Lisan ud-Dawat

Language Origin

The Alavi Bohra community are muslims who believe in Shi'a Isma'ili Taiyebi doctrines, beliefs and tenets. The 18th Faatemi Imaam Maulaana al-Mustansir Billah (478 AH/1094 AD), from the Aal-progeny of Prophet Mohammad al-Mustafaa, held the seat of the Fatimid Empire in Egypt and acted as the sole authority of the Shi'a Isma'ili branch of Islam. In his era, Maulaai Ahmad (مولائي احمد) along with his accomplices Maulaai Abdullah and Maulaai Nuruddin, on Mustansir Billah's decree, arrived at the coast of Gujarat (Khambhat) along with a group of traders. His responsibility was to spread Shi'i Islam in the guise of doing trade. At that time, Sidhraj Jaysingh[8] was ruling in Patan-Sidhpur, and a small Isma'ili community was already residing in Gujarat who were well-versed with local customs and language. They helped the clergy in every possible way to dispense the word of Imam among those Brahmins who showed sincere interest in Isma'ili doctrine. Historical accounts points that early Taiyebi preachers-maulaai had to travel far and wide on the commands of their Da'i to such a remote place where they found the native language as a big hindrance to their religious agenda. So, they first learned and mastered the local language and it proved as a best tool of communication.[9]

At the end of the fifth century AH, many such representatives of Faatemi Imaam were also present in Yemen. Every Isma'ili preacher who came to India after Maulaai[10] Ahmad, either from Egypt or from Yemen, had Arabic as his mother tongue and it happened to be the official language of the Fatimids. With the help of Gujarati speaking Isma'ili traders they gradually learnt the local native language to propagate their religion. It also happened that, in order to learn more about their religious teachings, many people from Gujarat migrated to Yemen to get religious teachings directly from the Da'i (the representative of the Imam of Egypt). This took place in the 10th century AH/16th century AD. This is where the basic Yemeni Arabic language of Taiyebis[2] first got combined with the local Gujarati language, giving birth to a new form of language which got more correlative, complex and comprehensive over time. This form of language got the name Lisaan ud-Da'wat or Lughat ud-Da'wat (لغۃ الدعوۃ).

Map of Gujarat

A genealogical classification of languages is a classification according to their development from common ancestors. A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto language of that family. Let's see the tree diagrams of the two major language families which will help us to establish the relation among the languages. The first is Proto Indo-European Language and the other is Proto Hemito-Semitic/Afro-Asiatic language families.

During the mid-16th century, Mughals invaded India through the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), since Khambhat was then the biggest port of India. Mughals came from Persia (Iran) and spoke Persian (Farsi). This was the period when Bohra missionaries practiced and preached their faith openly and the local people felt their presence in Ahmedabad. Thus, with their acumen of doing trade and business, their social and commercial activities in and around Ahmedabad got momentum. Their language too progressed and it became the blend of Arabic, Urdu, Gujarati and Persian now known as a Bohra Gujarati Zabaan. Also, Persian art and culture with some Gujarati Hindu traditions got amalgamated with Indian Bohra art and culture.

With the invasion of the Mughals arose a need for trade and commerce. New trade routes were opened between India and Persia. Along this route, Turkic people also started trade and commerce. They spoke a Persio-Arabic language. The amalgamation of their language with the contemporary language of India gave rise to a new language, a link language called Urdu, due to the mingling of Persian and Hindavi (aam boli). Thus it is a Pidgin language and a part of the Proto Indo-European language family. During this era, in 1030 AH/1621 AD, there was a major schism of succession of religious authority (da'i) in Ahmedabad among the Bohras. A separation occurred and a small group of Bohras believed in the Da'iship (leadership) of the 29th Da'i al-Mutlaq Saiyedna Ali Saheb, the grandson of the 28th Da'i Saiyedna Shaikh Aadam saheb.[11] They were called as "Alavi" from now onward after their first da'i "Ali" after the schism. Thus, Alavi Bohras maintained their own separate identity from other Bohra groups of Gujarat and Yemen, but the basic language pattern of all the Bohra communities remained unchanged, unlike the Sulaymani Bohras who chose to embrace Urdu as their community language.

Thus due to these reasons and the migration of the Alavi Bohras from Ahmedabad to Vadodara in 1110 AH/1699 AD, they speak Lisaan ud-Da'wat, a blend of many languages including Khojki. However, Khojki has a minimal influence on the Alavi Bohra language and Sanskrit vocabulary also gradually degraded due to Gujarati influence on this language. Alavi Bohras read, write and speak an Arabicized form (permeated with Arabic and Persian vocabulary) of Gujarati called Lisaan ud-Da'wat il-'Alaviyah-لسان الدعوۃ العلویۃ-LDA, i.e. the "Language of the Truly Guided Mission of Ali" (29th Da'i called Saiyedna and martyr). Today, Alavi Bohras are settled in Vadodara (Gujarat) which is the official headquarters of the 45th Da'i al-Mutlaq Saiyedna Haatim Zakiyuddin saheb, called "ad-Da'wat ul-Haadiyat ul-'Alaviyah-الدعوۃ الهادیۃ العلویۃ" – the Rightly Guided Alavi Mission.

