Beary bashe (Beary language) is a dialect mainly spoken by the Muslim communities of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka known as Bearys (Byaris)[1] and a small number of Hindus in the District of Kasargod in Kerala state. Bearys spoke a language made of Malayalam idioms with Tulu phonology and grammar.[1] This dialect was traditionally known as Mappila Malayalam because of Bearys' close contact with Mappilas.[1] Due to vast influence of Tulu for centuries, it is today considered as a language, close to both Malayalam and Tulu.[1]
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Being a distant cousin of other dialects of Malayalam and surrounded by other linguistic groups for centuries, mainly Tulu and Kannada, the dialect exhibits ancient features as well as modern innovations not seen in other well known dialects of Malayalam.[2] Surrounded by Tulu speaking community, the impact of Tulu on the phonological, morphological and syntactical structure of the dialect is evident.[3]
Sounds peculiar to Malayalam such as 'ḻ', 'ṇ', 'ṟ' are not found in this dialect.[4] Even 'ḷ' and 'ṇ' are merged with l and n respectively.[4] The sound 'ṟ' is merged with r and tt, 'tt' to t.[5] This is same as case in Tulu.[5]
| Beary bashe | Kannada | Malayalam | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sante | Sante | Canta | Market |
| Ēni | Ēni | Ēṇi | Ladder |
| Puli | Hunasi(Huli) | Puḷi | Tamarind |
| Kāth | Gaali | Kāttu | Wind |
The initial ‘v’ of standard Malayalam corresponds to initial ‘b’ of Beary bashe.[5] The same change has taken place in Tulu also.
| Beary bashe | Malayalam | Tulu | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bēli | Vēli | Bēli | Fence |
| Bittu | Vittu | Bitte | Seed |
| Bādege | Vāṭaka* | Bādai | Rent |
'*'This orthographic representation is phonemic. On a phonetic level, it often becomes [ˈʋaːɖaɡə], which is closer to the Tulu and Beary Bashe forms. This occurs because of a rule whereby voiced plosive consonants are intervocalic allophones of their unvoiced counterparts. However, this only applies to native Dravidian words, and as "vāṭaka" is a Sanskrit loanword, the prescriptively correct pronunciation is indeed [ˈʋaːʈakə].
The final ‘a’ of standard Malayalam corresponds to the final ‘e’ in Beary bashe.[5]
| Beary bashe | Malayalam | English |
|---|---|---|
| Āme | Āma | Tortoise |
| Cēre | Cēra | Rat Snake |
| Mūle | Mūla | Corner |
The word final ‘n’ and ‘m’ of standard Malayalam are dropped in Beary bashe.[5]
| Beary bashe | Malayalam | English |
|---|---|---|
| suroog | Ādyam | First |
| ille | illam | Family |
| Kalla | Kaḷḷan | Thief |
| Kuppāya | Kuppāyam | Cloth |
Geminated consonants occurring after a long vowel and also after a second short vowel of a word in standard Malayalam get degeminated in Beary bashe.[6]
| Beary bashe | Malayalam | Tulu | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pūce | Pūcca | Puche | Cat |
| Māṅe | Māṅṅa | Kukku | Mango |
As well as Malayalam and Tulu, we can see an influx from other languages, such as Tamil and Kannada.
Almost all lexical items in Beary bashe can be related to corresponding lexical items in Malayalam, Tulu or Perso-Arabic origin.[7] However, some equivalents can only be found in Mappila dialects of Malayalam in Kerala.[7]
Verbs in primitive Dravidian languages did not have any personal terminations.[8] Personal terminations of verbs observed in modern Dravidian languages are later innovations.[8] Malayalam is the only Dravidian language that does not show any personal terminations or suffixes to the verbs.[8] Malayalam verbs represent the primitive stage of Dravidian verbs.[8] The personal terminations found in Beary bashe may be a change borrowed from Tulu.[8] The Mappila Malayalam dialect of Malayalam does not show any personal terminations or suffixes to verbs.[8] Personal suffixes in Beary bashe closely resemble that of Tulu.,[8] although the past tense in this dialect agree with the standard Malayalam in shape as well as the distribution of allomorphs in the suffix.[8]
Beary bashe is largely influenced by Arabic language.[9] Most of the Bearys especially in coastal area still use a lot of Bearified Arabic words during their daily transaction. Saan, Pinhana, Gubboosu, Dabboosu, Pattir, Rakkasi, Seintaan, Kayeen, are the few words used in Beary bashe that has its roots in Arabic language. Beary Bashe also have words related to Tamil and Malayalam. Tamil and Malayalam Speakers can understand Beary by 75%
Quick reference table
| Beary | Arabic | العربية | English |
| Saan | Sahan | صحن | Plate |
| Pinjhana | Finjan | فنجان | Bowl/cup |
| Kayeen | Nikah | نكاح | Nuptials |
| Seintaan | Shaitan | شيطان | Evil spirit |
| Pattre | Fateerah | فطيرة | Bread |
| Kalbu | Qalb | قلب | Heart |
| Rabbe | Rab | رب | God |
| Supra | Sufra | سفرة | Dining Mat |
| Gubboosu | Khubz | خبز | Bread |
The Bearys of the coast have produced rich literary work using both Beary Bashe and Kannada language. The literature comprises Beary poetry, research articles on Bearys, historical analysis of Dakshina Kannada Muslims, essays, stories and other fields of literature. "English-Kannada-Beary" dictionary is also available in the market produced by Dr. A. Wahhab Doddamane. A number of notable Beary littérateurs have contributed to enrich the Beary literature. Dr. Susheela P. Upadhyaya, an eminent scholar has made a comprehensive study in finding the roots of Beary literature. Dr. A. Wahhab Doddamane has produced a book entitled The Muslims of Dakshina Kannada, which is an informative documentary work.
