6: Lepcha monolingual,
bilingual and trilingual speakers
|
Total Lepcha speakers: 50,629
|
|||
|
|
Monolinguals
|
Bilingual
|
Trilingual
|
|
Total
|
12,975
|
37,654
|
12,821
|
|
Males
|
6,267
|
19,844
|
7,327
|
|
Females
|
6,708
|
17,810
|
5,494
|
The Bilingual and Trilingual Situations
of Lepcha
As the objective of the present paper
is to discuss the bilingual situation of Lepcha with special reference to West Bengal,
the number of Lepcha speakers speaking mother tongue, second and third
languages in West Bengal according to 2001census are given in the following.
Table-7:
Lepcha Monolingual, Bilingual and Trilingual Speakers in West Bengal (2001)
|
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
|
Number of Lepcha speakers
|
14,731
|
7,489
|
7,242
|
|
Monolinguals
|
3,847
|
1,851
|
1,996
|
|
Total number speaking a second
language
|
10,884
|
5,638
|
5,246
|
|
Total number speaking a third
language
|
2,763
|
1,560
|
1,203
|
Table-8:
Bilingual and Trilingual Situations of Lepcha by Language in West Bengal (2001)
|
Name of second Language
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
Name of third Language
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
|
|
1. Bengali
|
26
|
13
|
13
|
|
||||
|
1.Hindi
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
|||||
|
2.Nepali
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
|||||
|
3.English
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|||||
|
2. Hindi
|
709
|
410
|
299
|
|
||||
|
1.Nepali
|
187
|
126
|
61
|
|||||
|
2.English
|
182
|
100
|
82
|
|||||
|
3. Bengali
|
24
|
18
|
6
|
|||||
|
3.Nepali
|
9450
|
4832
|
4618
|
|
||||
|
1. Hindi
|
1216
|
700
|
516
|
|||||
|
2.English
|
562
|
288
|
274
|
|||||
|
3. Bengali
|
17
|
14
|
3
|
|||||
|
4.Tibetan
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
|||||
|
5. Urdu
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|||||
|
6. Others
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|||||
|
4. Urdu
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
|
||||
|
5. English
|
695
|
380
|
315
|
|
||||
|
1. Hindi
|
335
|
184
|
151
|
|||||
|
2.Nepali
|
207
|
114
|
93
|
|||||
|
3. Bengali
|
14
|
6
|
8
|
|||||
|
6. Tamang
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
||||
|
7. Tibetan
|
|
|||||||
|
1. Nepali
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|||||
Keeping in view the complexity of
bilingualism an offshoot of languages in contact, the language situation of
Lepcha, has been studied in the multicultural
and multilingual context. Following the retrospective literature on Lepcha
social, political and cultural life the socio-political history of migration,
colonialism, geo political fragmentation and modern democratic set-up have been
discussed in detail in the following sections for the purpose of substantiating
bilingual or multilingual situation of the Lepcha speaking community from the
socio-political perspective. Co-relation of the use or choice of language(s) in
different social domains and the societal factors has been established
throughout the study in order to substantiate bilingual/multilingual position
of the Lepcha speech community which will ultimately help us in determining and
justifying the present bilingual/multilingual status of Lepcha.
SOCIO-POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE LEPCHAS
The socio-political history is one of
the important factors in building up of a psychological state in perceiving the
world of languages – the attitude of the speakers towards the languages in
their speech network, the vitality status of a language they speak, the
role of language(s) more than a mode of communication. So the discussion of the
socio-political history of the Lepcha inhabiting areas becomes imperative in
studying the status of Lepcha language.
The socio-political dynamics of the
Lepchas as per available records has been divided into
five major phases which have been
discussed in the following.
1. Traditional Social Set-up
Lepchas-the original inhabitants of
Sikkim basically used to lead nomadic life (Ref: Gorer: 1938)[2].