Sound change is the most studied area in historical linguistics. Sound tends to change over time and due to contacts with other languages. Sound change also helps to determine whether languages are related.

In example i, the sound /p/ in 'pankho', meaning "fan", changes to the sound /f/ in 'fankho', meaning "fan". This change has come due to the interaction of Arabic, as it does not have the sound /p/. A similar case is given in example ii. Other examples:

In example iii, the retroflex sound /L/ in vaL meaning "hair" changes to the alveolar /l/ in bAl. Similar cases are shown in iv, v and vi. In example vii, the retroflex sound /N/ in 'kAran', meaning "reason", changes to the alveolar sound /n/ in 'kAran'. A similar case is shown in example viii. In example ix, the retroflex sound /D/ in 'pahAD', meaning "mountain", changes to the alveolar sound /r/ in 'pahAr'. Similar cases are shown in examples x and xi. In example xii, the postalveolar sound /S/ in 'kadvAS', meaning "bitterness", changes to the alveolar sound /s/ in 'kadvAs'. Similar cases are shown in examples xiii and xiv.

From the above examples iii to xiv, it is observed that all of the retroflex and postalveolar sounds in Standard Gujarati changes to alveolar sounds in Alavi Bohra. This change is again due to the contact of Arabic and Persian, as the later languages do not possess retroflex and postalveolar sounds, thus they are changed to alveolar sounds in LDA.

From example i to xiv, it can be observed that, though they have borrowed words from Gujarati, the words are themselves blended with Arabic, Urdu and Persian. Thus, Alavi Bohras use an Arabisized form of Gujarati.

In example xv, the mid vowel /a/ in 'cap', meaning "cup", changes to the close-mid vowel /u/ in 'cup', meaning "cup", when followed by a stop, similar to example xvi. In example xvi, the open vowel /A/ in 'barAbar', meaning "proper", changes to the close-mid vowel /o/ in 'barobar' when followed by a stop. The same is the case with examples xvii and xviii, where the close-mid vowel of the end vowel of /o/ changes to /u/. Thus, if open and mid-vowels are followed by a stop/plosive sound, they change to close-mid vowels.

In example xix, the close-mid vowel /e/ in 'kem', meaning "why", changes to the close vowel /i/ in 'kim'. Similarly, in example xx, the close mid vowel changes to a close vowel when followed by the nasal sound /m/. In example xxi, the mid vowel /a/ of 'namak', meaning "salt", changes to the close vowel /i/ in 'nimak' when followed by the nasal sound /m/. Also in example xxii, the mid vowel /a/ of 'gaL', meaning "swallow", changes to the close vowel /i/ in 'gil' when followed by the alveolar sound /l/. This means that if the close-mid and mid vowels are followed by a nasal sound /m/ or alveolar sound /l/, the sound changes to a close vowel. Similarly in example xxiii, the close-mid vowel /e/ in 'ketla', meaning "how many/much", changes to the close vowel /i/ in 'kitla'. Similar cases are shown in examples xxiv and xxv. Thus, close-mid and mid vowels change to close vowels when followed by the nasal sound /m/ or alveolar sound /l/ and /t/.

Thus, from example xv to xxv, we can observe that the open vowels tend to move towards the close vowels, affecting the Gujarati lexicon.

In example xxvi, the consonant sounds /k/ and /y/ of 'kyaare', meaning "when", are separated by the vowel sound /i/, and the consonant sound /v/ is also infixed in 'kiwaare'. Infixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme attaches within a root or stem. Infixation is a very common process in Arabic. Similar cases are shown in examples xxvii and xxviii.

A distinctive feature of the Semitic languages is the triliteral or triconsonantal root, composed of three consonants separated by vowels. The basic meaning of a word is expressed by the consonants, and different shades of this basic meaning are indicated by vowel changes. This distinctive feature of Semitic languages may be affecting the Gujarati words in examples xv, xvi, and xix. Thus, this distinctive feature may also be responsible for the vowel changes in examples xv to xix.

Hence, from examples i to xxviii, we can observe that, although they have borrowed words from Gujarati, there is an impact of Arabic, Persian and Urdu due to the language contact. Also, we can say that these language contacts are affecting the Gujarati language internally.

Semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word.

