FUTURE AND CHALLENGES OF GOALPARIA DIALECT

The main language of Assam, a state geographically situated in the North-Eastern Region of India, is Assamese. Among the various Dialects of Assamese language, "Goalparia" is regarded as one of the most important dialects. Goalparia dialect is spoken mainly in the lower Brahmaputra valley and the plains of Garo Hills. Historically, as this region was constantly in interaction with the Mughal occupied political Bengal, there are many Bengali and Urdu-Persian words which became part of Goalparia vocabulary. Similarly during the colonial period many English, Hindi words made inroads into Goalparia dialect for various reasons. During the post independence era also, thousands of English, Hindi and Bengali words became part of Goalparia's vocabulary. So much so that , the speakers of this dialect now a days can not communicate without mixing English, Hindi and Bengali words. Due to this invasion of English, Hindi and Bengali words, Goalparia dialect is slowly losing its inherent charm. Specifically a section of the electronic media is leading this neo-trend of mixing English and Hindi words with local dialect. Moreover, due to easy accessibility of English, Hindi and Bengali TV channels, young children are watching cartoons, films, drama, songs etc regularly and picking words of those languages. Interestingly, there are many educated persons who consider that using English, Hindi, Bengali words, while speaking in Goalparia dialect, is a sign of sophistication. On the other hand, many urban educated persons are ashamed of speaking Goalparia dialect, which is their mother tongue. They think dialects are symbol of backwardness and only illiterate, uncultured rural folks speak dialects. This notion of social stratification based on illogical individual pride and idea of sophistication, is the main reason for which Goalparia dialect is being ignored by many of it's original speakers. In a nutshell, Code Switching and Code Mixing are two main reasons responsible for the havoc Goalparia dialect is facing today. Our research paper will try to explore and explain, based on field studies, the various reasons for which Goalparia dialect is in danger today.