The Lepchas used to have a simple social structure with animistic practice and
primitive technology. Mythology, folklore and indigenous knowledge were an
integral part of their social life. Probably, the retention of such a simple
socio-cultural set-up for the Lepcha community was possible due to their
geographical situation. Historical documents reveal that the first major
contact with the Lepcha land and people was established by the ethnic group of
people from ‘Kham’, a province of Tibet sometime during the 13th or
the 14th century. But Siiger and Rischel (1967:26)[3]
states, “From a strictly historical point of view we know hardly anything about
the Lepchas until about the year 1600 A.D, when a branch of Tibetan Minyang
dynasty from the eastern Kham province took part in the great migration of
Tibetan nobles, entered Sikkim, and some decades later made themselves kings.”
Awasty (1978:30)[4] feds
the same argument by stating, “...with the establishment of lamaism in the 17th
c, the Lepcha script must have been developed, based on the Tibetan alphabet.
The main Lepcha works were Tibetan scriptures translated into Lepcha to
facilitate the progress of the Lamaistic religion among the Lepchas. There are
however, references to even earlier Lepcha manuscripts narrating Lepcha
mythology and legends which according to Gorer and even Father Rey, were
destroyed by the Tibetan lamas in their zeal to convert the Lepchas. This view
of fanaticism of Lamaism in Sikkim is held by the Christian missionaries”. With
the migration of the ‘Khamba’ Tibetans, Buddhist religion came to the land,
resulting in the conversion of a number of Lepchas to Buddhism by the Tibetan
monks. As a result of the introduction of Buddhism, the traditional Lepcha
scripture was gradually replaced by the Tibetan and the impact of Tibetan
culture led to the gradual development of new ideas. Das (1978:15)[5]
rightly points out, “This phase of Lepcha culture is the history of dominance
of Tibetans over the Lepchas in every sphere of their life and
activities…(ibid:243) The language with its literature, which flourished during
the reign of the Lepcha kings, got a rude set back after the dominance of the
Tibetans who gradually replaced Lepcha literature, etc. by their own language.”
The situation has been observed also by Foning (1987:153)[6]
who states, “Buddhist lamas started to get the Tibetan religious scriptures and
books translated into the language of the original Lepchas. Of all the
religious books and other books translated, Tashay Namthar, also called Tashay
Sung is pre-eminent. This book was probably written by one lama Ugen Lingpo
… the approximate Namthar period started from the beginning of the 18th
c and completely faded out by the beginning of the 20th c.”
2. History of Migration and
Inter-Communal Change
The next socio-political phase of
Lepcha life was marked by the migration of the Bhutanese after 1700. The
eastern and western frontiers of the land were attacked by the Bhutanese and
Gurkhas, threatening the territorial integrity of Sikkim. The end of the 18thc,
(1788-89) was marked by the invasion of Sikkim by Nepal. Foning (1987:283)[7]
opines, “Large scale migration took place at any time to overwhelm the
autochthons, like the Nepalese immigration in the nineteenth century.” With
such contact situations with the Bhutanese and Nepali communities, the Lepcha
social life changed to some extent, giving rise to ideas like heroism,
conflicts and tensions on the one hand and destruction of Lepcha scripture on the
other. Inter-mixing in terms of marriage and other social activities became
evident resulting in the infiltration of new ideas and exposures.
The metamorphosis of the speech
community took place with the constant migration of the three ethnic communities
--- Tibetans, Bhutanese and Nepalese. This has been aptly observed by Foning
(1987:283)[8]
as, “In time due to intermarriage between the native Rongfolk and the migrating
people, new tribes came into being. The tribes thus formed incorporated the
culture, customs and traditions of the two inter-mingling tribes and, as a
result, a new and a separate tribe came into existence. The best example of
this type of the tribe is the ‘Denjongpa’ people, a cross between the Lepchas
and the Khamba Tibetans.”