In the above example, in standard Gujarati 'rasoi' means "to cook" and 'pakavvu' means "to ripen", and in LDA 'pakavvu' means both "to cook" and "to ripen". 'Pakna' means "to cook" as well as "to ripen" in Urdu. Here the meaning of "to ripen" is extended metaphorically. Metaphor in semantic change involves extensions in the meaning of a word that suggest a semantic similarity or connection between the new sense and the original one. Thus, due to the contact of Urdu and metaphorical extension they have dropped the word 'rasoi' and have adopted the word 'pakAvvu' to explain both the senses of to cook and to ripen.

In example ii, like in example i, in Gujarati 'who (nominative)' means "I" and 'me (ergative)' means "I", but in LDA, 'me' means "I" in both the cases. Also, in Urdu Language "mE" and in Persian "man" meaning "I" are used in both the cases. Thus, due to the contact of Urdu and Persian and metaphorical extension they have dropped the word 'who' and have adopted the word 'me' to explain both the senses I (nominative) and I (ergative). Thus, from example i and ii, we can observe the impact of Urdu and Persian on Gujarati through metaphorical extension.

Semantic borrowing is the process of borrowing the entire semantic meaning from a language. Semantic borrowing occurs when two or more languages come into contact.

Thus, from the above examples i to vi, it is observed that Alavi Bohras speak borrowed words from Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Hence, they use a particular form of Gujarati permeated with Arabic, some Persian words, and some Urdu words and write in the Arabic script called Lisaan ud-Da'wat il-'Alaviyah. This unique language makes the Alavi Bohras linguistically different from other Bohra sects.

After the 21st Faatemi Imaam Maulaana Taiyeb went into seclusion in 528 AH/1134 CE from Egypt, his deputy, legatee and vicegerent, who is called the Da'i (a spiritual head or a missionary working on the divine command of Imaam in seclusion), started a religious mission in the name of Imaam Taiyeb for the purpose of self-searching and purity wherever Isma'ili-Taiyebi people were staying. This mission came to be known as "ad-Da'wat ul-Haadiyat ut-Taiyebiyah"[lower-alpha 1] meaning "The Rightly Guided Mission of Imaam Taiyeb". This religious mission continued in Yemen between 532–974 AH (1138–1567 AD), from the first Da'i Saiyedna Zoeb till the 24th Da'i Saiyedna Yusuf. During this period, as the time demanded and need arose, many Waali-Mullas (the representatives of Da'i who in his absence is entitled to do all religious activities) were appointed to teach in the Madrasah Taiyebiyah all aspects of the religious and social knowledge to the people. At each place where the Isma'ili-Taiyebi community resided, there used to be a learned and pious mulla who conducted various classes of religious teachings with different groups of students under the direct guidance of the Yemeni Da'i. As the Isma'ili-Taiyebis, residing in Gujarat and nearby areas were very enterprising, enthusiastic, progressive and soulfully involved in business and accordingly in their daily affairs and conduct, they were called "Bohras" (excellent or unique community). Because of their lineage to the 21st Imaam Taiyeb, they came to be known as Isma'ili Taiyebi Bohras.[lower-alpha 2] In the 9th and 10th century AH, a special delegation used to come to Gujarat from Yemen, where Arabic was in vogue, and teach the local Waali-Mulla by giving necessary instruction from the Da'i, conduct examinations, inspect the madrasahs, and teach Arabic to smart students. Some of these students were sent to Yemen to acquire higher religious education under the inspection of the Da'i himself. This way the trade and social relations between Yemen, Hind and Sindh[lower-alpha 3] became stronger and the lingual expressions, dialects and accents of Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Gujarati got mixed together. Keeping the main structure of the Gujarati language intact, normally Arabic, Persian and Urdu words were introduced by the learned people and gradually the community as a whole began using them in their daily and routine conversations.

Aqaa Maulaa delivering a lecture in LDA in 2016 AD

LDA is basically inspired and based on the 28-letter alphabet of Arabic. Because the missionaries had to deal with local people in Gujarat for trade and religious affairs, they included 16 other letters of Gujarati for better communication and expression. LDA thus contained 44 letters. From these, three independent letters, Pe-پ (પ), Che-چ (ચ), and Ghaaf-گ (ગ), are widely used to incorporate Gujarati, Persian and Urdu terminology that cannot be written in the Arabic alphabet. Three other letters modified from Arabic that are used exclusively for Gujarati words are ٹ ,ڈ, and ڑ (ઽ,ટ).

Thirteen other letters are from the Haa-ھ family. "Haa" is mixed with different letters to get letters of different languages, such as baa-haa (بھ,ભ), baa-taa (تھ,થ), baa-ţaa (ٹھ,ઠ), pe-haa (پھ,ફ), jeem-haa (جھ,ઝ), che-haa (چھ,છ), daal-haa (دھ,ધ), ďaal-haa (ڈھ,ઙ), kaaf-haa (کھ,ખ), and gaaf-haa (گھ,ઘ).

28 Arabic letters used in LDA:

6 letters of different languages used in LDA:

10 Gujarati letters derived from the Haa (ﻫ) family used in LDA: