Abstract

Learning Bodo second language (L2) is a challenge for Assamese native speakers as the former has been a minor language in terms of the number of speakers. Though Assamese and Bodo have been two neighbouring languages in Assam, the very fact is that around 90% of bilingual Bodo use Assamese as an L2 whenever and wherever necessary; whereas, Assamese mother tongue speakers usually do not use Bodo as an L2. This is because Assamese is the primary lingua franca of Assam. On the other hand, Bodo- the major tribal language of Assam and the entire north-east is a Tibeto-Burman language whereas Assamese is an Indo-Aryan language. Therefore, although the speakers of these two languages have been living together for ages, there are differences between these languages in different levels including orthography. For example- in phonology level, the Bodo native sound /ɯ/ (represented orthographically with ओ), high vowel devoicing and distinctive tone features; in grammar level, the interferences between case markers, definiteness markers and classifier affixes cause the errors; whereas, in orthography level, the differences in using the vowel letters of Devanagari script in Hindi and Bodo cause the errors. Moreover, Bodo is a tonal and highly agglutinating language, which causes Bodo L2 learners to encounter errors in learning and using the language. This study addresses the difficulties Assamese MT speakers face when learning and using Bodo L2, particularly at the orthographical, phonological, morphological, and syntactic levels. It also proposes pedagogical strategies for addressing learner errors.

Keywords

Contrastive Analysis, Bodo, Assamese, Language Error,

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