3. Lepchas
under British Imperialism
With the British administration in the
following phase of development, Lepcha socio-political life was exposed to a
new system of administrative development which countenanced the primitive
system of slavery. But the British Govt. actually did not pay any heed to the
development of Lepcha society --- the original inhabitants of the area. As an
administrative measure by the British, forests were reserved and taxes were
imposed on the ‘son of the soil’. With the Nepal war of 1816, a treaty was
signed between Nepal and the British in 1817 at Titalia, where the British took
over portions of plains in the south of Sikkim and Nepal was allowed to retain
considerable portion of the land --- all took place ignoring Sikkim. Of the
neighbouring communities, Nepalese migrated in large number and took part in the development. This
resulted in rapid out-numbering of the Lepchas by the settlers from Nepal.
Therefore Foning (1987:283)[9]
aptly observes, “… today, the vast majority of people inhabiting the old-time
Mayel country of the Rongfolk are the people of mixed ethnic origin from the
country of Nepal.” He (1987:296)[10]
also points out, “Both in the urban and the rural areas, the Nepali language
has virtually became the ‘Lingua Franca’ for the people of different ethnic
groups that one finds in the regions.”
Later in 1835, Darjeeling was acquired
by the East India company ‘by diplomatically legalised might and force’ from
the then ruler of Sikkim by the ‘Deed of Darjeeling Grant dated 01.02.1835’.
The grant was signed by A. Campbell, the then superintendent of Darjeeling and
in charge of political relations with Sikkim. This event can be seen as an
important turn in the history of the region which has yield a long term impact
on the Lepcha population, the original inhabitants of the region. The
translated version of the extract of the ‘Deed of Grant’ for handing over
Darjeeling to the East India company (Ref: Moktan,R. (ed.) 2004. Sikkim:
Darjeeling Compendium of Documents. Pub: Sumaralaya: Kalimpong, Darjeeling)
is presented in the following.
The
Governor-General having expressed his desire for the possession of the Hill of
Darjeeling, on account of its cool climate, for the purpose of enabling the
servants of his Government , suffering from sickness, to avail themselves of
its advantages, I, the Sikkimputtee Rajah, out of friendship to the said
Governor-General, hereby present Darjeeling to the East India Company, that is,
all the land South of the Great Runjeet River, east of the Balasun, Kahali and
Little Runjeet Rivers, and west of the Rungno and Mahanuddi Rivers.
Seal of Rajah prefixed Sd/- A.Campbell,
to
the document Superintendent of Darjreeling and in charge of
political relations with Sikkim
The British rule that took control over
the surrounding areas of Darjeeling in 1841, marked the impact of missionary
activities which converted a section of the Lepcha community into Christianity.
But Buddhism (Lamaism) continued its influence on the common people. This
resulted in creating a gap within the community --- those with Christian
education could raise their standard of living and outlook and those who still
adhered to their age old traditional beliefs and customs. This situation has
been observed by Das (1978: 259)[11]
as “The conflict of these two major religious groups of Lepchas at times
results in creating a gulf within the community due to differences in social,
religious and cultural traits.” Apart from this, the expansion of the tea
manufacturing industry by the British in the hilly tract of Darjeeling, led the
original inhabitants of the land, the Lepchas, take a back step and receded
into interiors. Foning (1987:160)[12]
cites the situation by stating, “This was the real reason behind the miserable
picture in the very first census report published by the Govt. in 1891. The
incredible figure shown for Sikkim was just 5762, as against 1000 in the
Darjeeling area.” Such a situation motivated Col. Lloyd, the then administrator
of Darjeeling district to carry out administrative work in the Lepcha language
and documentation were encouraged in the Lepcha language. Circulars, receipt
books in Lepcha scripts and many such documents in Lepcha find their existence
in the Govt. archives. Lepcha language was in extensive use in Kalimpong area
till the end of 19thc. Mainwaring (1876)[13]
also mentions that Lepcha was the language for the entire Sikkim. The Tibetans,
the Bhutias and other immigrants used to communicate in the Lepcha language.