The Bearys have also produced a number of magazines and periodicals from Mangalore and other cities of the district. Some periodicals have become popular and a few of them have become a part of Beary history. Generally Kannada script is used to produce Beary literature. More than a 100 books, 400 audio cassettes and 2 video albums have been brought out so far.[10]
Bearys have brought out numerous lyrics and songs in Beary Bashe. Beary songwriters and music composers have published a number of Beary albums, thousands of copies in electronic format have already been sold.[11]
The Beary Bashe has its own songs and 'ghazals'. Although it is unique in its nature the songs bore resemblance to Moplah Patts (Mappila Songs). The Beary folk songs were rendered during marriage (Mangila) parties, and for many other occasions. Kolkkali patt is a song sung during a cultural play called Kolata which uses short sticks in both the hands while playing, Unjal patt is sung by the girls during the occasion of putting the child to cradle, Moyilanji patt is sung during marriage ceremonies.
Unfortunately modern day Bearys do not know the folk songs sung by their ancestors. Several Beary folk games have also vanished.
One of the famous folk songs sung by Beary women to tease the bride during her wedding celebrations is "appa chudu chudu patima". Elderly ladies of the neighbourhood gather around the bride on the day of Mangila (wedding) to sing those melodious teasing lines. The first few lines are:
| No. | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muthu Maale (Islamudo Nadavadi) | Abul Hasan Muhammad Moulavi |
| 2 | Kammane* (A collection of poetry) | Mohammed Baddur |
| 3 | Tanal (A collection of poetry) | Ibrahim Tanniru Bawi |
| 4 | Ponchiri* (Proverbs) | M.B. Abdul Rahman |
| 5 | Choltonnu Chelonnu (A collection of stories) | U.A. Qasim Ullala |
| 6 | Video Casstte (A collection of stories) | U.A. Qasim Ullala |
| 7 | Niskaaratho Krama, Adl Chelred Piine Adre Artha | U.A. Qasim Ullala |
| 8 | Beary Cassette-re Paatnga (A collection of songs) | Hussain Katipalla |
| 9 | Beary Cassette-re Paatnga (A collection of songs) | Basheer Ahmed Kinya |
| 10 | Paalum Ten (Folk tales) | Hamza Malar |
| 11 | Oru Pannre Kinaavu* (Short Novel) | Hamza Malar |
| 12 | Pernal* (A collection of stories) | Mohammed Kulai |
| 13 | Kinaavu* (A collection of stories) | Beary writers |
| 14 | Duniyaavy (A collection of songs) | Beary poets |
| 15 | Meltiri (A collection of songs) | Beary poets |
The inaugural ceremony of first Beary language video movie, Mami Marmolu was held in Mangalore on October 22, 2008. The film is being produced by Sony Enterprises, B.S. Gangadhara is the producer of the film. The film will focus on social and family problems being faced by the Beary families. Rahim Uchil has written the story, screen play, dialogue of the film. The director of this first Beary movie is Rahim Uchil while Prakash Padubidri is the assistant director. Rajesh Haleangady will be the cinematographer and music is being provided by Ravindra Prabhu.
The movie stars Vaibhavi (Faujiya), Rahim Uchil, Veena Mangalore, Roopashri Varkady, Riyana, K. K. Gatti, Ashok Bikernakatte, Ibrahim Thanneerbhavi, Riyaz, Sujnesh and Imtiyaz. Retired Police officer G. A. Bava will also have a role. Film will be shot in and around Mangalore city including Maripalla and Pilikula.[12][13]
There are four Beary Sahitya Sammelanas (The Beary Literature Summit) have been taken place so far. Cultural activities, exhibition related to Beary culture and society, talks on Beary society by Beary scholars, publications and Beary literature stalls are the centre of attraction during any Beary Sahitya Sammelana.
The Fourth Beary Sahitya Sammelana (The Fourth Beary Literary Summit) was held in Vokkaligara Samaja Bhavana in city of Chikmagalur on 27 February 2007 which demanded the state government for the establishment of a Beary Sahitya Academy. The Sammelana was jointly organized by Kendra Beary Sahitya Parishat, Mangalore, and Chickmagalur Bearygala Okkoota. Chikmagalur is the district that harbors second largest number of Beary population next to Dakshina Kannada.
The theme of the Sammelana was Prosperity through Literature, Development through Education and Integrity for Security. [14]
The sammelana also took up issues such as official recognition to the Beary bashe by the State Government, setting up of Beary Sahitya Academy, and recognition to the community as linguistic minority. It is said that Beary bashe is as old as Tulu language and spoken by more than 1,500,000 people around the world. The history of this dialect is at least 1200 years old.[10]