1897.] M. M. Chakravarti —Language and Literature of Orissa. 325 
(Midnapore and Singbhum), bnfcalsoin Maurbhunj (a Tributary State of 
Orissa), and in the north of the Balasore District. Since the Musulman 
Conquest a brisk trade and a frequent intercourse had been going on 
between Bengal and Balasore; and many Bengalis settled or came to 
reside in the District. Under the English rule this intercourse has grown 
more intimate and the greater facility of communication continues to 
attract a number of Balasore people to Midnapore and to Calcutta. 
Furthermore the literary activity of the Bengali race and the gradually 
increasing number of good Bengali books are doing their effects on a less 
literary race. In consequence so far down as Bhadrak the influence of 
the Bengali is traceable. 
The change has been first in the pronunciation , the tone being 
distinctly Bengali, and the accent thrown on the first syllable instead of 
the other syllables as in Oriya proper. This Bengali intonation is very 
clearly felt in the Thanas of Dantan, and Jellasore and further upwards. 
The next change is in the vocabulary , many Bengali words being used 
in preference to the corresponding Oriya words. In the southern parts 
of Midnapore District the sentence often looks like Bengali until one 
comes to the verb. Even the grammatical forms are being affected 
such as— 
(a) the accent shortened, hence :— 
(1) ^ for ^R, for JRR, for 
^T^R, for <5faR ; 
(2) f(?r for ; 
(3) for JTS for JfR, for 
*RT for sfRr. 
4 7 Vi 
(b) verbs:— 
(1) for Sfrit for , 
for ; 
(2) for ^T, for tor for Sfa; 
(3) for for 
\j vj 
for ¥fp3fa; 
(4) for 
> 
(c) . Interrogatives, %% for tom or to&TR, 1 for 
1 to is the older word and is used by the old Oriya poets, e.g., in the Bhagavata 
of Jagannatha Dasa 10th Skandha, 6 th Adhvaya, 97th qloka ; 10th sk., 14th Adh. 
89th 9 I. In the current Oriya it has been displaced by Its retention in Bala¬ 
sore is probably due to the influence of the Bengali 
J. I. 42 