Business, justice, recording of decrees and documents were carried on in the
Lepcha language, under the rule of Col. Llyod. In this connection the name of
Reverend Mr. William Start is worthy to mention as he established a school for
the Lepchas and employed Moravian system of education. At that time a Lepcha
primer and a dictionary was also compiled. Foning (1987 :155)[14]
comments on the situation as, “At the same time he tried to convert them to the
new faith of Christianity, which he thought would bring an all round
improvement … These missionaries did exactly what the Tibetan Lamas had done
about a century and a half earlier by translating their religious books for the
purpose of converting them to their own faiths … with the death of Rev. C.G.
Neible in 1865 (one of the missionaries), the grand and admirable effort of
these missionaries faded out completely.” After Dr. Campbell came to Darjeeling
administration, Lepcha language received
a back foot and started to be considered as the language of the aboriginal people
who are socially and culturally backward. Foning (1987:160)[15]
rightly puts it as, “The government language report gave unfavourable findings.
This was the result of a politically motivated action on the part of the
British government.”
4. The
Society after World War I
With the breaking of World War I in
1914, the socio-religious aspect underwent a radical change in the Lepcha
horizon. The Gospel period (i.e., the spreading of Gospel that started with the
coming of British in Darjeeling) which started in the middle of the 19thc,
faded away by the first decade of 20th c with the breaking of World
War I along with other factors. The period which was followed by the departure
of the British from the Indian sub-continent, marked a radical change in the
socio-political and socio-cultural scenario of the Indo-Sikkim relationship.
According to Singh (1993:3)[16],
“The period between 1950 and 1973 was marked by several important events in
Sikkim, like the emergence of various political parties, formation of State
Assembly, introduction of franchise on the basis of party formula. The tension
that developed between the Durbar and the various political parties led to the
agitation of 1973, the signing of the May Agreement in 1973, formation of a
popular ministry in 1974, and finally its merger with Indian Union in 1975.”
The socio-linguistic development that
took place in the post World War I
period in the Lepcha inhabiting areas of Sikkim and Darjeeling exhibit a
sociolinguistic mosaic of Bhotia, Hindi,
Nepali and Lepcha languages.
As mentioned by Foning (1987)[17]
attention was being paid to Nepali language with the initiative of Rev.
Pradhan’s Gorkha Press at Darjeeling. The missionary activities like publishing
of the Bible, book of hymns and Catechism started printing in Nepali. By this
time, though the missionaries stopped taking active interest in the Lepcha
language and started encouraging Hindi following the language policy adopted by
the Govt., ultimately, Nepali received the impetus and was accepted as a medium
of spreading religious teachings.
From the account of Foning (1987)[18]
regarding the development of the Lepcha language, it is found that contrary to
the above situation, Gyen Tshering Sitling, the Lepcha Padre started taking
active interest in the Lepcha language for the welfare of the speech community.
He was the founder of the District General Lepcha Association. Lepcha primer
was published in 1929 in the Baptist mission press of Calcutta in his
initiative. Mrs Azem Rebecca (known as ‘Babuni’) was next to Sitling, who took
the charge of Presidentship of the Lepcha Association and took the initiative
of reprinting Rev. Sitling’s Primer in 1956. In the arena of literary
activities the names that are worth mentioning are--- Sangkyol Tasso and
Imansingh Chemjong, who compiled a Lepcha dictionary, Apang Choden and Duksing
of Darjeeling initiated the publication of a primer with Devanagari
equivalents. In the year 1953, the Eastern Himalayan Church council printed a Lepcha
Hymn book which was discarded and the reprint of the Gospel of St. Luke
took place with the initiative of the Bible Society of India. In this
connection it is relevant to mention that, by this time the local Christian
missionaries had stopped their linguistic and literary activities. In 1967, a
wing of the Lepcha Association called
‘Longten Chok Lee’ or ‘Culture Centre’ was established in Kalimpong. Along with
this development, the Mani Printing works of Kalimpong set up a Lepcha section
along with the English, Nepali, Tibetan and Bhutanese sections. In 1970, Rev.
Sitling’s primer was revised and published along with the publication of a
small primer, Aids to the Study of the primer by Lha Tsherings in 1971.
The traditional literature (Namtho Namthar) like Biruchana, Kumya
Kumsi, ChyotenManlom were reprinted by a literary society, the ‘Ngassey
Chyo Bong Chyo Kurmon’ in Chobo village with the encouragement of ‘Longten Chok
Lee’. It was for the first time the Lepcha newspaper, Mutanchi was
published in Darjeeling. Foning (1987)[19]
also mentions that during this period, Government took initiative in improving
the language and literature of Lepcha. Lepcha was made the compulsory medium of
instruction at the primary level and books were published up to the middle
school standard by the initiative of the then administration. Mani Printing
works at Kalimpong was the only press for printing Lepcha script. Lepcha
language pedagogy was initiated up to the school-leaving standard by the Govt.
Foning (1987: 164)[20]
mentions that, “Lepcha songs are now heard over All- India Radio stations, both
from Kurseong and from Gangtok.” In 1970, the Lepcha-Nepali- English
Dictionary was published by ‘Nepal Rajkiya Pragya Pratisthan’, the Royal
National Academy of Science and Literature with the initiative of Imansingh
Chemjong. Apart from these, the other available publications are, Grammar of
the Rong language by Kharpo Tamsang and Holy Bible by Rev. Father
Stoelke.
The Present State of Affair
Nepali has gained ground in the hills
of Darjeeling and Sikkim and exerts immense socio-political pressure on the
minority communities like Lepcha. Bhotia also holds a considerable position in
Lepcha life. No institutional effort as a part of language planning from the
state or central governments has been found in Darjeeling. Such institutional
efforts to uplift the language by the state government are of course evident in
Sikkim. The culture has acclimatized the trend of modern or so-called western
culture. As a result, a gradual detachment from the traditional values,
knowledge of indigenous medicine is taking place. Preservation of natural
objects is losing its ground from Lepcha life and culture and incorporation of
newer ideas has taken place.
But a renewed interest has been
observed during last few years with the sole effort of Indigenous Lepcha Tribal
Association (ILTA) in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
Efforts for revitalization of the language and culture have made a conscious
entry into the life of the Lepchas. Forty night schools for teaching Lepcha the
mother tongue in different villages of Darjeeling district are run with the
sole initiative of ILTA, Kalimpong. In this context it is pertinent to have a look
at the revitalization efforts of the language objectively. Different kinds of
effort have been undertaken by ILTA for revitalization of the language.
One such effort is publication of the magazine Achuley and other
booklets from time to time. The publications include text books, songs, drama,
novel, book of prayer, essay, narrative, poem, book of terminology, NamthoNamthar,
the Lepcha indigenous traditional literature and different other translation
works.
Examining the growth rate of
publication is one of the ways to understand the nature and extent of
revitalization of a language (especially in case of those languages which have
a developed written form of their own like Lepcha). Therefore, an attempt has
been made in the concluding section to examine the effort of revitalization of
the Lepcha language from the point of view of publication in the Lepcha language.
This seems to be indicative for the maintenance of Lepcha, the mother tongue in
the bilingual/multilingual context.
Conclusion: Examining
the status of Lepcha in terms of
Publications
Language products produced over the
years, like publications and film production in the language being one of the
indicators of the vitality status of a language, functions as symptomatic to
language growth and decay.
However, for the time being, the data
of publication in the language available till date (published from Kalimpong,
Darjeeling) is presented below to have a glance at the development in the
particular area. As film production is a marginal feature in Lepcha, this is
kept outside the purview of the quantitative analysis in the present study. A
table consisting of the number of different kinds of publications in Lepcha
across the time period is given below.
Table-
9: Number of Publications in Lepcha (from Kalimpong) across the Time Period
|
|
1841-1860
|
1861-1880
|
1881-1900
|
1901-1920
|
1921-1940
|
1941-1960
|
1961-1980
|
1981-2000
|
2001-2010
|
|
Magazines
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10
|
23
|
|
Text books
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
9
|
|
Folk tales
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
2
|
|
Songs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
|
Drama
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
|
Novel
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
Book of prayer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
|
Essays
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
Narrative
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
Book of Poems
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
Book of Terminology
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
Namtho Namthar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
|
Translation works
|
4
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
The data of publications in Lepcha has
been graphically presented in the following in order to view the growth or
decay of different kinds of publications across the recorded time period.
Graph
– 1: Growth or Decay of Number of different kinds of Publications in Lepcha across the Time
period
A gross
composite picture of Publication in
Lepcha
In order to view the composite growth
of publication in Lepcha, a composite quantitative picture of publications in
the language is presented graphically below based upon the data of the number
of publications in Lepcha (mentioned above) across the recorded time period of
170 years.
Graph – 2: Growth of Publication
in Lepcha (in Kalimpong) across the Time period
Thus the growth rate of publication is
found to gain momentum from the second half of the last century and accelerated
a significant rise in the first decade of twenty-first century. It is worth
mentioning in this context that this rise in publication is due to the sole
effort of ILTA of Kalimpong,
Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
---------------------------------------------
References
Awasty,I. 1978. Between
Sikkim and Bhutan (the Lepchas and Bhutanis of Pedong) Delhi: B.R.
Publishing Corporation.
Gorer, G.1938. Himalayan Village. An Account
of the Lepchas of Sikkim. London: M.Joseph Ltd. Reprinted in 1984 as The
Lapchas of Sikkim. Delhi: Cultural Publishing House.
Das,A.K.1978. The Lepchas of West Bengal. S.Dey for
Editions Indian.
Dattamajumdar,S.2012.
An Enquiry Into the Status of Lepcha. Kolkata: The Asiatic Society.
(Forthcoming)
Foning, A.R. 1987. Lepcha,
my vanishing tribe. New Delhi: Sterling
Khubchandani, L.M. 1997 Revisualizing
Boundaries A Plurilingual Ethos. New Delhi: Sage Publications
Mainwaring,G.B.1898. Dictionary
of the Lepcha Language. Revised and completed by Albert Grunwedel. Berlin:
Unger.
Siiger,H. and Rischel, J. 1967. The Lepchas: Culture, Religion of a Himalayan People, Pt.I &II.
National Museum Ethnographic Series. Vol.II,
Pt I. Copenhagen: Gyldenal.
Singh,K.S.(ed.)1993. People of
India: Sikkim. Vol.XXXIX . Anthropological Survey of India. Calcutta:
Seagull Books.
----------------------------------
[1] Khubchandani, L.M. 1997 Revisualizing
Boundaries A Plurilingual Ethos. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
[2] Gorer, G.1938. Himalayan Village. An Account of the Lepchas of
Sikkim. London: M.Joseph Ltd. Reprinted in 1984 as The Lapchas of
Sikkim. Delhi: Cultural Publishing House.
[3] Siiger,H. and Rischel, J. 1967. The Lepchas: Culture, Religion of a
Himalayan People, Pt.I &II. National Museum Ethnographic Series. Vol.II, Pt I. Copenhagen: Gyldenal.
[4] Awasty,I. 1978. Between Sikkim and Bhutan (the Lepchas and Bhutanis of Pedong) Delhi:
B.R. Publishing Corporation.
[13] Mainwaring,G.B.1898. Dictionary of the Lepcha Language. Revised
and completed by Albert Grunwedel. Berlin: Unger.
.
[16]
Singh,K.S.(ed.)1993.
People of India: Sikkim. Vol.XXXIX . Anthropological Survey of India.
Calcutta: Seagull Books.
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